How Do Canadians Differ from Americans? - 08/03/00 06:07 AM
A poll titled God and Society in North America polled 3000 Americans and 3000 Canadians in 1996 on the eve of the American presidential election about their political leanings and religious beliefs.
- For Canadians, jobs are the most important national issue; for Americans, it is international affairs. (In Quebec, the level of concern about jobs and the economy was far greater than the rest of Canada and indeed the highest of any region in North America.)
- As their number 1 objective, Canadians chose building the economy; Americans opted for promoting the family.
- Decided voters in Canada are roughly equally motivated by liking their candidate or party and their dislike of the alternative; most Americans really prefer the candidate they support, and what they think of his opponent has less influence.
- Significantly more Americans say they go to church, pray and read the Bible than Canadians.
- More than twice as many Americans say religion influences their political thinking.
Canadian priorities are:
- jobs
- economy
- deficit/debt
- health care
- education
- defense/international issues
- crime/violence
- welfare
- drugs
- poverty/poor
- abortion
American priorities are:
- defense/international issues
- crime/violence
- education
- economy
- deficit/debt
- drugs
- health care
- welfare
- jobs
- poverty/poor
- abortion
quote:
When the poll questions focused on desirable national objectives rather than existing issues, the cross-border dissimilarity was striking. In a list touching on the economy, law and order, the environment and morality, one-third of Canadians put the most emphasis on building the economy while roughly the same percentage of Americans selected promoting the family. "It's not that Americans aren't concerned about their economy," Grenville said. "But they've developed an almost morbid fear that the moral side of their society is slipping away and that the whole thing could come apart if they don't pay attention to their morality and values." Respondents in the two nations put much the same emphasis on the need to maintain law and order. But Americans were more than twice as likely to cite the importance of raising moral standards. Rae Corelli, author
In Canada, most of the mainline Protestants and Catholics vote liberal but in the USA the conservatives get the mainline Protestant vote. Canadians don't much care what a candidate's religious beliefs are, Evangelical Christian, Muslim, or atheist would all get about the same number of votes. In America, the atheist would get only 43% of the votes cast. 41% of Americans said religion is important in their political thinking compared to just 19% of Canadians.
In Canada 22% of the respondents had not religious affiliation or were agnostic/atheist, while 68% claim Christianity. In America 76% of the people claim Christianity while only 13% have no affiliation or are agnostic/atheist. When Americans were asked to name the most important religious leader in their country, seven in 10 Americans had someone in mind, usually Billy Graham. Canadians drew a blank. Three fourths couldn't name anyone and those that did, 6%, usually named the Pope. Three fourths of Americans say they pray weekly but only half the Canadians do. In the American South, (called the Bible Belt) that number is 77% but in British Columbia, that number is just over 38%. More Americans believe that the world will end in the battle of Armageddon between Jesus and the antichrist.
It's just statistics, but there is a work for us to do on both sides of the border to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and his soon return. ------------------
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Even so come, Lord Jesus
Linda
