pitzer.edu — "25% of those in Australia do not believe in God...as many as 44% of those in Britain...44% in France...64% in Sweden...48% in Denmark...24% in Russia...31% Norway...28% in Finland...42% in the Netherlands...18% in Austria...34% in Bulgaria...61% in the Czech Republic...35% in Slovenia...32% in Hungary...49% in Estonia......6% in the United States"
May 1, 2007 View in Crawl 4
joeyjojoMay 2, 2007
"The VAST majority of digg atheists seem more than willing to just discard all the rich philosophical teachings and cultural history that is tied up with religions."Aethiests tend to be very interested in that. Ultimately aethiests are interested in the whole of human existence...religion and all.Aethiests don't discard religion...they just don't treat it as 'pick one and assume it's the absolute truth'. Being an aethiest doesn't mean you can't or are not a theologan. It just means you don't use a particular religious text as a replacement for logic and rational though.
crapfactoryMay 2, 2007
no, atheists don't want to convert people. there may be some atheists wanting to convert other people but i would say that these are not exactly the most well-informed atheists. however, seeing that most atheists (that i have met at least) are generally very friendly, caring and often more "intellectually mature" than theists it is not very surprising that some of them express joy over the fact that more people clearly are starting to think by themself.saying that atheism is a movement is like saying that there exists a movement of people who does not believe in santa claus. i am from sweden, the true non-theist bastion if we are to believe this article. if atheism was organized as a movement you would kind of expect to find traces of that movement here in sweden. let me tell you this: there does not exist a nontheistic movement of that kind in sweden, most of us here would consider the idea ludicrous. most atheists/agnostics have arrived at their conclusion after much rational thought and soulsearching and not because of some "official dogma" from an organization. however bleak you may think the nontheist view is, it is very much a sign of independent thought. whereas the christian view often is not based at all on independent thought, rather on parroting of official dogma established by those people who seem to have a better connection with "god" than you do, i.e. priest, rabbis and imams.there does not exist a nontheist movement. period.
crapfactoryMay 2, 2007
stonewaljacksn:"clearly you, like every atheist who gets their panties in a bunch when people say atheism looks like any expanding religious movement in america, lack the capacity to think abstractly."funny you should mention abstract thought. have your "abstract thought" led you to the belief that there exists a personal god who listens to you and only cares about the people who perform lip service to him. if this is what your "abstract thought" has led you to, i strongly suggest you get your brain calibrated. it is clearly not working correctly."You want to convert people."most atheists don't care what other people believe in."You want them to join your cause."there is NO atheist "cause". just because a certain percentage has reached a certain level of intellectual maturity does not imply that they have all joined an atheist club or whatever form this perceived "movement" takes. by and large, atheists are free thinkers and do not require authority figures to tell them how to lead their lives or who to vote for."Movement."nope. sorry. i live in sweden, which according to this article, is THE heartland of atheism. i can tell you this: there does not exist a nontheist organization here. one might assume that if there was an atheist movement we could at least find traces of it here in sweden but there are none to be found. sorry, bubba!
dogbothererMay 2, 2007
@42kami:You oversimplify. Vietnam is officially majority Buddhist, minority Christian (mostly Catholic, with some Protestants converted either to fight the Communists during the American war, or more recently). Unofficially, most locals here use religion at most instrumentally (they try a mixture of Catholic, Buddhist and animist/ancestor ritual to see which is most lucky for their life/business). In some ways, this makes the situation here even sadder to me (all dogma and no faith), but in other ways it's much more hopeful (they are much more willing to be disabused of their fanciful superstitions given access to learning which can actually make improvements - business studies, science, medicine, history etc.).Buddhism says nothing about the existence or otherwise of God. Its not so much atheist as philosophical. Much like science, it says that God is an untestable hypothesis and it is a waste of intellectual resources to go there, better to focus on how to live well. That's why it's always been a more acceptable "religion" amongst agnostics and atheists. The reason so many people get confused about the status of Buddhism is the ritual which goes along with the exoteric (rather than the esoteric) teachings, where the Buddha is often worshiped (as an idol if you like). In fact, the Buddha was only ever considered to be a historical human figure of great wisdom who ultimately achieved enlightenment. This sometimes gets tied up with ancestor worship and animism also.
iamadamwilsonMay 2, 2007
SUPER. another pro atheist, anti-Christian inclined post/blog/news story. These get as old as the anti-Bush and pro Marijuana "stories". woo...hoo. lets poll some people, not all, and call it fact, and accurate. atheists are self promoting ignorant idiots.
veritateMay 3, 2007
@stonewall,Maybe you didn't see that I didn't argue that it wasn't a movement. I don't think it is, but what if it were? Women's suffrage was a movement. So was civil rights. What's the point of saying it's a movement?I'm a little surprised you're so prescient as to determine my capacity for abstract thought from a digg posting. Again, though, I see no point. jamesivie says we need to treat atheism "like a religion". Exactly how does that mean we should treat atheism? Please give specifics if you respond; I'm not good at abstractions. Thanks.
mrcoldheartMay 5, 2007
umm.. I dont beleave in god.alot of people I know dont beleave in god.The God Delusion is a best seller in the USI was never asked by anyone in government what my beliefs areI live in a major US city with like minded people...there comes a point when you KNOW US media is not real...then you go ahead and argue with people from the US based on what you read in the news media...sounds like people in other countries are slower then us from my perspective
simongrayMay 7, 2007
<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Christian">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Christian</a>
reciFeb 17, 2008
Violent crime and religion go hand in hand one way or another. Its been like that since the scam started.
reciFeb 17, 2008
I have yet to see an evangelical atheist.
reciFeb 17, 2008
"Because the government knows its stuff."like 911?
reciFeb 17, 2008
Maybe cause of all the problems between the Christians, Muslims and Jews. Were are at the brink of a holy war.
nondieu1May 16, 2008
the US is really behind the curve on this one, unfortunately.
silpolJun 10, 2008
sorry, we had exported all genes prone to brainwashing... greetz from Europe.
waklukMar 19, 2009
i would more believe this <a class="user" href="http://adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html" rel="nofollow">http://adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html</a> Czech Republic has 1/2 of Atheist !
illyriaxdotxnetDec 11, 2009
another name could have been "rates of sane people"illyria.net<a class="user" href="http://balkanforums.illyria.net/" rel="nofollow">http://balkanforums.illyria.net/</a>