Is There a European Bible Belt?

[Kuciwalker]

I'd bet that there are strong ties between those conditions and geography as well. It could be that some crops are more prone to one model than the other, for instance.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Heresson
Do You (want to) work 7 days a week?

What a dumb argument. People who work on the weekends don't work 7 days a week. When I worked on Sundays and Saturdays I didn't. I got some other days off during the week.

Can you actually try and make a decent argument?

[Heresson]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


What a dumb argument. People who work on the weekends don't work 7 days a week. When I worked on Sundays and Saturdays I didn't. I got some other days off during the week.

Can you actually try and make a decent argument?

If there's no rule You have to work 7 days a week, and You can chose a day or two during which You don't have to work, why should someone break his religious tradition?

---------

I've made a map of Poland. Religiousness and political sympathies are connected at least here, and there are some long- lasting trends in political sympathies of the regions.
Last time, however, a strange situation took place: as left wing won elections everywhere, and later there was great disappointment with its rules, provincional elections were won by it only in Krakow and Rzeszow of provincional capitals, and these are the bastions of the right wing.

[Imran Siddiqui]

If there's no rule You have to work 7 days a week, and You can chose a day or two during which You don't have to work, why should someone break his religious tradition?

Um... he doesn't have to. That's why you pick Sunday or Saturday as a day you can't work. I don't think any business in Europe, except Church related, has an entire workforce of strong religious believers (and Hell, the Church works on Sundays! ).

Besides Protestants believe that when you perform work, God is working through you, and therefore you are performing God's work. Working on Sundays, therefore, means you are doing God's work on God's day.

Lastly, basing business decisions on religion is silly because not everyone shares your faith and you'd lose business, such as mine. I prefer not to eat at those establishments that close at such inconvenient times .

[Kuciwalker]

I generally don't eat at those establishments because they're closed. Not out of dislike for them.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I know Kuci, but they do lose a chunk of change. I'm just different and my subtle protest is refusing to eat at those restaurants at all .

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
Another good question is whether there is a non-bible belt area in the mideast.

certain neighborhoods in North Tel Aviv, IIUC. Used to be able to point to certain ultra lefty kibbutzim, but theyre not doing so well.

[DanS]

Restaurants, bars and the like are open. Just don't expect to go shopping for clothes or go to the supermarket or something on Sunday.

In the States, Sunday evening is one of the busiest times at the supermarket, especially in the suburbs, where everybody lives. Liquor stores seem to close early on Sunday evening in DC, however.

[boann]

i think you guys are forgetting the huge muslim population these days in europe.. esp UK.
are you just including christianity in your map?

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I know Kuci, but they do lose a chunk of change. I'm just different and my subtle protest is refusing to eat at those restaurants at all .

I have tremendous respect for businesses that choose to close on Sundays (or Saturdays, or whatever) out of religious conviction despite the fact that they loose lots of money on that day. I didn't know that Chic-Fil-A did that. I've never been to one, but there are a few in my area, I think I'll have to finally stop in sometime.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by boann
i think you guys are forgetting the huge muslim population these days in europe.. esp UK.
are you just including christianity in your map?

Is it really huge, in absolute numbers, or is it just rapidly growing? That is my impression. Its small, but growing quickly, and because of obvious terrorist fears, and because the immigrant population is in some cases quite vocal, it is getting a big amount of play in the media and such.

Is the percentage really that big overall?

[Saras]

Estonia in the bible belt

[Chemical Ollie]

What is Finland doing in that map at all?

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Then they can have someone else be manager on the weekend. That's how it works in the US.

xpost

Ah there lies the big difference I guess.

If my understandings of how commerce is organized in North America is correct, you guys buy about all your stuff in large shops, malls, supermarkets etc. Large enterprises. Eg when my parents went to Canada, they apparently encountered only a single small-scale baker. Here in Europe retail is much more small-scaled businesses. Every village their own baker and butcher etc. Those are family businesses, with perhaps one or two assistants. They can't afford to hire someone else to keep the shop open while they rest. So those labour laws are a form of protection for the small-scale enterprises against the large-scale enterprises, who could pay people to work in the weekends and thus would outcompete the small ones.

[boann]

Originally posted by OzzyKP


Is it really huge, in absolute numbers, or is it just rapidly growing? That is my impression. Its small, but growing quickly, and because of obvious terrorist fears, and because the immigrant population is in some cases quite vocal, it is getting a big amount of play in the media and such.

Is the percentage really that big overall?

Figures compiled from government and academic sources show that 930,000 Muslims attend a place of worship at least once a week, compared with 916,000 Anglicans.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-976226,00.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1064634/posts