Religion
Main article: Religion in SingaporeSingapore generally allows religious freedom, although some religious sects are restricted or banned, such as Jehovah's Witness, due to its opposition of National Service. The majority of Malays are Muslim, the plurality of Chinese practise Buddhism and syncretic Chinese folk traditions. Christianity is growing among the Chinese, having overtaken Taoism as second most important religion among this ethnic group. Indians are mostly Hindus though many others are Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians. People who practice no religion form the third largest group in Singapore.
| Religion | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhism | 27.0 | 31.2 | 42.5 | 33.3 |
| Christianity | 10.1 | 12.7 | 14.6 | 18.3 |
| No religion | 13.0 | 14.1 | 14.8 | 17.0 |
| Islam | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 |
| Taoism/Chinese traditional beliefs | 30.0 | 22.4 | 8.5 | 10.9 |
| Hinduism | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.1 |
| Other religions | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
Religions of the main ethnic groups (2000):
Source: Census 2000.
Read more about this topic: Demographics Of Singapore
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Religion is a great force: the only real motive force in the world; but what you fellows don’t understand is that you must get at a man through his own religion and not through yours.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“You sir, will bring down that renowned chair in which you sit into infamy if your seal is set to this instrument of perfidy; and the name of this nation, hitherto the sweet omen of religion and liberty, will stink to the world.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I read ... an article by a highly educated man wherein he told with what conscientious pains he had brought up all his children to be skeptical of everything, never to believe anything in life or religion or their own feelings without submitting it to many rational doubts, to have a persistent, thoroughly skeptical, doubting attitude toward everything.... I think he might as well have taken them out in the backyard and killed them with an ax.”
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985)