Study Finds People Who Believe In Heaven Commit More Crimes CBS Seattle
*
There was a discussion on this board some time back whereby some Christians felt that Christianity was morally stronger than agnostics / atheists because of a presumption that people who didn’t believe in God had no accountability.
I pointed out that believing in a FORGIVING God was more problematic as it absolved guilty consciences.* There are plenty of historical examples of Christians committing atrocities because of religious conviction as well.
*
This study would appear to hold out my position, as people who believe in a FORGIVING God (or one who justifies their actions) have a presumption of easily absolved guilt.
The dividing line would appear to be whether one believed they were in genuine risk of hell, or whether one believed they were destined for heaven.
The latter would be the typical belief system for Christians.
*

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"Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value."
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I have seen studies that say Atheists are more honest but polls find them untrustworthy. Reality vs perception.

http://current.com/community/9283193...make-up-75.htm

http://www.infidels.org/library/mode...-morality.html

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Truth, Justice and the American way

Here's the difference that I see...

Someone who believes in some supernatural being who can "absolve" them of all of their misdeeds (read: make them not feel guilty any longer, clear their conscience) would be MUCH more likely to do something they believe is wrong than someone who will keep themselves accountable and have a guilty conscience.

I mean, the 'believer' is just going to go and get themselves absolved. In doing that, they're forgiving themselves. They're letting go of the guilt and getting rid of the guilty conscience by way of just believing that some other being is absolving them. They're telling themselves, "my imaginary friend made me this way and he knows I'm going to do bad things so it's okay as long as I go say I'm sorry". After all, it's his fault they are the way they are, right?

The atheist has no belief in any imaginary friends that will help them forgive themselves of their wrongdoing. They hold themselves accountable, not some man in the sky. They know what they did was THEIR doing and they're going to feel guilty much longer or until they make some kind of amends to the person(s) the wronged.

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To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbors. ~ John Stuart Mill

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Success Freaks

Read this yesterday and didn't plan on posting it, but since it was brought up...

This Could Be the Most Laughable Example of a Forced Outcome “Study”

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*Probably because you don’t even bother to take the time to understand what it did or what it means…
*
The failure to comprehend the implications are from the author of this article.
It’s rather obvious that the incredulity espoused here is born from a resistance to accept the results, as opposed to any real intellectual objection to the results…
*
This makes no sense.* It also exposes that the author didn’t take the time to understand the study.
As you can see from his last comment, he is lashing out at his fear of the IMPLICATIONS of the study, instead of exposing any supposed flaw…
*
Pointing to an alternate possibility for research in no way shows a flaw in an existing research method.*
This is like arguing against the capability to enter the house via the back door by pointing out that you can enter the house via the front door.
Both achieve the goal of entering the house.
*
Again, the author exposes his own fears instead of showing a flaw in the study.
And the fact that the author asks that question demonstrates how absurd (and limited) the author’s thought process is.
He JUST GOT FINISHED proposing a system of “asking people their beliefs”, and now he asks why this was done globally???

*
I think this is the cherry on the top of the author’s absurd thought process.* It exemplifies the author’s limited understanding of science, research, and studies in general.
So he wants a study asking a belief BEFORE they commit the crime…*
*
Logistically, one would have to toss a BROAD net of asking people regarding their religious beliefs.
THEN, one would have to track these people over an extended period of time to determine which of them would wind up being arrested / convicted.
Statistically, you would have to interview 100 people for each SIX felons you wanted to include.
So suppose you would want to get 60 felons.* Interview 1000 people.
AND THEN TRACK the 1000 people to see which wound up convicted…

*
And again, an illogical reply.* Statistically, it’s meaningless but the author isn’t bright enough to recognize this…
Atheists and Agnostics make up (combined) about 4% of our population.
That’s it.
So now, let’s take 1000 people.* 60 felons.
Assume that out of that 60 felons, 4% (ONLY 2.4 felons) are atheist or agnostic.
*
Suppose we assume that 100% of these 2.4 atheist / agnostic felons turn to believing in heaven or hell.
That means that the TOTAL (out of 1000 people), a change in 0.24%.
Obviously insignificant in the big scheme of things.* The cause for these statistics IS NOT because a small number of convicted atheist / agnostic felons are turning to religion…
*
See the above.
If the author had bothered to think it through (instead of just knee-jerk reaching for any convenient excuse to avoid implications he doesn’t want to acknowledge), he would have realized that his hypothesis was insignificant…*

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"Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value."
Albert Einstein

I want to know the percentage of people who believe in heaven commit crimes compared to the percentage they are in the population.

The majority of people believe in some sort of heaven so it comes to reason that people who believe in it would be the majority of people who commit crimes.

Exactly.......


It's just a game with percentages........

more junk science

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A gun in the hands of a free man frightens and angers the autocrat, not because he fears the power of the gun, but, rather, the spirit of the man who holds it.

ANONYMOUS

I love some of these studies.

I'm waiting for the poll of ambidextrous Cub fans who were born on a Sunday in July, graduated from Northwestern. have 4 brothers,3 nieces and 2 nephews and think Jay Cutler is the best Qb the Bears have ever had. (that would be me)

These really are getting specific.

Here ya go!
LiveLeak.com - 1997 Federal Bureau of Prisons Statistics

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does have statistics on religious
affiliations of inmates. The following are total number of
inmates per religion category:

Response Number %
---------------------------- --------
Catholic 29267 39.164%
Protestant 26162 35.008%
Muslim 5435 7.273%
American Indian 2408 3.222%
Nation 1734 2.320%
Rasta 1485 1.987%
Jewish 1325 1.773%
Church of Christ 1303 1.744%
Pentecostal 1093 1.463%
Moorish 1066 1.426%
Buddhist 882 1.180%
Jehovah Witness 665 0.890%
Adventist 621 0.831%
Orthodox 375 0.502%
Mormon 298 0.399%
Scientology 190 0.254%
Atheist 156 0.209%
Hindu 119 0.159%
Santeria 117 0.157%
Sikh 14 0.019%
Bahai 9 0.012%
Krishna 7 0.009%
....

Catholic 29267 39.164%
Protestant 26162 35.008%
Rasta 1485 1.987%
Jewish 1325 1.773%
Church of Christ 1303 1.744%
Pentecostal 1093 1.463%
Jehovah Witness 665 0.890%
Adventist 621 0.831%
Orthodox 375 0.502%
Mormon 298 0.399%

Judeo-Christian Total 62594 83.761% (of the 74731 total responses)
Total Known Responses 74731

The results of the Christians vs atheists in prison investigation.

And for total population:
78.4% Christian
4% Atheist + Agnostic
Statistics on Religion in America Report -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

As you can see, the Christians make up a disproportionately large number as compared to the total population.


The original study went deeper than that.


Translation:
Hate the implications so you're condemning it without even looking at it...

__________________
"Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value."
Albert Einstein