correlation=/=causation

If it is true that atheism leads to a bleak nihilistic outlook, then it follows that the more atheistic a society the more unhappy, or at least uprooted and aimless a society should be.

So explain Scandinivia. Please... It is so easy to draw absolute conclussions about things you know nothing about. Have you ever been to Denmark, Norway or Sweden?

And just to clarify, I like my country very much, but that's hardly surprising; most people have an emotional attachment to the culture that has shaped their personalities, but I am not saying that Denmark is a Utopia by any strech of the imagination.

I'm just saying that Denmark is a country in which people have families, jobs, hobbies, sports, art, politics, and everything else you'd expect to find in a human society.

Sure Denmark doesn't look the same as the US, or Russia, or Indonesia, but it's still normal people doing normal things.

If atheism is so fundementally un-viable to maintain the human condition, without people falling prey to their own existential angst, then how come people don't seem at all bothered here in Scandinavia?

Now this is in no way an argument against God's existence in and of itself, nor is it intended to be. I would just like to hear theist's thoughts on this.

Funnily it seems as if there is an inverse relationship between religion and welfare: The higher a country ranks upon the OECD or UN rankings of welfare, the less religious they seem to be. But which way does that correlation go - are they wealthy because they aren´t religious, or not religious because they are wealthy - I choose to think the latter.

 If you look at the statistics, you´ll find that alot of born-again christians are people who have experienced some sort of despair in their life, or someone who´s about to (ie. convicts, rehabilitated drug addicts, old people and so on). When the rest of society turns it backs upon them it seems as if the religious groups are the only ones who for some reason or another cares. I´d love to see the same dedication from groups without some sort of religious anchorage, but sadly its pretty absent around here in Oslo - a reason why religious relief organizations such as the salvation army and the "Kirkens bymisjon" is held in high esteem here in Norway.

 The main thesis proclaimed is that "atheist societies are more moral and happy than religious" - The problem is what came first: The chicken or the egg. Religion may cause relief in countries with no future prospects except an afterlife, whereas its pragmatic use is gone here in Scandinavia, but we were religious only 20-30 years ago, and if you look at so-called "happiness indexes", you´ll find that increased public and private wealth hasn´t increased our innate sense of happiness.

You raise some interesting points, that mirror my own opinions alot, and maybe I'll comment on them later, but you say one thing that it is important that I clear up for you, and everyone else reading this thread:

DudefromNorway wrote:

The main thesis proclaimed is that "atheist societies are more moral and happy than religious"

The point I bring up is not that Scandinavia is more moral and happy than other places, because even if it is, that doesn't mean it's because Scandinavia is more atheistic. Corelation doesn't equal causation. And indeed, I'm not ready to argue that Scandinavia is more moral and happy, that's a rather selfconfident stance to take without studying alot of sociology first. Remember, I say in the OP that I don't consider Denmark the greatest place in the world. It's just not completely fucked either.

 

And the thesis of some theists (for example TrueBeliever, who was the one I was adressing with the question I reposted in the OP) is that atheism leads to depression and immorality, and I point out that if this was the case, then there should be a causal link between the level of atheism in a region, and the level of depression, nihilism and immorality in said region.

So I'm not saying Denmark is evidence that atheism will result in a good society. Like you point out, other thing could be (and probably are) the reasons that Denmark is a fairly well functioning society.

But Denmark is evidence that atheism does not destroy a society, and that is my only point. I'm just arguing against the argument that atheism will inevitably lead to a terrible, aimless, harsh and immoral society.