Religious Faith is Bad For You, Bad For Societies
• Skeptics & Atheists
The Least Devout Nations Are the Least Dysfunctional
I have friends who have religious faith but they are exceptionally well-educated and don't fit into the American norm. Their beliefs don't remotely match those of, say, a Southern Baptist or Pentecostal.
As Monkey Trial II shows many Americans do not want to think. They want to be reassured that antique platitudes are true. Nor are they happy that others might not only think differently but also wish live outside wearisome conventions. Dare to chose to live as they wish.
Anyone who scans the news knows that plenty of citizens who profess piety cheat, steal and fornicate. There's no sign that religious faith has ever made anyone nobler, except in fables and hagiographies.
That intolerance correlates with murder is no surprise. That having delusional notions about sexuality leads to pregnancy and STDs is equally unsurprising.
Gregory Paul's analysis of research metadata was published in the Journal of Religion and Society.
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.
The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.
Comments
Posted by: The Shadow | October 8, 2005 3:21 PM
Posted by: Mark | October 11, 2005 3:46 PM