Hi y'all - Norway, which is normally the most quoted god free nation, seems to have less than average suicide rates amongst Scandinavian countries : http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/ Skimming through the figures, I was beginning to think that it may be a function of light and latitude, but then I saw that Australia has a higher rate (they are upside down and a bunch of convicts.) I suppose the fact that Norwegians generally have no belief in a god gives them the freedom, without scruple, to take their own life as they see fit. I'm sure there are many factors involved but, from the above figures, Norway does not stand out as a hive of suiciders. Perhaps it is the abundance of Norwegian Blue Parrots inhabiting the fiords that stresses out the population in the area.
On Oct 22, 5:07 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't know about the D deficiency, although D deficiency is being studied > in relation to other illnesses such as M.S. Southerners have a slightly > lower risk of developing M.S., and I don't think it matters where you were > born originally. > > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9316607Pubmed note > > http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/12/19/vitamin.d.ms/index.html CNN > > That's interesting about the relatively narrow distribution of suicide in > Scandinavia. I'll have to read more about the issue if I get the time. I'd > like to see how the suicides in the surrounding areas measure up. > > Liz > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of CrossBow > CrossBow > Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 4:11 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Imagine a land where presidents don't sprinkle holy water on > wars, citizens have good healthcare and governments care about the > environment. > > vitamin D deficiency then? they need to mutate so they can survive or chug > vitamins. That would be a consideration, but the problem has settle in a > particular age range according to the research, younger 25-40 year olds are > the highest (my numbers may be off just a little). Maybe there will be > better research soon since it has drawn attention. > > On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Liz Purkrabek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > I thought the suicide rates could be blamed on the less intense sunlight to > the area. Humans, like many animals are affected by decreased sunlight. > > Liz > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of CrossBow > Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 2:44 PM > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance > Subject: Imagine a land where presidents don't sprinkle holy water on wars, > citizens have good healthcare and governments care about the environment. > > this may have been discussed before here on this platform, but humor > me - How did Scandinavia get to such a secular society? How do you > fill the vacuum religion leaves behind when it is plucked out like the > outdated evolutionary tool that it is? what can we replace religous > structure with? Groups like this work well. But, why the high suicide > rate in such a secular region? what can prevent it? where are the > suicide rates coming from? a statistically reliable source? OR, did > someone conveniently skew them? > > http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/10/22/zuckerman/?source=newsle... > ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` > ````````````````````````````````````````` > "The notion that religious belief is childish, that earnest prayer is > something that only children engage in, and that faith in God is just > something that one dabbles with in childhood, but eventually grows out > of as one becomes a mature adult, would strike most Americans as > offensive," writes Zuckerman (from the book "Society Without God") > "But for millions of Scandinavians, that's just the way it is." > > BUT IT ALSO MENTIONS: > > Zuckerman isn't quite so eager to bring up the dark undercurrents of > Scandinavian life: dismal weather, a heavy tax burden, low fertility, > high alcoholism, a suicide rate twice that of America. > ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` > ````````````````````````````````````````- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
