[+/-] Are atheists more moral than the religious?
Are atheists more moral than the religious?
- Atheists, being a moderate proportion of the USA population (about 8-16%) are disproportionately less numerous in the prison population (0.21%)
- Japan (the most atheistic nation in the G-8) has the lowest murder rate while the United States (the most Christian nation in the G-8) has the highest. Japan used to have much stronger religious faith, and a state religion, and guess what: Japan was remarkably aggressive and militaristic when "Shinto" was at its peak, and during WW2, when its Emperor was regarded as a God.
- Louisiana, with America's highest church attendance rate, has twice the national average murder rate.
- If atheism causes violence, why are right-wing fundamentalists unable to find a shred of statistical evidence to back that claim up?
posted by Nanovirus @ 22:39 permalink
your thoughts? 2
2 Comments:
What you have noticed is a correlation, not a causation. It's possible (this is questionable, but just an example) that someone who is more intelligent is more successful, and thus less likely to murder, and that person is less likely to believe a book of fibs.
Anyways, the bible is pretty violent at times, and most of the morals are hidden in stories behind metaphors, things Christians have a hard time comprehending. Jesus himself would be a good moral beacon, but he was ultra liberal, not a neocon.
I absolutely agree: a socioeconomic explanation is compelling.
Given the high rates of conversion within prison it would be interesting to see if the percentage of atheists arrested is much different from that of prisoners.
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