Comparison between the most religious country vs. the least religious country in the world

[johnsweeting]

When I after the terrible Connecticut shooting heard that people like Mike Huckabee said that the reason for the shooting was that "God" is not allowed in the schools anymore, I thought it was time to compare the most religious country to the least religious countries in the world:
Somalia vs Sweden & Norway.

Sweden & Norway ranks on top when it comes to:
1. Women in congress
2. First on United Nations (UNDP) ranking of the best countries when looking at diffrent factors
3. Least corrupt
4. Gives most in terms of GDP per capita to poor countries
5. Least dangerous
6. Have the most people who believe in evolution
7. etc
8. etc
9. etc

Please click on the links below:
Sweden ranks in top - Invest Sweden
Best Countries to Live In - Best Places to Live in the World - Marie Claire
Norway is the best country in the world to live in, according to the UN
New Swedish parliament 'most gender balanced ever' - The Local
List of governments by development aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From link above (percent of GDP given to poor countries - Gross Domestic Product) Yes, these awful non-religious countries cares most about giving aid to other countries that need it:
1.

Sweden – 1.45%
2.

Norway – 1.06%

List of governments by development aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Somalia
1. Worst corrupt country in the world
2. Worst place to be a woman
3. No women in congress and other high positions
4. Most dangerous country
5. Have the least people who believe in evolution
6. etc
7. etc
8. etc

Please click on the links below:
Somalia Tops Most Corrupt Countries List For Fifth Year - Forbes
The worst places in the world for women: Somalia | World news | guardian.co.uk
60 Most Failed Countries of the World: Postcards From Hell - Chill Out Point

Importance of religion by country
The first percentage is if they say that religion is important in their life. The second is if religion is not important in their life.

Sweden 16.5% 83% (first place)

Denmark 18% 80.5%

Norway 20.5% 78%
Hong Kong 23% 75.5%
Japan 23.5% 75%
Egypt 98% 2%

Republic of the Congo 94.5% 5.5%

Somalia 98.5% 1.5% (last place)

Note: there are of course many countries between Sweden and Somalia but these are examples from the list.

Failed states: List of countries by Failed States Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click on the link above and see where the terrible, horrific & non-moral non-religious countries of Sweden and Norway are compared the the great religious country of Somalia. Note, it's is not good to be on top of this list...


Should I continue with the most religious christian countries:

Honduras 84% 15.5%

Do I dare to say it...Honduras has the most murders per capita in the world....even though they are the most religious christian country...even more religious than USA...

The countries that are more religious than Honduras are not Christian....

Please click on the links below:
The Struggle to Survive in the Most Violent Country in the World - InSight Crime | Organized Crime in the Américas
The World's Murder Capital Is ... - ... a country even more dangerous than Mexico or Iraq

Can we once and for all agree that being non-religious is actually a good thing....I think USA is heading in the direction of Sweden and Norway in terms of the importance of religion which is a good thing....

Please tell me if you want more stats from the "religious" countries and the "not religious" countries..It is not just the examples above that shows what I'm talking about...

I'm getting so tired of these religious people in America who think "God" is the answer....

 

[Debater Slayer]

Correlation doesn't imply causation. China, for example, isn't a religious country, but it's still a draconian dictatorship.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

When I after the terrible Connecticut shooting heard that people like Mike Huckabee said that the reason for the shooting was that "God" is not allowed in the schools anymore, I thought it was time to compare the most religious country to the least religious countries in the world:....

Sad to see you sinking to his level ... :yes:

 

[johnsweeting]

Sad to see you sinking to his level ... :yes:

Well, he started to say something stupid and I'm just reacting to his strange statement. So, if someone says something stupid you should just be quiet.

 

[johnsweeting]

Correlation doesn't imply causation. China, for example, isn't a religious country, but it's still a draconian dictatorship.

You said it yourself...China is a dictatorship not a democracy. The best countries in this world are non-religious democracies.

Regarding your statement about Correlation..I will give you a choice:

You either move to one of the 25 most religious countries and live there for 5 years or you move to one of the horrific, terrible & non-moral of the 25 most non-religious countries in the world. You pick any of the 25 most religious or 25 of the least religious and after those years I want you to say the statement again (Correlation doesn't imply causation). When can I book you on a plane..Once again you have 25 great religious countries to choose from...

I'm even ready to pay for your ticket and housing just to see this....

 

[Quintessence]

Sad to see you sinking to his level ... :yes:

Complete with misuse of statistics and oversimplification of the picture!

 

[LuisDantas]

While I sympathize, Debater Slayer is still right. I think the evidence is strong that being a religious country does little to the actual quality of life of the citizens. But it is still premature to conclude that there is causation just because the numbers match.

 

[johnsweeting]

Complete with misuse of statistics and oversimplification of the picture!

I just realized that I need to book a Jumbo Jet to get you and many others on this forum on the same trip as I told Debater Slayer in the post above...hehe

 

[Quintessence]

The underlying current of religiosity - seeking truth and meaning either individually or as part of a community - is universally present in all people. The expression of that varies dramatically across cultures, making religiosity extremely difficult (if not impossible) to measure in a way that is free of cultural bias. Portraits like this are meaningless without looking at the details. Too many other sociocultural factors. Plus, generalizing about religion is generally a fool's enterprise anyway. Too much diversity.

 

[johnsweeting]

The underlying current of religiosity - seeking truth and meaning either individually or as part of a community - is universally present in all people. The expression of that varies dramatically across cultures, making religiosity extremely difficult (if not impossible) to measure in a way that is free of cultural bias. Portraits like this are meaningless without looking at the details. Too many other sociocultural factors. Plus, generalizing about religion is generally a fool's enterprise anyway. Too much diversity.

My short answer to your post is.....I disagree...I also realize that we never going to agree on many (any) religious point of view either I think..not this and not many other views...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I find that, regardless of the discussion, religion is generally a symptom, not a cause.

 

[Man of Faith]

You said it yourself...China is a dictatorship not a democracy. The best countries in this world are non-religious democracies.

Here is the problem, those two are mutually exclusive, you can’t have a pure non-religious country and have Democracy. If you will notice on the so called non-religious countries, their laws and freedoms are hold over’s from their Christian foundation and tradition. So during a transition from religion to non-religion there can be good times, but a pure non-religious country is based on communism dictatorships because there is nothing to stop it from heading in that direction.

 

[George-ananda]

Here is some data to kind of goes against your comparison.

Here’s a link that shows data that suicide rates are higher in countries where religiosity is low. It’s even more of a factor than the country’s economic health..

In general, I think people consider atheism a more depressing belief. I wouldn’t argue for spiritual beliefs just because they are more appealing to the masses. I also think the arguments for the existence of a spiritual world are stronger than the arguments against (but that’s another debate that could go on for a few million posts).

So, the point I’d like to make is reasonable religion is healthy but extreme attitudes like Huckabee’s cast all of religion in a bad light.

 

[Maya3]

When I after the terrible Connecticut shooting heard that people like Mike Huckabee said that the reason for the shooting was that "God" is not allowed in the schools anymore, I thought it was time to compare the most religious country to the least religious countries in the world:
Somalia vs Sweden & Norway.

Sweden & Norway ranks on top when it comes to:
1. Women in congress
2. First on United Nations (UNDP) ranking of the best countries when looking at diffrent factors
3. Least corrupt
4. Gives most in terms of GDP per capita to poor countries
5. Least dangerous
6. Have the most people who believe in evolution
7. etc
8. etc
9. etc

Please click on the links below:
Sweden ranks in top - Invest Sweden
Best Countries to Live In - Best Places to Live in the World - Marie Claire
Norway is the best country in the world to live in, according to the UN
New Swedish parliament 'most gender balanced ever' - The Local
List of governments by development aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From link above (percent of GDP given to poor countries - Gross Domestic Product) Yes, these awful non-religious countries cares most about giving aid to other countries that need it:
1.

Sweden – 1.45%
2.

Norway – 1.06%

List of governments by development aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Somalia
1. Worst corrupt country in the world
2. Worst place to be a woman
3. No women in congress and other high positions
4. Most dangerous country
5. Have the least people who believe in evolution
6. etc
7. etc
8. etc

Please click on the links below:
Somalia Tops Most Corrupt Countries List For Fifth Year - Forbes
The worst places in the world for women: Somalia | World news | guardian.co.uk
60 Most Failed Countries of the World: Postcards From Hell - Chill Out Point

Importance of religion by country
The first percentage is if they say that religion is important in their life. The second is if religion is not important in their life.

Sweden 16.5% 83% (first place)

Denmark 18% 80.5%

Norway 20.5% 78%
Hong Kong 23% 75.5%
Japan 23.5% 75%
Egypt 98% 2%

Republic of the Congo 94.5% 5.5%

Somalia 98.5% 1.5% (last place)

Note: there are of course many countries between Sweden and Somalia but these are examples from the list.

Failed states: List of countries by Failed States Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click on the link above and see where the terrible, horrific & non-moral non-religious countries of Sweden and Norway are compared the the great religious country of Somalia. Note, it's is not good to be on top of this list...


Should I continue with the most religious christian countries:

Honduras 84% 15.5%

Do I dare to say it...Honduras has the most murders per capita in the world....even though they are the most religious christian country...even more religious than USA...

The countries that are more religious than Honduras are not Christian....

Please click on the links below:
The Struggle to Survive in the Most Violent Country in the World - InSight Crime | Organized Crime in the Américas
The World's Murder Capital Is ... - ... a country even more dangerous than Mexico or Iraq

Can we once and for all agree that being non-religious is actually a good thing....I think USA is heading in the direction of Sweden and Norway in terms of the importance of religion which is a good thing....

Please tell me if you want more stats from the "religious" countries and the "not religious" countries..It is not just the examples above that shows what I'm talking about...

I'm getting so tired of these religious people in America who think "God" is the answer....

As a Swede, I must say; Thank you for posting this!

Maya

 

[Maya3]

Here is some data to kind of goes against your comparison.

Here’s a link that shows data that suicide rates are higher in countries where religiosity is low. It’s even more of a factor than the country’s economic health..

In general, I think people consider atheism a more depressing belief. I wouldn’t argue for spiritual beliefs just because they are more appealing to the masses. I also think the arguments for the existence of a spiritual world are stronger than the arguments against (but that’s another debate that could go on for a few million posts).

So, the point I’d like to make is reasonable religion is healthy but extreme attitudes like Huckabee’s cast all of religion in a bad light.

The Swedish suicide rates are a myth.
All that is different is that we don't have religious reasons to pretend that a suicide is not a suicide, so our stats are more correct than in some religious countries.

The it's SO dark in Sweden is also not logical, because in the summer it is so light, so we could easily say that people in other countries must be SO depressed because the sun is down already at 9 PM in the summer!

Maya

 

[LuisDantas]

Here is the problem, those two are mutually exclusive, you can’t have a pure non-religious country and have Democracy.

As if!

If you will notice on the so called non-religious countries, their laws and freedoms are hold over’s from their Christian foundation and tradition. So during a transition from religion to non-religion there can be good times, but a pure non-religious country is based on communism dictatorships because there is nothing to stop it from heading in that direction.

You truly believe in that, don't you?

 

[George-ananda]

The Swedish suicide rates are a myth.
All that is different is that we don't have religious reasons to pretend that a suicide is not a suicide, so our stats are more correct than in some religious countries.

I don't follow the above sentence. What are you trying to say; religious countries mislead about suicide more? What? Why?

 

[Infinitum]

The it's SO dark in Sweden is also not logical, because in the summer it is so light, so we could easily say that people in other countries must be SO depressed because the sun is down already at 9 PM in the summer!

Maya

As someone living up north I can confirm this. Winter depression is terribly common out here. Eating D-vitamin helps somewhat, but it's still really depressing to have days with barely a few hours of dim sunlight.

 

[johnsweeting]

First of all Norway and Sweden don't have a high suicide rate but I can say that underdeveloped countries are for sure under reporting this. This is from a paper about suicides from "suicide prevention forum:

"Considering that under-reporting of suicide is a major issue in developing countries, the enormity of the problem and the urgent need for suicide prevention is evident".

I have studied some statistics between countries and for example:
Pakistan has around 190 million people and Sweden has 9,4 million.

Guess what, according to statistics Sweden has more number of crime than Pakistan if you look at the total number of reported crimes. I don't mean per capita crime but the actual the number of crime. The under reporting in underdeveloped countries are huge. In Sweden everything is reported and followed up. Trust me, I did a paper of this in the university 7 years ago.

Happiest nations: Click on the link below:
01 Norway - Christopher Helman Southwest Bureau - Forbes

 

[Skwim]

While I sympathize, Debater Slayer is still right. I think the evidence is strong that being a religious country does little to the actual quality of life of the citizens.

Exactly.