According to Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom in his recent Slate article, religion doesn’t make you “nicer” or more moral, despite a 2007 Gallup Poll, which suggested that the majority of Americans would not vote for a qualified Atheist for president.
Atheists are not less moral or “meaner” because they are not restrained by external sanctions and fear of reprisal by the supernatural (the carrot and stick principle).
Many would… agree with conservative commentator Laura Schlessinger that morality requires a belief in God—otherwise, all we have is our selfish desires.
But, Bloom says that the case that “we need God to be good” falls apart when you look at other countries, countries where Atheism is not enforced, but chosen freely.
Countries worthy of consideration… [are] those in which people freely choose atheism. …Danes and the Swedes — probably the most godless people on Earth. They don’t go to church or pray in the privacy of their own homes; they don’t believe in God or heaven or hell. But, by any reasonable standard, they’re nice to one another. They have a famously expansive welfare and health care service. They have a strong commitment to social equality. And—even without belief in a God looming over them — they murder and rape one another significantly less frequently than Americans do.
Denmark and Sweden aren’t exceptions. A 2005 study by Gregory Paul looking at 18 democracies found that the more atheist societies tended to have relatively low murder and suicide rates and relatively low incidence of abortion and teen pregnancy.
One of the main benefits of religion may actually be community. People seem to be more committed to good behavior because of community, rather than the threat of external punishment. Atheists in the U.S. are often accorded outsider status, and left out of community life. They neither receive the benefits of community life, nor feel willing to contribute to those communities that exclude them
The sorry state of American atheists, then, may have nothing to do with their lack of religious belief. It may instead be the result of their outsider status within a highly religious country where many of their fellow citizens, including very vocal ones like Schlessinger, find them immoral and unpatriotic. Religion may not poison everything, but it deserves part of the blame for this one.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Paul Bloom does have to learn to move the mic away from his breathing, though.
on Dec 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Devil’s advocate: perhaps religion is actually useful for social control; on the basis that some people who may not be intrinsically nice are also often dim enough to buy into supernatural juju. For those people who are so immature that they do not develop an altruistic conscience, is a supernatural carrot/stick approach any more effective in steering them away from selfish and anti-social behavior? Some people lack innate virtue of character- maybe a church is a good place for them. A comparison of secular vs. faith-based addiction recovery services might provide some hint there; I have met a number of recovered addicts who have found a safe environment in religion, which provides clear limits for their behavior, a positive focus, and a supportive community. I think those can be replicated without the blood and the cross. Also worth looking at; data over time correlating crimes of moral turpitude with levels of religiosity in societies. There are obvious anecdotes: theft is pretty low in Saudi Arabia. But rape is also low in Sweden. Does the decline in religion correspond to any measurable trend in violent and property crime? Hard to tease out the numbers in such complex issues but worth asking the tough questions.