China Has Highest Percentage of Atheists in the World, Gallup Survey Says

[gtar100]

57. That they do.

It seems the Chinese government wants to control the hearts and minds of people and they see religions as being in direct competition. They can't just turn religion "off", as much as they try. So they have to come up with something that will fill the void - being a good citizen, service and honorifics to the State, unselfish behavior for the good of the country...patriotism. All very unsatisfactory answers to existential and religious questions. It's a clash of cultural power structures - government and religion.

Far from being irrelevant, it's an interesting contrast to the highly religious societies in western states, particularly the US. Here in the US, atheists are very much a minority but are (thankfully) protected by laws in expressing their own beliefs/non-beliefs; yet they still find it very difficult to run for government positions openly as atheists in many parts of the US. In some places it's downright oppressive for atheists. It's easy to point the finger at religion rather than human nature expressed through a religious framework. But flip the coin and make atheism the state position on religion (a la, China), and suddenly they have the power to assert their own ideology onto the masses. What do they do? Attempt to suppress religious practices. What a surprise! Should we blame it on atheism? I wouldn't. It's people attempting to control other people through the structures at hand. Based on your replies to others here, I think that's what you are driving at - it's not religion, per se, but human nature. And that is a very significant distinction to make.

And here's why: when a culture arises, it comes with several features that manifest in unique styles that distinguish and define its uniqueness (I'm thinking of historical peoples, i.e., Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Mayan, etc.). Those features include:

1. Government (a set of societal rules to live by and a framework for applying and enforcing those rules)
2. Religion (the practices of an orthodox interpretation of the spiritual traditions and philosophical understandings of the people); and
3. Economy (the means for sustaining the people and culture with the essential requirements and other needs).

Government, religion and the economy - they appear to me to be the basic, essential elements of culture...frameworks. The nuance I think that's missing from most dialogues discussing religion with atheists is the recognition of religion as a natural expression of human nature. They see it as an aberration and miss the forest for the trees. But I wouldn't want to shut them down for that or attempt to "convert" them to a religion - that's disrespectful and stupid, coercive behavior - as if I had answers to their personal lives! Rather, I like to hear opinions and beliefs on origins of life and our relationship to nature, the cosmos, the universe, consciousness and all that jazz. So if there are no gods, what is the origin? How deep do they want to go? Can they dream of better gods by other names or express more meaningful interpretations of nature that can satisfy the longings we all have that lead us to question things and attempt to understand who and what we are as individuals and as communities of people? What models can they build for understanding? If "religion" is nothing more than the institutions of the Church, Synagogue, Temple, or Mosque, then yes, those theoretically can be gotten rid of and they could triumphantly proclaim that religion is kaput. But they can't get rid of what makes religion arise out of human nature.

Side note - I apologies for the long replies but I appreciate your questions; they get me thinking. Thankfully, they aren't required reading for anyone! 8)