ONE THIRD OF FRENCH BELIEVE IN MIRACLES: POLL

PARIS August 8, 2006 (AFP) - PARIS, Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) - More than a third of French people believe in miracles, according to a poll to appear on Thursday, just days before a major annual pilgrimage to the Lourdes sanctuary in southwestern France.

Thirty-five percent of respondents to the poll, carried out by TNS-Sofres for the French Roman Catholic magazine The Pilgrim, said they believed in miracles, though they used different definitions for the word.

Don't be alarmed. Only 8% think these wondous events from the hand of God. The rational majority of French miracle-wishers don't credit the agency of God. Mon Dieu ! No, miracles are a sort of coming out on top of low percentage plays. For example, winning at the track after spending the afternoon standing on your lucky betting foot. Or meeting your one true love after following the advice in a fortune cookie.

The operations of the universe get along quite nicely in France without some unelected supernational supernaturalist bestowing graces on someone other than a deserving French person.

Not surprisingly the French have also abandoned France's ancient title, Gallia Ecclesiæ Primogenita Filia.

FRANCE IS NO LONGER CATHOLIC, SURVEY SHOWS

January 10, 2007 (CWNews) - France should no longer be considered a Catholic country, according to a survey published by Le Monde des Religions.

The survey showed a steep decline in the number of French people identifying themselves as Catholics: from 80% just 15 years ago to just over one-half-- 51%-- today. Over the same period the number of professed atheists rose from 23 to 31%.

Among the respondents who did identify themselves as Catholics, only 10% attend church services regularly, the poll showed. More remarkable, only half of the self-identified Catholics say that they believe in God. Some respondents indicated that for them, Catholicism involves a social or cultural identity rather than a religious commitment.

Dubeity and the silence of God are traditional features in a Catholic spiritual progress. But French Catholics do not appear to be suffering the long dark night of the soul. They appear to have reinvented themselves as Episcopalians, an issues-based religion that holds multicultural tea parties and mixers.

“Catholicism will remain the most important religion,” said Frederic Lenoir, the editor of the survey in Le Monde des Religions, citing the fact that the Catholic Church still claims many more adherents than any other faith. However, he said, “In its institutions and in its mentality, France is no longer a Catholic country.”

[Hat tip: Carine]

It is simply not possible to have a Catholic mentality without God. A Catholic mentality begins with a disposition to God, either in or out of one's life. If God is not in the mix, then -- whatever you are -- you are not Catholic. The French are brave enough to walk away from the obligations of belief, but not honest enough to do without the comforts and support of the Church.

PFFT (What is this?): Strong belief in the rational operations of luck 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Of course they believe in miracles, they certainly don't expect to have to work to accomplish anything.

Bonjour ,

On devrait calculer combien de temps un Yanks travaille dans son année pour financer l'expédition coloniale du ci-devant Bush en Irak ….

Far less time than Frenchies had to work to support the eight year war in Algeria.

Bonjour,

@Paul

Bonjour ,

La guerre d'Algérie ?
C' était l' époque où les voyous yankees dénonçaient notre politique "coloniale" en Algérie à l' ONU.
Et tout ceci après la TRAHISON de nos troupes au combat en 1956 à Suez.
Eh , bien libre aux Yanks de mener en 2007 des expéditions coloniales , mais qu'ils n'aient pas l'impudence de nous demander , nous la France , de les soutenir.
Ce dernier point étant la source affichée du ressentiment de "Pave" à l'endroit de notre Patrie , la France …
Il faut savoir choisir entre ses c…. et son suspensoir comme on dit chez nous.