Poll: Swiss turn to nature, not church

ZURICH, Switzerland, July 16 (UPI) -- More than half of Switzerland's Protestants find nature more spiritually moving than going to church, a poll by a Swiss religious magazine found.

About one-third of Roman Catholics said they go to nature for spirituality, Swissinfo.com reported. German speakers also were more likely than French speakers to turn to nature.

The survey was conducted by Reformierte Presse, a weekly magazine aimed at Protestant ministers and other religious professionals in the Reformed Church.

Overall, 41 percent of the respondents said they find spirituality in nature and 16 percent in church. One-fifth of French speakers and only 3 percent of those speaking German said they found spirituality in their lifestyle, while 25 percent of Francophones chose nature compared to 46 percent of German-speakers.

"Maybe the French speakers don't have a problem with the superficial kind of spirituality," said Matthias Bohni, the magazine's editor and a German-speaker. "You can go to a health spa, for example, and say 'It's good for my soul,' and you can also say 'It's good for my outer shape.'"