 wildcat says: It is at this point that the "We need God to be good" case falls apart. Countries worthy of consideration aren't those like North Korea and China, where religion is savagely repressed, but those in which people freely choose atheism. In his new book, Society Without God, Phil Zuckerman looks at the Danes and the Swedes—probably the most godless people on Earth. They don't go to church or pray in the privacy of their own homes; they don't believe in God or heaven or hell. But, by any reasonable standard, they're nice to one another. They have a famously expansive welfare and health care service. They have a strong commitment to social equality. And—even without belief in a God looming over them—they murder and rape one another significantly less frequently than Americans do. Social democracy as an underlying philosophy is what the Christians' god is supposed to have preached. Maybe the Danes and Swedes are closer to the god and don't need to worry him through religion. Dunno. I don't know many atheists, but they're just like normal folk. You don't have to believe in pie in the sky to know which way the wind blows.There's more beauty in the natural world worth nurturing to keep our planet alive with out extra wastage on moral compass , but if you got to have one don't shove it down other peoples faces it ,s rude and intrusive have some dignity and self respect because we know god never gave you an academy awards and such.Curse of humanity religions,Hitchens is right, of course the silent majority knows it too. Religions are numerous, different and DIVISIVE. What good comes from it? Such a waste of effort, passion & creativity. Love and comfort (from within oneself) can be found by anyone. If you can find it ON YOUR OWN, you are that much stronger and healthier. Add iceland to the list of working atheist countries. What good comes from religion...I cant believe you asked that. I cant claim to be an authority on the subject but i can see the good and the bad it has done. It has brought people together, help those in need, and given hope to the hopeless and give so many people a reason so live. Be it fake or real, i think religion is still needed "Where there is no God, all is permitted."It's the exact opposite. With a God, people do the most atrocious things to each other, because they somehow make it *not their fault*, not their responsibility, but [i]God's will[/i,] instead. (Commands, doctrines, etc). Having a religious "God" is wanting to believe, that somehow, He'll make it ALL right one day and he has a plan, yes indeed. Yup, that's the deal.  It's not their fault, but God's will. No guilt for the deeds committed. Religion often peddles the belief, that THIS life, is only meant to be *endured*. That there'll be a heaven one day when all things will be set right and the bad things will all be explained and u... (PS) I live in one of those "Godless" societies and it has nothing to do with not perhaps believing in, that there's "more than meets the eye" in this world. It just means we realise organised religion is just a crock to manipulate people who need to be lead, to be told, to be trained. Lead where other PEOPLE want them to go, not God. Organised religion is spiritual slavery and "Godlessness" means unlimited respect for this world mostly, and a healthy respect for the fact, that after death, we simply don't know what happens. It's just keeping it real. Excellent comment TNCBT — Comment removed by clipper — Why, thank you John.  that tomorrow is only better, if YOU make it that way. There will be no divine being to save your sorry arse.This goes for elections too, btw. . . Maybe the Danes and Swedes are closer to the god and don't need to worry him through religion.Exactly. True and all,, TNCBT, I might add that it due to special interest groups in USA like fundamentalist christians, that in my opinion, they really dumb down their politicians getting likes of Bush and Pallin instead of more intellectuals, they seem to demonise as pinkos or like fearing them. Not all of coarse Bill Clinton and Al Gore were pretty cool I thought and we all hope the current MAN will be grounded and things improving, don't happen over night. Faith cant bring us back from brink of environmental warming and we need common sense solutions in this day and age,, prayers will not help, sorry all ye faithful rapists.11th hour approaches, god wake you up.Stop and think introvert bishops. One doesn't need Religion to have God in their lives. It seems to me that as soon as Religion enters the picture, the integrity of one's relationship with God is compromised. How many people have died because of religion? How many people claiming to be religious have killed others because they don't worship God the way they do? Organized religion breeds violence and hate. That sure is true. Religions are political organizations that don't pay taxes. In a study documented in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, participants were first given a questionnaire that asked the participants, among other things, how they identified themselves religiously. They then were administered a test in which there were opportunities to cheat in completing it. The only religious group that showed a markedly lower instance of cheating was among those who identified themselves as atheists. |
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