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Line 25: − + − Scotland is historically a [[Christian]] nation but its Christian foundations were shaken by the 18th century [[humanism|humanist]] and rationalist [[enlightenment]] that was capturing the imagination of liberal Europeans. Increasing numbers of Scots began to embrace enlightenment thinking rejecting traditional social, political and religious views. Inspired by the idea that [[God]] was not the solution for everything, and that some things were controlled by natural laws, not by the supernatural. − This spread of [[atheism|atheistic]] immorality led many [[Christian]] Scots to flee Scotland, in particular, to [[America]], largely because landowners became more interested in securing profits to sustain their [[promiscuity|promiscuous]] and drunken lifestyles more congenial to the [[moral relativism]] engendered by liberal enlightenment thinking, rather than investing profits in sustaining intact Christian communities. Sheep became more important than people. Other Scots fled because they were simply appalled by their neighbors [[immoral]] behavior. The Americas offering a chance to live as Christians free from the rampant immorality that threatened to engulf them in Scotland. By the mid 1800s the population of Scotland was just over 2 million and by 1890 about half a million people had fled Scotland, some 250,000 of them to the United States.+ − − Scotland's moral decline has continued unabated to the present day. Church attendance<ref>[http://www.unavoce.org/scotland.htm The Once-Heroic Church in Scotland]</ref> has plummeted to an all-time low of just over 7% of Scottish adults. In 1962 Scotland had 26,015 baptisms. In 1998, there were only 9,951. Currently some 40% of births are to unmarried mothers, the trend being upwards. In 2003/4 there were 7.5 conceptions per 1000 for 13-15 year olds and 68.2 conceptions per 1000 for 16-19 year olds with over 50% of the 13-15 year olds being pressured into [[abortion]]. <ref>[http://www.brook.org.uk/content/M6_4_teenage%20pregnancy.asp Teenage pregnancy]]</ref>. In Scotland, 93% of men and 87% of women aged 16-74 drink alcohol. The proportion of [[public school]] pupils aged 12-15 who had had an alcoholic drink in the previous week has risen in the last decade from 14% in 1990 to 21% in 2000. Death rates from alcohol have risen over 100% between 1990 and 2000, the rates for women being nearer 200%.<ref>[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/health/alcoholproblems/docs/paap1-00.asp Statistics on Alcohol in Scotland]</ref> Abuse of [[illegal drugs]] is also increasing rapidly. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/653646.stm Drug abuse increasing]</ref>
→Moral decline
[[Ben Nevis]], the highest mountain in the [[United Kingdom]], is in the Scottish [[Highlands of Scotland|Highlands]], as are most of the nation's highest mountains. Those with heights above 3000 feet are eponymously named [[Munro| Munros]] after Sir Hector Munro, the first person to compile a list of such mountains.<ref> for a complete list of Munros see http://www.sol.co.uk/d/dickwall/munroes.htm</ref>
[[Ben Nevis]], the highest mountain in the [[United Kingdom]], is in the Scottish [[Highlands of Scotland|Highlands]], as are most of the nation's highest mountains. Those with heights above 3000 feet are eponymously named [[Munro| Munros]] after Sir Hector Munro, the first person to compile a list of such mountains.<ref> for a complete list of Munros see http://www.sol.co.uk/d/dickwall/munroes.htm</ref>
== Moral decline ==
== Societal Problems ==
Church attendance<ref>[http://www.unavoce.org/scotland.htm The Once-Heroic Church in Scotland]</ref> has plummeted to an all-time low of just over 7% of Scottish adults. In 1962 Scotland had 26,015 baptisms. In 1998, there were only 9,951. Currently some 40% of births are to unmarried mothers, the trend being upwards. In 2003/4 there were 7.5 conceptions per 1000 for 13-15 year olds and 68.2 conceptions per 1000 for 16-19 year olds with over 50% of the 13-15 year olds being pressured into [[abortion]]. <ref>[http://www.brook.org.uk/content/M6_4_teenage%20pregnancy.asp Teenage pregnancy]]</ref>. In Scotland, 93% of men and 87% of women aged 16-74 drink alcohol. The proportion of [[public school]] pupils aged 12-15 who had had an alcoholic drink in the previous week has risen in the last decade from 14% in 1990 to 21% in 2000. Death rates from alcohol have risen over 100% between 1990 and 2000, the rates for women being nearer 200%.<ref>[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/health/alcoholproblems/docs/paap1-00.asp Statistics on Alcohol in Scotland]</ref> Abuse of [[illegal drugs]] is also increasing rapidly. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/653646.stm Drug abuse increasing]</ref> All these factors are in common with much of western Europe.
==Cities==
==Cities==