(January 3, 2015 at 4:08 pm)Huggy74 Wrote:(January 3, 2015 at 3:54 pm)Esquilax Wrote: Increased secularism isn't state atheism...
My point is, if you're going to make a case against religion by stating
"the most secular, least religious societies also tend to be some of the most prosperous financially and socially, and also the happiest."
then look at the Societies/governments that removed religion completely, and you would see that they tended to be hellholes , making that statement utter nonsense.
Societies that are free to live how they please and treated fairly (no injustice/corruption) are the happiest.
Your argument fails because you do not recognize that Communism was pursued with religious fervor, religious zealotry -- and blind faith.
I agree that they were definitely awful places to live, the Eastern Bloc countries in the 60s and 70s, from what I've read. But they weren't awful because they lacked god. They were awful because they lacked democracy, political freedom, and economic opportunity. Religion doesn't supply any of those qualities, and cannot take any credit for them here in America.
