I’m deeply concerned about the direction this country is going in.  Extreme far left wing nuts are trying to transform our great Christian nation into a European-style secular socialist welfare state filled with godless vegans, cyclists, and gardeners.
I picked up former Oregon Duck and current Pitzer College Sociology professor Phil Zuckerman’s book “Society without God,” thinking it was about his time spent in Eugene.  To my dismay, it’s all about Denmark, Sweden, and the other democratic bastions of atheism.  Zuckerman turns out to be another pro-science, flag-burning, communist, California academinazi leading the charge to destroy America.
Religious leaders have warned for centuries that without faith humankind would plunge into darkness and despair.  This assertion is of course absolutely true as long as you disregard everything Dr. Zuckerman has documented in excruciating detail.  He claims that the planet’s most irreligious democracies, “Have been able to create the most civil, just, safe, equitable, humane, and prosperous societies.” He contends that the moral order of Denmark and Sweden is “Stable and strong, if not downright superior to most other nations.”  This is liberal code for tree-hugging, gay-loving, dope-smokers.
Zuckerman uses lots of fancy-pants facts and statistics to confuse the reader.  According to Zuckerman, irreligious democracies score highest in trivial categories such as:  life expectancy, economic competitiveness, and rate of college/university enrollment.  In the same categories nearly all of the top twenty are nations with “weak religion.”  Speaking of weakness, it sounds like Zuckerman is a little light in gonad department.
In the categories of lowest infant mortality, GDP per capita, economic equality, environmental protection, aid to poor nations, establishment of social justice, and quality of life, it is again the most irreligious nations which make up most of the top twenty. Not surprisingly, Zuckerman cherry-picked liberally biased categories and conveniently left out vital categories which America dominates like rich bankers per capita and rate of weekly church attendance.  
Zuckerman points out that America, the most religious western democracy, is also the most depressed (unlike the Danes and Swedes who are among the happiest on Earth).  He also cites their low levels of corruption, violent crime, infant mortality, and poverty rates compared to America’s relatively high rates in all of these categories.  If Zuckerman would bother to turn on the O’Reilly Factor every now and then he would understand that violence and poverty in America are simply natural products of our unrivaled freedom and diversity.
Zuckerman boasts about their highly organized workforce and strong social safety net systems like universal health care, which provide “security” for the citizenry; particularly in times of economic crisis.  He drones on about their fantastic public schools and common sense drug policies. I suppose the professor would have America strain our prison industrial complex and the Mexican drug cartels by ending marijuana prohibition so he and his hippie buddies can smoke their bongs out in the open.  And don’t worry about the U.S. ranking 23rd in the world in education.  That’s right where we want to be.  Any seasoned conservative knows that education always ends up coming back to bite you in the ass.
Zuckerman doesn’t forget the always-reliable communist class warfare rhetoric.  You’ve heard the spiel; small gap between the rich and poor, lower CEO pay, living wages, mandatory paid parental leave, more paid sick days, more paid vacation, more family time, blah, blah, blah.  Of course he doesn’t tell you that economy-killing policies like paid parental leave and mandatory paid vacation will crush America’s daycare and anti-depressant industry.  Maybe the professor should enroll in economics 101.
Zuckerman also exposed the Scandinavian’s penchant for special rights.  Apparently, they have been allowing the gays and lesbians to marry each other for years, while at the same time denying businesses their God given right to fire employees for engaging in the homosexual lifestyle.  I’m still peeved that the Democratic Oregon legislature recently followed suit and revoked that right from Oregon businesses. 
America-haters like Zuckerman are gaining ground.  Alarming numbers of Americans (nearly 20%) now identify as “non-religious.”  Obviously they don’t understand that they’re going to burn in hell for eternity.  That said, it’s reassuring that in America, an open non-believer can’t get elected to dog catcher, regardless of the fact that these heathens are some of the best and brightest this nation has to offer.
America, stand your ground against tofu-eating “progressive” evidence-based thinkers like Zuckerman.  Let the invisible hand of the free-market work.  I know things have gotten bad, but other than less violence, less poverty, healthcare for everyone, better public schools, better wages, better benefits, better government and a cleaner environment, you never know what America would look like without religion and unfettered capitalism.

Joshua Welch is a 2008 Masters graduate from the University of Oregon’s College of Education, licensed Oregon Middle & Secondary Social Studies Teacher, former progressive talk-radio personality and political writer.  He can be contacted at joshuawelch@comcast.net