Japanese Majority Denounces God!

One of the nicest foreign people that I know personally are Japanese...so when I've read that 65% of Japanese DO NOT believes in God or a god, I was deeply disturb. Where are the missionaries?

   There are also an alarming rate in countries like Vietnam with a whooping 81% of non-belief in God. Even in Israel had around 30% of Atheist. 

    When I think of Japan, it reminds me also of beautiful Pagodas and ancient religious site with well preserve temples...so what are those temples for? 

    The tsunami wake-up call should have at least decrease the number of non-believers...but the surveys shows that less than one percent believes in Jesus Christ. 

   Shintoism and Buddhism are the two leading religion in Japan but even those who consider themselves religious does not subscribe to a single belief but a catch-all faith attitude. Some even observe religion for social purposes only and not for the salvation of their life...

   Living conditions may have something to do with faith in God, according to Pitzer.edu poverty seems to draw people to call unto God while those who had  relatively secure living conditions had more tendency to stray. 

   What accounts for the staggering differences in rates of non-belief between nations? For instance, why do most nations in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia contain almost no atheists, while many European nations contain an abundance of non-believers? There are various explanations (Zuckerman, 2004; Paul, 2002; Stark and Finke, 2000; Bruce, 1999). 

   One leading theory comes from Norris and Inglehart (2004), who argue that in societies characterized by plentiful food distribution, excellent public healthcare, and widely accessible housing, religiosity wanes. Conversely, in societies where food and shelter are scarce and life is generally less secure, religious belief is strong. 

   Through an examination of current global statistics on religiosity as they relate to income distribution, economic inequality, welfare expenditures, and basic measurements of lifetime security (such as vulnerability to famines, natural disasters, etc.), Inglehart and Norris (2004) convincingly argue that despite numerous factors possibly relevant for explaining different rates of religiosity world-wide, “the levels of societal and individual security in any society seem to provide the most persuasive and parsimonious explanation” (p.109).iii Of course, there are anomalies, such as Vietnam (81% non-believers in God) and Ireland (4-5% non-believers in God). But aside from these two exceptions, the correlation between high rates of individual and societal security/well-being and high rates of non-belief in God remains strong. 

    

   The following are top 50 countries with large percentage of  non believer in God (source)

Country           Total Pop.(2004)        % Atheist/                      actual #    
                                                        Agnostic/                                    
                                                    Nonbeliever in God                           
                                                    (minimum - maximum)                      


1. Sweden          8,986,000                   46-85%            4,133,560-7,638,100

2. Vietnam        82,690,000                     81%                     66,978,900

3. Denmark        5,413,000                   43-80%             2,327,590-4,330,400

4. Norway          4,575,000                     31-72%           1,418,250-3,294,000

5. Japan           127,333,000                  64-65%        81,493,120-82,766,450

6. Czech Rep.    10,246,100                   54-61%            5,328,940-6,250,121

7. Finland           5,215,000                    28-60%           1,460,200-3,129,000

8. France           60,424,000                   43-54%        25,982,320-32,628,960

9. South Korea    48,598,000                 30%-52%       14,579,40-25,270,960

10. Estonia            1,342,000                   49%                        657,580

11. Germany      82,425,000                  41-49%         33,794,250-40,388,250

12. Russia        143,782,000                  24-48%        34,507,680-69,015,360

13. Hungary     10,032,000                     32-46%           3,210,240-4,614,720

14. Netherlands 16,318,000                  39-44%             6,364,020-7,179,920

15. Britain          60,271,000                31-44%      18,684,010-26,519,240 16

16. Belgium       10,348,000                 42-43%            4,346,160-4,449,640

17. Bulgaria      7,518,000                    34-40%             2,556,120-3,007,200

18. Slovenia     2,011,000                   35-38%                  703,850-764,180

19. Israel          6,199,000                  15-37%                929,850-2,293,630

20. Canada       32,508,000                 19-30%              6,176,520-9,752,400

21. Latvia         2,306,000                  20-29%                    461,200-668,740
       
22. Slovakia     5,424,000                  10-28%                  542,400-1,518,720

23. Switzerland 7,451,000                 17-27%                1,266,670-2,011,770

24. Austria      8,175,000                   18-26%                1,471,500-2,125,500

25. Australia     19,913,000                24-25%               4,779,120-4,978,250

26. Taiwan       22,750,000                  24%                             5,460,000

27. Spain           40,281,000              15-24%               6,042,150-9,667,440

28. Iceland        294,000                 16-23%                      47,040-67,620

29. New Zealand  3,994,000             20-22%                     798,800-878,680

30. Ukraine       47,732,000              20%                                9,546,400

31. Belarus          10,311,000                   17%                         1,752,870

32. Greece         10,648,000                      16%                        1,703,680

33. North Korea      22,698,000             15% (?)                        3,404,700

34. Italy              58,057,000                 6-15%            3,483,420-8,708,550

35. Armenia         2,991,000                    14%                             418,740

36. China         1,298,848,000                 8-14%(?) 103,907,840-181,838,720

37. Lithuania   3,608,000                         13%                         469,040 17 

38. Singapore       4,354,000                     13%                           566,020 

39. Uruguay         3,399,000                     12%                           407,880

40. Kazakhstan     15,144,000                11-12%          1,665,840-1,817,280

41. Estonia          1,342,000                    11%                          147,620

42. Mongolia         2,751,000                   9%                          247,590

43. Portugal       10,524,000                  4-9%                    420,960-947,160

44. United States 293,028,000                 3-9%          8,790,840-26,822,520

45. Albania        3,545,000                  8%                             283,600

46. Argentina  39,145,000                     4-8%              1,565,800-3,131,600

47. Kyrgyzstan   5,081,000                   7%                           355,670

48. Dominican Rep. 8,834,000                7%                          618,380

49. Cuba             11,309,000                  7% (?)                        791,630

50. Croatia          4,497,000                  7%                             314,790 

   There is hope for Japan, as we have heard from the rising number of convert on the heavily affected area of North-eastern island of Honshu by the said tsunami. Out of the ruins emerge beauty and salvation. Let us continue praying for Japan...as well as the rest of the world. 

2nd Thessalonians 1:8: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

References:

http://www.godlovespeople.com/articles/japan.htm
http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Ath-Chap-under-7000.pdf