The Influence of Religion on Morals, Behavior and Political Thought in Algeria

Transcription

1 The Influence of Religion on Morals, Behavior and Political Thought in Algeria Samy Gerges 1 SIS, American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC sa7723a@american.edu Abstract Countries in North Africa region are among the world's most densely populated. The majority of the population of the region is Muslim (mostly Sunni), professed by 88% of society. Religion plays very important role in the society, and codifies social behavior, morality. and political thought. In this context, one of the issues that needs attention is the possibility of exploitation the role and the influence of religion and religious differences to foster violence, prejudices and discrimination. In Algeria, religion has played a significant moral, social and political role for millennia. Algeria s inhabitants have embraced a number of different religious beliefs and practices: from Berber animism, to Judaism (2 nd through 4 th centuries), Christianity (4 th century to the 7 th ), and Islam (7 th century on. As in many societies, Algerian values are rooted in people s religious experiences and understandings: religion can often justify certain morals, social behaviors and political believes. As Father Christian Luc, a French Trappist monk and long time resident of Algeria, stated, Any study that neglected the fundamental role of religion in Algeria was inherently defective. 2 My findings show that there is a correlation between religion and social behavior. This can be seen as a reflection of specific role of religion in Algerian society. 1 I would like to thank all those who help me during my this study especially Assen Assenov for helping me to gain a solid knowledge of the statistics in social sciences,,ivaca Petrikova for facilitating a lot of matters relation to the calss, Heath Henderson,McKenzie Lambourn Jennryn Wetzler those three person were really helpful in my studying group, and at last I would like those engines who help me to move forward through their help Laurent Philippe, Leo Mba, Susan Bush. 2 The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria, John Kiser,41. 1

2 Contents The Influence of Religion on Morals, Behavior and Political Thought in Algeria Introduction Literature Review The Model Data Measurement Data-collection Methods Analysis Estimates and Empirical Findings Conclusion and policy options References...16 Appendix 1: Tables...17 Appendix2. logistic regression Model Tests...21 Appendix3. Figures

3 1. Introduction At present, religion plays an important role in the Arab world. Christian and Muslim religious leaders exercise significant influence on public opinion. The forces of globalization have brought new ideas that challenge deep-seated religious traditions, beliefs and practices. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that religion and identity have become even more closely intertwined in this age. 3 This study will try to highlight the influence of religion on attitude, social behavior and political thoughts in modern Algeria. Given the subjective and qualitative nature of the study s aim, it is difficult to definitively assess the true influence that religion has on the average Algerian. Nevertheless, using the powerful tools of statistical analysis, I attempt to tease out a few key themes. Today, over 99% of Algeria s inhabitants are Muslim. The remaining 1% of the population practice Christianity or Judaism. Given these demographic trends, any study on religion will primarily address the influence of Islam. However, it is important to note that Algeria has had a number of religions sweep over its population in the sands of history. Algeria s inhabitants have embraced a number of different religious beliefs and practices: from Berber animism, to Judaism (2 nd through 4 th centuries), Christianity (4 th century to the 7 th ), and Islam (7 th century on). Father Christian Luc, a French Trappist monk and long time resident of Algeria, stated that any study that neglected the fundamental role of religion in Algeria was inherently defective. 4 Social implications of the religious revival in our time are important to understand and deal with. Some political scientists have even declared that religion has become a more salient identity than nationalism, the primary marker of those in the modern age. 5 The implications of a revival of religion in communities across the globe cannot be explained merely by theories. In this paper, I will examine and analyze how religion affects morals, social behavior and political thought. 3 Hofstede, Geart H, Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival,mcgraw-hill,2005, The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria, John Kiser,41. 5 See Pippa Norris, Benedict Anderson. 3

4 2. Literature Review It could be said that post 9-11 world has awakened individuals to the importance of religion in society and its use as a motivational tool. In the more than six years since this event, nearly all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences have witnessed a deluge of titles on the subject. Although a number of works have focused on political Islam in Algeria, number of titles that document the impact of religion in everyday life are scarce. Therefore, my literature review focuses on one specific area: the influence of religion on morals, social behaviors and political thoughts. 1. In his Hand Book of Moral Behavior and Development, John Sanary focused on the intersection between culture, religion, and spirituality. The article refers to the influence of the faith on the quantitative changes in the constructing and attributing of ultimate meaning that may occur during childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and later life. 6 Sanary mainly tackles Israeli communities and Christians communities. He reaches the result that very few members consider themselves religious in any theistic sense, yet all of the subjects spontaneously discussed topics of implicit religious relevance. Sanary also highlighted the relationship between faith and social status, but found no evidence of significant gender differences. This study tends to use the same approach that Sanary uses, although we are looking specifically at individuals who live in an predonminantly Muslim society. Although Algerians may not profess to be religious, they may speak and practice topics deemed as "religiously relevant." 2. Frederic Volpi in Islam and Democracy: The Failure of Dialogue in Algeria, London; Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2003, discussed the idea of how Algeria suffered from clashes between Islamic and western societies, and how this violence has affected symbols, rituals, ideas and practices of Algerian society. Also, Volpi examined how the conflict affected the character of the political regime. Volpi refers to how political Islam begin to adopted democratic vocabulary, to match with today wave of democratization. Muslim politicians tend to show how Islam is a democratic religion. 6 John Sanary, Faith Development, Moral development, and Non-theistic Judaism: a construct validity study. In Hand Book of Moral Behavior and Development, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Gewrtz,(editors),Lawrence Erlbraum Associates, Publishers Hillsdale, New Jersey pp279 to

5 even the proponents of Islam have increasingly adopted this democratic vocabulary to voice their demands and present the process of Islamicisation 7 Volpi states: The collective choices of the population, particularly in favor of political Islam constrained the type of institutional arrangements and practices that could be introduced consensually in polity. This collective choice contributes in the shaping everyday attitudes between the members of community. 8 Volpi shows the effect of Islam as a religion on the political attitudes of community members but does not show how persons tend to behave or deal with their daily life based on political issues. This study tend to concentrate more on members behaviors when they are in a situation that imposes on them restrictions. For example, the book looks at how politicians deal with those who don't believe in God are unfit for public office. Furthermore, Volpi examines if a country pursues policies harmful to Muslims, 3. Religion, social practice, and contested hegemonies: reconstructing the public sphere in Muslim majority societies, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, This book attempts to touch on the controversial debate surrounding Islam s role in modern public spheres. The contributors to this book focus on issues such as the social construction of Islamic law, the use of visual imagery in constructing modern Muslim subjects, the challenge posed by women s pious organizations to the secular state, the competing discourses of moderate Islamists and suicide bombers, and the role of legal argumentation, including fatwas, in the larger technologies of power in modern Muslim majority societies Values and perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Publics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, In this monograph, Mark Tessler asks the question, "Do Islamic orientations influence attitudes toward democracy in the Arab world?" Tessler mainly concentrates on 7 Frederic Volpi, Islam and Democracy: The Failure of Dialogue in Algeria, London; Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2003,p3.) 8 Volpi, pp 8:9. 9 Armando Salvatore, Mark LeVine ReligionReligionReligion, social practice, and contested hegemonies: reconstructing the public sphere in Muslim majority societies, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,pp 20:211. 5

6 clashes between two ideologies. One side concentrates on western democracy and the other concentrate on the main lessons and rules in Islamic teachings Emotional experience and religious understanding: integrating perception, conception and feeling, published by Cambridge University Press, Mark Wynn. Another report, Religion and the life attitudes and self-images of American adolescents, by Christian Smith and Robert Faris. show that religious U.S. 12th graders have significantly higher self-esteem and hold more positive attitudes on life in general than their less religious peers. 6. Islam between culture and politics, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave in association with The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Bassam Tibi writes about how Islam works as a cultural system, its diversity. In an essay, the "Politicisation of Islam in a globalized world,". Tibi states that political Islam is used as a defensive cultural response to globalization. He argues that Islam is being torn between the pressure for cultural innovation and a defensive move towards the politicization of its symbols for non-religious ends. Tibi proposes that Islam is depoliticized and reformed to embrace secular democracy, pluralism, civil society, and individual human rights. The alternative to this is the impasse of fundamentalism The Model The model is depending on logistic regression with dependent variable that takes on value of 0 or 1, e.g. no or yes. First, use logistic transformation (logit) of probability, log of the odds. This study will depend on the data available from the World Values Survey Data. The dependent variables are belief in: people have a soul(f052), and belief in: hell(f053). The control variable is age (x003r). Independent variables are how often do people attend religious services(nf028), and being a religious person or not (nnf034),how important is God in person's life(f063). π log 1 π = α + β 1 X 1 + β 2 X 2 + β 3 X 3 + β 4 X 4 + β 5 X 5 10 Mark Tessler,Values and perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern publics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Bassam Tibi. Islam between culture and politics, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave,

7 π is the probability of The dependent variables are belief in: people have a soul(f052), and belief in: hell(f053). The control variable is age. X 1 is the how often do people attend religious services(nf028), X 2 is being a religious person or not (nnf034), and X 3 is how important is God in person's life(f063). X 4 is the age (x003r). 4. Data In order to study religion and its effect on personal life attitudes and self-images, I will concentrate on political and socioeconomic forces at work in Algeria and the broader Arab and Islamic spheres in To do this, I will depend on the data available from the World Values Survey ( ) Measurement The key variables in the research are religion and morals, religion and social behavior, and religion and political thought. This study will define the key variables empirically as in the questionnaire. Everyone will be broken down into sub items. This will be the same as of previous research on this topic with one exception. I will examine variables related to society and social interaction and religion in an indirect way. The proposal will depend on qualitative data, as the scale for measurement is a set of unordered categories (being religious or not, gender, social class, job, etc) Nominal scale. Qualitative variables are discrete An Ordinal Scale consists of a collection of ordered categories. There is a clear ordering but the distances between them are unknown. Interval scale: Age (x003r) will be the control variable. Religion will be the independent variable, it is qualitative variable, and its measurement will depend on ordinal and nominal variable, "how often do you attend religious services" (F028) (ordinal qualitative); religious person (F034) (ordinal qualitative); and how important is God in your life? (F063) (ordinal qualitative). 7

8 Political thought indicators: Accepting politicians who don't believe in God are unfit for public office(f102) (ordinal qualitative) Believing only in laws of the Shari a (F111) (ordinal qualitative) 4.2. Data-collection Methods This study will use survey data that conducted by the World Values Survey about personal values in Algeria in The sample was designed to be representative of the entire adult population, i.e. 18 years and older Analysis The recent global religious revival could be measured in terms of its social implication and how it could affect people and society in terms of their manners relating to eating, marriage, earning a living, and friendship, among other practices. The phenomenon of religion and its affect on attitudes and identity can be measured by a degree of "religiosity," and how religion could affect personal and life attitudes in Algeria. I will concentrate on personal attitudes and perceptions as a dependent (response) variable. Their dynamics are measured by the personal religious attitudes, religious affiliation and practice, moral and religious beliefs, religious services, the impact of religious institutions, education and culture. 5. Estimates and Empirical Findings Religion plays a specific role shaping the popular morals, their social behavior and political thought in Algeria my analysis of the influence of religion, I have come up with the following hypotheses related to my research: 1) There will be relationship between Religion and personal morals(belief in: people have a soul(f052),and Belief in: hell(f053) 2. There will be relationship between Religion and social behavior (Justifiable: cheating on taxes(f116),justifiable: someone accepting a bribe(f117),justifiable: drinking alcohol(f124) 3. There will be relationship between Religion and political thought. 8

9 Control Variables: In looking at the relationships between the control variable, which include age, and personal morals, the relationship between age in a) justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), b) Justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124), and c) choosing non-religious leaders, the difference between the observed and expected frequencies are not statistically significant. If we use significance level p-values are greater than 0.05, thus we can not reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between age and adapting certain moral principle, there is no relationship between age between age in a) justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), b) Justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124), and c) choosing non-religious leaders. We cannot accept the alternative hypothesis (Ha), that there is relationship between age on one hand and the aforementioned mental principles (See Appendix 1, Table2). When looking at the relationships between the control variable, age, with Justifying cheating on taxes(nf116), and believing only in laws of the Shari a (F111) on the other hand, the difference between the observed and expected frequencies are only statistically significant for Justifying cheating on taxes (Wilks' lambda= 0.99 and F-test equals 4.26 for the relationship between age and Justifying cheating on taxes, and Wilks' lambda= 0.99and F-test equals 3.35 for the relationship between age). If we use significance level 0.05, p<α, therefore we reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between age, and accept certain social behavior, such as Justifying cheating on taxes (nf116), and believing only in laws of the Shari a(f111). We cannot accept the alternative hypothesis (Ha): there is no relationship between age one hand and adapting certain social behavior such Justifying cheating on taxes (nf116), and believing only in laws of the Shari a(f111) on the other hand (See Appendix 1, Table 1,2). Personal Morals: We examined the relationship between the frequency that people attend religious services as an indicator for being a religious person (nf028), as well asa belief in whether people have a soul(f052), and believe in hell(f053). The difference between the observed and expected frequencies are statistically significant (Wilkes' lambda= 1 and F test equals 6.15 for the relation between attending religious services belief in: people have a soul(f052), and F-test equals

10 for the relation between attending religious services and belief in hell(f053). If we use a significance level 0 of.05, p-value < α equals 0.013, in case of the relationship between how the frequency that people attend religious services and belief that people have a soul(f052). The p- value for this value is In the case of a relationship between how often people attend religious services, and a belief in hell (F053). Thus, the p-values in both cases are less than We can the reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between the frequency that people attend religious services and adopt the moral principle listed below. We conclude that there is a relationship between how often people attend religious services and beliefs in souls and hell. (See Appendix 1, Table 3,4). When looking at the relationship between the degree that people see themselves as ridiculous and beliefs in souls and hell, the difference between the observed and expected frequencies is not statistically significant (Wilks' lambda= 1 and F test equals 1.54 for belief in: people have a soul(f052), and F-test equals 0.20 belief in: hell(f053), ). If we use a significance level p is less than 0.05, p-value < α equals 0.21; in the case of the relationship between how often do people attend religious services and belief in a soul(f052), the p-value is then Thus, we can not reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between how thinking about themselves as a religious persons or not and adapting certain moral principle such belief in: people have a soul(f052),and belief in hell(f053). (See Appendix 1, Table 2). When examining the relationship between the importance of God in personal life(nf063), and belief in whether people have a soul (F052),and hell(f053), the difference between the observed and expected frequencies are statistically significant (Wilks' lambda= 0.95 and F test equals for belief in: people have a soul(f052), and Wilks' lambda=0.97 and F-test equals belief in: hell(f053), ). If we use significance level 0.05, p-value < α equals 0.00 for relationships between how important is God in person life(nf063), and belief in: people have a soul(f052),and Belief in: hell(f053). Thus, we can reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between how important is God in personal life(nf063), and belief in whether people have a soul(f052), and believe in hell(f053). There is a statistically significant relationship between the importance of God in person life(nf063), and belief in a soul and hell. (See Appendix 1, Table2). 10

11 Social behavior Now we will examine the relationships between the dependent variables and each of the independent variables between religion and social behavior, which are embodied in "Justifying cheating on taxes(nf116);" and "Justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117);" and Justifying: drinking alcohol;(nf124). I examined the relationship between the frequency that people attend religious services as an indicator for being a religious person, and cheating on taxes (nf116), and Justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), and Justifying drinking alcohol(nf124). Taking a significance level of.05, the gamma statistic equals for the relationship between the frequency that people attend religious services, and cheating on taxes (nf116). The gamma statistic equals for the relationship between the frequency that people attend religions and "justifying: someone accepting a bribe" (nf117). The gamma statistic equals for the relationship between how often people attend religious services and Justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124) equals For the relationship between how often do people attend religious services and cheat on taxes (nf116), the asymptotic standard error (ASE = 0.055) is small relative to gamma's values and P<0.05. For the relationship between religious services and bribery,the asymptotic standard error (ASE = 0.074) is small relative to gamma's values and P< For the relationship between how religious services and drinking alcohol(nf124), the asymptotic standard error (ASE = 0.050) is small relative to gamma's values and P<0.05. Thus, the gamma statistic indicate a modest negative association between the relationships between the dependent variables and each of the independent variables between religion and social behavior. The asymptotic standard errors are small relative to gamma's values and P< Based on Gamma's value and its P-value, we conclude that there is a relationships between the dependent variables and each of the independent variables between religion and social behavior (See Appendix 1, Table 2). Regarding the relationships between whether people consider themselves as religious person or not as indicator for being a religious person, and social behavior which are "justifying cheating on taxes" (nf116), "Justifying: someone accepting a bribe" (nf117), and "justifying drinking alcohol" (nf124), the difference between the observed and expected frequencies are statistically significant (Wilks' lambda= 0.97 and F test equals for the relationships between whether people consider themselves as religious person or and Justifying cheating on taxes(nf116), Wilks' lambda equals 0.98, F-test equals for the relationships between whether people 11

12 consider themselves as religious person or not and Justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), and Wilks' lambda equals 0.95 F-test equals for the relationships between whether people consider themselves as religious person or not and justify drinking alcohol(nf124). If we use significance level 0.05, p-value < α equals 0.00 in the three cases at the relationships between the dependent variables and each of the independent variables between religion and social behavior. Thus, we can reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between the dependent variables and religion and social behavior There is a statistically significant relationship between the dependent variables and each of the independent variables between religion and social behavior (See Appendix 1, Table 3,4). Relating to the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God as an indicator for being a religious person, and cheating on taxes(nf116), and Justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), and Justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124): Taking a level of significance equals.05, the gamma statistic equals for the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and cheating on taxes (nf116), the gamma statistic equals for the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and Justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), gamma statistic equals for the relationship between and justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124) equals For the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God and cheating on taxes (nf116), the asymptotic standard error ASE = is small relative to gamma's values and P<0.05. For the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), the asymptotic standard error (ASE = 0.142) is small relative to gamma's values and P< For the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God and justifying: drinking alcohol(nf124) the asymptotic standard error (ASE = 0.142) is small relative to gamma's values and P<0.05. thus, the gamma statistic indicates negative association between religion and social behavior. The asymptotic standard errors are small, relative to gamma's values and P< Based on Gamma's value and its P- value, we conclude that there is a relationship between people believe in the importance of God, and social behavior (See Appendix 1, Table 2). Political thoughts For this factor, we examined the relationships between people's thoughts on the degree of their religiosity and political thought. These are embodied in believing that politicians who don't 12

13 believe in God are unfit for public office(f102), and believing only in laws of the Shari a (F111). The difference between the observed and expected frequencies are statistically significant (Wilks' lambda= 0.98, and the F test equals 5.60 for the relationships between whether people consider themselves as religious person or not and the belief that politicians who don't believe in God are unfit for public office(f102), Wilks' lambda equals 0.98, the F-test equals 6.57 for the relationships between whether people consider themselves as religious person or not and believing only in laws of the Shari a(f111). If we use a significance level 0.05, p-value < α equals 0.00 in the two cases at the relation between people thoughts about themselves whether they are religious or not and political thought..thus, we can reject the null hypnosis that there is no relationship between people thoughts about themselves whether they are religious or not and political thought We accept the alternative hypothesis that there is a relationship between people's self-professed religiosity and political thought (See Appendix 1, Table2). We will now return to the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God as an indicator for being a religious person, and political thought. Taking a significance level of.05,the gamma statistic equals for the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and accepting politicians who don't believe in God are unfit for public office(f102). The gamma statistic equals for the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and believing only in laws of the Shari a (F111). For the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God and refusing politicians who don't believe in God are unfit for public office(f102), the asymptotic standard error ASE = is small relative to gamma's values and P<0.05. For the relationship between how people believe in the importance of God, and believing only in laws of the Shari a(f111), the gamma statistic indicates a positive association between religion and religion in political thought. Based on Gamma's value and its P-value, we conclude that there is a relationships between people believe in the importance of God, and a religious outlook on political thought (See Appendix1,Table2). Multiple Logistic Regression shows that the odds of a belief in: people have a soul are 1.54 higher for those who often attend religious services. It also shows the odds of a belief in whether people have a soul are higher for those who believe in the importance of God (nf063) (See 13

14 Appendix 2, Test 1). The Pseudo R2 measure of association is appropriate in this particular case. Pseudo R 2 equals 0.23 indicate a modest association between the variation belief in: people have a soul and variation of how often do people attend religious services and variation of believe in the importance of God. The study also indicate that changing of how often do people attend religious services by one will make marginal change in belief in: people have a soul by.001. The study also indicates that changing of believe in the importance of God by one will make marginal change in belief in: people have a soul by.005 (See Appendix 2). Multiple Logistic Regression shows that the odds of a belief in: hell(f053), are 1.40 higher for those who often attend religious services and.it also shows the odds of a belief in: people have a soul are 4.39 higher for those who believe in the importance of God (nf063) (See Appendix 2, Test 2). The Pseudo R 2 measure of association is appropriate in this particular case. Pseudo R 2 equals indicate a weak or marginal association between the variation belief in: people have a soul and the variation of how important is God in personal life. The study also indicates that changing of how often people attend religious services by one will make marginal change in belief in: hell by.003. It also indicates that changing of believe in the importance of God by one will make marginal change in belief in: hell by.01. (See Appendix 2). 6. Conclusion and policy options Religion plays any important role in forming people morals, social behaviors, and political thought in Algeria as among those from different ages. Religion can affect personal believe about their morality and could also push people to refuse or to accept certain social behavior like Justifying cheating on taxes(nf116),and justifying: someone accepting a bribe(nf117), and justifying drinking alcohol(nf124). Religion could also affect also people's political outlook. For example, religious individuals may not support politicians who don't believe in God, and may believe only in the laws of the Shari a(f111). Thus, dealing with religion in Algeria must be done in a very careful way as it affects all aspects of people life. The Algerian state and civil society must care acknowledge the important role that religion plays in society. As our research shows, religion codifies much of the moral, social, and political traditions and customs. Hence, they can not ignore the religion if they want to achieve any kind of improvement in peoples 14

15 morals, social behavior, political thought. They must deal with religion first and with religious leaders who deliver the ideas to the public first John P. Entelis, Philip C. Naylor, State and Society in Algeria, Westview Press,

16 7. References 1. Armando Salvatore, Mark LeVine Religion, social practice, and contested hegemonies: reconstructing the public sphere in Muslim majority societies, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,pp 20: Hofstede, Geart H, Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival, McGraw- Hill, Bassam Tibi. Islam between culture and politics, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave, Frederic Volpi, Islam and Democracy: The Failure of Dialogue in Algeria, London; Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, John Kiser,The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria,, John P. Entelis, Philip C. Naylor, State and Society in Algeria, Westview Press, John Sanary, "Faith Development, Moral development, and Non-theistic Judaism: a construct validity study." In Hand Book of Moral Behavior and Development, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Gewrtz,(editors),Lawrence Erlbraum Associates, Publishers Hillsdale, New Jersey Rick Tessler,Values and perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Publics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan,

17 Appendix 1: Tables Table 1: Descriptive Statistics Variable Observations Mean Standard Deviation Min Max x003r nf nnf nf f f nf nf nf nf nf

18 Data sources: 2002 data from the World Values Survey : 18

19 Table 2: Relationships Tests Between Various Forms of Independent Variables and Dependent Variable Variables Observations lambda F -Statistic gamma P-value X003r /f X003r/ f nf028 /f nf028/ f nnf034/ f nnf034/ f nf063/ f nf063/ f X003r/ nf X003r/ nf X003r/ nf nf028/ nf116 1, nf028/ nf nf028/ nf nnf034/ nf116 nnf034/ nf117 nnf034/ nf124 nf063/ nf nf063/nf nf063/ nf x003r/ nf x003r/ nf nf028/ nf nf028/ nf nnf034/ nf102 nnf /nf111 nf063/ nf nf063/ nf Note: Estimates are significant at the 5% level Data sources: 2002 data from the World Values Survey: 19

20 20

21 Appendix2. logistic regression Model Tests Table 1, Probit Estimates, Odds Ratio, Dependent Variable in Model 1 is Belief in: People have a Soul- Yes or No-, and in Model 2 is a Belief in: Hell Yes or No Model 1 Model 2 how often do you attend religious services (2.03) (2.61) religious person (0.36) (-0.38) nf (4.52) (3.99) Age N (-0.65) (-0.89) Pseudo R Note: Between Prentices is z Value 21

22 Table 2, Probit Estimates, Marginal Effects, Dependent Variable in Model 1 is Belief in: People have a Soul- Yes or No-, and in Model 2 is a Belief in: Hell Yes or No Model 1 Model 2 how often do you attend religious services (2.14) (3.03) religious person (0.36) (-0.38) nf (1.71) (2.69) Age N (-0.64) (-0.89) Pseudo R Note: Between Prentices is z Value 22

23 Appendix3. Figures Histograms of Variables *1-"Belief in: people have a soul" Belief in: people have a soul by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W 23

24 Belief in: people have a soul by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person Belief in: people have a soul Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important 24

25 Belief in: people have a soul by Age years years 50 and more years *2- "Belief in: hell" Belief in: hell by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W 25

26 Belief in: hell by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person Belief in: hell Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important 26

27 Belief in: hell by Age years years 50 and more years *B."Religion and Social Behavior indicators" nf124 *1- Justifiable: cheating on taxes 27

28 Justifying cheating on taxes by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W Justifying cheating on taxes by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person 28

29 Justifying cheating on taxes Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important Justifying cheating on taxes by Age years years 50 and more years *2.Justifying someone accepting a bribe 29

30 Justifying someone accepting a bribe by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W 30

31 Justifying someone accepting a bribe by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person Justifying someone accepting a bribe Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important 31

32 Justifying someone accepting a bribe by Age years years 50 and more years *3."Justifying drinking alcohol" Justifying drinking alcohol by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W 32

33 JJustifying drinking alcohol by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person Justifying someone accepting a bribe Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important 33

34 Justifying drinking alcohol by Age years years 50 and more years *"Relgion and Political thought" * 1-"Accepting politicians who don't believe in God are unfit for public office" 34

35 JAccepting politicians who don't believe in god are unfit for public office by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W JAccepting politicians who don't believe in god are unfit for public office by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person 35

36 Accepting politicians who don't believe in god are unfit for public office Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important Accepting politicians who don't believe in god are unfit for public office by Age years years 50 and more years 36

37 Believing only in laws of the Shari a by Attending Religious services never less often 1 a year spe days 1 a month 1 a week more1 W Believing only in laws of the Shari a by being a Religious person not a religious person and a convinced atheist a religious person 37

38 Believing only in laws of the Shari a Be How important is God in person's life not imporatnt moderate important very important Believing only in laws of the Shari a by Age years years 50 and more years 38