Posted on 09/26/2005 5:05:34 PM PDT by zzen01
RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today.
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 study counters the view of believers that religion is necessary to provide the moral and ethical foundations of a healthy society.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Well, if he is referring to Islamic states, he is right on. ;)
Do you think that they are referring to "Islamic Countries"?
Huh???????
unbeleivable. just when I thought humanity couldn't get more stupid. This is a joke, right?
The study also showed that black is not black, but white.
Islamists (muslims) do not worship God.
The track record of nations espousing atheism and 'humanism' are so much better.......riiiiiggghhht.
Didn't look like it.
If this lady doesn't like her job, she should just quit.
"We see what we look for."
In the opinion of these people, sexual promiscuity and abortion (and probably suicide too) are positively good things. Guess we'll see them in church soon!
What do these libs think socialism and communism are? They are just removing God and replacing him with the god of the state and the god of the hedonistic individual. These enlightened societies fool themselves into believing this crap because they feel they are enlightened when they are really children of the state instead of children of God.
This might be of interest to you...
They lump all religions together and then just make up whatever they want anyway.
We all saw New Orleans' looters, how many of them were god fearing men and women. My guess is none, if they were they would have realized that even in the absence of government law they still must answer to a higher authority.
Contrast that with Mississippi, where people cut off from law enforcement pulled together and started helping each other.
I agree .. you can make research say anything .. just like taking polls. You can ask questions which get you the results you want.
My family has benefitted greatly from our closeness with GOD.
Yeah, those devoutly religious people are nothing but trouble.
Bingo!
Obviously, this writer has never studied what happened to people under communism. Stalin and Lenin murdered tens of thousands of people.
For that matter, their is a world of difference between Catholic and Protestant countries.
It's not a study at all. The author simply says: The US has a lot of Christians. The US has a high murder rate and high rates of teenage STD's. Therefore, religion is bad and contributes to murder rates and STD's.
I think he missed the first day of his PHD degree when they wrote on the board "correlation does not equal causation".
The American Revolution is contrary evidence. As are the War of 1812, the French & Indian War, World War II, The Cold War, The Korean War (which still isn't over, BTW), and Operation Enduring Freedom, to name a few others.
"Just Breathtakingly Stupid."
Yes, most liberal rag sheets like the Times UK are garbage for fodder.
Hmmm... This sounds familiar... But could it be... Oh that's right, Marx!
That literally scared the Hell out of him. He reasoned, if Satan was real, then so was God. And if he was going to choose sides, it was God's side he was going to be on.
Only an agnostic would make the claim that this author does.
Hmmm... This sounds familiar... But who could it be... Oh that's right, Marx!
I think I prefer the good ol' USA, rooted in Judeo-Christianity to the many nations that have rejected the concept of a higher power.
Depends on the Religion. Does this bastard hate western civilization? What a flippin retard.
Yes!
Depends on one's definition of "healthy" society. Machiavelli, for example, considered early 16th century Christianity as enervating and enfeebling. And Old Nick knew a thing or two - he left an analysis of civil role of religion (he preferred ancient Roman model with its this-worldly orientation).
I agree 100%. The same can be said for people who claim that communism and atheism are related by pointing to Stalin, China, or whatever.
I keep asking myself, what's the difference between 'religious ideas' and 'philosophy'? It seems religious ideas are singled-out as, well, being religious ideas and should be avoided . Meanwhile, philosophy--no matter how strange they are, and how destructive they are-- is accepted. We keep hearing 'religion kills many people' as in 'religious war', while rarely we hear 'philosophy kills'. Yet, adherence to certain philosophy have killed millions and millions (nationalism, communism, etc...)
Just a note to show the author (of the study, not the review) is really after more money for research than ready to make a conclusion. BTW, the Journal uses the cross, Jewish star, and the Crescent on its logo:
"The U.S. is therefore the least efficient western nation in terms of converting wealth into cultural and physical health. Understanding the reasons for this failure is urgent, and doing so requires considering the degree to which cause versus effect is responsible for the observed correlations between social conditions and religiosity versus secularism. It is therefore hoped that this initial look at a subject of pressing importance will inspire more extensive research on the subject."
Where this publication seems to be going is to eventually discover that it is not religiosity by itself that is leading the US to become a wealthy but highly criminal society when compared to the Swedes or the Swiss but the capitalism upon which our society is based, and in a large part why we are more wealthy than these socialist nations.
What the author misses is that the major secular religions, protestant and reform judaism are heading down the road to socialism as fast as they can. Of coursed the belief that the US is a highly religious nation where creationism is advocated in education misses the point that there are few school districts who would make that statement. And among the truely religious, regardless of their position on darwinism, the level of crime falls dramatically. As far as I can tell the article is pretty fluffy and not well supported with evidence. Most statements are just that, observations by the author. Polls and data are not cited.
I was wondering why America had failed so miserably.
Just breathtakingly dishonest would be my description.
There is nothing wrong with a researcher doing this sort of comparison, provided that he has an acceptable way to measure what he claims to be measuring. I don't know if he did because I havent seen the paper, but I do know that religiosity is not easy to define.
But the big red flag for me is this. When you compare countries and find that across nations variable A correlates with some characteristic, you NEVER conclude that you have found cause and effect, unless you are flaming demagogue who is not interested in the truth. You continue your research to try to rule out a spurious correlation.
The first thing this guy should have done was not run to publish but to see if the correlation held up *within* countries. Of course it doesn't. Within countries, at least within the U.S. the data familiar to me do not show that the most religious people are ones who typically commit lots of crime, get lots of STD, have lots of abortions, etc.
So I believe he's got himself a nonsense correlation here. And that he's got an ax to grind.
You have GOT to see this one...unbelievable!
No one can actually be that stupid, can they????
Of course the atheistic Communist societies were paradises on earth -- that's why the Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe collapsed and China has sought out capitalist methodologies...
You are correct. I think the author of this study already had decided what the results would be. It would be like me saying. The US has more grocery stores than any other nation. The US also has more STD's amongst teenagers.
Many teens work at grocery stores. Therefore grocey stores must cause STD's.
He also does not seem to take into account the size and population of the United States. OF course we will mostly have more of everything. We have a higer population. Also did he bother to find out if those who practice as well as express a religious belief had higher rates of abortion, etc.
I bet not. What a bogus survey how the heck did any academic journal allow its publication?
Complete bull....!
If these reporters get shot it is because they stood in the trajectory of the projectile of their own volition.
I don't think that I would like to live in an Arab/Muslim society or socialist/communist society. He is free to say anything he wants which makes me free to call him a liar.
Wow, if this author ever gets sick. I suggest they go to an Athiest hospital. Oops, they don't build hospitals.Oh well!
haha classic
Every day I awaken I think I have seen everything....Now I understand why people that are 90 or older wake up and say that it is a good time to die.... And we thought the Nazis had thought up every form of propaganda...
“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”
My dog is brown.
My dog has fleas.
Therefor, all brown dogs have fleas.
Simple.
Stupid.
Which "Godless Society" did this "study" base it's synopsis upon?
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