The Reason I love living in Norway. Atheism.

wabudo · 9 months

And they speak Norwegian in Hell.

Hell is a town in Norway, near Trondheim.

flcknzwrg · 9 months

Also, tørrfisk.

avenirweiss · 9 months

To be fair, a MAJOR portion of their GDP per capita results from the large oil and natural gas deposits God had given them and which they have so callously taken advantage of without giving proper thanks.

TheOtherOneWhoSpeaks · 9 months

How is the preschooler using such incredible vocabulary?

triacle · 9 months

According to wiki, 80% of Norwegians are Evangelical Lutherans. Meanwhile, Cambridge studies estimate atheists at somewhere between 30% and 70%. Both cannot be true. Here's some information about how some of this can be explained by a number of mechanisms in norwegian law and tradition.

By Norwegian law, you are pretty much christian by default and must opt out to be considered anything else. Furthermore, it is tradition to baptize your children even if no one in the family is particularly religious. It's also common that older generations literally bribe younger ones into doing a christian confirmation.

If either of your parents are members of the church when you are born, you are automatically considered a member until you opt out or fail to be baptized within 18 years. You cannot opt out until the age of 15. Since most people never bother opting out of the church membership even if they do lose their faith (or never had any), this becomes an endless cycle of largely involuntary and temporary membership to the church.

I was raised in a small rural town on Norway's west coast. I was baptized at birth by two atheist parents, to appease my grandparents. When I turned 15 my grandma tried to bribe me into confirming my faith with the church even though she knew I had no faith whatsoever. I was offered a substantial amount of money, around USD $2500 (although many of my friends were offered two or even three times that) to lie about my having faith.

I refused, but none of my friends did the same. I grew up in a town where religious kids were made fun of and even beat up, where atheism was the norm! In spite of this, most of the people I knew were happy to take the bribe and pretend they cared about Jesus for a few hours in return for that kind of money.

The driving force behind the church's high member count is not faith, it's a national obsession with tradition over principles and reason.

brikkwall · 9 months

I am a Norwegian christian! .. according to wiki..

I have lived the last 7 years in Oslo and before that I spent all my life in Kristiansand. THE most religious place you will find in Norway. I can honestly say that on an average day, in both those places, you never hear the words "God this, God that, Sins here 'n there, eternal this, damnation that" etc etc. If an average Norwegian finds him/herself in a situation where religion is a topic, they are most likely talking to someone's grandma or having a few beers at the pub.

There are exceptions ofc. For example "that crazy lady" in Kristiansand who is handing out fliers stating that squids are Satan's minions because they have homosexual relations in the darkest depths of the ocean. Or "that guy" in Oslo who's carrying a ginormous banner with "Jesus Will Save You" on it. He's only out when the weather is nice tho so I am not all that convinced about his apparent fanaticism. Had a talk with him once and he was very polite and a good conversationalist.

But I say this. As a 28 year old male. Every single time I have revealed my origin to another Norwegian the instant reaction is either 1) "Haha, you are from the bible belt"* or 2) "Ah that's nice. I love Kristiansand! You know my uncle.. blablabla". Never a word about religion.

In my personal opinion Norwegian christianity is more about the teachings of Jesus. I have never witnessed any christian alienate anyone. Never heard a christian in person say "give your life to Jesus or you are FUUUU**ED". I've been to 5-6 sermons and it was all about being kind to your fellow man. As a teenager I went to a bible group for teens so I could make fun of them; I left baffled at how awesome they were at playing guitar.

Just my observations so far in life..

*The Bible Belt: A nick name for all the most southern towns in Norway who are known for having a more fundamental view on christianity along with a wider variety of different christian denominations. Like Jehovah's Witnesses.

ps. first post =D addict for six months =D

lucas-hanson · 9 months

Jeg kan snakke litt Norsk. Hell, her kommer jeg!

Sjokomelk · 9 months

Norway has a Princess that talks to Angels

GeorgeBats · 9 months

"I HOPE THEY SPEAK NORWEGIAN IN HELL" I'm going to start randomly yelling that at least once every day.

dunamis-now · 9 months

Is the reason for their economic success because they do not believe in God or because of their lack of "diversity?" Hum?

duckandcover · 9 months

It's not just godless, it also has socialism; great safety net. So, obviously no matter how fabulous their quality of life is and how good their economy is, they clearly suck (the obvious conclusion of every Republican + Libertarian)

mintblue · 9 months

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Norway

C'mon....... I'm not here to hate on Atheism but sometimes these statements are just so obviously false.

GIMMEDOWNVOTESPLOX · 9 months

Y'all need god in y'all lives the meanin o' live is to worship the lord praise jeebus!

upinflames · 9 months

Let's remember one of the fundamental principles of statistics: "Correlation does not prove causation." Until there is any evidence that the atheism in Norway has anything to do with the benefits mentioned in this comic the argument has no merit.

Zeag · 9 months

Dang I want to move to Norway so bad! Too bad the only place I could get a job over there is Funcom... I wonder if they're hiring...

darkresiak · 9 months

I want to move there. Now. They also have some of the best music, in addition to being one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Gnome_Sane · 9 months

4 million Norwegians can't be wrong!

Bachmed · 9 months

Norway has trolls that smell christian blood

Actual_Trees · 9 months

Agnostic here---I fully support a separation between religion and state, but PLEASE don't make these outrageous assumptions that atheism is the cure to all evils.

Norway is high on the Global Peace Index list b/c it has a relatively homogeneous population---a characteristic that usually is responsible for lower crime rates and national unity.

Iceland, a similarly homogeneous country, is first on the 2011 GPI (only 16-23% of Icelanders are atheist/agnostic). Also high up on the GPI are Japan (65% atheist/agnostic) and Austria (18-26% atheist/agnostic), both of which have very homogeneous populations.

There is no correlation between the "atheist-ness" (I just made that a word) of a country and its GDP per capita. Proof: Vietnam (81% atheist/agnostic) --> GDP per capita= USD $3104. USA (3-9% (atheist/agnostic) --> GDP per capita= USD $46,860 (compare to Norway's $51,959)

Norway is a fantanstic country, but for reasons other than its predominantly atheist/agnostic population.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway http://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011GPIMethodologyResultsFindings.pdf http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

alternate22 · 9 months

They ALSO speak Norwegian in SKYRIM!

Alterstatedego · 9 months

"I'm not an atheist because atheism is a belief as well" -George Carlin

stratoskjeks · 9 months

I actually talked to a guy (Norwegian creationist, believe it or not) who thought, if I remember correctly, that the reason things have been going so well for Norway is because we have been acting according to God´s will, that we have been a good christian nation. Not saying it´s true, just that whether or not we are a christian nation depends on interpretation.

EmblaDis · 9 months

I would highly suggest that any Norwegian still member of the State Church fill in [this form](What you waiting for? Utmelding av statskirka and send it in, or hand it in at your local church office.

If you have friends and family who are not Lutherans, print out a copy for them as well.

It's important to show that there is little support for the state church and their funding is also partially dependent on number of followers. Together we can fight the state church!

9 months

[deleted]

Gdansk2010 · 9 months

Interesting. Too bad a lot of the "facts" aren't true.

Japan has the highest life expectancy. Norway comes in 13th. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Norway's unemployment is 3.4%, not below 2%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate

The lack of belief in God, or spirit, or life force is only 17%, not 70%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism

Fail.

sprankton · 9 months

What's the immigration system like?

inferno272 · 9 months

This makes me want to move to norway. Hows the internet over there?

shabbadu · 9 months

Stop staring at me, kid in the middle with the blonde hair!

Awffles · 9 months

So we meet again, Strawman Christian.

Atheris · 9 months

Repost, but yeah, awesome comic!

AcOolNamE · 9 months

Åh, noen ganger er det bare fantastisk å være norsk <3 aah, sometimes its just amazing to be norwegian <3

fearachieved · 9 months

Lol I actually used norway as an example in one of my papers. THANK YOU NORWAY

Now norway, please don't produce any more of these: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1114/Norway-terrorist-admits-to-summer-camp-massacre-of-77-people

I need you to remain a good example bros

Tomathon21 · 9 months

I want to learn the nordic languages in hopes of possibly moving to either Norway, Sweden, or Denmark in the future.

pabstbluereddit · 9 months

Just got back from my first visit to Norway. After reading this I think I want to move there.

hipstr_hop · 9 months

That's all well and good, but I really hope you guys don't seriously think that Norway's prosperity is directly linked to its predominantly atheistic views or that America's problems are directly linked to its predominantly theistic religious views. I'd expect you all to be a bit more rational than that.

The_Maddog · 9 months

I have nothing but praise and jealousy for the people of Norway. Thats pretty much it. If I could live there I would. The Norweigans I've met are the nicest people you could wish to meet and the country itself has a system I'd honestly like to be part of given the chance. I hope the UK starts to follow suit.

BloodFalcon · 9 months

I need to fucking move to Norway.

Brobi-Wan · 9 months

Russels a BAWS!

stupidisawayoflife · 9 months

loling

ak47blackjack · 9 months

great. best post ive seen all day.

patspidy11 · 9 months

Soooooo.....I logged on to try to find a witty retort to a mindless mass email forwarded to me. complaining about the lack of god in school, etc......Thank god for reddit.........wait.....what?

Porrick · 9 months

Not to mention that Norway has some of the best natural beauty in Europe (as long as you go there in summer). My family have a summer house near the Jotunheim National Park, and it's glorious. My mum spends about half the year over there these days. There are claw marks in the airport metal detectors from the last time we tried to take her back home to Ireland.

And even the yokels who farm sheep up in the mountains are better educated than most of my friends here in LA. And more eloquent in English (otherwise I might have learned more Norwegian by now).

Flatrock · 9 months

As of late I've become extremely interested in the idea of living in Norway for a year or two. Advice?

big_sexy_in_glasses · 9 months

i guess its time to move to norway...

tcox72 · 9 months

Perhaps wealth and prosperity lead to atheism and not the other way around.

LadyViolet · 9 months

Ah, I am so proud to be Norwegian :)

daskrip · 9 months

I'm not sure where this little kid is getting his information from, but he doesn't seem to be entirely correct.
According to Wikipedia, Japan has the highest life expectancy, and Norway is 13th.. The kid said Norway has the highest life expectancy.

As for atheism percentage, the only stats I could find are from 2005: Wikipedia says that 32% of Norwegians believe in a god, and only 17% believe in neither a god, spirit or life force. I guess atheism is defined by believing in a god, so this matches up pretty closely to the kid's 70%.

Pyromaniac605 · 9 months

I'm fairly certain Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world, not Norway, but other than that, jolly good show.

TheExtremistModerate · 9 months

I thought Japan was the most atheist county(Link is to book quoting somewhere between 64%-80% being atheists/agnostics/non-believers).

Fjolleprut · 9 months

also.. they got oil..

cespinal · 9 months

I would love going there if it wasn't for the scarring cold...

MrJekyll · 9 months

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway

They do speak Norwegian in Hell !!

ramzie · 9 months

Norway was the first country I was asked "Are you a christian?". Im from Finland and found it to be the weirdest question ever.

ChirronT447 · 9 months

Don't know if someone mentioned this already but according to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll in 2005. (see graph on page 9) [http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf]

32% of Norwegian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God"
47% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
17% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".
4% answered that they "do not know".

Just thought it was worth pointing out. An Associate Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College called Phil Zuckerman estimates atheism rates in Norway range from 31 - 72%, based on various studies. Which is a fairly wide range

aiiieeeee · 9 months

Redditors love to say "association does not equal causation". I think this applies here. but maybe i'm being too hard on the cartoon kid.

solidiquis · 9 months

And how exactly does atheism contribute to its second highest GDP per capita, unemployment rate, etc?

uncutone · 9 months

r/atheism--where science is law, and correlation ALWAYS implies causation.

Daviddes90 · 9 months

About 79.2% of Norwegians were members of the Church of Norway as of January 1, 2010 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Religion

pgoetz · 9 months

Christians always get the last word in ... because they're just right -- their faith tells them so!

littleimp · 9 months

It's kinda cold and dark there though.

dietotaku · 9 months

on the other hand, their lion and tiger populations are pretty abysmal.

MrBucket · 9 months

Of all the pics from Hell in Norway, and none from the trainstation? http://www.forn.no/grafikk/8041.jpg

I work right next to this, and loads of tourist visit the station every summer. I wonder why?

protendious · 9 months

If I lived in Norway, the cartoon makes it sound like there should be a hell of a whole lot of other reasons for me to want to live there that would be way higher on the list than the majorly atheist population, just sayin.

[deleted] · 9 months

Also because they've been brought up by their parents, schools and society as a whole to take care of one another. Something the unashamedly individualistic American Success culture will never allow for.

MAGfloat · 9 months

Jeg er fra Norge. Ingen på reddit har ingen anelse av hva jeg skriver fordi det er bare 4millioner av oss.. derimot hvis noen norske ser dette vil jeg kle av meg klærne og løpe rundt i skogen av glede. (Norwegian)

oregeno · 9 months

Ah, another case of correlation /= causation. Norway's relative high quality of life has much more to do with geopolitics than a general apathy regarding religion. Consider the Czech Republic, a significantly more atheistic, yet it ranks much lower on QoL indices. The difference is, the CR has been smack dab in each of the middle of European wars of the last century, while Norway, and the other nations of the Scandinavian Peninsula, have been sheltered from them. Not to mention all that oil.

Vengeful_Squid · 9 months

I studied abroad in Norway & have family friends in Tromsø. Miss that place so damn much. If only I could up and move, I would. Sigh...

heylg · 9 months

Meh. I really don't like when people equate a high GDP, life expectancy, education, standard of living, low unemployment etc. with atheism. sure they're correlated, but is atheism the causation of all of these things? i don't really think so. btw, proud Atheist here. just sayin'.

Farris2011 · 9 months

Yeah... you obviously doesnt live in Norway. Or maybe you are a true Norwegian - a condescending prick who belittles everyone else. You know it - we all Norwegians do this.' We're the best in the world'. Say it - in a heavily accented voice. Yeah thats what you sound like.

And wtf with the idea that Norwegians are allatheists? Is your head where your ass is? A fucking comic? You cite a fucking comic?

Have you been you know outside? Or are your teen-angst pseudo-intellectualism gottten the better of you?

Kom igjen, gi meg litt motstand her!


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