Attitudes toward religious pluralism

This indicator provides an observation of attitudes towards various opinions surrounding the co-existence of different religions. Reluctance towards different funerary practices or a lack of knowledge about religious pluralism can lead to isolation and even to the segregation of religious groups or communities.

Regardless of their migration status, more than 70% of people residing permanently in Switzerland are of the opinion that all religious or spiritual communities should be allowed to practice their own funerary rites. However, it was observed that the percentage of persons open to the practising of these rites is significantly lower in the population without a migration background than in the population with a migration background (71% compared with 75%). There is no significant difference between the 1^st and 2^nd generations of arrival and above.

17% of the population is not keen on the idea of people being able to practise these rites. This unwillingness is significantly higher in the population without a migration background than in the population with a migration background (20% compared with 12%), regardless of the generation to which they belong.

People with a migration background are more likely to hold no opinion (14%) than those with no migration background (8%). However, the confidence intervals make it impossible to establish a statistically significant difference between generations of arrival.

Overall, the share of the population in favour of all religious or spiritual communities being allowed to practise their funeral rites increased from 70% to 73%. An increase in the share of undecideds and a decrease in the share of opposites can be observed in almost all groups that are distinguished by migration status.

In the population without a migration background, the proportion of those in favour increased (from 67% to 71%), while it remained stable among the other groups.

Regardless of the major region, the majority of persons were well-disposed towards the potential practise of own rites: the lowest percentage was 69% in Central Switzerland. Ticino and the Lake Geneva region stood out significantly from the other major regions by holding the highest positive reactions to the possibility of practising one’s own rites (81% and 76% respectively). This is true for each group according to his migration status.

The proportion of persons who strongly or somewhat agree with this statement tends to be higher among the population with a migration background compared to those without one in the Lake Geneva region (77 % vs. 74%) and in Northwester Switzerland (76% vs. 69%). In the other major regions, confidence intervals make it impossible to demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the population without a migration background and those with a migration background by different generations.

Nearly 80% of people share the view that all children should receive some general education about all major world religions.
The variations between the different population groups are not significant according to the migration status.

16% of persons do not hold this opinion. They are represented more significantly in the population without a migration background (17%) than among that with a migration background (14%). There are no statistical significant differences between the generations of arrival. Persons who expressed no opinion were more numerous in the population with a migration background (7% vs. 4% for that without a migration background). The difference between the population without a migration background and those from the second or subsequent generations is not statistically significant.

The rates of agreeing, disagreeing and not holding any opinion on the question if all children should receive general knowledge about all major world religions remained almost unchanged between 2014 and 2019.

The region of Zurich and North-West Switzerland have the highest percentages of persons who strongly or somewhat agree that children should receive general knowledge about all major world religions.

Within each major region, however, there is no significant difference between the population without a migration background and that with a migration background in terms of the share of persons who agree with this statement.