values, statisticsFor example on things such as crime rate, education, charity, etc. I’d prefer to see some statistics.
This is to help break the myth that without the fear of hell people will do whatever they want and society will break into chaos.
What studies there are have indicated overall a negative relationship between overt religiosity and measurable statistics of societal health. For example, the heavily religious states in the United States have been cited as having higher divorce rates, teen pregnancy rates, and STD prevalence.
Determining causation is difficult, however. It could easily be that in more difficult environments, circumstances cause people to turn to religion for solace. It could just as well be that religious attitudes are maladaptive, leading to increased measures of societal health as more modern and effective attitudes prevail.
For further reading, see “Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies” published in Journal of Religion and Society.
http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html
This study found that largely secular western countries enjoy lower rates of violent crime, less drug abuse, better life expectancy, fewer STDs, and fewer abortions. Again, correlation is not necessarily causation–people living in such a society might presumably feel little need to turn to religion for support, though I would certainly expect religious antisocial teachings to cause difficulties for people.
Not believing in something won’t cause direct effects. Atheism is more prevalent among the educated however, who are also more likely to have better paying jobs, and commit fewer crimes.
Saying that atheism reduces crime is like saying ice cream consumption causes drownings. You’re confounding variables.
Sweden seems to be doing fine, or great depending on who you talk to.
Less churches are built?
I mean, it’s just atheists, not anarchists and ex-convicts.
First you have to know how many Atheists are out there and that is almost impossible to tell. Most people dont even know the meaning of Atheist. Then if you do and you are happy to be one then most people dont talk about it. Being an Atheist is about thinking for yourself, it is only recently that we have started to get together. All an Atheist means is a disbelief in any God. That is all. In a city of Atheists you would no more comment on the subject than you would say “Here is an interesting fact, I am not a stamp collector”
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