THE SPIRIT OF THE NORTH:

Americans are religious, we're spiritual (Bob Harvey, December 04, 2002, The Ottawa Citizen)

What makes Canadians different from Americans is spirituality. We are more spiritual. They are more religious.

At least that is what Canadians told Dr. Harold Koenig, a leading American researcher on religion's positive effect on health, at an Ottawa conference this week. [...]

"Clinically, I never use the word religion," said Dr. Marilyn Baetz, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan. "I use spirituality and let the patient define what that means to him or her."

Dr. Baetz examined data on 1,200 psychiatrists and more than 150 patients who were among the 75,000 Canadians surveyed during the 1998-99 National Population Health Survey and found that most described themselves as spiritual, and some as both spiritual and religious. "Very few described themselves simply as religious," she said. [...]

Dr. Baetz said those who told the National Population Survey they considered themselves very spiritual also reported higher levels of depression, a result that is contrary to U.S. studies that report lower levels of depression among those who regularly attend worship services. She says it is "an odd finding" and might be accounted for by those with higher levels of depression turning to spirituality for help.

It goes (nearly) without saying, that religion is universal while the spiritual is merely personal. This seems a pretty accurate reflection of the character of the two nations, with Americans being more social and communitarian, while Canadians, like the Europeans, have largely become atomized wards of their government. No wonder they're depressed. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2002 2:29 PM