Religion
Religion in Estonia (2001)
No religion (70.8%) Lutheranism (13.6%) Eastern Orthodoxy (12.8%) Other religions (2.8%)According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 16% of Estonian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 54% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 26% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force". This, according to the survey, would have made Estonians the most non-religious people in the then 25-member European Union. A survey conducted in 2006–2008 by Gallup showed that 14% of Estonians answered positively to the question: "Is religion an important part of your daily life?", which was the lowest among 143 countries polled.
Less than a third of the population define themselves as believers; of those, the majority are Lutheran, whereas the Russian minority is Eastern Orthodox. Ancient equinoctial traditions (like St John's Day) are held in high regard. In 2000, according to the census, 29.2% of the population considered themselves to be related to any religion, thereof:
- 13.6% Lutheran Christians
- 12.8% Orthodox Christians
- 6,009 Baptists
- 5,745 Roman Catholics
- 4,254 Jehovah's Witnesses
- 2,648 Pentecostals
- 2,515 Old Believers (Schismatic Orthodox Christians)
- 1,561 Adventists
- 1,455 Methodists
- 1,387 Muslims
- 5,008 followers of other religions
There are also a number of smaller Protestant, Jewish, and Buddhist groups. The organisation Maavalla Koda unites adherents of animist traditional religions.
Read more about this topic: Demographics Of Estonia
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Men are like plants; the goodness and flavor of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment.”
—Michel Guillaume Jean De Crevecoeur (1735–1813)
“As soon as a religion comes to dominate, it has as its opponents all those who would have been its earliest disciples.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“That, upon the whole, we may conclude that the Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)