Religion
The majority of residents are Roman Catholic, but there are Jewish and Protestants as well (mostly in Argentina and Chile). Religions include Islam, Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, Buddhism and Dao. Jewish communities have thrived in Argentina and Uruguay. A large proportion of the Argentine Jewish community emigrated to Israel in the aftermath of the Argentine economic crisis at the beginning of the 21st century.
While the Southern Cone has been conservative in some aspects of religion, it has had a tradition of social reform. Uruguay, where agnosticism and atheism is common, has a strong church and state separation policy. It is one of the most secular countries in the Americas. Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, in that order, are the least religious countries in South America. According to a Gallup poll, 51% of Uruguayans, 56% of Argentines, and 60% of Chileans think of religion as something important in their lives, contrasting with the higher values given by the residents of countries such as Brazil (87%), Bolivia (89%) and Paraguay (92%). The following percentages of residents in Uruguay (69%), Argentina (58%) and Chile (52%) think their countries are good places for gay or lesbian people to live. By contrast, lower percentages in the following countries agree with this: Bolivia (24%), Ecuador (31%) and Peru (32%).
Read more about this topic: Southern Cone
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“This is one of the paradoxes of the democratic movement—that it loves a crowd and fears the individuals who compose it—that the religion of humanity should have no faith in human beings.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“Religion is an attempt to get an irrefragably safe investment, and this cannot be got, no matter how low the interest, which in the case of religion is about as low as it can be.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Those to whom God has imparted religion by feeling of the heart are very fortunate and are rightly convinced. But to those who do not have it, we can give it only by reasoning, waiting for God to give it by feeling of the heart—without which faith is only human and useless for salvation.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)