Secular Europe

In 2014, the Pew Research Forum indicated that Europe will go from 11% of the world's population to 7% of the world's population by 2050.

From a global perspective, Europe is more secular/atheistic than the rest of the world although it does have a considerable amount of religious immigrants who have higher birth rates (see: Atheist population and Global atheism).

The current atheist population mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia among whites. See: Asian atheism and European desecularization in the 21st century and Western atheism and race

According to a poll measuring religious identification in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, 16% identify as non-religious/agnostic and 7% of EU citizens identify as atheists.

The 2010 eurobarometer poll found that on total average, of the EU27 population, 51% "believe in a God", 26% believe in "some sort of spirit or life force" and 20% had neither of these forms of belief.

Europe is expected to shink signficantly in terms of its population. According to Euronews: "New research has forecast the European Union's population will plummet by millions more than previously predicted. The United Nations has said the number of people in the bloc will drop to 365 million by 2100, down from 446 million today. But a new study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, predicts it will fall more sharply, to 308 million by the end of the century." See: Atheism and fertility rates

Europe is presently experiencing desecularization forces through: religious immigrants who have higher fertility rates than moderately religious and the sub-replacement level of fertility of the irreligious in many European countries. This trend is expected to continue and the secular population is projected to plateau by 2050, or as early as 2021 (see also: Growth of global desecularization).

Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London and author. His academic research specialty is how demographic changes affect religion/irreligion and politics, indicates, "Committed religious populations are growing in the West, and will reverse the march of secularism before 2050." Kaufmann also declared "Religious fundamentalism is going to be on the increase in the future and not just out there in the developing world..., but in the developed world as well."

Jürgen Habermas is a prominent German sociologist and philosopher. Habermas describes himself as a "a methodical atheist". In a 2006 essay, Habermas wrote: “secular citizens in Europe must learn to live, the sooner the better, in a post-secular society and in so doing they will be following the example of religious citizens, who have already come to terms with the ethical expectations of democratic citizenship. So far secular citizens have not been expected to make a similar effort.”

Europe at the beginning of a postsecular age

See also: Postsecularism

In November 2017, the Catholic News Agency reported Vatican Secretary for Relations with the States Archbishop Paul Gallagher indicating that religion is no longer a forbidden subject in European politics.

According to Gallagher: "Many diplomatic services throughout Europe and elsewhere are now running courses, literally accelerated courses to make up time on religion,” he said, explaining that political leaders are beginning to recognize that “the world is a very religious place."

European drop as a percentage of the world's population

See also: Atheism and marriage and Atheist marriages

In 2014, the Pew Research Forum indicated that Europe will go from 11% of the world's population to 7% of the world's population by 2050 and that Africa will go from 15% of the world's population to 25% of the world's population.

Michael Blume, a researcher at the University of Jena in Germany, wrote about the sub-replacement level of fertility among atheistic populations: "Most societies or communities that have espoused atheistic beliefs have not survived more than a century." Blume also indicated concerning concerning his research on this matter: "What I found was the complete lack of a single case of a secular population, community or movement that would just manage to retain replacement level." See also: Atheism and sexuality

Some expected racial demographic changes in secular Europe

As noted above, most European atheists are white.

In the United Kingdom, by the year 2050, 30 percent of the population is expected to be non-white. Yale Daily News reported in an article entitled White Europeans: An endangered species? that "Without a major shift in the current fertility trends, industrialized Europe will see its native population decline by about three-fourths over the 21st century."

Future of immigration to Europe uncertain

The future of immigration to Europe is difficult to determine. Should Europe's economic condition worsen in the future it will be less attractive to immigrants and anti-immigration politics could heighten due to increased competition for scarcer job opportunities. In addition, anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe appear to be rising so the proportion of immigration from Muslim countries could be affected due to politicians catering to anti-Muslim public sentiments.

Desecularization of secular Europe in the 21st century

See also: European desecularization in the 21st century and Religion and migration and Desecularization

Evangelical Protestantism and Islam are growing in Europe. Below are some statistics regarding their growth in various European countries plus some projections for the growth of evangelical Protestantism and Islam in Europe in the 21st century by the demography/religious/political scholar Eric Kaufmann.

On December 23, 2012, Professor Eric Kaufmann who teaches at Birbeck College, University of London wrote:

“

I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious. On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia has very low fertility and a rapidly aging population... In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British.

”

For more information, please see: European desecularization in the 21st century

Future of European desecularization in the 21st century

On March 17, 2014, the news website Deutsche Well reported that evangelical Christianity has doubled in Germany in the last 10 years.

On March 17, 2014, the news website Deutsche Well reported that evangelical Christianity has doubled in Germany in the last 10 years. Concerning the future of evangelical Protestantism in Europe, in a paper entitled Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century, Professor Eric Kaufmann wrote:

“

What of European Christianity? The conventional wisdom holds it to be in free fall, especially in Western Europe. (Bruce 2002) This is undoubtedly correct for Catholic Europe, while Protestant Europe already has low levels of religious practice. Yet closer scrutiny reveals an increasingly lively and demographically growing Christian remnant. Several studies have examined the connection between religiosity - whether defined as attendance, belief or affiliation - and fertility in Europe. Most find a statistically significant effect even when controlling for age, education, income, marital status and other factors... Moving to the wider spectrum of European Christianity, we find that fertility is indeed much higher among European women who are religious... Today, most of those who remain religious in Europe wear their beliefs lightly, but conservative Christianity is hardly a spent force. Data on conservative Christians is difficult to come by since many new churches keep few official records. Reports from the World Christian Database, which meticulously tracks reports from church bodies, indicates that 4.1 percent of Europeans (including Russians) were evangelical Christians in 2005. This figure rises to 4.9 percent in northern, western and southern Europe. Most religious conservatives are charismatics, working within mainstream denominations like Catholicism or Lutheranism to ‘renew’ the faith along more conservative lines. There is also an important minority of Pentecostals, who account for .5% of Europe’s population. Together, charismatics and Pentecostals account for close to 5 % of Europe’s population. The proportion of conservative Christians has been rising, however: some estimate that the trajectory of conservative Christian growth has outpaced that of Islam in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75). In many European countries, the proportion of conservative Christians is close to the number who are recorded as attending church weekly. This would suggest an increasingly devout Christian remnant is emerging in western Europe which is more resistant to secularization. This shows up in France, Britain and Scandinavia (less Finland), the most secular countries where we have 1981, 1990 and 2000 EVS and 2004 ESS data on religiosity... Currently there are more evangelical Christians than Muslims in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75) In Eastern Europe, as outside the western world, Pentecostalism is a sociological and not a demographic phenomenon. In Western Europe, by contrast, demography is central to evangelicalism’s growth, especially in urban areas. Alas, immigration brings two foreign imports, Islam and Christianity, to secular Europe.

”

In 2010, Kaufmann reported that the rate of secularisation flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France.

Austria offers a window into what the future holds for Europe as far as desecularization

Concerning the future of religion/secularism in Europe, Eric Kaufmann also wrote:

“

We have performed these unprecedented analyses on several cases. Austria offers us a window into what the future holds. Its census question on religious affiliation permits us to perform cohort component projections, which show the secular population plateauing by 2050, or as early as 2021 if secularism fails to attract lapsed Christians and new Muslim immigrants at the same rate as it has in the past. (Goujon, Skirbekk et al. 2006). This task will arguably become far more difficult as the supply of nominal Christians dries up while more secularisation-resistant Muslims and committed rump Christians comprise an increasing share of the population.

”

Religious immigrants to Europe resistant to secularization

Conservative Protestants have relatively high fertility rates. (Picture: Protestant church pulpit in Europe)

See also: European migrant crisis

In 2019, The Annual Review of Sociologypublished a journal article entitled Assimilation and the Second Generation in Europe and America: Blending and Segregating Social, Dynamics between Immigrants and Natives which indicated:

“

The persistence of a strong religious culture among Muslim immigrants long after having migrated and among the second generation is remarkable given the normative pressure toward secularism and lower religiosity levels in the European context. In Britain, Muslims’ religious identity is demonstrably as salient among individuals who migrated fifty years ago as among those who were born in the United Kingdom (Bisin et al. 2008, Lewis & Kashyap 2013).

”

In 2011, a paper was published entitled The End of Secularization in Europe?: A Socio-Demographic Perspective. The authors of the paper were: Eric Kaufmann - Birkbeck College, University of London; Anne Goujon - World Population Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); Vegard Skirbekk World Population Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

An excerpt from the paper by Kaufmann, Goujon and Skirbekk:

“

Conservative Protestants, a much larger group than the Mormons, also benefit from relatively high fertility. Hout et al. (2001) find that three-quarters of the growth of conservative Protestant denominations against their liberal counterparts is due to fertility advantage rather than conversion. In Europe, there has been less attention paid to fertility differences between denominations. However, several studies have discovered that immigrants to Europe tend to be more religious than the host population and — especially if Muslim—tend to retain their religiosity (Van Tubergen 2006). Though some indicators point to modest religious decline toward the host society mean, other trends suggest that immigrants become more, rather than less, religious the longer they reside in the host society (Van Tubergen 2007). All of which indicates that religious decline may fail at the aggregate level even if it is occurring at the individual level (Kaufmann 2006, 2010). This article thereby investigates the hypothesis that a combination of higher religious fertility, immigration, and slowing rates of religious apostasy will eventually produce a reversal in the decline of the religious population of Western Europe.

”

UK and secularism

See also: British atheism

A Eurobarometer poll in 2010 reported that 37% of UK citizens "believed there is a God", 33% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% answered "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".

On December 2018, The Times indicated: "The number of atheists in Britain has fallen in the past year, according to a survey suggesting that more people are attending church, albeit irregularly."

The Guardian published an article in 2017 entitled Nearly 50% are of no religion – but has UK hit ‘peak secular’? which declared:

“

But, Bullivant told the Observer that the “growth of no religion may have stalled”. After consistent decline, in the past few years the proportion of nones appears to have stabilised. “Younger people tend to be more non-religious, so you’d expect it to keep going – but it hasn’t. The steady growth of non-Christian religions is a contributing factor, but I wonder if everyone who is going to give up their Anglican affiliation has done so by now? We’ve seen a vast shedding of nominal Christianity, and perhaps it’s now down to its hardcore.

”

Growth of British evangelical Christianity

Some 4.5million of the UK's foreign-born population claim to have a religious affiliation and more than half are Christian.

Church attendance in Greater London grew by 16% between 2005 and 2012. In addition, the latest immigrants to the UK as a whole mean British Christianity is becoming more charismatic and fundamentalist.

See also: British atheism and UK and secularism

In December of 2017, the Church Times reported:

“

In 2016, the Centre for Theology and Community (CTC) published new research on Evangelical church-planting in east London, Love, Sweat and Tears (News, 8 April 2016, Features, 21 April). This confirmed the widely recognised image of Evangelicals as people who like to plant churches, but it also revealed that the way they work is not at all how people often imagine. All of these Evangelical churches were planted in deprived areas, not suburbs; most of their members were local; one parish was cross-tradition; every parish was reaching people who do not attend church; and all of them were involved in social-action projects that served their local communities.

”

Due to religious immigrants, many of whom are evangelical Christians, church attendance in Greater London grew by 16% between 2005 and 2012. In 2013, it was reported that 52% of people who attended church in London attended evangelical churches.

On December 14, 2009, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported:

“

According to the Mail Evangelical Christianity is on the rise. Some 4.5million of the UK's foreign-born population claim to have a religious affiliation. Of these, around a quarter are Muslim while more than half are Christian – with Polish Catholics and African Pentecostals among the fastest-growing groups. While traditional churchgoing is on the decline in the UK over the past decade, the latest immigrants mean Christianity is becoming more charismatic and fundamentalist. 'Perhaps the most significant change has been the growth of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity within migrant populations, particularly those from Africa and Latin America,' the report found. 'In Lewisham, there are 65 Pentecostal churches serving the Nigerian community, and others serving the Congolese, Ghanaian and Ivorian communities.' Professor Mike Kenny of IPPR said: 'The research shows that recent waves of inward migration have given a boost to some of the UK's established faith communities at a time when Britain's society and culture are generally more secular, and smaller numbers of the indigenous population are regularly attending churches. 'Recent migration trends are altering the faith map of the UK. Their biggest impact is being felt in some of our largest cities: London above all, where a rich mosaic of different faith communities has come into being.' Evangelical Christianity might be heavily African-influenced but it’s also spreading among the natives as well.

”

See also:

• Biblical Christianity is rising in the UK

• Pentecostalism Invades Lambeth Palace by Peter Berger

Growth of French evangelical Protestant Christianity

French scholars say, evangelicalism is likely the fastest-growing religion in France – defying all stereotypes about one of Europe's most secular nations. In 2011, The number of evangelical churches increased from 769 to 2,068 in 2011.

On July 12, 2012, the Christian Science Monitor reported:

“

French scholars say, evangelicalism is likely the fastest-growing religion in France – defying all stereotypes about Europe’s most secular nation... Daniel Liechti, vice-president of the French National Evangelical Council, found that since 1970, a new evangelical church has opened in France every 10 days. The number of churches increased from 769 to 2,068 last year.

”

See also: Immigrant evangelical churches are a fast growing movement in France

Growth of German evangelical Protestantism

On March 17, 2014, the news website Deutsche Well reported that evangelical Christianity has doubled in Germany in the last 10 years.

Growth of Swiss evangelical Protestantism

Evangelical Christianity has seen large growth in Switzerland to the point that evangelical churchgoers outnumber mainline churchgoers 2-1.

Eastern and Central Europe and desecularization

See also: Central and Eastern Europe and desecularization

Pew Research indicated in a 2017 article entitled Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe:

“

In many Central and Eastern European countries, religion and national identity are closely entwined. This is true in former communist states, such as the Russian Federation and Poland, where majorities say that being Orthodox or Catholic is important to being “truly Russian” or “truly Polish.” It is also the case in Greece, where the church played a central role in Greece’s successful struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire and where today three-quarters of the public (76%) says that being Orthodox is important to being “truly Greek.” Many people in the region embrace religion as an element of national belonging even though they are not highly observant. Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often or consider religion central to their lives. For example, a median of just 10% of Orthodox Christians across the region say they go to church on a weekly basis. Indeed, compared with many populations Pew Research Center previously has surveyed – from the United States to Latin America to sub-Saharan Africa to Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa – Central and Eastern Europeans display relatively low levels of religious observance. Nonetheless, the comeback of religion in a region once dominated by atheist regimes is striking – particularly in some historically Orthodox countries, where levels of religious affiliation have risen substantially in recent decades.

”

Sociologist Peter Berger on Pentecostalism and Europe

The American sociologist and author Peter L. Berger introduced the concept of desecularization in 1999. In contrast to many other forms of Christianity, charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity is very evangelical. According to Berger, "One can say with some confidence that modern Pentecostalism must be the fastest growing religion in human history."

Berger recently said that he previously thought that pentecostalism did not have a significant future in Europe, but he recently saw signs that it could see significant growth in Europe. In addition, pentecostalism often grows fast in areas undergoing economic distress. Post 2007 there are concerns that Western economies which have high sovereign debt loads could see some significant economic turmoil in coming years - especially the European countries with aging populations that have been struggling in terms of economic growth.

Growth of Protestantism in Russia

See also: Growth of Protestantism/Evangelicalism in Russia

Russia is considered to be a part of Eurasia.

A large number of missionaries operating presently operating in Russia are from Protestant denominations.

According to a survey conducted at the end of 2013, 2% of surveyed Russians identify as Protestants or another branch of Christianity.

Russia Watch in an article entitled Is Russia Turning Protestant? wrote:

“

Russia’s Justice Ministry has registered 14,616 Orthodox parishes, 4,409 Protestant parishes, and 234 Catholic parishes. But Anatoly Pchelintsev, a religion specialist and professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University, estimates that for every registered Protestant congregation, there are at least two unregistered ones. Pchelintsev, who edits the Religion and Law publication here, concludes that Russia has about 15,000 Protestant congregations, roughly equal to the number of Russian Orthodox ones. He says the number of Catholic parishes is roughly the same as the official number. In Siberia, long a land of dissenters and discontents, there are believed to be more Protestants in church on Sunday mornings than Russian Orthodox. On one recent visit to Khabarovsk, the second largest city of the Russian Far East, I went to a packed Baptist church, only a kilometer from a sparsely attended Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The massive Cathedral had been built with federal funds.

”

Future of Islam in Europe

According to Pew Forum, by 2030 Muslims are projected to make up 8% of Europe's population.

See also: Future of religion, Christianity and Islam in the UK and Europe and Atheism vs. Islam

According to Pew Forum: "In recent decades, the Muslim share of the population throughout Europe grew about 1 percentage point a decade, from 4% in 1990 to 6% in 2010. This pattern is expected to continue through 2030, when Muslims are projected to make up 8% of Europe’s population."

In April 2010, Eric Kaufmann indicated concerning the future of Islam in Europe:

“

I address this in some detail in the book, as well is in a recent article in the April issue of Prospect magazine here in Britain. The short answer is that I don’t foresee a Muslim-majority Europe in this century or in the next. Why? Mainly because Muslim birthrates are plunging both in Europe and the Muslim world. Already, Iran, Tunisia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and several other Muslim countries have replacement-level fertility or below. In the UK, Bangladeshi and Pakistani fertility has halved in a generation and is now under 3 children per woman. This means their long-term growth will begin to tail off. The other part of the equation is the rise of non-Muslim immigrant groups (African and West Indian Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and other Eastern faiths) who are also increasing and therefore making Europe more plural and, in the process, rendering it harder for Muslims to increase their share of the population. That said, Muslim membership retention and in-group marriage is exceptionally high (over 90 per cent) and they are a much younger population than the host society. So they are on course for steady growth. My colleagues and I expect their fertility to fall to host levels by 2030, but they will still make up 5-15 per cent of most West European countries by 2050 and 10-25 per cent by 2100. This is a major change from the 2-6 per cent levels of today

”

Growth of Islam in Britain

The Times of India reported concerning Britain: ""In 1983, the number of people following Islam stood at 0.6% of the population compared to a little under 5% in 2014".

Investor's Business Daily on the flood of Muslim immigrants to Europe

Investor's Business Daily wrote in 2015 concerning a flood of Muslim immigrants to the European Union:

“

The European Union is bracing for as many as 800,000 mostly Muslim refugees arriving from the chaos in the Middle East this year, mainly Syria, Iraq and Eritrea. And it may be just the beginning. Can the EU withstand such a religio-demographic earthquake? Its failure to enforce any concept of borders isn't a good sign.... Assimilation offers little hope. Parts of France — especially its notorious banlieues outside major cities like Paris — are virtual no-go zones. London's are little better. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia all have large, unassimilated Muslim populations. Those populations are growing. Europe isn't. As far back as 2011, the Pew Forum noted that Europe's Muslim population was expected to almost double from 30 million in 1990 to 57 million in 2030. That's surely now an underestimate. Add to this the inevitability of jihadists slipping across porous EU borders, and Europe is in deep trouble. Anger is welling up, and nationalist parties are spreading across the Continent. As 20th century history showed, Europe doesn't react well to social upheaval. Can Europe survive the coming storm? Doubtful.

”

Eurozone crisis, economic instability and Europe becoming more religious

Economic and societal instability is positively correlated to greater religiosity. Presently, via the Eurozone crisis, Europe is experiencing financial difficulties.

Economic/societal instability in Europe could cause Europe to become more religious.

Secular Europe and morality

See also: Atheism and morality and Atheist population and immorality

In 2005, the Pew Forum reported:

“

According to a 2002 Pew Global Attitudes survey, there are striking differences in public opinion between the U.S. and European countries on issues such as the importance people attach to religion in their lives and the linkage they perceive between belief in God and morality. The survey shows that a large majority of Americans consider religion important in their personal lives and closely associate religion and morality. Furthermore, Pew Forum surveys over several years show that Americans are generally more comfortable with religion playing a major role in public life. In contrast, Europeans generally place much less importance on religion in their lives...

”

For more information, please see:

• Atheism and morality

• Atheist population and immorality

Britain and morality

See also: Britain and morality

In 2011 and in recent years, there have been number of reports on the decline of morality in Britain. Peter Hitchens is the ex-atheist brother of atheist Christopher Hitchens. In an article entitled Britain Needs God Creation Ministries International declared:

“

Peter also wrote of what he saw as the growing public discourtesy and incivility in Britain. When he returned to London, after a five-year absence, he was shocked by the decline in people’s behaviour. He commented, “The rapid vanishing of Christianity from public consciousness and life, as the last fully Christian generation ages and disappears, seems to me to be a major part of it. I do not think I would have been half so shocked by the squalor and rudeness of 1990 Moscow, if I had not come from a country where Christian forbearance was still well-established. If I had then been able to see the London of 2010, I would have been equally shocked.” In many respects, Peter’s book is a warning to people, as to the kind of society they can expect if they continue to reject Christian beliefs.

”

Sexual immorality and Sweden

See: Sexual immorality and Sweden

Bestiality and secular Europe

On July 1, 2013 the Daily Mail reported that bestiality brothels were spreading quickly through Germany. In addition, there "are even 'erotic zoos' which people can visit to abuse animals ranging from llamas to goats." See: Bestiality and Germany

See also: Bestiality and secular Europe

Vice News, a global news channel which broadcasts documentaries about current topics, reported in 2014:

“

Bestiality is having a weird renaissance in Europe. Perhaps ironically, it kicked off when activists succeeded in banning the practice in places like Germany and Norway. In the background, something else emerged simultaneously: an animal-sex-tourism industry, which has been blossoming in Denmark.

”

On July 1, 2013 the Daily Mail reported that bestiality brothels were spreading quickly through Germany. In addition, the Daily Mail reported that there "are even 'erotic zoos' which people can visit to abuse animals ranging from llamas to goats."

In 2014, according to Danish journalist Margit Shabanzahen, a Danish man who ran a business catering to people who have sex with horses said that he had buses of people arriving at his business.

For more information, please see:

• Atheism and bestiality

• Evolutionary belief and bestiality

Secular Europe and domestic violence

Sweden is one of the most atheistic countries in the world. In Sweden, 81 percent of women said they had been harassed at some point after the age of 15 - compared to the EU average of 55 percent.

See also: Secular Europe and domestic violence

In March 2014, the Swedish news website The Local published an article entitled Sweden stands out in domestic violence study which declared:

“

A new EU review of violence against women has revealed that one in three European women has been assaulted, and one in twenty has been raped, with the Scandinavian countries at the top of the league tables. In the Scandinavian countries, in contrast, around half of the women reported physical or sexual violence, which researchers at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said could have several explanations... In Sweden, 81 percent of women said they had been harassed at some point after the age of 15 - compared to the EU average of 55 percent. After Sweden, which had the highest rate, Denmark, France, the Netherland and Finland all saw rates above 70 percent. The EU member state with the lowest rate - 24 percent - was Bulgaria.

”

Sweden is one of the most atheistic countries in the world and the website adherents.com reported that in 2005 46 - 85% of Swedes were agnostics/atheists/non-believers in God. Sweden also has the 3rd highest rate of belief in evolution as far as Western World nations.

See also:

• Irreligion and domestic violence

• Atheism and marriage

• Atheist marriages

• Sexual immorality and Sweden

• Atheism and women

• Atheism and sexism

• Atheism and rape

• Evolutionary belief and sexual immorality

Denmark has the highest rate of belief in evolution in the Western World. In addition, in 2005 Denmark was ranked the third most atheistic country in the world and the website adherents.com reported that in 2005 43 - 80% of Danes are agnostics/atheists/non-believers in God.

Finland was ranked the 7th most atheistic country in the world in 2005. Finland has the 17th highest rate of belief in evolution in the Western World.

France was ranked the 8th most atheistic country in the world in 2005. France has the 4th highest rate of belief in evolution in the Western World.

In 2005, the Netherlands was ranked the 13th most atheistic country in the world and the website adherents.com reports that in 2005 39 - 44%% of the Dutch were agnostics/atheists/non-believers in God. The Netherlands also has the 11th highest rate of belief in evolution as far as Western World nations.

Right wing politics ascendant in secular Europe and the United States

See also: Decline of the secular left

In June 2014, Forbes reported that it is undeniable that politically right wing parties are ascendant in Europe.

In November 2016, the politically left Barack Obama administration and Democratic Party received a huge loss in midterm elections by losing control of the United States Senate and losing a historic amount of state legislature elections.

Decline of Europe

See: Decline of Europe

Secular Europe and obesity

See also: Secular Europe and obesity

In May 2014, the British paper The Mirror reported that according to the British medical journal Lancet, British girls are the most overweight girls in Western Europe.

As noted above, from a global perspective, Europe is more secular than the rest of the world although it does have a considerable amount of religious immigrants who have higher birth rates (see: Atheist population and Global atheism).

Studies on religion and self-control

See also: Atheism and obesity and Atheism and gluttony and Atheism and hedonism

In the journal article Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications, psychologists McCullough and Willoughby theorize that many of the positive links of religiousness with health and social behavior may be caused by religion's beneficial influences on self-control/self-regulation. Furthermore, a 2012 Queen's University study published in Psychological Science found that religion replenishes self-control. Also, numerous studies indicate that those who engage in regular spiritual practices have lower mortality rates. See also: Atheism and hedonism

Obesity rate in secular Europe

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported:

“

Based on the latest estimates in European Union countries, overweight affects 30-70% and obesity affects 10-30% of adults. Estimates of the number of overweight infants and children in the WHO European Region rose steadily from 1990 to 2008. Over 60% of children who are overweight before puberty will be overweight in early adulthood.

”

The traditional African diet is healthier than many secular European individuals' diets and religious Africa has some of the lowest obesity rates in the world.

For more information please see: Atheism and obesity

United Kingdom and obesity

See also: United Kingdom and obesity

Stephen Fry is a British atheist and homosexual. (photo obtained from Wikimedia Commons, see license agreement)

On May 28, 2014, The Guardian reported on that the United Kingdom is among worst in Western Europe as far as the level of overweight and obese people. In 2014, in the UK, 67% of men and 57% of women were either overweight or obese. In May 2014, the British paper The Mirror reported that according to the British medical journal Lancet, British girls are the most overweight girls in Western Europe. In Britain, 29.2% of girls under the age of 20 are classed as excessively heavy with just over 8% meeting the clinical definition of obesity.

On September 2, 2014, the New York Times wrote concerning Britain:

“

In high-income countries, excess weight is the third-leading risk factor in death. The importance of addressing this was brought home again last month with the publication of a new study and editorial, also in The Lancet. The work looked at 22 different cancers in Britain and their association with body mass index (B.M.I.), a simple but more effective measure of obesity than weight alone. The conclusions of the study, which involved a whopping 5.24 million people, were both notable and not entirely unexpected: When adjusted for factors like age and smoking, a higher B.M.I. was associated with a large increase in risk of cancers of the uterus, kidney, gallbladder, and liver, and smaller risk increases for at least six other types of cancer.

”

Britain is the birthplace of Darwinism. Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists or agnostics.

Secular Europe and alcoholism

According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office in Europe, "The WHO European Region has the highest proportion in the world of total ill health and premature death due to alcohol.

See also: Secular Europe and alcoholism and Atheism and alcoholism and Atheism and health

According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office in Europe:

“

The WHO European Region has the highest proportion in the world of total ill health and premature death due to alcohol. A country’s total per capita alcohol consumption is closely related to its prevalence of alcohol-related harm and alcohol dependence. This high level of harm hides enormous alcohol-related health inequalities between eastern and western Europe, particularly for injury deaths. Both the volume of lifetime alcohol use and a combination of frequency of drinking and amount drunk per occasion increase the risk of health and social harm, largely in a dose-dependent manner. The risk of death from a chronic alcohol-related condition is found to increase linearly from zero consumption in a dose–response manner with the volume of alcohol consumed. At a societal level, the European Union is the heaviest-drinking region in the world, with over one fifth of the European population aged 15 years and above reporting heavy episodic drinking (five or more drinks on an occasion, or 60g alcohol) at least once a week. Heavy episodic drinking is widespread across all ages and all of Europe, and not only among young people or those from northern Europe.

”

See also:

• Secular Europe and alcoholism

• Britain and alcoholism

• Atheistic France and alcoholism

• Atheistic Germany and alcoholism

• Atheistic Denmark and alcoholism

• Atheistic Czech Republic and alcoholism

• Atheistic Netherlands and alcoholism

• Atheistic Sweden and alcoholism

• Soviet Union and alcoholism

Recent intelligence trends in secular Europe/Australia and the religious United States

Sweden is one of the most atheistic countries in the world. In Sweden, phenotypic intelligence is now declining.

See also: Atheism and intelligence

To a certain extent intelligence is heritable and the link between higher IQ individuals having fewer kids is known as dysgenic fertility.*

In his paper, The Rise and Fall of the World's IQ, Thomas Hally wrote:

“

In many areas phenotypic intelligence has been increasing (the Flynn Effect) while genotypic intelligence is decreasing due to the negative association between intelligence and that which is known as ³dysgenic fertility´. Gains of as much as 7.5 IQ points in phenotypic intelligence are much greater than the 0.43 IQ points per generation in the world-wide genotypic IQ that had been estimated for the period 1950-2000. The situation in the industrially developed world appears to follow the lead of the United States and a handful of other developed nations in so far as the phenotypic IQ has been increasing at a greater rate as a result of environmental improvements. In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain and Australia phenotypic intelligence has stabilized and now is declining.

”

In godless Great Britain, phenotypic intelligence is now declining.

In 2012, it was reported that Norway was the eighth most godless country on earth.

Sweden is one of the most atheistic countries in the world and the website adherents.com reported that in 2005 46 - 85% of Swedes were agnostics/atheists/non-believers in God. In 2012, it was reported to be the 4rth most godless place on earth. Sweden also has the 3rd highest rate of belief in evolution as far as Western World nations. See also: Sexual immorality and Sweden

Denmark has the highest rate of belief in evolution in the Western World. In addition, in 2005 Denmark was ranked the third most atheistic country in the world and the website adherents.com reported that in 2005 43 - 80% of Danes are agnostics/atheists/non-believers in God.

According to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and an article on Belief.net, Britain (which was the fountainhead of Darwinism) has become one of the most godless places on earth. In 2012, Great Britain was reported to be the sixth most godless country on earth.

Post World War II, Australia has become a highly secularized country.

Secular Europe and intelligence

See: European atheism and intelligence

Secular Europe's economic crisis

Euro banknotes

The Eurozone crisis is an ongoing economic crisis which has been negatively affecting Eurozone countries since late 2009. It consists of a sovereign debt crisis, a banking crisis and an economic growth and competitiveness crisis.

See:

• The Eurozone Crisis explained in 5 simple graphs
• Why is there a Euro Crisis?
• Is Europe In Decline? One Professor Thinks So - Forbes magazine, 9/16/2014
• What's Really Behind Europe's Decline? It's The Birth Rates, Stupid, Forbes magazine, 5/30/2012

Economic productivity and the Protestant work ethic

See also: Protestant work ethic and capitalism

Developed countries with greater wealth, better educational systems and nutrition often have a cultural heritage of Christianity and often have significant Christian populations within them. In terms of economic development, biblical Christianity has historically had a positive affect on countries. Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history." (See: Protestant work ethic and capitalism).

The mentality of many irreligious Europeans is not one of hard work and thrift which typifies the Protestant work ethic. It often more closely resembles the citizens of failed atheistic communist states (see: Communism). In addition, many irreligious states (includes various countries in secular Europe) engage in an economic policy of tax, spend and sovereign debt accumulation (see also: Atheism and politics and Secular left).

For more information, please see: Protestant work ethic and capitalism

Economic and societal deterioration in secular Europe

In 2014, Sweden's new Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Loefven said, "Sweden is in a serious situation -- unemployment has become entrenched at high levels, school results have collapsed and the welfare system has major shortcomings".

As noted above, a countries economic health and educational system has an effect on IQ scores.

On October 3, 2014, L’Agence France-Presse reported:

“

Sweden's new Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Loefven unveiled what he called a "feminist" government including Green Party ministers for the first time in the Nordic country. "The Swedish people voted for a change of government and a new political direction. A new government comprised of the Social Democrats and the Green Party is ready to take up the task," Loefven said in his inaugural speech to parliament. "Sweden's new government is a feminist government," he said. Half his cabinet is female, including Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem, a former EU commissioner. Green Party leaders Aasa Romson and Gustav Fridolin were appointed ministers for the environment and education, respectively, and the party will also control Sweden's overseas aid agency Sida and the consumer affairs ministry. He repeated election pledges to create jobs, recruit more teachers and increase the compulsory school age from 16 to 18. "Sweden is in a serious situation -- unemployment has become entrenched at high levels, school results have collapsed and the welfare system has major shortcomings," he said.

”

Reports of Britain's societal decline

• Why is England burning? by Creation Ministries International, August 13, 2011
• ‘Sexual perversion is good for you’, claims BBC by Creation Ministries International, September 27, 2012

Atheism vs. Christian revival in the first half of the 1800s

See also: Atheism vs. Christian revival and Christian apologetics

Reverend Dwight Longenecker wrote: "In the late eighteenth century atheism, rationalism and Freemasonry seemed to have taken over Europe. By the mid to late nineteenth century religious revival had swept through Europe and Christianity was surging forward."

Books

• Religious America, Secular Europe? by Peter L. Berger

See also

• Global atheism

• Growth of Christianity in China

• Growth of global desecularization

• Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union

• Secular Europe and pickpocketing

External links

• The Truth About Religion in Europe
• Europe projected to retain its Christian majority, but religious minorities will grow , Pew Forum
• Trump’s defense demands for NATO would end Denmark’s welfare state. Smaller welfare state means lower prevalence of atheism. European atheism and economics/socialism
• How secular is Europe, British Journal of Sociology, 2006
• Re-evangelizing secular Europe, Christianity Today, February 2014
• The future of European Darwinism and atheism is bleak
• Social unrest in Europe altering its religious landscape
• Post-secular Europe?

Creationism:

• Migration is spreading creationism across Europe, claims academic - Guardian, November 2009