(January 5, 2015 at 1:39 pm)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: Secularism isn't simple. The core principles are simple, but the implementation of secularism is contextual and not defined to the extent that it's universal. Eg a de facto secular system in the UK is wildly different to secular structures in France.
Also, you haven't given us ANY indication you know anything abouts secularism at all. So to say you're repeating yourself on this subject means you're surely having a laugh right? I think it's pretty clear that you're not in a position to lecture me on a subject I know a lot more about than you do, doubly so when, as made demonstrably clear through your last posts and this one, you haves no clue what secularism even is.
But let's dissect more of your idiocy shall we? Always fun! Maybe you'll actually reply to the rebuttals this time instead of cherry picking one thing you think you might know a little bit about.
I clearly stated that "Societies that are free to live how they please and treated fairly (no injustice/corruption) are the happiest." and "a societies happiness had nothing to do with secularism vs religion, but freedom of choice.
Therefore the concept is simple, it's not about secularism at all, in which you keep trying to beat that dead horse. Secularism is not even one of the criteria used to determine a societies happiness.
Let's examine the happiest countries shall we.
I'll present two different lists
Article from May 21, 2014
http://www.gallup.com/poll/169322/people...tions.aspx#
Article from September 11, 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel...untry.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Paraguay
Quote:Paraguay and Panama top the first list
The religious identities of the people of Paraguay, or Religion in Paraguay for short, have since national independence been oriented towards the Christian faith, and specifically the Roman Catholic Church. In the most recent census (2002), Paraguayans of all ages 10 and older had their religious identities enumerated, and 89.6% were classified as Catholics.
Self-identification of Paraguayans with no established religion is quite low by worldwide standards, with only 1.14% of respondents enumerated as possessing no religious identity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Panama
Quote:The government of Panama does not collect statistics on the religious affiliation of citizens, but various sources estimate that 75 to 85 percent of the population identifies itself as Roman Catholic and 15 to 25 percent as evangelical Christian.[2] The Bahá'í Faith community of Panama is estimated at 2.00% of the national population, or about 60,000[3] including about 10% of the Guaymí population;[4] the Bahá'ís maintain one of the world's eight Baha'i Houses of Worship in Panama
As you can see, in both of these countries the religious population is greater than 98%, by contrast in Denmark, only 28% of the population believe in God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Denmark
Quote:According to the SKYE most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2010,[2] 28% of Danish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", 47% responded that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 24% responded that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". Another poll, carried out in 2008, found that 25% of Danes believe Jesus is the son of God, and 18% believe he is the saviour of the world.[3] While a vast majority of Danes are technically agnostic or atheist, few choose to identify as such. It is speculated that this is because religion is such a non-issue that not believing in it does not require a specific label. "At the same time, they were “often disinclined or hesitant to talk with me about religion,” Mr. Zuckerman reported, “and even once they agreed to do so, they usually had very little to say on the matter
What's even more interesting is that the United Arab Emirates makes top 15 in both lists yet they have freaking sharia law......
So I say once again, you equating secularism with happiness is utter nonsense.