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The Global God Divide

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The Global God Divide
Gaby Bonilla The Pew Charitable Trusts

What is the connection between belief in God and morality? And how important are God and prayer in people’s lives? In a report published in July, the Pew Research Center posed these questions to 38,426 people across 34 countries spanning six continents. A median of 45% said it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. But there were large regional variations in answers to this question. People in emerging economies tended to be more religious and more likely to consider religion to be important in their lives, and they were also more likely than people who lived in advanced economies to say that belief in God is necessary to be moral.

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