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RELIGIOUS GROUPS
source: www.geocities.com/richleebruce/
mystat.html
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The religious beliefs of almost all of the world's people can be grouped into four broad categories…- the largest are the monotheists who worship the God of Abraham. These are the Christians, Jews, and the Muslims, and perhaps some other groups;
- the 2nd largest group are the religions of India that are based on reincarnation, mostly Hinduism and Buddhism;
- the 3rd group are the non-religious, and anti-religious. Non-religious are the agnostics, do not know, do not care group. The anti-religious are the more radical atheists, free thinkers, and those that are opposed to all religion;
- finally, there are the local ethno religions (or ‘primal-indigenous religions/cultures’) of the general type that existed before the great modern religions developed. These primitive religions are in two categories in the religious statistics: ethno religions and Chinese folk religions. Primitive ethno religions still have a following in Sub Sahara Africa and other places;
- Chinese traditional religions include ancestor worship and the usual Chinese traditions of dragons, the year of the rat etc. They also involve Confucianism and Taoism. While these were formerly counted as separate religions they are now thought to be too hard to separate out. There is also some Buddhism included in the mix, even though Buddhism is also a separate religion in China.
Percentage of world population by religious group* | group | % | | RELIGIOUS | 86 | | monotheists | 53 | | reincarnationists | 23 | | primitive ethno religions | 8 | | NON-RELIGIOUS & ANTI-RELIGIOUS | 14 | | non-religious & agnostic | 11.5 | | anti-religious & atheist | 2.5 |
* David Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001.
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