Why is the Czech Republic so atheist?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/



The percentage of people who are "not religious" or "religion doesn't play an important role" seem to be similar in the Czech Republic and surrounding countries.  But when you ask if they are atheists, the Czechs stick out in Central Europe big time.  This is not the only study which shows this. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_belief_in_god.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_the_Czech_Republic

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/29/eight_of_the_best_countries_to_be_an_atheist/

Why is the Czech Republic so awesome?  ; )

[Zanas]

A few reasons I can think of :
1- They had one of the worst history of religious troubles between Reform and Catholicism (see Defenestrations of Prague for a bit of fun) and as they are at the very core of continental Europe, influences shifted very commonly, maybe inducing a lassitude and even cynicism towards Churches, which eventually trasnlated into indifference towards religions.
2- Same reason they are one of the few ex-Communist bloc countries that do not have far-right nationalist parties thriving : they got out of the Eastern Bloc with relatively well shaped economy, they recovered faster than a number of others, they didn't throx away everything of their educational system. Czech Republic is basically Germany or Austria mistakenly enroled in the Eastern Bloc if you look at a map.
3- Well, no. That's all, but I think both play their part.

[Vosem]

I wonder if there is a linguistic element to it; how the word 'atheist' was translated into Czech, what connotations that Czech word has as opposed to the word 'atheist' in other languages, and similar nuances that can develop when you translate.

[DC Al Fine]

The church was relatively weak in what is now the Czech Republic before World War 1 because it was associated with the the Austro-Hungarian elite. The church then failed to be associated with anticommunism in the same manner as the church in Poland. In the Czech situation you had an already weak and discredited church basically strangled under communism and no impetus for rejuvenation like the popular Polish church,

[Leftbehind]

No data on the UK wtf.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's just a word.

[Lurker]

It's just a word.

Indeed. The majority of Swedes do not believe that God exists - this is shown in several polls. Yet, according to this less than 1/5 of the population are atheists. In other words, this survey can be a very misleading one.

[Lief 🗽]

Religion is simply not part of the Czech national identity. In Poland and Slovakia, countries with very similar cultures, for instance, being Catholic is part of being a Pole or a Slovak (even if a lot of these "Catholic" Poles and Slovaks are these days not actually religious in anything but name). But when the idea of the Czech nation was being developed in the 19th century, organized religion just wasn't a part of it. Most of the big events in Czech history that endure in the national consciousness were rebellions against or oppression by religious authority, whether its the Hussite rebellion or Battle of White Mountain (and the execution of the (Protestant) Czech nobility by the Habsburgs). The church has always (since the 15th century at least) been seen as a symbol of oppression in the Czech Republic, and so opposing the church is in many ways part of being a Czech.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

It's a former Communist country in Europe.  Seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

It's just a word.

Indeed. The majority of Swedes do not believe that God exists - this is shown in several polls. Yet, according to this less than 1/5 of the population are atheists. In other words, this survey can be a very misleading one.

Swedes are mostly agnostic though or believe in a supernatural power or being even if they do not believe in the Christian God. So I think this poll is correct in judging how many Swedes are actually atheist.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

It's a former Communist country in Europe.  Seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

Good job completely ignoring every post above you.

[Famous Mortimer]

Those Saudi numbers are the biggest WTF on that chart.

[Ichabod]

It's a former Communist country in Europe.  Seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

Poland is probably the most Catholic country in Europe. Your argument is terrible.

[tpfkaw]

It's a former Communist country in Europe.  Seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

Poland is probably the most Catholic country in Europe. Your argument is terrible.

It probably wouldn't be nearly as Catholic if not for the Pope being from Poland.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Religion is simply not part of the Czech national identity. In Poland and Slovakia, countries with very similar cultures, for instance, being Catholic is part of being a Pole or a Slovak (even if a lot of these "Catholic" Poles and Slovaks are these days not actually religious in anything but name). But when the idea of the Czech nation was being developed in the 19th century, organized religion just wasn't a part of it. Most of the big events in Czech history that endure in the national consciousness were rebellions against or oppression by religious authority, whether its the Hussite rebellion or Battle of White Mountain (and the execution of the (Protestant) Czech nobility by the Habsburgs). The church has always (since the 15th century at least) been seen as a symbol of oppression in the Czech Republic, and so opposing the church is in many ways part of being a Czech.

And yet much of this protest was in the form of other expressions of religiosity. This is the home of the 14th century reformer Jan Hus, whose monument dominates the old town square in Prague and who led to the birth of the Moravian Church.

[Хahar 🤔]

It's just a word.

The next question is why that word is so popular in the Czech Republic (assuming that the difference isn't just a matter of poll methodology).

[Zanas]

It's a former Communist country in Europe.  Seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

Poland is probably the most Catholic country in Europe. Your argument is terrible.

It probably wouldn't be nearly as Catholic if not for the Pope being from Poland.

It's actually the other way around, but how would you know...

[Mcx]

Hi guys,

I was bored on the internet and stumbled upon this article, and as an citizen of Czech Republic I must say it doesnt seem like it on the graph, Yes we do not have any religion classes in schools and we dont go to the churches and such,. My grandmother is religious and the main reason a lot of people turned out of religion is because Communist invaded our country. And burned the churches and pursued the people who were religious.

Anyway the reason why we are not so devastated after the 1989 when it all fallen down is because we were actualy the best country of all the Soviet Union. People were going here for vacations and such.

Young people are not religious at all, those who are religious are forced to be by their parents. I myself am not religious in a way that I would go to the church every sunday and pray to the god everytime I go to bed, but I do believe that is something after death, but not in a way that we were created in 5000 years ago.

But I think it is more historical as it has been said here.

Anyway I could not imagine that somebody in school or in some public place would start saying things like we were created by god and that the Earth is 5000 years old, he would got laughed off...

Have a nice friday and weekend

[ingemann]

While Mcx explanation are likely mostly correct. I think there are some earlier historical context.

Other people have mentioned Jan Hus and the Hussites, who later was integrated into Lutheranism. What people forget are that Lutheranism was more or less eradicated in Bohemia and Moravia after the 30 Year War by the Austrian Habsburg and replaced with Catholism. This meant when the Czech had their national awakening in the 19th century, it romantised the earlier Hussite and Lutheran movement, but at the same time people didn't reconvert to these. So we ended up with a Czech identity, where Protestantism was on a unconscious level connected with Czech-ness and Catholism with Austria/German-ness, this was not a big problem before WW2, where Czechs and Germans still lived in relative friendly co-existance. But after WW2 German people and culture was purged from the state, as such this also showed itself in people choosing to leave Catholism.

[Boris]

Hi guys,

I was bored on the internet and stumbled upon this article, and as an citizen of Czech Republic I must say it doesnt seem like it on the graph, Yes we do not have any religion classes in schools and we dont go to the churches and such,. My grandmother is religious and the main reason a lot of people turned out of religion is because Communist invaded our country. And burned the churches and pursued the people who were religious.

Anyway the reason why we are not so devastated after the 1989 when it all fallen down is because we were actualy the best country of all the Soviet Union. People were going here for vacations and such.

Young people are not religious at all, those who are religious are forced to be by their parents. I myself am not religious in a way that I would go to the church every sunday and pray to the god everytime I go to bed, but I do believe that is something after death, but not in a way that we were created in 5000 years ago.

But I think it is more historical as it has been said here.

Anyway I could not imagine that somebody in school or in some public place would start saying things like we were created by god and that the Earth is 5000 years old, he would got laughed off...

Have a nice friday and weekend

Thanks bro, you have yourself a great weekend as well (and drink a Staropramen for all those unfortunate enough not to be spending it in Prague)!

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

A booming fedora industry.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Who are the 5-9% atheists in Saudi Arabia?  The religious police would like to know.....

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Who are the 5-9% atheists in Saudi Arabia?  The religious police would like to know.....

Foreign laborers most likely.

[Indy Texas]

Who are the 5-9% atheists in Saudi Arabia?  The religious police would like to know.....

Foreign laborers most likely.

If you were a foreign laborer in an Arab country, you'd lose all faith in God too.

Regarding the OP, I think the biggest culprit is...