Can secularism improve society?
Secular nations like Sweden and Denmark are happier than the United States which is overall more religious. Further the United States Bible Belt suffers from many social problems that are less severe in more liberal and more secular parts of the United States. So the answer could be yes. [1]
Getting scientific proofAgnosticism in the social sciences is generally much harder than it is in the physical sciences so more careful analysis is needed before we can say anything definitive.
United States of America
For one thing social problems in the US Bible Belt date back to the Civil War in the 19th Century and to the times of slavery before that. Sorting out how far the poisonous Christian fundamentalism is a cause of social problems and how far social problems cause Christian fundamentalism would require extensive research. If any American graduates reading this are considering doing a PhD you could discuss this project with your supervisor. Intuitively the following looks likely.
- Social problems exacerbate Christian fundamentalism in the US Bible Belt.
- Christian fundamentalism exacerbates social problems in the US Bible Belt.
France and the USA compared
In France there is a principle of laïcité which is hard to define but seems to mean that the state is separate from religion. Theoretically this applies in the USA as well but religion was taught there till the Madalyn Murray O'Hair brought a defining court case. Intelligent Design is taught in many US states and there are continual complaints about unconstitutional religious activity in US public schools. By contrast in France laïcité is respected and French public schools (state schools in UK English) teach school students to evaluate other cultural belief systems as well as their own. [2]
Footnotes and references
- ↑ This article is about secularism rather than atheism because in practise agnostics freethinkers generally deists are likely to frame government in secular terms and follow political ideologies that are similar to what atheists choose.
- ↑ What is French "Laïcité" (laicity)?
- Can secularism improve society? Link which will work till the discussion is archived
- Can secularism improve society? Permanent link to the article as it was at 6.30 pm UK time 29th Aug 2012
The links below deal with Scandinavia, I plan to write about that later’’