Society without God (4): Why?

[This is the last post on *Society without God* and I just want to repeat that the point of all of this is not to say that we'd all be better off living in a Denmark or a Sweden. Or that we should try to actively create a non-believing society. The point is just to be well informed about what is actually happening in other countries, about what is possible, and to make certain fundamentalist claims obsolete. Like, you can't be good without god, or you can't live a meaningful life without belief in an afterlife, or you can't have a healthy society without god.]


Zuckerman gives a run-down on the theories out there about why Denmark and Sweden are so secular (pgs. 110-119).

1. Lazy Monopolies: "When there are many different religions in a given society--with none of them being state subsidized--interest and involvement in religion will be high. Conversely, when there is only one dominant religion in a given society--and it is subsidized by the state--interest and involvement in religion will be low." So, free market type competition is good and the various religions and denominations over-all do a better job of creating a believing populace. In Denmark, Lutheranism has been "consistently state-enforced and state subsidized." Sweden also has a national Church, although it official split from the government in 2000.

2. Secure Societies: "When the bulk of people in a given society experience a low degree of security, they tend to be more religious. Conversely, when the bulk of people in a given society experience a high degree of security, they tend to be less religious." In Denmark and Sweden, poverty and starvation are almost non-existent. Almost everyone has decent housing, health care, food, and education. And in the Global Peace Index of 2009 (http://www.visionofhumanity.org/) takes into account homicide rates, violent crime, human rights, political instability, etc.), Denmark ties Norway at number 2 and Sweden comes in at 6. The US comes in at 83 out of 144 countries.

3. Working Women: "Women are more religious than men, on all measures...Prior to the 1960s, the vast majority of Danish and Swedish women were engaged in unpaid domestic work as mothers and housewives...Today, the vast majority of Danish and Swedish women work outside the home...Danish women currently have the highest employment frequency in the labor market in the world." So the thinking is, since women are working outside of the home more, they are less concerned with religion and less of an influence on their families. This isn't offered as an explanation for a cause of secularization, but is supposed to partly explain why it has "accelerated or deepen[ed] it."

4. Lack of a Need for Cultural Defense: "Over the course of the last several centuries, Danes and Swedes have never been extensively oppressed or dominated by a foreign conqueror, especially one of a different faith."

5. Education: "Sociological studies have consistently shown that the more educated a person is, the less likely he or she is to accept supernatural religious beliefs." Sweden and Denmark have highly educated populations, and they have among the highest literacy rates in the world (something like 99%).