Kelowna one of the most godless places in the world

[Glacier]

This is not a religious debate about who is right or wrong.

Now that we've got that out of the way, it is interesting how Kelowna has one of the highest percentage of people with no religious affiliation in Canada.

If we sort by city (Metro areas), 42.8% of people in Kelowna have no religious affiliation. There are no cities outside of BC (besides Whitehorse and Canmore) with a higher percentage.

If we sort by Federal riding, all four Okanagan ridings are near the top (45.3% for the North Okanagan - Shuswap, 44.5% for the South Okanagan - West Kootenay, 43.0% for Kelowna--Lake Country, and 42.4% for Central Okanagan--Similkameen--Nicola). Of the 338 ridings in Canada minus the 42 in BC, only the Yukon riding is higher than three of them while Calgary Centre is 0.1% higher than the Central Okanagan--Similkameen--Nicola riding.

These numbers are not only one of the highest in Canada, but also the world. There are only 9 countries in the world with higher percentages of people than Kelowna without religious affiliation. Only the Czech Republic, North Korea, Estonia(Baltic states), Japan, Hong Kong, China, Eastern Asia, South Korea, and Latvia are higher.


There are both 11 cities and 11 ridings in Canada with more than 50% of the population has no religious affiliation. All of them are in BC or the Yukon.

Cities:

Campbell River................54.9%
Squamish......................54.9%
Port Alberni..................54%
Quesnel.......................53.4%
Nanaimo.......................53.1%
Courtenay.....................52.6%
Fort St. John.................52.2%
Whitehorse....................51.5%
Victoria......................51.2%
Powell River..................51%
Dawson Creek..................50.9%

Ridings:

Vancouver East....................................55.1%
Vancouver Island North--Comox--Powell River.......54.1%
Victoria..........................................53.9%
Nanaimo--Ladysmith................................53%
Saanich--Esquimalt--Juan de Fuca..................52.6%
Courtenay--Alberni................................51.9%
Vancouver Granville...............................51.6%
Vancouver Centre..................................51.4%
Cowichan--Malahat--Langford.......................51.1%
Prince George--Peace River--Northern Rockies......51.1%
Vancouver Quadra..................................50.5%

[Gixxer]

Perfect lets keep it that way.

[GordonH]

Interesting since every time I pass many of the larger churches of a Sunday morning the parking lots appear to be overflowing.

[Joe Public]

Progress takes time.

Perhaps in another 100 years, we will have achieved the goal of 100% of the people with no religious affiliation.

Religion as a method to control the population became outdated and useless when the concept of countries were invented to lead and control the populace. Much like politicians, now it's just power hungry individuals trying desperately to hold on to their positions.

Evolution is a good thing.

[Glacier]

Interesting since every time I pass many of the larger churches of a Sunday morning the parking lots appear to be overflowing.

Religious affiliation is quite limited because it doesn't differentiate between practising and non-practising Christians/Jews/etc, which is why the title of this thread is tongue-in-cheek. For many Christians, especially in a country like Sweden they are "cultural Christians" who enjoy the cultural aspects of Christianity, but don't actually practice or believe in the spiritual side of Christianity.

Even though Kelowna is quite high by Canadian or world standards in terms of no religion, it still has one of the highest percentages of Christian populations in BC. Only Cranbrook, Chilliwack, Parksville, and Prince Rupert are higher. Besides the above and Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Penticton, and Vernon are the only cities in BC with majority Christian populations. All others of at least 10,000 (Kamloops, Williams Lake, Terrace, PG, etc) are below 50%. Squamish is the only city below 40%.

A friend of mine from Newfoundland says that growing up there would be maybe two people in the entire town that weren't on church sunday. Not surprisingly, some ridings and cities in Newfoundland are up to 97% Christian today. Back then it was higher, and people who didn't show up at church would get the stink eye the next day.

"No religious affiliation" is one of the fastest growing groups in the world, but it is not the fastest by a long shot. Even in Canada Islam is the fastest growing religious group, and has been for 30 years. Globally, Islam has been the fastest growing religion ever since its inception in the 6th century.

This is called evolution, which according to Joe Public is a good thing. Allahu akbar!

[kcarmody]

I find it surprising because I read a different statistic elsewhere which showed Kelowna as having the most churches per capita in Canada. It seems more churches doesn't necessarily correlate with more religious affiliation. Anyway, having a less religious city is encouraging! I hope it's a nationwide trend.

Edit: Wording

[Glacier]

I highly doubt Kelowna has the most churches per capita. Sounds like a lie from progressive left to me. Beaver Creek, Yukon has 1 church and 100 people. That's 1 church for every 100 people for those of you who aren't good at math. Does Kelowna have more than 1,000 churches?

I've put up a poll for you folks just to see how Castanet varies from the general public.

[Silverstarqueen]

I wonder how you would define "religious"? Religious like the priests who said Mass but were abusing children? Religious like the extremists who declare war in the name of God? You certainly can't tell by who goes to church, since a lot of those who call themselves Christian, certain don't act like Christians. so I'm always pretty skeptical when someone says they are religious, at least until I know them really well, because a lot of them just appear to be religious.

[kcarmody]

I highly doubt Kelowna has the most churches per capita. Sounds like a lie from progressive left to me. Beaver Creek, Yukon has 1 church and 100 people. That's 1 church for every 100 people for those of you who aren't good at math. Does Kelowna have more than 1,000 churches?

Maybe not--the study may have just been considering cities with populations larger than X though. I'll see if I can dig it up. Thanks for the poll!

[oko11]

If money is the root of all evil.....

why do churches beg for it?

[rookie314]

Love the ignorance on this thread. Its amazing how many people have no idea what a church is, what they teach, how they operate and the good they do for this town. WWJD.

[Glacier]

If money is the root of all evil.....

why do churches beg for it?

We are going WAY off topic here. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Back on topic, does anyone notice how some of the most conservative areas of Canada are also the least religious (Prince George, Quesnel, Fort St. John, etc.) while the most Christian areas are quite liberal (Newfoundland, PEI). Goes to show that religion and politics are not as closely aligned as the progressive left thinks they are.

[zerograv]

flooring store and a church on every corner!

[Dented]

Don't believe in God region is here for control of humanity a re-written book from the Egyptians and the Sun...

[nextimeround]

Interesting report. I would have thought the opposite true. The Okanagan has always come across as a Christian strong hold to me. Who would have thought?