In Reply to: Is Faith Good for Us? posted by moonshiner on July 27, 2006 at 19:08:15:
"In reality, the most secular countries-those with the highest proportion of atheists and agnostics-are among the most stable, peaceful, free, wealthy, and healthy societies. And the most religious nations-wherein worship of God is in abundance-are among the most unstable, violent, oppressive, poor, and destitute."
What about Russia where you must have millions & millions of leftover athiests from communist days? Russia is not stable. They have rampant drugs & prostitution & mafia & crime. I know you have the disclaimer, "One must always be careful, of course, to distinguish between totalitarian nations where atheism is forced upon an unwilling population (such as in North Korea, China, Vietnam, and the former Soviet states)"
I must be careful? Does being careful mean I can't count the hundreds of millions of Russians? Who makes these rules?
The article says I can only look at "open, democratic nations where atheism is freely chosen by a well-educated population (as in Sweden, the Netherlands, or Japan)."
What about Germany? Norway? Brussels? Finland? What about New Zealand? Canada? Switzerland? Is Catholic Switzerland not stable and prosperous?
This doesn't make a lot of sense.
Really? Japan is highly athiest?