FROM: The Calgary Herald Church avoidance tied to gay tolerance Bob Harvey CanWest News Service Saturday, April 17, 2004 Canadians are more accepting of homosexuality because they spend less time in church than Americans, says well-known Canadian sociologist Reg Bibby. In a paper slated for presentation at the Pacific Sociological Association conference in San Francisco today, the University of Lethbridge sociologist of religion said the higher level of acceptance of homosexuality in Canada reflects our lower exposure to church teachings. Bibby said same-sex issues will not be easily resolved in either country, but polls indicate Canadians have been more accepting of homosexuality since the 1970s. Recent surveys by Ipsos-Reid in Canada and Gallup in the U.S. found 47 per cent of Canadians are in favour of same-sex marriage while only 36 per cent of Americans accept it. He said while Canada celebrates the "virtues of harmonious diversity" in virtually all aspects of life, U.S. President George W. Bush "continues to echo early American leaders' conviction their country was founded by God to give leadership to the world . . . In America, there is an unmistakable emphasis on what is 'true' and what is 'best'." Debates over issues such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage focus on individual liberty in the U.S., while in Canada, they focus on equality, he said. But these cultural and historical differences do not explain why, by 2000, only 32 per cent of Canadians said same-sex relations were always wrong, as compared to 59 per cent of Americans, said Bibby. He has been surveying Canadian opinions every five years since 1975, and said the best explanation is Canadians attend different churches and spend less time at church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says scripture presents "homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity" and historically, Christian groups have denounced homosexuality. So it is no surprise a major source of opposition to same-sex marriage in both countries has been Christian groups, particularly Catholics and evangelicals, said Bibby. Almost 50 per cent of Canadians and about 25 per cent of Americans are Catholic, and just under 10 per cent of Canadians and 30 per cent of Americans are evangelicals. But Bibby said that while those Catholics and evangelicals who regularly attend church in the U.S. and Canada hold similar opinions, the number of Canada's highly committed Catholics is shrinking, particularly in Quebec, and the U.S. has an "evangelical giant" compared to the "petite presence" of Canadian evangelicals. Canadian women have also made a significant contribution to the difference between Canadian and American attitudes. While 53 per cent of Canadian women and 36 per cent of Canadian men agree homosexual relations are "not wrong at all," there are no significant gender differences in the U.S., where 59 per cent say same-sex relations are "always wrong." © The Calgary Herald 2004 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢ http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash