How has atheism positively affected society?

Question

Atheists on this forum continually blame Christians and Christianity for the bad things that exist in this world. In fact Christians do more to help humanity than anyone else but atheists won't accept it. My question is this: Can any atheist name an atheistic culture (I mean a culture or country that bans religion) that has benefited from it's godlessness? Can you point out a country that is beneficial for it's citizens as a result of forced atheism? I'd really appreciate some intellegent answers and not the standard insults.

i'm not surprised by the answers i'm getting. no one can give me an intellegent answer. typical

mullah - i'm not looking for a certain type of answer, just honest non-insulting ones. BTW, I appreciate yours.

Really people, I'm just wanting your thoughts and ideas on this, not insults. I happen to think a Culture that mostly believes in God to be beneficial to society. Just my opinion

Answer 1

atheists are not all about blaming christians and christianity. there may be several flaws and conflicts that have surfaced because of christians, probably fundamentalists or evangelists, it depends on who you talk to. and atheists probably won't ban religion per se, we just disagree with it. atheism, well from my own experience, encourages the discovery of truth and tolerance. contrary to what most believe, we do not eat babies or worship satan or anything, we jus don't believe in a higher power. a country can benefit from atheism in that atheism can allow the society to place their faith within themselves and believe more in themselves rather than place all of their eggs in the basket of a higher power. time won't be spent doing rituals or going to church. kids would be stimulated to search for their own truth. no country will ever force atheism in our lifetimes. atheists are the most distrusted beings on this planet, it's been proven. i hope that helps.

Answer 2

Atheistic humanists don't want a society where religions are banned. We want a society where the government is as neutral as possilbe on matters of religion. You're thinking of totalitarian communists, of whom you're likely to meet very few of around here.

Answer 3

Christians do more to help humanity? So i guess the inquisition,or the wiping out of 99% of the native american population was a good thing. Anyways atheism encourages people to use common sense and logic to find the truths about life. If there was no religion in this world I bet over 90% of the conflicts would end over night.
Oh, and back to your question. We can't really know how atheism affects our society because their are still many people out there who don't want to admit they don't believe in god.

Answer 4

Atheists are not a unified group living by a similar set of values like christians are. It is not a religion; merely the absence of religion.

Therefore there is no group of atheists to point to. However, there are plenty of worthy individuals who have advanced society enormously (lots of scientists for instance) who also happen to be atheists.

forced atheism is a ridiculous idea, just as forced religion would be bad.

Answer 5

Well considering most scientists are atheists, I think that we have made some substantial contribution. Atheism by itself can't be expected to effect society either way. It is a rejection and doesn't have any set morals or goals.

I don't think that banning religion is good. The problem with most countries that did is that they were communistic and communism is too much like religion for it to be any different. There are no good examples of societies that are atheistic on their own accord.

Answer 6

You are limiting the potential answers to get the answer that you want. The societies which have banned religions were roundly repressive and amoral and had nothing to do with atheism. Religions were banned as a matter of power concentration only, not to follow atheist doctrine.

Now in our secular society, atheism has definitely borne fruit. Modern science is no longer shackled by the church and since the late 19th century our collective ability to discern facts regarding the observable universe has gone through an unparalleled golden age.

Answer 7

We'll never have answers to your queries. If a atheist country or culture happens in underdeveloped parts of the world Christians go running in to convert them.
The Gnostics were driven from humanity for not adhering dogmatically to a book of fairy tales.
Individuals are belittled to the point of not speaking.
On the whole Christians have done a good job of spreading their cultism.

Answer 8

There has never been an atheist culture or country.

There have been communist and dictatorial nations that have abolished centralized theism as it was perceived as a threat, but never atheist. Because one leader bans all forms of power does not make the nation as a whole atheist.

However there have been many great contributions to humanity by atheists, from scientific (Hawkings, Dawkins, Fermi, ..) to humanitarian (Gates, Keck...)

The computer you are using to ask this question is the product of an atheist (Jobs, and Gates are both atheist).

Answer 9

Its only Christians that arrogantly make a point of saying they're Christian and helping others. Atheists don't see religion (or lack of it) as a big deal and so don't announce to everyone "Hey, I'm Atheist. Look what I'm doing".

See, you Christians want the credit for you and your religion. Atheists are just happy they did something good and leave it at that.

Want a list of some?

Isaac Assimov is one of our greatest writers of all time. Atheist.

Percy Bysshe Shelley is another great writer of all time. Atheist.

Andrew Carnegie, often called the wealthiest man that ever lived. Notice his name. I'm sure you've heard the name. he created the most successful industrial enterprise in the world. He also devoted much of his life to philanthropy, with significant support for libraries, world peace and science. He helped a great deal in promoting such things as literacy and spent millions to support education by creating universities and even founding the Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) at Pittsburgh and Carnegie Institution at Washington, D.C.By the time he died, Carnegie had given away $350,695,653 (approximately $4.3 billion, adjusted to 2005 figures). At his death, the last $30,000,000 was likewise given away to foundations, charities, and to pensioners. Atheist.

Marie Currie, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and Physics who discovered Uranium (used for nuclear reactions) and Radon (used for treatment of the sick). Atheist.

Sigmund Freud: ather of psychoanalysis. Atheist.

Richard Leakey, one of the premier archaeologists (he discovered Lucy), paleontologists, and environmental conservationists in the world. Atheist.

I can keep going but I think you get the point. So, now that I have established that Atheists have done some damned good things for this world, your turn.

Answer 10

"In fact Christians do more to help humanity than anyone else "

Well, that's an outright lie. If you want intelligent answers, maybe you should form a question that isn't based on falsehoods and presumptions.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet both have done more for humanity and charity than anyone else in the world. Mr Buffet alone has given 37 Billion dollars to charity. That's right, Billions. Both are Atheists.

Edit : "I happen to think a Culture that mostly believes in God to be beneficial to society. Just my opinion"

Like America? 85% "god believers". High rates of violence and crime. Poor Education. Teen pregnancy at an all time high. Indiscriminate wars on other countries for unclear reasons. or more like Suadi Arabia, where their beliefs in god form their laws and women are beaten for showing an inch of skin and aren't allowed to drive (Among other oppressions)? Good call skippy. *eye roll*