(June 18, 2013 at 12:38 am)max-greece Wrote: "so many of the dictatorial societies in the 20th century who wished to supplant religion for total control resorted to violence ..."
I think that might have been the problem right there - not the abandonment of religion but the replacement of it with total control.
This is the antithesis of what atheism is about. Atheism is about freedom - freedom to not believe, freedom to be responsible for your own actions (within the laws of your country) without threat from a sky dictator.
If the alternative to religion is state control then I too am against it. If, on the other hand it is more like the Scandinavian model (probably the most atheistic culture on the earth) then that looks preferable to me.
Didn't we just get a post showing that violent crime is falling in the States? That, at a time when atheism is at an all time high over there?
Well that would still be atheism. Atheism is just about a lack of belief in a god or gods. You can have a secular society (that does not seek to control) like in some European nations (though they have some strict laws of their own) or you can have secular societies that seek to take religion out of the picture because they don't want to have a competition for power...religion is far from the only issue they seek to supplant. Both tend to be atheist (or secular if you may) and are completely different from one another.
Atheism is not even close to being a significant factor in America....it's a minority of the population....a rather small minority. The reason for the reduction in crime since the peak in the 1990s has been, until recently when some of the most violent and poor cities reduced their police forces due to budget constraints, was the improvement in law enforcement and more felons in prison. There are some are explanations, but they tend to have racially intensive rationale.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
