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Least Religious Countries
When you travel to Europe, don't be surprised to find that many Europeans don't believe in God. I have even witnessed some alcohol-infused conversations between Americans and Europeans that almost ended in fistfights over His/Her existence. When you travel to the following countries, you might want to pick a less controversial topic of conversation ... umm, maybe George W?Here are the Top 10 least religious countries in the world:
1. Sweden (up to 85% non-believer, atheist, agnostic)
2. Vietnam
3. Denmark
4. Norway
5. Japan
6. Czech Republic
7. Finland
8. France
9. South Korea
10. Estonia (up to 49% non-believer, atheist, agnostic)
The one that surprised me was Israel, ranking 19th, with up to 37% claiming to be non-believer, atheist, agnostic. Compare that with the United States, ranking 44th, with 3-9% non-believers, atheists, agnostics. (I think I have met them all on the streets of New York City, too.)
The survey concluded that "high levels of organic atheism are strongly correlated with high levels of societal health, such as low homicide rates, low poverty rates, low infant mortality rates, and low illiteracy rates, as well as high levels of educational attainment, per capita income, and gender equality. Most nations characterized by high degrees of individual and societal security have the highest rates of organic atheism, and conversely, nations characterized by low degrees of individual and societal security have the lowest rates of organic atheism. In some societies, particularly Europe, atheism is growing. However, throughout much of the world -- particularly nations with high birth rates -- atheism is barely discernable."
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Reader Comments (Page 19 of 19)
a guy from Estonia Jun 7th 2008 3:53PM
that's exactly how estonians (not russians in estonia) think
Mitch Mar 1st 2010 5:02AM
Haha, Yeah i hope so too.
Sweden gives me hope that the world isn't doomed to religious fear control tactics.
whats a nice suburb in Sweden?
Justin Nov 2nd 2007 12:24AM
Correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
Ianella Johnson Dec 17th 2007 11:15PM
Just go here and it will explain the article fully. Also this was published on Apr. 08,1966 Vol. 87 No. 14. I fully respect the people views on life but I fall in the I believe in God and Jesus category. The topics on this ten page plus article include views and statistical information that is still revelant to today's word view.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835309-2,00.html
Dee Dec 18th 2007 8:41PM
I beleive this about the japs. I lived in a city outside of Atlanta and met a half jap man that was highly educated and did not beleive in any god what so ever he lived in sin wet a woman on the internet that was nutts with previous mental issues he married her and she acted just like him but used him for his money and anything else for her own personal gain , So i suppose he got what he deserved by not beleiving in God. He now has an evil satanic woman living with him for which he married with in 6 months of meeting her and now is trapped. If he were a son of god and true beleiver he would not be in such a mess.
john May 25th 2008 2:35PM
that comment in itself is idiotic
Hope Dec 19th 2007 12:44PM
I have a question for atheists. "Do you believe that humans have free will, or are our decisions and actions determined?"
MT Mar 22nd 2012 6:00PM
You pose a dichotomy where there's no evidence one exists. Your actions (and the thoughts behind them) are a product of the decisions you make, and decisions are affected by influences: the people who raised you, your social and physical environment, your diet, your mood, complex chemical reactions in your brain which can be affected by genetics, your age, your gender ... I could go on. A theist chooses -- chooses -- to make decisions partially based on the way they were socialized to give credence to a set of religious beliefs. That's just part of the social environment (though most theists are blind to it).
You could take two "Christians," for example, who have read identical passages of their bible and have listened to the same sermons for their entire lives, and ask them to make a decision about something like capital punishment or abortion, and they will make different decisions and take different actions. This is neither a predetermined nor a random action; it is a result based on physical and social influences.
We do not fully understand those influences, and so we cannot fully predict how each person will act when faced with a specific situation, but we can deduce their religious upbringing will influence how they choose to make their decision. Nothing about these facts require a god to be real; our two hypothetical subjects merely have the _believe_ the god is real*.
So, if your question is intended to "prove" some sort of illogical behavior particular to atheists, you're barking up the wrong tree. Theists and atheists alike make decisions based on similar sets of influences, with the exception giving weight to the human-created concept of a god.
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*It is very interesting that there's no externally evident difference between a god _actually_ existing and merely being _imagined_ to exist. The only difference is internally evident (internal to a person, I mean).
free will power Dec 31st 2007 10:01PM
i have a question for Hope...
how can you believe in the impossible paradox of an omniscient god AND free will? god can't grant fee-will to any human when he already knows every choice you're going to make.
you know what this means? before you're born god has already sentenced you to either heaven or hell since he knows every decision you are going to make throughout your entire life. which means plenty of people get an eternity in hell before they've even made a single "choice." i wouldn't exactly call that all-loving.
therefore either god doesn't exist or he's one heck of a jerk.