Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'That's the conclusion of a
study that was
reported on in the TimesOnline (London). From the newspaper report:
According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.
The paper, published in the Journal of Religion and Society, a US academic journal, reports: [...] Â?In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.
As to the
study itself, we have some serious questions. The United States has a lingering problem with race, which is a major factor in social statistics. Also, there are economic factors to consider. As Morgan Stanley's Stephen Roach wrote two days ago:
A globalized world must come up with a new model of the political economy. Germany is struggling mightily with just such a challenge. But it is hardly alone. Two extremes frame the choices -- the United States with its minimal social contract and Old Europe with its deeply entrenched social welfare state.
That's got to count for something. But in any event, we
do know that a good part of religion is opposed to science, opposed to reality, and opposed to Enlightenment values. Which leads to bad policy and to bad behavior.
Religion leads to bad behavior? Of course, there are instances where religion has motivated people to act in exemplary fashion, so it's a complex issue. But we would like to point out one thing which is often overlooked. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is much talk of Justice, but that's not what the scriptures describe. They describe actions by people and by their god which can only be called Revenge - the infliction of disproportionate harm to people that have transgressed. A culture that promotes Revenge as a moral standard is not a healty one.
posted by Quiddity at 9/28/2005 07:43:00 AM
Why should people be good? Do humans have a natural tendency towards doing good for others, or selfishness? Or is good only enlightened selfishness? If you look at any child you see that they don't need to be taught to lie. They need to be taught to be good, not bad. So our natural tendency is selfishness, which in the end tends to destroy society. Religion is not the problem here. Our own nature is. Religion is a proferred solution.
Have you read any of C.S. Lewis' adult works? If you want to refute Christianity, you need to refute intelligent arguments, not the ignorant rednecks. Anybody can debunk a redneck.
The majority of Christians that I have known in recent years are motivated strongly by their "sinful" past, and evidence significant desire for revenge against others by an impartial third-party (God).
The faith itself isn't necessarily that way, but Christianity in this country is becoming more and more like the fundamentalist forms of Islam and Judaism seen in the middle east.
