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Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment

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Phil Zuckerman, a social scientist, has a really pleasant story to tell in this easy-to-read book about the people living in Denmark and Sweden. According to Zuckerman, who spent 14 months in Scandanavia between 2005 and 2006, the Danes and Swedes live a comfortable secular life in which they doff their cap to Christianity (state Lutheranism) the way sneezing in the U.S. warrants the response "Bless you": easy-breezy and without much fervency or depth of thought. They live a "cultural religion," much as George Santayana (not mentioned in this book) characterized himself as a Catholic atheist.

The people of Sweden and Denmark are largely a nice people with largely secular lives. From the social scientist's viewpoint, the fact that there exists these two nations whose people exhibit little religious fanaticism or fervency disproves any notion that there is a "God gene" or that religious belief is somehow intrinsic to the existential nature of being human.

The last chapter, "Back to the USA," sadly shows not much hope exists, however, that such a way of life as the Scandanavians presently possess can be widely achieved in the U.S. The cultural, historical, and sociological forces are much too different. The book offers a shining glimpse of what life can be like -- unfettered by irrational stupidities and fanatical hatred, especially on the political level.

I'm a Scandinavian, living and working in Stockholm, Sweden, and I read Mr. Zuckerman's book from that perspective.

Obviously he is very well read on the issues of Scandinavian societies and on religion in general, but I have to say that given that he only spent a year or so in Scandinavia, I'm very impressed with his thorough understanding of the finer nuances of the Nordic countries and the mentality of its people (he mainly deals with Denmark and Sweden) - and his descriptions and analysis of people's attitudes to religious and societal matters are interesting.

In his book he shows that societies can be sane, prosperous and humane without people having a God-fearing approach to life, and he also presents some interesting ideas and explanations as to why the Scandinavian societies have become so secular, and reversely, why the USA has become so religious.

His book and studies are clearly built on sociological research methods, but he carries a personal tone throughout the book which makes it very pleasant to read. And although some of the interviews in the book can be a bit lengthy at times, they provide a direct and valuable insight into the way the common Dane or Swede thinks on matters of religion, the church, life, death, etc.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in society and religion. And I also think it's a valuable read for us Scandinavians, to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves on the matter of religion...

The book presents an excellent case study of how solid, peaceful, and advanced society can be when we collectively view the world without acting out the literal word of the books that support organized religion. One major takeaway that surprised me was the contrast and comparison between how the Danes and Swedes viewed religion with a sense of spirituality and culture and the Americans viewed religion with a sense of literal and rigid interpretation and how that translated into our societies differences. I am personally embarrased of how our America thinks and behaves relative to this topic. To a great degree, we can step back and view American Christianity similar to how we view the worship of ancient cultures - Greek, Egyptian, Mayan, Incan, and see how antiquated our thinking is around this subject.

This book was recommended to me through the Sam Harris blog, and I recommend it for anyone that is asking the question, what would society look like if we walked away from the literal interpretation of the Bible? While the book doesn't get into Islam, the same parallels can be drawn and points inferred. It briefly touches Judaism, which is ironically viewed more similarly to the Dane and Swede view of Christianity. Jews are surprisingly secular when viewing social topics.

One last stat that surprised me was how large the secular/free-thinking/humanist population is across the world - 4th largest group (if you had to group this populus against labeled groups of believers and non-believers). Of the 6.8 billion of us currently on our planet, 2 billion are admittedly Christian (Catholic, Episcopal/Anglican, Lutheran,etc), 1.2 are Muslim, 900 million are Hindu, and 750 million are admittedly freethinkers. My instincts tell me that if we count the people that really are freethinkers, but can't yet part with their religious label, the number is much higher.

At any rate, we seem to be waking up around the globe and viewing religion for what it really is. This book is a good piece for those wondering how moral, peaceful, economically solid, and culturally advanced we can be if we let go of the stories from these ancient books and live our lives by our true moral and instinctual compass.

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).

What can I say that hasn't already been expressed in other reviews? This book is excellent. Very well written and very interesting. I was shocked at many of the stories Zuckerman was told during his interviews about how if someone confesses to being a believer you're teased and thought of as an oddball. I can't wrap my head around the Europeans' culture, but it seems to be very content, peaceful, and not lacking in meaning, unlike what many theists say today about societies lacking a belief in god. Zuckerman's research surely puts to rest all claims that a strong religious presence and belief in god are necessary.

The book is a fairly slim one, but it's packed with a ton of information. Near the end of the book Zuckerman contrasts the religious views and culture of the U.S. with the European countries and attempts to help the reader understand possible reasons why Sweden and Denmark are so irreligious. This part of the book was very interesting. He explains different answers to that question taken from other researchers and goes into some of the history of the U.S. and the European counties in an attempt to understand the reasons for the differences in the level of religious belief.

Zuckerman makes it clear that his knowledge of the history of these places are minimal and there are many factors that go into how religious views of nations are shaped, but offered his views (which seem to me very logical and plausible) anyway to give his readers an explanation and to help further the discussion on these topics.

If you're looking for an excellent and balanced treatment of the sociology of religion and what makes a person and place religious or not, this is a very good place to start.

Reading this book reminded me of a conversation I once had with a psychotherapist acquaintance. I had asked her somewhat distractedly what she was planning to do for the holidays, meaning Christmastime. She looked at me rather strangely, and said, "Well, I'm Jewish. Christmas has no meaning for me at all. Christmas Day is like any other day for me. I'll read the paper, have breakfast with my family, and enjoy a day off." There was something so bland about the way she said it, that it really struck home how little one of the seemingly routine annual parts of community life can mean to someone who lives in the same society. I mean, I knew Jews didn't celebrate Christmas, but I figured that in a Christmas-crazy country such as the U.S., everyone was touched in some way. Apparently not.

I had the same aha! moment reading this analysis of the secular societies of Denmark and Sweden. In our own rich and self-touted "Christian" nation, we talk incessantly of faith, and of solving homelessness, poverty, hunger, joblessness, lack of healthcare, and illiteracy. Somehow, though, we don't do those things. We talk the talk and then go off and pretend we've done our duty because solving such problems isn't really possible (right?), even in a country where faith would seem to be an overwhelming impetus to succeed.

Denmark and Sweden, on the other hand, have almost entirely secular societies in which thoughts of religion, faith, God, and the meaning of life have little or no place in everyday life. Shockingly little, the author thought, and so did I as I read the book. And yet these two countries rank at the top or close to the top in all areas of social welfare, and certainly above the U.S. They have solved, for all intents, all the social ills listed above. With no religious nudging, at least of the type touted in the United States, they have transformed their society into what I've always thought should be a "Christian" approach to society: sharing resources so that no one suffers who need not.

In interview after interview with Danish and Swedish citizens, the author found a repeated disinterest in religion. Not rejection, but simple disinterest. Animated and opinionated in all other areas of life, subjects often fell silent or grew bored with the topic. The supernatural, it seems, is not a topic of normal thought there. Nor is the existence of the soul, the meaning of life, or existence after death. People who do have opinions on such matters consider them private, and discussing them is considered rude. One interviewee recounted a drunken evening during which a longtime friend asked if he could share a secret about himself. He was, he said, a believer in God. He was rather embarrassed talking of such a personal issue and hoped his friend wouldn't think him a bad person for his belief.

The author proposes various reasons for the secular versus religious natures of different societies. He discusses church monopolies and the need (or lack thereof) for marketing churches, the greater or lesser degrees of personal and national security, the percentage of working women (historically the family members with the most time and interest to devote to church activities and to getting their families involved), and the history of how religion came to be adopted in a particular society (i.e., from the top down or the bottom up). He then goes on to discuss secular religion, that is, people who define themselves by religion, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc., but who are not involved in religious activities.

The book closes with interviews with a fellow professor, first in his native Denmark, and then after a year spent in California. This fellow came to the U.S. believing himself to be a Christian and left having decided that if what he saw here is Christianity, then he wasn't a Christian after all. The author asks him, "So when you go back to Denmark, if someone were to ask you, what would you say to them about the religion here?.... I mean how would you explain it to other Danes?" Here's the reply: "I think I would say to them, maybe you don't believe me, but the American society is -- all politics and media discussions -- is based on that everybody is very devoted Christians. Meaning that you cannot hold an office, you cannot be a president, you cannot be whatever, if you don't publicly say that you believe in God and all of your sentences end with God bless America or whatever. That we, as Danes, have to be very, very careful with joining the United States when they want us to go to war or they want us to join them in whatever endeavors they want us to join with them, because the religious fanatics in the United States have a very, very high influence on what's going to happen in the United States, and I don't think Danes know that. I think that if Danes knew that, they would be very -- I don't think they would be afraid -- but I think they would say, 'no, no, we don't want to be a part of that'."

Apart from the eye-opening information on how secular a society can be, how successful a secular society can be at achieving social well-being, and how unnecessary religion is as the basis for civilization, this book offers important reading for Americans, who sometimes need to look outside our borders to see how the rest of the world operates and how we are perceived "out there".

Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment
Denmark and Sweden are prosperous societies that score at or near the top on many measures of quality of life, happiness, and social well being. They are certainly not complete utopias -- taxes are high, immigration has generated tensions, alcohol consumption is a problem, bicycles are stolen, and so on -- but generally they are pleasant places to live.

These two countries are also comparatively irreligious, especially in relation to the United States. So contrary to what many religious fundamentalists, talk-show conservatives, and even some academic philosophers and theologians have claimed (Zuckerman says who), it cannot be that society without God will necessarily disintegrate, be overcome by immorality, or otherwise suffer heavenly wrath. Nor, Zuckerman concludes, can a propensity for religion be an innate human characteristic when so many people fail to display it. He does not go so far as to claim that the relative absence of religion explains the success of these societies; he simply wants to refute the view that religion is a necessary ingredient.

Zuckerman relies on various surveys of religiosity (and is aware of their limitations) and conducted nearly 150 structured interviews with Swedes and Danes. While more than 80 percent are members of their respective state churches, only minorities subscribe to basic tenets of Christianity. Scandinavians are "cultural Christians" Zuckerman suggests, much like cultural Jews in the United States. Churches provide a link to traditions, a place for weddings, funerals, and confirmations, but not much else for most Danes and Swedes. When it comes to the actual content of belief most are secular, rejecting supernatural explanations. Even those who say they believe in "something" often have a hard time articulating what that something is. Zuckerman asks why these societies are as irreligious as they are and he generally accepts three causal theories in combination: national church monopolies with no competition to stimulate church growth; the security of life in these societies; and the high proportion of working women.

Based on Zuckerman's own evidence from his interviews I would place a few caveats on his conclusions. First, Swedes and Danes still connect Christianity to morality implicitly. When he asks what being "Christian" means, many respond that it means being kind to others, taking care of those in need, being a moral person, and the like. This leads me to the thought that even for those who do not believe in the literal punishing or forgiving God of the Bible, there may well be some residual belief in something like Adam Smith's "impartial spectator," a sort of imaginary third-party presence capable of inducing good behavior. And it could be that even irreligious societies like Sweden and Denmark might be successful in part because they have a historical religious tradition -- Zuckerman raises this point but sets it aside as a complicated matter.

My strongest reservation in recommending this book to others is that it is less than exciting to read. The primary reason is that much of it consists of extensive verbatim excerpts from the interviews -- I admit that I fell into the habit of skimming these. With more aggressive editing the 183 page main text could have been reduced serviceably to a journal article or a piece in a middlebrow monthly.

I was disappointed, too, that a book on religion in Denmark made no mention whatsoever of Kierkegaard. Surely he had something meaningful to tell us about religious belief, morality, and despair -- or the lack thereof -- all relevant to Zuckerman's inquiry. Academic boundaries (sociology in this case) often shackle insight, and here we have another example.

phil zuckerman has presented a realistic view of people in america aswell as norway & switzerland who belive in a cultural religion without adhering to supernatural beliefs. One does not have to worship an omnipotent being. Myriads of people attend church & synagogue for the social and aesthetic beauty. As a jew I have humanistic beliefs and enjoy the music of a service without adhering to a supernatural God of the bible. Zuckerman has presented personal interviews with hundreds of people who have disengaged from the old beliefs of their parents & grandparents.

In what reads like a combination of research paper and super-lengthy blog post, Zuckerman presents a very convincing case that religion is unnecessary for a society to prosper.

It's important to note that the book's hypothesis is not "secularism makes societies BETTER" but rather "lack of religion does NOT make societies fail." To this end, Zuckerman interviews 149 semi-randomly selected people from Denmark & Sweden, while living there for 14 months. The general consensus is that religion is mostly a non-issue for people. Some believe, most don't, but nearly all really just *don't care*.

As for the support for his research hypothesis, one need look no further than the UN statistics on where Scandinavian countries place in terms of happiness, health, crime, poverty, etc. (hint: they do very well in all categories, significantly better than the US in most) The author does a good job of illustrating his personal experience while living there, as how it compares to living in northern California.

If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars. The only reason I don't give it 5 is because at times, it feels a little bit too much like a research paper. At a mere 183 pages, it is a quick read; but there were a couple moments when it felt like the pacing was lacking. In spite of that, it is definitely worth reading; I highly recommend for anyone interested in socio-religious issues (whether a believer or a non-believer or a fence-walker).

A readable and interesting presentation of preliminary field research showing rather convincingly that societies need not be religious/god fearing in order to be good. The methodology was a bit loose (interviewees were anyone the author could cajole into sitting for a rather lengthy interview) and the presentation of results was for the most part anecdotal.

I just had a couple quibbles with the author. First, in his introduction Zukerman states that in the U.S. and much of the world religiosity is on the increase without citing any studies to back up the statement. Since so much of the book is well documented I found this a lack, coming from an academic. This is particularly the case given the results of the recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (published after Zuckerman's book.) This is a minor quibble and in no way detracts from the conclusions in the book.

My second quibble I find a bit more troubling. In his discussion of social well being in Denmark and Sweden Zuckerman cites studies showing that these two countries rank very high in economic competitiveness, gender equality, lack of corruption, quality of education, etc. He frequently mentions other countries that also rank high, but never does he mention the country that consistently ranked higher that Denmark and Sweden, and was more often than not ranked first: Finland. Granted, Zuckerman didn't get to visit Finland during his stay but I find it rather puzzling that he never once mentioned their ranking in these studies, considering that Finland is a Nordic country sharing many characteristics with her Scandinavian neighbors. Could it be that the fact that Finland rated higher in measures of social well being while measures of percent of the population believing in God (around 45%, still well below the U.S.) didn't fit Zuckerman's model of an inverse relationship between social well being and lack of belief in God? Ignoring inconvenient facts doesn't strengthen one's argument.

This is a fascinating subject and one deserving fuller and more rigorous research. Zuckerman's book provides a good beginning.