In The 2013 World Happiness Report, which I’ll mention shortly, Iceland ranks as the 9th happiest country in the world out of 156 countries polled; “happiness” incorporates several measures of well being (go to the report for the way they quantified happiness). Here are the ten happiest countries in the world:
As I’ll show in about an hour, the happiest countries of the world are, not coincidentally, the least religious. And, as several readers pointed out to me, a new poll in Iceland shows that country to be on the road to complete atheism. An article in Iceland Magazine, a venue that should know, had this provocative headline:
Boy, would I like to see a headline like that referring to the U.S., where 42% of the inhabitants believe in creationism, at least for humans!
. . . and the data on Iceland:
Iceland seems to be on its way to becoming an even more secular nation, according to a new poll. Less than half of Icelanders claim they are religious and more than 40% of young Icelanders identify as atheist. Remarkably the poll failed to find young Icelanders who accept the creation story of the Bible. 93.9% of Icelanders younger than 25 believed the world was created in the big bang, 6.1% either had no opinion or thought it had come into existence through some other means and 0.0% believed it had been created by God.
The poll, which was conducted by the polling firm Maskína on behalf of Siðmennt, The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, an association of Icelandic atheists, found that 46.4% of Icelanders identify as religious, which is the lowest figure to date.
(By the way, why are so many organizations named “Ethical Humanists”? Humanism is ethical, or so I thought. Are there any Unethical Humanist Associations?)
More heartening data:
0.0% of people younger than 25 believe God created the world
The poll found an even more dramatic difference between different generations when it probed how people believed the world had been created. Of those younger than 25 93.9% said the world had been created in the big bang and 0.0% believed God had created the world. 77.7% of those between 25 and 44 years old believed the world had been created in the big bang and 10.1% believed God had created the world. In all but the oldest age category a majority accepted the big-bang theory. Only 46.1% of those older than 55 believed in the big bang, and nearly a fourth, 24.5% believed God had created the world.People in the oldest category were also most unsure about the origins of existence, as 16.6% of those older than 55 saying they either didn’t know or had no opinion on the origin of the world.
This goes along with data from the U.S., which also shows older people being not only more liable to believe in creationism, but also to be more religious. (In contrast, scientists tend to become less religious with age, bucking the “cohort effect.” That has always suggested to me that the longer you practice science, the more atheistic you become.)
But wait! There’s more!:
Growing support for separation of Church and State
The poll also found a growing percentage of Icelanders support the full separation of church and state. Out of those who expressed an opinion on the subject 72% supported the full separation of church and state and 28% oppose the separation of church and state. Currently the Icelandic constitution stipulates that the state church of Iceland is the Icelandic Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Now I often point out that the well-being, happiness and apparent high morality of Scandinavian and Northern European countries puts the lie to believers’ claims that a country can’t be moral without religion—that countries need religion or they’ll simply disintegrate. When given the European Example, they simply engage in special pleading, saying that the strong and moral societies of Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and other places are simply an inheritance from their past backgrounds as “Christian nations.” But that pathetic excuse won’t hold forever.
Finally, I’ll append three comments made on that article:
I went to Iceland in November last year. It was an absolutely amazing place. The people were all so nice and the scenery was just spectacular. I would recommend it to anyone!
We did visit a couple of churches while we were there (one at Skalholt) and the guides all explained how there was a state church which did surprise me.
Iceland is on my “to go” list too. I’d go in winter. The wife would go in summer. We’d probably have to accommodate on “she” spending the day in the “Blue Lagoon”, and me hitting the mountains with a reflective suit.
Cuddling volcanoes is probably for younger people than me. But I think I need to be smacked over the head with the lesson before I accept it.
New England is too cold for me, I need sunny secularism.
You can create it where you are!
Actually, there is a village in the East Fjords of Iceland for which the temperature never descended below freezing for the entire winter, the one before last. That’s not the high, it’s overnight as well. So you might be happy there!
The Gulf stream, or an offshoot, has a tremendous effect near the coast, even though the whole place is within about 300 km of the Arctic circle, and a bit at the top right on it. Almost no one lives in the much colder interior.
In another sense, almost no one, only a few hundred thousand, lives permanently in Iceland, period. Last January for three days in Reykjavik, we had wall-to-wall sunshine, very lucky as the timing was forced by a funeral in Norway. But there sure ain’t much daylight at that time of year.
Norwegian (“Noggin” to friends) : “Bad weather – it no exist!”
Rest Of the World : “WTF?”
Noggin (for this is the land where the north wind blows) replies : “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”
Rest Of the World : “OK, granted. That doesn’t stop it being cold”
Noggin : ” Look, when we say ‘2,2,2’ we mean 2 hours of immersion in 2 centigrade water for less than 2 centigrade of core temperature drop (at which point, you start to lose rational thought), we expect you to deliver 2,2,2 performance, or not consider it an adequate design.
Look, Noggin, are you projecting other conversations into this one
Noggin: Oh yeah, but the point about a naked ape having relied on technology for temperature control for THOUSANDS of years remains valid
Outside the tropics, we rely on clothing. The further from (about) 40 degrees N/S, the more the clothing.
Oh I loved _Noggin the Nog_. _Ivor the Engine_ was better though.
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A Postgate post!
“The world” (if that means Planet Earth) was not created at the time of the Big Bang, but nine billion or so years later.
I’m not at all surprised by the nations on the above list – all modern, secular, “socialist” nations. I’m trying to decide which one to move to someday (from the U.S.).
Don’t be so geocentric 😉
I have looked into moving out of this country.
The US makes leaving next to impossible because of our tax structure. You have to pay income tax at a rate of 30% if you live abroad, regardless of what your tax rate would be if you lived here. If you don’t pay it, this country terrorized and threatens your country of residence.
I would love to ask all the presidential candidates who want to see us leave because of who we are why they make leaving so difficult, and whether they would support making it easier to leave if we want to.
I think that what they think is their utopia, with everyone having the same opinions about everything, women and minorities “knowing their places”, diminished education, oligarchy, no health care except for the elites, etc., would be really unpleasant. I wish they could actually experience it.
I have been told that I am “not a real American” because we recycle our trash, because we have solar panels, and of course, because we are atheists. L
There has to be plenty of irony in this. While sending all their money off shore and overseas to avoid taxes (companies and individuals), they tax the hell out of those who actually leave.
I am sorry to hear this. There must be a realistic way, however, because in the modest circle of people I know, there are 4 US expatriates in Europe: two ladies who married European men and two scientists who moved to head research labs.
This isn’t true.
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion
If you earn less than $100,000, then you pay $0 in US taxes, and simply pay the local tax rate.
And if you happen to earn more, you can explore the foreign tax credit:
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Tax-Credit
I lived abroad for several years and calculated my taxes both ways. It was a no-brainer given my income to take the exclusion. But in neither case do you get simply double-taxed.
More information here:
https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-taxes-abroad-dummies/
Oh, and I forgot, if you want to renounce your citizenship, you have to pay $2390.00. L
If citizenship is renounced do they stop the 30% Tax?
Yes, if you renounce your citizenship, they can’t chase you anymore.
Of course, if you’re like me and you’ve paid into Social Security for more than fifty years, you kiss that money goodbye. L
Well, I guess this means we are trapped. Losing your citizenship costs you your SS. So keep the citizenship and lose it to taxes.
Or, leave, keep your earnings less than $100k (to pay no tax) and come back as a retiree when you need the SS/ health care …
Oh, no health care.
What a weird country.
A lot of misinformation here. US citizens face the same Federsl income tax scedule whether living abroad or the US. Whether you are subject to state income taxes depends on the state you lived in. You can maintain your SS benefits even as a non-citizen.
That does sound better. Taking away your pensions, SS or others, just does not make sense.
I lived overseas for 5 years working for the same company as in the states and my taxes were the same there as here, as you say. Now, I know that there are some jobs that U.S. citizens would get overseas and pay no taxes. These were usually dependents of government workers who got jobs working for American companies in the overseas location, such as banks.
The “big bang” comment struck me as very odd as well. I wonder if Icelandic for “Universe” ended up translated as “world”?
That was my thought to.
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*too
And:
hiemurinn / world
alheimurinn / universe
When you go remember to tell them you’re an atheist. Being an American, you wouldn’t want them making any assumptions that would jeopardize your chances.
I highly recommend a visit to Iceland for anybody who likes anything even remotely outdoors-y.
The “ethical” in “ethical humanism” might be a redundancy to emphasize its ethical nature for those not in the know.
Or to contrast it with religious or academic humanism …
It actually indicates a parallel heritage of the Ethical movement (which was originally not specifically areligious) and (secular) humanism.
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I do accept that the longer one practices science, the less religious one becomes. But some laypersons become more religious as they age.. ‘just in case’ one told me.
Ah, yes, Pascal has a lot to answer for. L
Possibly we need to send many of our people to Iceland for “adjustment”.
Fertility, fertility, fertility.
Besides which, how long before some version of a neo-pagan ethnonationalist movement infects Iceland (in response to immigration necessitated by fertility declines)? The soldiers of Odin are marching in Finland, which is pretty atheistic.
Monotheism, especially Northern Protestant Christian monotheism, keeps your native fertility above or closer to replacement, and insists on a universalist morality (do unto others) instead of clan-based altruism, which is the case in many parts of the world (do unto outsiders before they do unto you). This type of morality makes something like an impersonal system of contractual exchanges between strangers possible.
Sure it sucks, and it is arbitrary as hell, but it has made capitalism and democracy possible if we take Max Weber seriously.
FWIW, Sweden has recovered and is above replacement rates. Mainly because it is now easier to be a parent if I understand correctly.
What an ironic comment in the context of this article. I’d guess the large influx of religious people with high fertility rates in Sweden has some impact on that ‘recovery.’ Of course it appears Swedish police have not been honestly reporting violence against women, so you may have ‘recovered’ at the expense of social stability and a more violent society. Neoliberalism is all about more bodies and more money, not sustainability.
Immigration is NOT necessitated by fertility declines, unless one takes the short-sighted reasoning of selfish elderly people for “necessity”.
The emergence of universalist, often monotheistic Axial-age religions coincides in history with the emergence of large, multi-ethnic empires, pax Romana, etc. I don’t think the emergence of these religious systems can be disentangled from the emergence of Imperial power structures. Likewise, one can imagine that the disappearance of Axial-age religions may trigger a reversion to tribe and clan. Certainly, the Reformation itself was the beginning of the end of Empire in Europe and the emergence of the Westphalian nation-state.
Although of course the Pax Romana appeared under (relative) religious pluralism, and disappeared not long after the imposition of monotheism.
It was of course this inconvenient truth that Augustine was trying to wriggle out of.
I consider Byzantium a continuation of the Roman Empire, and the notion of two empires Catholic propaganda. Granted, after the 4th Crusade, Byzantium was a marginal power, but it was a large and successful empire for centuries even if you take the view that the “Roman Empire” disappeared when the Western Empire collapsed. . . and contrary to Gibbon. Certainly, Byzantine law contributed to the development of modern Continental legal systems in major way.
For the record, I hope that Jerry Coyne is right and I am wrong about these trends!
Praise Óðinn!
Praise Þórr!!!
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It isn’t only Scandinavian and Northern European countries. It is everywhere!
“Morality is not rooted in religion and religion matters less for moral values now than it did 30 years ago, says a University of Manchester researcher.
Dr Ingrid Storm’s findings, based on her analysis of European survey data, found that religious decline does not equal moral decline.
According to Dr Storm, whose research is published in Politics and Religion, involvement in religion makes the most difference to morality in the most religious countries, and matters less for moral values now than it did in the 1980s.
“Religion has been in sharp decline in many European countries. Each new generation is less religious than the one before, so I was interested to find out if there is any reason to expect moral decline” she said.
Her study found that religion is only related to some moral values, and more so in religious countries and when people do not trust the state.
The respondents to questionnaires in 48 European countries …”
“”As religion has declined in Europe there has also been an increase in acceptance of personal autonomy on issues concerning sexuality and family. Each generation is more liberal on these issues than the one before. In contrast, we find no evidence that moral values have become more self-interested or anti-social.”
The research also found that religious people are slightly less self-interested on average, but this can largely be accounted for by their age. This is because the average religious person is older than the average nonreligious person …”
[ http://phys.org/news/2016-01-religious-decline-equal-moral.html ; my bold]
It is like in science, bad ideas of yesteryear dies with their defenders…
The greatest observable effect, long-term, of secularism on a population is a cratering of fertility, which is highly correlated with that “personal autonomy on issues concerning sexuality and family”. To those not challenged by math, it is clear what odds are on the “bad ideas of yesteryear” in about 2-3 generations.
Today, there are more religious people on Earth than have ever lived, and they occupy a higher relative share of the global population, despite the growth of secularism in the WEIRD world, all the great atheist books, the internet, cell phones, etc.
The claim that today, there are more religious people on earth than have ever lived is false.
This claim rears it’s ugly head in many forms, but usually in the form that the living people outnumber all the people that have died.
It’s bogus.
The estimations are that until 2011 roughly 107 billion people were born.
Even as far back as 1 A.D. already 47 billion were born. So even if the entire earth’s population living right now were religious, they wouldn’t even come close to the number of people that ever lived.
source: http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2002/HowManyPeopleHaveEverLivedonEarth.aspx
Fascinating. I had heard the claim that “there are more people living today…”, so many times, unchallenged, I really never gave it a thought. Good thing I was never invited on Jeopardy. On the one hand, you could call this a fragment of trivia, not really very important as factoids go. But, it is certainly a warning flag to stop an think when in the face of “obvious” declarations. Thanks for the enlightenment.
This is fantastic. Being Canadian, I hope we are soon to follow.
This allows me to bring up something that bothered me on Jeopardy! yesterday, and is a prime example of why the US lags so far behind in these areas. In a category on Biblical Geography, an answer included the quote “scholars believe the Exodus occurred here”, which brings up many issues. I am a fan of the show and watch it regularly, but their fondness of biblical categories every now and then upset me. I tweeted at the show’s official account to try to draw attention to this ridiculous clue, but to no avail. If shows like this can’t even recognize the utter ridiculousness of the religion they’re touting, how can the far less educated?
“Scholars believe the Exodus didn’t occur here,” while the accurate question, would probably have created an uproar.
I missed this before I wrote my response. I like your question better…catch ’em with subtlety.
“Historians cannot find any evidence that the Exodus occurred. But where does the Bible say it occurred?” Wouldn’t that be awesome?!
I like Jeopardy too, and agree that their biblical categories (though fairly easy) bum me out. Their framing is often erroneous. Good on you for at least letting the show know of their folly.
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So, swarms of malarial mosquitoes aren’t convincing? Or the Guinea worm? 😉
It’s funny to me that the Guinea worm is named after a holy city (Dracunculus medinensis). Apparently Allah didn’t care about His faithful as much as to protect them from this nasty thing.
Iceland is a beautiful place to visit. One of the strange quirks is that there are a lot of people there who believe in elves and trolls. While I was visiting, there was a large protest against a road being built through an undisturbed lava field (all the roads go through lava fields) and part of the reason for the protest was that it would disturb the elves. One of the protest leaders was a lady from Hafnafjordur who has an elf museum adjacent to a park where there is an alcove that is an elf church. Talked to a woman in a store in Reykjavik who said she did not believe in trolls, but she did believe in elves. I wonder if belief in elves follows the same age breakdown.
Walking around a relatively recent lava field, say lass then 10,000 years old, which is easy to do there, especially at dusk with those odd shaped boulders on the horizon, it is easy to see where belief in these ‘little people’ (not Jerry’s little people), might have arisen in the past.
However I think that many Icelanders largely treat surveys containing silly questions with the unserious responses they deserve. And anything to help tourism is good. In particular I’d bet the results about belief, in the fairies living under the rocks, contained a great deal of tongue-in-cheek responses. That despite the slight road diversion a few years back.
We did have an interesting meal at the little ‘institute’ up in the West Fjords (in the huge metropolis, Holmavik, which must have a population of at least 800 or so!). That house is also the ‘museum of witchcraft and sorcery’, or something with nearly that name. The little fellow who served the meal, with the tight but rumpled green tights and Harry Potter pointy hat, could not be put off his (I think feigned) seriousness about the existence of some such ‘people’, despite our joking around about it and about tourists’ gullibility. (No one else was there.) That joking included asking for assurances that no magic potions had been added to our food. Actually, several hours later, my wife wasn’t feeling 100% in the tummy for a bit. But I was okay, so no potion I suppose!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/18/iceland
Highest birth rate in Europe + highest divorce rate + highest percentage of women working outside the home = the best country in the world in which to live.
Interesting, but the article is from 2008, and possibly was wildly inaccurate even then—looking up Divorce Demography in Wiki right now puts Iceland way down, at 37%, compared e.g. to Belgium’s 71%. There are many European countries with more divorce, easily the majority I think, but couldn’t be bothered to count.
The Guardian is a pale shadow of what it was 50 years ago. Of course that lightweight sensationalist Guardian writer might have better access to data than Wiki. But unlikely.
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Yggdrasil is un-rooted!
Fimbulwinter follows!
Fred Hoyle, what did you start?
The irony, as you know, was that Fred Hoyle disputed the Big Bang Theory, and named it thus derisively.
{GRIN}
I have much admiration for Hoyle; however…
General Relativists who disliked Hoyle used to have the following snarky story, from the ancient days some of you have only read about, where the output from computers was printed on lengthy wide sheets.
Hoyle, looking at the most recent, which compiled the results of some observations, remarks:
‘Aha, this confirms our Steady State Theory!’
A timid grad student plucks up the courage to tell him he is holding the sheet upside down. Hoyle turns it around, re-reads it for a minute or two, and exclaims:
‘Aha, this confirms our Steady State Theory!’
I’ve heard several variants of that story with different dramatis personae.
And some of us actually used those 15in teletype terminals to learn to program on.