they are also very humane countries. and most of the scandinavian people are atheists.
now why should i believe the saying that religion makes a person humane, when atheist sweden, holland, finland and denmark has the most humane atheists?
2007-03-18 01:18:27 · 8 answers · asked by terry g 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
euthanesia is a humane thing. death penalty is barberic
2007-03-18 01:23:56 · update #1
they are liberal countries, liberals are not harsh on their own people unlike other types of gov't
2007-03-18 01:20:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm really not sure where some of these claims come from, like "most of the Scandinavian people are atheists". I'm sure you have some sort of studies to back you up, however, currently 82.4% of the Finns and 78.3% of the Swedes are members of the Lutheran Church (the largest in both countries; here we should add Orthodox, Catholic and all others...). True, majority of the members are inactive, and every year more and more people are resigning from the church, but I still wouldn't be brave enough to say that majority of the people are atheists (after all, atheist is quite a strong word. Many people still believe in something, even if their views differ from the doctrines of the church).
However, religion is considered a private thing here in Scandinavia, and fundamentalism is extremely rare (if we compare to many other countries). People are religiously very tolerant, and most people don't really talk about their beliefs to strangers (or to casual acquaintances).
If we also take into consideration that for example the death penalty was lifted in both countries long time ago, when religion and church were far more dominant in the daily lives of all the people... Well, I would say that any sort of claim that Scandinavian human rights are linked to atheism is rubbish. It may be linked to the lack of fundamentalism, but still I would prefer to search some reasons elsewhere. How about long traditions of the equality of genders? Excellent public education? Everything in the society is not religion related you know.
You may have noticed that I only talk about Sweden and Finland here, and that's because I haven't got too much personal experience about Denmark and Netherlands. And I haven't noticed any news about "forced euthanasia" or anything like that, and I'm very sure that both in Sweden and in Finland people would be very strongly against anything even hinting to something like that.
2007-03-19 05:31:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I wonder the same thing myself. How do they manage this?
Sometimes I want to move there. I learned in Sweden, it doesn't matter what color your skin is as long as you know the language and culture then your Swedish. I wish the U.S. can be like this. Even if you speak English and know the culture, it still doesn't matter. Your still a Black woman. Your still a German. People don't think of you as an American.
I'm living in Germany right now and Germans are so much more tolerant of different religions. My German friend told me that Germans don't care what religion you are. A big difference from Americans when they will try to beat you down just because your a Muslim. So many Muslims live in the city where I am and I don't see people (Germans) glaring at them or making rude comments like Americans do.
Where I live, all different types of people live in harmony. It's a tiny version of the melting pot of America. I wish the whole world could be like this German city that I'm living in.
I would be so happy when people finally stop hating each other for our differences.
2007-03-18 08:31:13 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Woman there don't need a man to give them status. They are on a more equal footing with men, and are strong leaders. I think this is what makes the difference.
2007-03-18 08:31:20 · answer #4 · answered by Lukusmcain// 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Strawman.
Why should I believe the saying that atheism makes a person humane, when atheist china, USSR, iraq, and cambodia had the most genocidal atheists?
2007-03-18 08:29:03 · answer #5 · answered by A Balrog of Morgoth 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I don't know if any study has ever been done on this, but I would bet you that on average, atheists are more moral in their life and actions than christians.
2007-03-18 08:23:26 · answer #6 · answered by Lawrence 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Excellent human rights, eh? Yeah, they make the death penalty illegal and then turn right around and start talking about forced euthanasia for the elderly. Real great countries.
2007-03-18 08:22:41 · answer #7 · answered by Last Ent Wife (RCIA) 7 · 1⤊ 8⤋
remember the vikings?
2007-03-18 08:22:13 · answer #8 · answered by shoby_shoby2003 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋