"Just like you have antidepressants that serve to cheer up a person and make them feel better about themselves and their life, CruzCare will make it legal, and even mandatory later on, to prescribe similar medication to atheists, so that they forget about the “I don’t believe in God” or “I am not religious” crap, and come back to their faith and church as normal people do. And all of that will be done completely free of charge." (Rafael Cruz, father of presidential candidate Ted Cruz)https://ffrf.org/images/uploads/fttoday/2016/FT_April_2016.pdf , page 23
Without religion, how can one be good, or even want to be good? As an international student from Hong Kong studying in the U.S., I nd the previous statement offensive to nonbelievers. The theory that there is an incompatibility between morality and atheism is far too common and prevalent in the United States. In light of this, I would like to introduce Hong Kong as an an- swer to how atheism and morality can coexist and illustrate how an atheistic society can be as ethical as any other type of society.
According to government docu- ments, about 50% of the city’s pop- ulation, which is approximately 3.5 million people, do not consider them- selves religious. In fact, as studies in recent years indicate, 77% of China’s population describe themselves as nonreligious people, while 47% con- sider themselves atheists.
Hong Kong is often applauded as one of the most civilized, orderly and peaceful cities, having only a total of 11.95 crimes per 1,000 citizens, which is almost four times less than the num- ber in the heavily religious United States. And atheism does not necessar- ily spell violence or savagery. In 2014, Hong Kong only had 27 homicides, while New York City, which is also a city of 8 million people, had 333 homi- cides. The incarceration rate of Hong Kong also hit a record low in 2014, with only 123 people per 100,000 in prison, which is 125th in the world. Although nonreligious factors must not be over- looked, one can see that the degree of religiosity does not necessarily have direct links to a population’s savagery. That being said, one’s civility is actually subject to a collection of many other factors, such as education, rather than only religion.
Hong Kong, despite, or perhaps because of, its nonreligiousness, also displays outstanding numbers in term of city safety, human development and sustainability. The list goes on, but it just proves that it is possible and real- istic for a largely atheistic society to be as moral, civilized and advanced as any other societies, no matter what their religiosities are.https://ffrf.org/images/uploads/fttoday/2016/FT_April_2016.pdf
"The extreme measures the church is taking to block women’s access to common health care — including the 98 percent of Catholic women of reproductive age who have used a method of contraception other than natural family planning — is turning me away from the Catholic Church. I no longer celebrate Mass. They are out of touch with the people they claim to represent, and this time they’ve gone too far. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes that and protects my right to access the care that we’re promised under the law."http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/03/23/a-once-devout-catholic-woman-says-shes-disillusioned-by-the-churchs-anti-contraception-stance/
