http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-americans-still-dislike-atheists/2011/02/18/AFqgnwGF_story.htmlWhy do Americans hate atheism? ... On basic questions of morality and human decency — issues such as governmental use of torture, the death penalty, punitive hitting of children, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, environmental degradation or human rights — the irreligious tend to be more ethical than their religious peers, particularly compared with those who describe themselves as very religious.
Consider that at the societal level, murder rates are far lower in secularized nations such as Japan or Sweden than they are in the much more religious United States, which also has a much greater portion of its population in prison. Even within this country, those states with the highest levels of church attendance, such as Louisiana and Mississippi, have significantly higher murder rates than far less religious states such as Vermont and Oregon.
...Denmark, which is among the least religious countries in the history of the world, consistently rates as the happiest of nations. And studies of apostates — people who were religious but later rejected their religion — report feeling happier, better and liberated in their post-religious lives....
As individuals, atheists tend to score high on measures of intelligence, especially verbal ability and scientific literacy. They tend to raise their children to solve problems rationally, to make up their own minds when it comes to existential questions and to obey the golden rule. They are more likely to practice safe sex than the strongly religious are, and are less likely to be nationalistic or ethnocentric. They value freedom of thought...
[But] ...those who don’t believe in God are widely considered to be immoral, wicked and angry. They can’t join the Boy Scouts. Atheist soldiers are rated potentially deficient when they do not score as sufficiently “spiritual” in military psychological evaluations. Surveys find that most Americans refuse or are reluctant to marry or vote for nontheists; in other words, nonbelievers are one minority still commonly denied in practical terms the right to assume office despite the constitutional ban on religious tests.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Interesting Sunday reading
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Fred,
ReplyDeleteWhile I can't deny the facts about violence you present, I didn't see a cause/effect relationship established either. Is there one?
Peace,
Randy
Thank you for this article. We need more of this reasoned questioning.
ReplyDeleteThank you also, I learned a new word to define myself, apostate.
While I never was faithful to a particular church, I did believe in God.
Then I became completely disillusioned with organized religion as I saw it for the sham it is.
When I realized I doubted the validity of God, at least the God our Bible espouses, it was initially scary. Then, as the study found, I became happier, and felt liberated. Life really made more sense.
I still live by the golden rule and the Ten Commandments. No need for religion.
Personally, I have found the most religious people to be the most intolerant. This could be the correlation between crime and religion. They feel they have the sanctimonious right.
True fundies will stick their fingers in their ears, squeeze their eyes shut, and say "LA LA LA, I can't hear you".
And I'm also wondering how many people *turn* to religion and become happier.
ReplyDeleteRandy
Learning to accept the things you can't change is indeed liberating. You can wrap it in mystery and call it God and pray to it, or you can just say que cera and get on with your life.
ReplyDeleteHappiness ensues either way, but the latter is simpler and avoids a ton of needless baggage.