Imagine a place where almost no one ever goes to church, the majority of people do not believe in God, and among those who do, their belief is fairly watery and thin. Imagine a society where people see Jesus as perhaps a nice man who taught some nice things, but was certainly not a miracle-performing son of any god. Try to conceive of a modern corner of the world where religion has virtually no place in politics, almost everyone accepts the evidence supporting evolution, almost everyone knows that the Bible was written by humans and not the divine, and nearly everyone understands that morals and values exist independently of religion. In such a culture, religion is so weak, marginal, and downright quaint that people aren't even anti-religious. They're just indifferent and perhaps uninterested. 

But you don't actually have to imagine too hard -- just hop on a plane to Denmark. Such a secular haven really exists, in the here and now. Contemporary Denmark is indeed one of the least religious countries in the world, and possibly in the history of the world.
I'm back here again, living for another year in Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. It is my second extended stay here in Scandinavia, and just like last time, my mind reels at just how damn rational, humane, civil, safe, and calm everything is. Let me give a few examples: 

My elder daughter recently had a cough, so I took her to the doctor. There was no wait, the office was clean and aesthetically pleasing, the doctor was professional yet easy-going, and it was totally free. Healthcare here is universal, state-run, tax-subsidized, and it couldn't be better. (Not a death panel to be seen for miles.)
My younger daughter attends a language immersion school on the other side of the city. Unfortunately, we don't have a car. No problem: the county provides taxi service for my daughter, free of charge. And the taxi drivers are unionized, so they are well paid, have excellent benefits, ample vacation time, and are thus in a relatively chipper mood. (They're also well dressed and their taxis couldn't be cleaner.) 

The bike lanes here in secular Scandinavia are wide and safe, and I am happily stunned each day, as I bike to and from work, at how the cars readily give bike riders the right of way, rather than the finger. There are no homeless people, begging in the streets. The bread is devastatingly good, as is the jam. And the yogurt. I could go on and on.

But my own personal experiences aside, one can simply look at the sociological facts: on nearly every standard measure and nearly every international index, from economic well-being to educational attainment, from low violent crime rates to low unemployment rates, from quality of life to happiness and life satisfaction, this religion-lite land is among the best on earth.

Are there any problems here? Of course. No society is without its troubles and challenges. But you can be sure that here in Denmark, troubles and challenges are faced by marshaling human reason, logic, discussion, debate, empathy, observation, and rational problem-solving -- not by prayer or faith. 

The existence of Denmark (and similarly secular, successful societies such as Sweden, Japan, etc.) is noteworthy for several reasons. 

First, Glenn Beck, Christine O'Donnell, and their conservative Christian sheep are wrong: religious faith is not necessary for a society to be successful and well-functioning. Belief in God, love of Jesus, prayer, and Bible study -- these things are clearly not required for a country to be happy and prosperous. They may even be unnecessary distractions.

Second, people can clearly find meaning in their lives outside of religious paradigms. Men and women can find meaning in their relationships with family and friends, in their work, in their love of the outdoors, or in their hobbies and personal pursuits. Religion is simply not the only thing on this planet that can provide people with a profound sense of purpose. 

Third, and maybe most importantly, people can be upstanding, decent, and just without religious faith. Denmark is not only one of the safest places on earth, but it is also one of the most moral and ethically conscious cultures in the modern world. Children are well taken care of, as are the elderly, as are the physically and mentally challenged, as are orphans, and the sick, and the afflicted. Equality, freedom, democracy -- these things are not only highly valued but successfully realized. And all without much concern for an eternity of heavenly bliss or torturous hellfire. 

John Lennon asked us to imagine no religion. I'm not only imagining it, but I'm living it. And I'm loving it.
It's true that most Danes doesn't really believe in God, but rational they are not. They are as damn irrational as the non-Danes I've met.
We do have great bike lanes, but we also have homeless people. And yes, Danish yogurt is better than the synthetic German yogurt - but pales in comparison to Greek or Turkish yogurt.
We have little crime and our unemployment is low - especially on paper, since the government uses various trick to make it seem lower than it is: like not counting everyone who is on welfare.
Yes, Denmark is considered the happiest nation in the world - thanks to a flaw in the survey, not making a distinction between being happy and being merely content.
It is true that Danes generally do not resolve to prayer or faith, but - since Danes are also human, all too human - our debates are filled with more empty rhetorics and biased arguments, than reason and logic.
You might be right that Denmark is a good example of a well-functioning secular society, and that Danes - in general - are rather decent and just without religious faith. However, I suggest you engage in a little conversation with parents, old men and woman and some mentally challenged before you jump to conclusions. I guarantee a lot of them will not agree with your claim about them being taken
You might be right that Denmark is a good example of a well-functioning secular society, and that Danes - in general - are rather decent and just without religious faith. However, I suggest you engage in a little conversation with parents, old men and woman and some mentally challenged before you jump to conclusions. I guarantee a lot of them will not agree with your claim about them being taken well care of.
A society can, indeed, be Godly without being religious, and, as we see in Beckistan, religious without being Godly.
It took Denmark struggle to be where they are now. Silly me, I am too old too be useful to this society. Now, I have to struggle to make this one in US more like Denmark.
Long struggle.
What in your opinion would characterise 'spiritual health'?
I wish America could be more like that. I think we would be SO much happier. The main unhappiness for me as an atheist is the theocratic threat from the religious nuts and of course our jobs situation.
In the interest of balance I'd note, though, that history's first full fledged atheist countries took hold last century. Results - not as good. Between Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc. I've seen estimates of the body count of people killed by their own governments of up to 150 million. And living condition's not so good for the survivors.
Were their some reasons for this other than these countries being atheist? I'm sure. Are there reasons Denmark is a great place other than it being predominantly atheist? Probably
Captured in the transripted personal interviews with numerous Danes and Swedes, Zuckerman's work records the fascinating reluctance/indifference/obliviousness with which most Scandinavians apprehend conversations about religion; one gets the distinct impression that most in these societies regard discussing religion as inane, slightly boring or possibly, in bad taste.
The book provides an interesting historical primer, chronicling the Norse pagan antecedents yielding to Christendom by the late twelfth century and eventually splintering into Lutheranism via Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. With the historical backdrop in place, Zuckerman goes to the sociologists tool kit to construct a framework of plausible explanations for how these societies have gone from very religious to indifferently atheistic in the span of only a century.
In fact Secularism is a very practical tool for these societies. And it has nothing to do with individual belief in God. Instead, the institution of secular, or pluralism, is a very powerful preventive, of Christians gaining power over the state, and, or, the State using its power to repress and persecute its Christian citizens.
And so the real reason so many American coming with their sociological tools, as with the many Evangelical preachers with the failed attempts to hold revivals, and have found Scandinavians so reluctant/indifferent/ oblivious..is the simply fact of the very ingrain cultural attitude that one ought not to force one's belief upon anyone else.
And after breaking my brain in 10 years of studying the awsomely twisted and nearly incomprehensible Norse Pagan religion, what I found, was just what I wrote in one of the other post here, which is, that I saw that it was ultimately the King who converted to Christianity, and the people followed the King and accepted Christianity and adopted Christian morals and ethics.
And Sweden, as with Denmark and Norway, remain Monarchies today, along with a civil government, and even today, they continue to follow and even adhere to this same tradition, of keeping to those same Protestant morals and ethics.
I understand that, being quite religious yourself, you'd like to dismiss the notion that societies can function well and morally, their citizens enjoying relative contentment, without an explicit faith and corresponding religiosity. You'd like to assert that Scandinavians are, in large numbers, still possessed of their Christian Protestant faith, but due to Scandinavian cultural norms, they hide it and all evidence of it away, like a nation of Scandinavian Anne Franks, peering from the attic window for fear of.....the inquiring sociologist ?
Really now, I don't think you're going to close that sale, and I suspect you know it as well. While it may seem counterintuitive to the religious mind, I'm hopeful that, by using the objective and observable to inform your view on the meaning of diminished Scandinavian religiosity, you might catch a glimpse of the altruism - not utopia - that's available when people throw off the yoke of masters, real and perceived, and direct their attention to the betterment of those around them.
Albert K. Echt
I once had a friend who became a baptist. She informed me one day that I was the only friend she allows in her house now that was not associated with her church. She went on to tell me it was because I was a good person with morals. I told her these are not things that were taught to me in church they were instilled in me by my parents. I find it perfectly reasonable to be an adult and manage a good life and raise kids without going to church weekly.
Too bad more so called Christians don't act the same way.
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