There is nothing that would benefit society more than the complete abandonment of religious belief in favor of a purely atheistic society. A society where everyone is atheist would be truly the epitome of scientific and intellectual development, productivity, and the highest standard of living.

Studies consistently show that nations with higher rates of atheism/secularism tend to have lower crime rates, higher productivity, lower rates of divorce and lower birth rates. These are all good things. Further, statistics repeatedly show that people who are not religious are much more likely to hold graduate and/or terminal degrees (especially in mathematics, the sciences, and related disciplines) than their religious counterparts.

A purely atheistic society would not be disrupted by religious fundamentalists, nor would it be hindered by dangerous religious beliefs that compromise the safety of the general public. Such a society would not be hindered by dangerous beliefs such as creationism, and would allow for the most dramatic scientific advancements known to man. It would be all-around better.

I really wish that it was feasible to start another society. We'd be a society of all atheists, and anyone found to be practicing religion would not be jailed or killed, but rather simply deported. Further, anyone who wasn't certified an atheist would not be allowed to enter into our society, and our focus would be on education and academic research, population control, and productivity. We'd have the highest standard of living index, and the lowest crime rate.

A purely atheistic society benefits all involved. Why don't we move that way? The answer is simple: because of a lack of education and the myths of religion still permeate society. The benefits of a purely atheistic society are well-known and well-documented, and society would be smart to move into this direction.

In some ways I definitely agree with you, and in some ways I don't. I guess that's because I'm sort of on the fence about religion and atheism anyway. I think turning to an atheism society would actually be very progressive, just on the political side alone. In my opinion, if we had more atheistic lawmakers and such, things would be a lot fairer and lawmakers and politicians wouldn't lean on the Bible for so many reasons - there's no way gay marriage would be illegal if lawmakers didn't refer to the Bible in this case. They wouldn't think homosexuality and it's union would be terribile if they didn't look to the Bible for answers. They way too often let religion interfer with lawmaking, something that should be two different things.

On the other hand, I think a nation needs to be true to it's heart. We just aren't naturally an atheistic country. We lean on religion, and sometimes religion can give people a lot of guidance, especially in times of need. But I do think a nation needs to be true to it's heart and follow what it believes, and most people believe in some sort of a religion.

But, all in all, I mostly agree with you and I think an atheistic society would be progressive.

The trouble you run into in correlating atheism and reduced crime is that both reduced crime and atheism are more prevalent in the educated / wealthy population. One would have to show that "poor" atheists were less likely to be criminals then "poor" theists to make that claim possible.

Besides, religion is not the cause of all the world's problems, it's people, mankind is its own greatest enemy and the only way to make society SO great would be to get rid of mankind altogether, but nobody's going to jump up to volunteer for that project, are they?

The atheist socialist regimes of the past have been such bastions of utopia. lol Yeah, the failures of a purely atheistic society are definitely well-documented. Oh please, if we all became atheistic, we'd have the same problems we have now, only they'd be worse. Selfishness is the cause of human crime, not religion. Atheists want to blame religion but they're really just missing the entire point. Atheism is just another religion trying to propagate.

You know what's funny though? When Atheists become just like their Fundamentalist Christian counterparts. That's what this OP sounds just like, a Fundamentalist atheist. (And he thinks that fundamentalists won't be a problem in a purely atheistic society that doesn't let non-atheists in) I love the irony!

Now of course, I am sure that somebody will probably claim that the OP's post was sarcasm meant to show the extreme nature of some religions. It was intentionally over-the-top. It's not meant to be serious but to show how ridiculous the evil religious people sound. Too bad the OP's stereotype really only applies to a minority of the extreme religious so the comparison still fails.

Of course, there's a song that speaks to the real time when we'll be better off. It's not what you'd expect but I think it rings true.

How would this atheist society come about? The government abolishing religion? That's about the only way. What people want to believe in their own hearts should be completely up to them as long as they don’t infringe on how someone else lives their life. The Soviet Union or communist China are no more attractive to me than the theocracy of Iran.

^^^^It would come that way indeed. So much for that Church and State Separation thingy.

Atheism is as much of a belief/philosophy as any other religion. If society becomes atheist-leaning, citizens will still infight amongst themselves about how to view non-believing. We don't need to become an atheist society, but rather a society where citizens don't try and use their faith to dictate to others. If Mary believes Jesus walked on water and can be the healer of all things physical and spiritual per someone accepting him being their Lord & Savior, that's fine (for her). Just don't try and push that outlook on the guy watering his lawn across the street.