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Honest question, is it really? In which sense do the nations which make up modern Middle Eastern civilisation not match with the description "the most religious

Honest question, is it really? In which sense do the nations which make up modern Middle Eastern civilisation not match with the description "the most religious civilisation currently in existence".

gloob 17y ago
Give me an exhaustive list of precisely which nations you consider to make up the Middle East, and a rigorous definition of "civilization", and I'll see what I can do.
Qz 17y ago
You made the statement and provided no basis for it, which I called you on, and you want me to explain why your statement is incorrect? Have you been to the Middle East? Do you have experience or evidence to back your claim that they are what you say? Side note: there aren't separate civilizations anymore -- it's human civilization, and maybe you can separate out 'Middle Eastern' culture, but that's a very broad term and your statement still doesn't hold up.
- etherael 17y ago
  List of countries; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#Traditional_definition_of_the_Middle_East http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#Traditional_definit... Average rate of atheism; turkey 3% bahrain N/A assumes 0 maximum possible of 9.8% (other) kuwait N/A assumes 0 maximum possible rate of 5% (non islamic) oman N/A assumes 0 less than 5% (non islamic) qatar N/A assumes 0 max possible 22.5% (other) saudi arabia atheism expressly illegal UAE N/A assumes 0 max possible 15 (other) yemen n/A assumes 0 max possible 1 (other) Gaza strip 0 iraq N/a assumes 0 max possible 3 (other) israel 15-37 (split @ 26% :/) Jordan N/A assumes 0 max possible 2 (other) Lebanon N/A assumes 0 max possible 5 (other) Syria 0 (other) West Bank N/A assumes 0 max possible 8 (other) Iran N/A assumes 0 max possible 2 (other) Cyprus 2% Egypt < 1% 18 countries total 3 + 26 + 2 + 1 = 32 / 18 = 1.7% Excuse uberfast formatting, methodology, just check the wikipedia entries then check the atheism rates, combination of the wiki entries on a per country basis + the religion in x articles + demographics of atheism. Compare 1.7% with the figures for a wide variety of western nations referenced at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism#Distribution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism#Distrib.... I'm kind of baffled by the idea that this is controversial.
  - jmesquita 17y ago
    Why is everyone giving him such a hard time? Ok, he should have used a word other than 'civilization', but is it really that controversial/does it need that much proof to state that the Middle East is the region where religion plays a bigger part in people's lives than elsewhere in the world? Without looking at specific places/occasions, I agreed with the statement right away. C'mon, if he had said that Africa was the poorest region in the world, would everyone be asking for proof?
    - etherael 17y ago
      I'm kind of pleased with the apparent answer, because "religious" has taken on such a negative connotation that it's immediately taken as an attack. I'm a big boy, I can take it. :)

Honest question, is it really? In which sense do the nations which make up modern Middle Eastern civilisation not match with the description "the most religious civilisation currently in existence".

gloob 17y ago

Give me an exhaustive list of precisely which nations you consider to make up the Middle East, and a rigorous definition of "civilization", and I'll see what I can do.

Qz 17y ago

You made the statement and provided no basis for it, which I called you on, and you want me to explain why your statement is incorrect? Have you been to the Middle East? Do you have experience or evidence to back your claim that they are what you say? Side note: there aren't separate civilizations anymore -- it's human civilization, and maybe you can separate out 'Middle Eastern' culture, but that's a very broad term and your statement still doesn't hold up.

etherael 17y ago
List of countries; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#Traditional_definition_of_the_Middle_East http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#Traditional_definit... Average rate of atheism; turkey 3% bahrain N/A assumes 0 maximum possible of 9.8% (other) kuwait N/A assumes 0 maximum possible rate of 5% (non islamic) oman N/A assumes 0 less than 5% (non islamic) qatar N/A assumes 0 max possible 22.5% (other) saudi arabia atheism expressly illegal UAE N/A assumes 0 max possible 15 (other) yemen n/A assumes 0 max possible 1 (other) Gaza strip 0 iraq N/a assumes 0 max possible 3 (other) israel 15-37 (split @ 26% :/) Jordan N/A assumes 0 max possible 2 (other) Lebanon N/A assumes 0 max possible 5 (other) Syria 0 (other) West Bank N/A assumes 0 max possible 8 (other) Iran N/A assumes 0 max possible 2 (other) Cyprus 2% Egypt < 1% 18 countries total 3 + 26 + 2 + 1 = 32 / 18 = 1.7% Excuse uberfast formatting, methodology, just check the wikipedia entries then check the atheism rates, combination of the wiki entries on a per country basis + the religion in x articles + demographics of atheism. Compare 1.7% with the figures for a wide variety of western nations referenced at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism#Distribution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism#Distrib.... I'm kind of baffled by the idea that this is controversial.
- jmesquita 17y ago
  Why is everyone giving him such a hard time? Ok, he should have used a word other than 'civilization', but is it really that controversial/does it need that much proof to state that the Middle East is the region where religion plays a bigger part in people's lives than elsewhere in the world? Without looking at specific places/occasions, I agreed with the statement right away. C'mon, if he had said that Africa was the poorest region in the world, would everyone be asking for proof?
  - etherael 17y ago
    I'm kind of pleased with the apparent answer, because "religious" has taken on such a negative connotation that it's immediately taken as an attack. I'm a big boy, I can take it. :)