Peace Is Non-Theistic

um.... Christians vs. Muslims = VIOLENT (a la the Crusades, modern-day terrorist attacks)

um.... Israelis vs. Palestinians = VIOLENT

ALSO: Even within my own family, all dispute and arguments stem from Religion. Every Christmas, I have a fight with my sister and dad, and it's always because of Religion. My sisters fight due to disagreement over Religion. My grandfather had life-long disputes with his family over Religion. Prop 8, and Religion, separated me from many of my family here in California.

It's just a long string of bitterness alllllllll stemming from Religion.

The religious/anti-religious arguments are always fun. Why so serious? :)

religion and spirituality are two different things.

Well, let's see. Advances in science that are not curtailed by religious beliefs. Human equality, that is not discriminating about gender, sexual preference or belief or lack of. Being able to have access to any legal medical procedure without having to endure threats of violence from ridiculous protesters. Not having to teach things in public schools that are clearly insane and have no basis in reality except in the imagination of a deluded bunch of religious folks.

That's just off the top of my head without any real thoughts. I am sure there are loads more. Anyone that has anything to add is welcome if I forgot anything.

So, basically...the Atheists are fighting against the religious folks. Why are they the ones that are crazy? You're both fighting for what you believe in.

I like how Germany is one of the most peaceful...when historically it wasn't at all because of beliefs grounded in Darwinism. France is also a country where if you watch the news, you'll see a whole lot of protesting.

Good list Edjoy ! I would add , freedom to enjoy life and express oneself , without shame and sleep in when possible , guilt free .

Actually we are not fighting against religous folks. Only the ones that insist on foisting their beliefs on people that do not wish to artificially limit their lives.

Please explain how so....

Atheism is not a religion, as it does not include a deity nor a belief system for people to follow.

Atheism is a belief system, Delia.

The only non-religious affiliation is agnosticism. :-D

Religion: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.

I love the dictionary!

For realz? :D

The God of the Bible is Jesus, Islam believes Jesus was just a prophet.

I couldn't agree more.

as in monotheistic churches i mean.

hear hear!

That is something to remember ! Well said .

They wealthier people are, the more peaceful the are? Funny, our little Baby Bush Zealot was a rich boy, and he is has enough blood on his head to fill up his presidential library a thousand times.

He was on a mission. Vengeance for daddy and expedition of the rapture.

I don't mean wealth in a personal way. I mean wealth as far as a country. The wealthier the country the less crime. As other countries become more wealthy they will also have less crime.

Are yu smoking crack? How about the strongest economy in the world the US? Yeah theres no crime here at all...

Rickey the Japanese started the war against Buddist not the other way around.
Tamilise Hindu are such a small minority that it even dwarfs the muslim extremist in percentage terms. And they were denied rights and persecuted. They did not go to war to expand their religion or to shove it down someone elses throat. So you are only correct to a very small degree

most of the worlds violence comes from the lower end of the economic scale? not true buddy i don't think you watched the video in most of the countries with low peace rankings their governments were the primary instigators of violence

Don't forget the Reformation, as well.

Don't forget WORLD WAR II

Its just interesting that as you say the "top peaceful nations on that list also happen to be wealthiest nations with a strong middle class, comprehensive or universal healthcare and a healthy respect for human rights." I guess you just proved that you dont need religion to be a good person.

Funny that "atheist" countries tend to care about the general welfare of the people in their country by having universal health care and gay rights. And here i was thinking that religious people somehow care more about their neighbors or their fellow man. Just look at America a country where LESS THAN HALF of the population doesnt "believe" in evolution and yet we cant pass universal health care OR gay rights.

Seems to me theres a strong correlation between wealth and religion. The poorer and tougher peoples lives are the more prone they are to religious beliefs. Which makes sense if you think about it. Who doesnt want a life of bliss and perfection in the afterlife when you live such a difficult life in the present?

“I guess you just proved that you dont need religion to be a good person.”

I never said or implied that a non-believer was inherently bad. I’m a non-believer and an asshole but I don’t think that makes me a bad person.

“Funny that "atheist" countries tend to care about the general welfare of the people in their country by having universal health care and gay rights.”

If you’re going to try and pass a deceptive argument as truth you probably shouldn’t surround your mistake with quotation marks. A secular country is not an atheist country by any stretch. So there goes that point since the only countries to practice state atheism are old Marxist nations not found on your list.

Furthermore, holy fuck are you kidding me? The Khmer Rouge slaughtered millions, including 40+ percent of their Christian citizens. They formed the governmental body of an atheist state and they were absolute monsters. So in short your blanket, positive generalization of atheist states, bolstered in part by a fraudulent distortion of a think tanks position paper not only failed to correctly recognize a true atheist state it ignored the persecution and death of millions.

“And here i was thinking that religious people somehow care more about their neighbors or their fellow man.”

And here i thought you were supposed to care more about facts, truth, logic and the general wellbeing of your fellow man. The only thing you’ve done so far is argue in favor of a soviet style Marxist state.

“Seems to me theres a strong correlation between wealth and religion.”

There is a correlation between wealth and religion. However the point I was trying to make and which to this point you’ve completely ignored is that correlations are not interchangeable. Most would agree there’s a correlation between poverty and crime rates and that there is a correlation between poverty rate and religion but to then assume that rates of religious belief also influence crime rates without doing any work to actually prove that argument is pseudoscience.

"I never said or implied that a non-believer was inherently bad."

Nor did i say that you did.

"I’m a non-believer and an asshole but I don’t think that makes me a bad person."

Haha yeah same here.

"If you’re going to try and pass a deceptive argument as truth you probably shouldn’t surround your mistake with quotation marks. A secular country is not an atheist country by any stretch. So there goes that point since the only countries to practice state atheism are old Marxist nations not found on your list."

Actually i put the quotation makes there on purpose since the article uses the term "Atheist" countries when they should say secular. I agree with you!

"Furthermore, holy fuck are you kidding me? The Khmer Rouge slaughtered millions, including 40+ percent of their Christian citizens. They formed the governmental body of an atheist state and they were absolute monsters. So in short your blanket, positive generalization of atheist states, bolstered in part by a fraudulent distortion of a think tanks position paper not only failed to correctly recognize a true atheist state it ignored the persecution and death of millions."

I never said that i particularly agree with this article. And of course you are absolutely 100% correct that the post completely ignores the Khmer Rouge. However, when compared to the number or brutality of "theist" revolutions/wars/genocides it gets completely overshadowed. Try the Spanish inquisition, the Crusades, ethnic cleansing in Africa, and the Holocaust as a few examples.

Again dont get me wrong atheists and non-believers are capable of being extremely evil and corrupt, same as believers. People as a whole are selfish uncaring bastards.
The real issue i have with religion is that so many people are so content with following it blindly. Many NEVER question their beliefs and i see that as a problem. Religion is just the oldest and most successful pyramid scheme ever concocted. Just follow the money.

You are absolutely right, Ricky, your post needed to be made.

The correlating factor is not religion. It's a lack of government corruption. Logically speaking, religion encourages corruption by allowing many kinds of policy to pass without a critical eye.

I don't know.

There are many economic indicators and descriptors that group peaceful, productive, humane and non-religious societies together. The question is: which correlation is the CAUSE?

Perhaps it's education?

An educated individual in ANY society is less likely to be religious, which shows a more causal correlation.

@Fun_size Wow look at all that stuff we agree on. Now I really feel like an ass.

@Credit Fargo

I was taught the same thing, that poverty was the strongest motivator of crime currently known to man. There’s a really good book called Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt. In the book they argue that abortion rights for the poor contributed more to the reversal of crime rates in the US. Part of their argument is based on the fact that crime rates reversed at the same time when the first generation of criminals born after Roe V Wade reached their criminal maturity. They reinforce this argument by comparing crime statistics in states that legalized abortion before Roe V Wade verse states that hadn’t.

In accordance with their argument states that legalized abortion earlier experienced a reversal in crime rates before the rest of the nation.

BTW thanks for the kudos!

you make a distinction without a difference - religion is dogma

Yeah - RELIGIOUS dogma.

I was gonna hit this one too, but wasn't sure it was worth the effort.

dogma : a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church

religion: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Pretty much the same thing.

Define how one fuels violence and not the other?

I think I may be a little late to respond. Ricky posts my beliefs in a better way that I could, maybe a little long winded though. Also this is turning into a needless semantics case, but I think that Found_Avenue puts it best without realizing perhaps, that Religious is an adjective that modifies the noun Dogma, and that dogma does not imply religion, and has to be defined in its context. So you could easily modify dogma, which all of these examples would be true; political dogma, scientific dogma, ideological dogma. None of these things are bad by themselves, but when they become dogmatic then they turn sour.

What are those examples of?

I would argue that North Korea has a god, and his name is Kim Jong-il.

So, I kinda get the country, but what is with the numbers following? Are they a reference to a date, perhaps a number of people, or maybe a book page?

Common, gimme a hint!

its what they rank in this study.

ibrake, have you really ever heard of anyone committing violent crimes in the name of atheism, or specifically because of atheism, etc?

im sure there is.

they may not be doing it in the name of athiesm, but they certainly dont believe in a God.

agreed!

How many radically violent Buddhist or Taoists do you know?

And what about the Amish, they're a violent lot aren't they???

I believe that there was a song about them getting medieval on some heinie. No, that was Weird Al's Amish Paradise. I don't think it actually occurred. :)

None- that's why I wouldn't doubt the peacefulness of Buddhists or Taoists or the Amish. Although the last violent Buddhists I heard about were in Burma aka Myanmar, where the situation is so fucked up that Buddhists were vowing that they would pick up the guns they found and use them.

I know us atheists are scaaaary.

I know, those effing Athiests are ALWAYS endorsing wars and killing people in the name of religion...

Oh, wait...

Well yeah, atheists won't endorse violence in the name of religion, we have plenty of other things to wage war in the name of.

No. It doesn't say that. It just states the very obvious fact that people use their religious beliefs to justify violent acts.