Canadians Split When Assessing Religions

May 07, 2009

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in Canada hold dissimilar views on various faiths, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies for Maclean’s. 72 per cent of respondents have a favourable view of Christianity, and 57 per cent feel the same way about Buddhism.

Judaism is next on the list with 53 per cent, followed by Hinduism with 41 per cent, Sikhism with 30 per cent, and Islam with 28 per cent.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—which came into effect in 1982—guarantees specific political and civil rights across the country, including the freedom of "thought, belief, opinion and expression."

According to the 2001 census, 77 per cent of Canadians are Christian, six per cent report being Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh, and the remaining 17 per cent list no religious affiliation.

Last month, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism Rajan Zed called for a nationwide interfaith dialogue, saying, "We are all looking for the truth and we are all gravitated towards the same direction. In our shared exploration for truth, we can learn from one another and thus come closer to the truth. Dialogue will bring us reciprocal enrichment. Dialogue helps us triumph over the biases, typecasting, and caricatures, handed down to us from previous generations."

Polling Data

Would you say you have a generally favourable or unfavourable opinion of each of the following religions?

 

Favourable

 Unfavourable

 Not sure

Christianity

72%

18%

9%

Buddhism

57%

22%

21%

Judaism

53%

27%

20%

Hinduism

41%

32%

26%

Sikhism

30%

40%

30%

Islam

28%

52%

20%

Source: Angus Reid Strategies / Maclean’s
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,007 American adults, conducted on Apr. 14 and Apr. 15, 2009. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.