It is also interesting to note the restrictions on business and persons liberties in the countries that believe less in the connection between religion and morality.

The problem with being a declared atheist in the USA is that you are immediately written off as someone not worthy of being listened to. No matter how well reasoned your argument or your proposal, you are categorized as: "Oh him, he's an atheist." Of course if your product or invention or service turns out to be needed, first class, better than anyone else's, then, atheism becomes less important except to the very religious.

"Interestingly, clear majorities in all highly developed countries do not think belief in god to be necessary for morality, with one exception only: the USA."

"Only 15 percent of the French population answered in the affirmative. Spain: 19 percent. Australia: 23 percent. Britain: 20 percent. Italy: 27 percent. Canada: 31 percent. Germany 33 percent. Israel: 37 percent."

All of these countries are Socialist. Socialism is a Religion. Morality is dictated by the State. The deeper the penetration into the society, the lower the percentage of people believing in a god/morality connection. France is arguably the most Socialist in Europe and has the lowest percentage. I'm willing to bet that same question asked in America 50 years ago would have been answered in the affirmative by 80% or higher.

I sort of liked the amusing correlation, until the last paragraph. The last paragraph is evidence this article is just a "please believe in what I believe in" article, not a serious argument.
Once you argue that carbon emission bans and healthcare for all are somehow other necessary tenets of civilization you have exposed yourself as just another "believer", only to be distinguished from religious believers by the economic consequences of the rules you want to institute from your beliefs, versus the relatively minor social rules they want.

I can believe that atheists are correct in that one does not have to believe in God or a god to be an ethical person. Having said that I also believe that what we call "ethics" are derived from a societal belief in the teachings of a higher being, God, Allah, Budda, whatever. One can say that they do not believe in a god but their personal ethics are surely derived from what they learn about co-existing within that society.

lol. livefreely, meet Maph. Yes he enjoys posting Salon.com, thinkprogress.org, huffpost.... Your discernment is accurate...maybe on the second point as well-but not likely Salon.com

Thanks! I followed the link to the original Pew report
http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/03/13/worl...
and if you goto page 2
http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/03/13/worl...
you can read their research methods.

The discussion here so far exemplifies why facts do not matter. People tend to credit "experts" who agree with them and discredit those who do not, regardless of the facts presented. The test case was two sets of three artificially constructed university professors - same backgrounds, same level of work - but with essays slanted left and right. Conservatives and liberals both dismissed the credentials of the experts they disagreed with and touted the ponies they already bet on. (See here in the Gulch, "Why Evidence is Not Enough." http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/1b...

As a criminologist, I noted this: "... atheists are thoroughly underrepresented in the places where rapists, thieves and murderers invariably end up: prisons. While atheists make upward of 15 percent of the U.S. population, they only make up 0.2 percent of the prison population." That was author Werleman's editorial insertion, not a conclusion from Pew. That being true, it remains also that many in prison find in religion the structure that their earlier lives lacked, which put them in prison in the first place.

Well said.

That is an interesting graph on the Salon site. Unfortunately, it is from Pew so may be rigged, I'd like to see SaudiArabia, Switzerland and a few more countries on it.
I agree with the proposition that belief in nonsense can be harmful. There is a hopeful sort of development in recent times where religious people can put such ideas into a compartment in life and function as rational except for a set of harmless rituals.

Why are you on a conservative website but reading Salon? That is suspicious are you spying on Salon?

To summarize the author: Religion is what is keeping the South from voting Democrat. That's the "destructiveness". If they'd only vote Democrat, we'd avoid all the destruction down there. What destruction? Poverty. Poverty=destruction.
What does this have to do with 53% of Americans thinking that morality requires belief in God? He doesn't come right out and say it, but I have to conclude he's saying the Democrat party is filled with atheists.
Great post, Maph. I needed a good chuckle and you came through.