Comments on: New Study Links Religion to Immoral Behavior

By: Peri

Peri — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:11:42 +0000

The results of the study could just demonstrate that the easier life is, the less likely people are to turn to religion. Historically, societies have become more religious during times of difficulty, less so when the pressure was off.
I think all it really shows is that people like to feel that they have ‘someone’ stronger than they are to lean on when things get tough, even if they regard that ‘someone’ as imaginary or irrelevant for much of the rest of the time.

By: Daniel G

Daniel G — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:41:26 +0000

The strict terms of what he wrote WAS correlation—–not causation. You should read the work before you criticize the author.

There could be all manner of explanation for the correlation, some negative to organized religion and some positive. Both are likely true to a certain extent. But how knows. It’s impossible to say based on the study, and the author wouldn’t disagree I don’t thin.

By: Jo Staunton

Jo Staunton — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:28:29 +0000

I wonder if the areas compared were equal in wealth.

By: Amin

Amin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:05:38 +0000

Forget about what this dude does. If he doesn’t “know” that Africa is NOT a country, he’s not worth listening to! I don’t think Europe is a country! Kmt!

By: Steve High

Steve High — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:06:43 +0000

Which is cause and which effect though. Does religion thrive in crime filled countries?

By: Damian Trasler

Damian Trasler — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:48:06 +0000

“He’s a dinosaur paleontologist..” Really? A dinosaur who studies fossils?

By: BadMonkey

BadMonkey — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:47:27 +0000

How do you measure faith? Especially per nation. All but 4 nations say they are a democracy, yet only half actually are, even fewer are electoral democracies. If religion is your system of control then you would claim to be a religious/faithful nation. So headline should read “Men with power will do anything to keep power.” SHOCK!

By: lerc

lerc — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:40:10 +0000

I’m actually rather astonished by this.

A reporter actually ran research past some statisticians to check the numbers. Has that ever happened before?

By: diavel

diavel — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:40:09 +0000

I’ve heard about it before. As said at the end – it shows a correlation, not cause and effect. But I’d bet on it being cause and effect. More research should be done. Of course it’s great someone actually had done any scientific research about religion, society and morality.

By: roz

roz — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:33:46 +0000

surprising? i found this link from 3 years ago:

http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2007/06/study-in-journal-of-religion-and.html