Can atheism produce a viable and flourishing society

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Rexi
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19 Aug 2021, 2:35 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
Rexi wrote:
being an atheist leader of a country doesnt sound like itll happen anytime soon.

Things aren't quite that bad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a ... cs_and_law

Thank you. I see there's someone in Romania too.


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PhosphorusDecree
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19 Aug 2021, 2:54 pm

Rexi wrote:
ToughDiamond wrote:
Rexi wrote:
being an atheist leader of a country doesnt sound like itll happen anytime soon.

Things aren't quite that bad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a ... cs_and_law

Thank you. I see there's someone in Romania too.


In the UK, the convention is for politicians not to draw public attention to their religious views. On the rare occasions that they do, the press and the public react with suspicion- "what's 'e trying to pull, eh?" Playing the God card, or indeed the No God card, is just not a winning strategy here. For most of our politicians, you'd have to do a bit of research to learn their exact religious status.


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Rexi
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19 Aug 2021, 6:21 pm

PhosphorusDecree wrote:
Rexi wrote:
ToughDiamond wrote:
Rexi wrote:
being an atheist leader of a country doesnt sound like itll happen anytime soon.

Things aren't quite that bad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a ... cs_and_law

Thank you. I see there's someone in Romania too.


In the UK, the convention is for politicians not to draw public attention to their religious views. On the rare occasions that they do, the press and the public react with suspicion- "what's 'e trying to pull, eh?" Playing the God card, or indeed the No God card, is just not a winning strategy here. For most of our politicians, you'd have to do a bit of research to learn their exact religious status.

In the US, "God bless America" tends to be the norm, unfortunately. Constantly saying it, even talking about their beliefs on speeches.


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Redd_Kross
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20 Aug 2021, 9:06 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
Only once has a society put atheism at the front of society.

Albania, between 1967-1990, under the communist rule of Enver Hoxha, completely banned religion in accordance with a very rigid form of communism. This was, to date, the only officially atheist state (as opposed to a secular one). Human rights violations were very frequent (2/3 of Albanians were interrogated by the secret police), and the religion ban was part of an attempt to copy Mao's Cultural Revolution in China.

That said, I certainly welcome atheists (as well as people of faith) to play a role in advancing a secular, democratic society.

That's a very weird definition of "putting atheism at the front of society".

Most atheists and agnostics I know, want a world where people can believe what they like provided those beliefs aren't in any way harmful to others, and no-one assumes any "right" to impose a certain set of religious values on non-believers, or convert them. Law, social morality, political policy-making etc. etc. needn't have anything to do with religion.

Unfortunately most religions don't seem able to comply, which is precisely why I'm so suspicious of them. They're very keen on empire-building, and acting like theirs are the only values that matter. In other words, religions are naturally prone to arrogance and control-freakery. There are some exceptions, Quaker Christians for example, but they're pretty rare.