Because I've been meaning to read Mark Steyn's latest book America Alone, which is all about world demographics - specifically Christian and Muslim demogrpahics - this piece in The Telegraph caught my eye today.

A poll published in Le Monde des Religions yesterday showed the number of self-declared French Catholics had dropped from 80 per cent in the early 1990s and 67 per cent in 2000 and to 51 per cent today.

The number of atheists has risen sharply to 31 per cent from 23 per cent in 1994. [...]

Yesterday's poll showed that only 10 per cent go to church regularly — mainly to Sunday mass or christenings. Of the 51 per cent who still call themselves Catholics, only half said they believed in God. Many said they were Catholics because it was a family tradition. [...]

Despite the drop, however, Catholicism remains by far the country's number one religion. The poll found Muslims accounted for only four per cent of the population (up from two per cent), Protestants three per cent and Jews one per cent.

It's no wonder the French Socialist Party has been gaining popularity. When a society doesn't believe in God, that void is often filled by the State. It's a pity.