File talk:Christianity percentage by country.png

message: I ask the author - do Norway and Sweden have inly 10 % christians? That is an absolute nonsens. Both have 80-90% Lutherans.
Remove the image, pls.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Laborec (talk • contribs) 07:51, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Anyone who's ever lived in Scandinavia would actually tell you that 10% is a fairly reasonable number. Being a member of the former state church isn't really a true indication of one's personal faith, and Kazakhstan is a far more religious country than any of the Scandinavian.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.24.132 (talk) 01:50, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It doesn't matter whether someone is an active member of the church or not. As long as someone is considered a member of the church BY THE CHURCH and have been baptized as a member of the church, they are christians. One's personal beliefs play no role what so ever in this matter. That's why I strongly oppose the picture showing that Finland, Sweden and Norway have only 10-19% christians, whereas in reality they have about 80-89% each. --91.156.142.19 (talk) 10:59, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scandinavia is shown really wrong 

message: I am uncertain about what is possible for wikipedia, but would it be possible for us to develop a new map on the basis of research done by editors? It'd be complicated and take a while, but I think there are plenty of people who would be happy to contribute to it. 
If this is something that seems possible and worthwhile, it seems to me that what is necessary are the following:
1. Agreement on a list of countries to be represented. I suggest those countries recognized by the UN.
2. Compilation of a variety of sources for each country.
3. Agreement upon the most accurate of these sources as well as the Wikipedia favored criteria for determining whether one is Christian or not (Formal membership, professed beliefs, attendance of services, etc).
4. Averaging the most favored sources into a final percentage for each country.
5. Producing a map.
It seems to go without saying that such a project should include parallel projects for Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.
Thoughts? --Signaj90 (talk) 16:26, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I've revised the map according to the CIA Factbook. The process you describe seems like a form of original research exceeding the bounds of the limited OR exception allowed for images. This sounds more like a project for an original publication studying the issue than an appropriate process for creating a Wikipedia image. We should stick to straightforward reliable sources, leaving our own criteria for "Christian" completely out of the mix. Vassyana (talk) 20:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll say sure to your adherence to "straightforward reliable sources," though I'll add a caviat: In the effort to sift through a multitude of potentially reliable sources, philisophical discussions regarding criteria for favoring one over another are appropriate and, in my opinion, highly helpful. Respectfully --Signaj90 (talk) 03:32, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Develop a Wikipedia Map? 

message: It's not possible that only 10-20% of Russians are Christians.--Vojvodaeist 18:47, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed there are more than 85% at least of Russians whose nominal religion is Christianity: ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Chuvash, Karelians, Osetians etc. --Kuban Cossack (По-балакаем?) 13:28, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Russia

message: The map is quite a nonsense. Most particular is the fact that Norway is shown with 10-19 percent Christians and the Norwegian archipelo Svalbard (or Spitsbergen) is shown with over 90 % Christians. --195.139.16.34 (talk) 13:19, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Norway and Svalbard/Spitsbergen