quote:Originally posted by davidnmiles:
"A country isn't great because of it's wealth, knowledge, or even power. It's great because of it's rightousness." Not true if by rrightousness you mean religousness.
According to various surveys between 86 to 95 percent of Americans claim to believe in God, compared to 61 percent of the British; nearly 80 percent of Americans claim to believe in heaven, compared to 50 percent of the British; 84 percent of Americans believe that Jesus is God or the son of God, compared to 46 percent of the British. How have the British fared with less religion? The Bureau of Justice Statistics released a detailed comparison of crime rates in the U.S. and England. The rate of murder, rape and robbery were significantly higher in this country than in the U.K. The U.S. murder rate was six time as high as England's.
The United Nations ranks Norway and Sweden as having the highest standards of living in the world. The percentage of adults surveyed who claim they attend church one or more times per week is United States, 44; Norway, 5; Sweden, 4. The percentage of atheists in Sweden is 46-85; Denmark, 43-80; Norway, 31-72. Yet they are blessed with extremely low crime rates. In 2004, the number of homicides per 100,000 of population was United States, 5.5; Sweden, 2.39; Denmark, 0.78; Norway, 0.78. Norway and Sweden were rated the world's least corrupt nations.
Japan, whose population is about 1 percent Christian, has a homicide rate of 0.5 per 100,000 while the the homicide rate for the overwhelmingly Christian United States is eleven times Japan’s rate. Does Christian dogma deter intolerance, hate and violence or contribute to it?
"How about China?" While "Godless" China is less than perfect; so is the God-fearing, genocidal Balkans. The fact remains that a secular society can be, and often tends to be, less violent and more ethical than a God-fearing society. China has made gigantic leaps forward, both economically and socially, in recent years. As for individuals, there are good and bad believers as there are good and bad non-believers.
With 67 percent of Alabamians labeling themselves "born again" (double the national average), the state ranks well above the national average in crime rate and divorce rate--rivaled only by other Bible belt states.
Where lies the world’s evil? It often lurks in the bastions of religious fervor, including: Islamic terrorists organizations; Northern Ireland where God-fearing Christians kill each other; ecclesiastical dens of pedophilia; the Bible belt where intolerance fosters hatred with vitriolic attacks on various “undesirable” groups.
The Japanese are the most predjudice people in the world. If they were to take over America, they would treat us the same way the Jews were treated in Germany. Talk to some of our GI's who survived being Japanese POW's.
You are now saying America is a Christian Nation? That's a 180 degree turnabout. We were a Christian nation, and the murder rate was a lot lower then. Since that time we have moved away from the one true God and now we are are in this mess.
Just saying "I'm a Christian" doesn't make you a Christian. The vast majority of those who say they are believe so only because they are or were a member of a Christian Church. The word Christian is probably the most misused word in America.
I can't believe you would even try to justify China as a successful Godless nation. I guess N. Korea is also a great place to relocate.
I do agree that most religions are bad. Not going to say evil, because that is the complete absence of good and there are some good people in non-Christian religions.
All of these numbers you keep throwing around are basically worthless. Seems like all of your ideologies come from meaningless polls and statistics. They are one dimensional and don't take into account a multitude of factors that interject major error into the results. For instance, your stat regarding America being a Christian nation and having a high murder rate. Well duh, like I've said before, this nation has denied God and we are in a death spiral of our own making. The actual small percentage of born again Christians in this nation can't carry the whole load themselves. I can just as easily go to Christian web sites and provide my own stats to the contrary of yours, but I believe I'll just use my eyes to observe the obvious.