Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment Paperback – 7 June 2010

Many conservatives, especially in the United States, claim that it is impossible to have a moral society without God. They are wrong, according to Phil Zuckerman, an American social scientist who lived in Denmark for 14 months. Zuckerman reports that the Danish, and their neighbors, the Swedes, live happy, health and moral lives without worrying too much about religion. These Scandinavians give more to charity, and take better care of their sick and poor than almost any other group of people. Their rates of violent crime are amongst the lowest on earth.It is not that the Danes are anti-religious. Quite to the contrary, many of them self-identify as being "Christians." But, they almost never go to church, they do not believe that Jesus was anything more than a good man, and they do not believe in God. They just do not concern themselves with religion, and instead focus on the here and now.Zuckerman's book is well worth a read. It is straightfoward and factual, based on the author's personal experiences, as well as many formal interviews. I think you'll find it informative.

It's a very informative book about God belief um scandinavian countries. I thought would be more general. Sometimes it's too much repetitive, specialy at interviews.

.. Was uns die am wenigsten religiösen Nationen über Zufriedenheit erzählen können. lautet der Titel auf deutsch. Ich bin durch die Autorin Victoria Rationi auf Phil Zuckerman gestoßen und sehe hier bestätigt, was ich schon lange vermutet habe: Religionen machen nicht glücklich, es gibt eine Moral, die man aus einer liebevollen Kindheit lernt, dann braucht man keine alten Bücher mehr, um zu entscheiden was gut oder böse ist ...

This read shows what truly civilized populations are like. Unlike America, their churches are funded by the state and individuals can either opt in or out of contributing to the churches funding through their taxes. I like the idea of no high-pressure tactics practiced by the clergy, everyone's religious activity is private, to be accepted in the community you don't have to be'Christian in Good Standing.' I think this is a good read for any thoughful person who's fed up with the stupidity of the 'Christian Right' in America.

The Danes and Swedes live in countries that consistently rank among the world's best in terms of social conditions. They have low crime and high economic equality. They have some of the lowest rates of infant mortality and highest life expectancy. They have one of the most educated populations on earth and as well as highest levels of happiness. They also are some of the most secular societies in existence today.Sociologist Phil Zuckerman spent over a year there interviewing and trying to ascertain how and why this is. His findings and explication of this culture would shock many believers who think that society and morality is founded upon religion.For instance, most Americans would describe about 75% of these people as atheist or agnostic for if they do not explicitly say they don't believe in God or a higher power, they will only say that they "believe in something." And many evangelicals would take that 75% to 95% for only about 5% of these Scandinavians believe that the Bible is the "Literal Word of God."But this isn't some simplistic screed saying that secularism begets a heavenly society for by no means is correlation necessarily causation. Nor are these countries without their share of problems (as is documented in the book).However, Zuckerman delves deeply into the multi-faceted and complex web of interactions that have led to such a very good society and his answers are many. They have a welfare state with free healthcare, virtually no poverty, and some of the least disparity between the rich and poor. They have had a different historical relationship with religion. Their state religion of Lutheranism has, like a lazy monopoly, failed to market its message (contrast that with the constant religious advertising we see in the US). And the explanation I found to be the strongest - their culture has never been perceived as at risk. (Religious belief strengthens to solidify in-group solidarity.)There are many topics covered at length and breadth in this wonderful book including the phenomenon of "cultural religion" where rituals and festivals are still carried out under religious guise but only a minority of people actually believe the supernatural content such as that the Danes and Swedes are fond of (compare Jewish people).However, that said, I must point out one glaring omission in the book - an explanation for the source of secular morality. Indeed, it is a, if not the, central point to the book that a society can be secular and moral. This topic is certainly dealt with, but only in a superficial manner. Many of the interviewees consistently say their cultural religion is a good thing in that it is their "ethical frame" (158). Following much of the interview discourse, Zuckerman often reflects back on what was said and offers analysis. On the roots of this, though, he is silent.In my estimation, morality is hardly ever religiously derived, even if people report it so and even if they don't believe in the supernatural portions of it. People start with their ethical judgments and in an ad hoc fashion justify them with religious texts. It is my understanding that morality is like grammar (read Marc Hauser's  Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong ) and that it operates almost unconsciously. And like grammar, most people can perform it, practice it, and be competent in it but they couldn't break it down into the deep syntactic structures or in the case of moral judgments identify the source.This isn't to say that morality is wholly biological but that it is at least almost wholly biologically primed. This is where religion comes in. The fact is that it is almost always the only available explicit description of morality is why even these secular Scandinavians seem to still fall under its sway in one area. That Zuckerman left this discussion out is probably one of intended scope for the book, but it is one that I would have liked to see.All in all the book is a lucid antithesis to the groundless and fear-mongering assertion that secularism invites societal chaos. But "Nor is religion a necessary ingredient for a healthy, peaceful, prosperous, and [...] deeply good society" (183). Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong

Zuckerman's book reads a lot like a documentary. The reason this book stands out from most books (for better or worse) is that a large portion of the book is comprised of transcripts from interviews that he conducted during his time spent living in Scandinavia. One of my biggest faults with the book could also be viewed as one of its strengths: he offers too many examples to back up the point he's trying to make. For almost all of his assertions, he provides sometimes up to 5 examples of excerpts from his interviews to support what he's trying to say, something I found a little redundant and unnecessary. The main demographic of people who will be surprised by anything in this book are the fundamentalist American Christians described by Zuckerman in the book. Most of us have no issue at all understanding that societies could function smoothly and morally without the bulk of its members believing in gods or goddesses. Overall, this book is a nice, light read, and unfortunately I feel that the only people who will learn something new and significant from it are those unlikely to ever read it.