Atheists believed to be less moral, says study

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Atheists believed to be less moral, says study

7 August 2017 US & Canada

Atheists "are broadly perceived as potentially morally depraved and dangerous" - even in secular countries.

According to a new study, some atheists even have an in-built "anti-atheist bias" when it comes to judging a person's morality.

But anti-atheist bias was strongest where there are high numbers of believers, like the United Arab Emirates, United States and India.

Only New Zealand and Finland did not exhibit a clear bias against atheists.

The study, put together by an international team and published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, took into account the responses of more than 3,000 people across 13 countries and five continents.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40856942

______________________________________________________________________

Related: Global evidence of extreme intuitive moral prejudice against atheists (Nature Human Behaviour)

[njhoneybadger]

1. That's ridiculous

[gtar100]

2. Thus say the people who believe "belief" is a measure of reality.

And mistake belief to be that which they say they believe while ignoring the true beliefs they hold in their heart.

If a professed belief in a god or something spiritual is what keeps somebody "moral" and holds one back from being "depraved" and "dangerous", then I'm glad they have chosen to wear their religion as a set of shackles. Because who knows how "depraved" and "dangerous" they would really be if they had no fear of punishment.

[procon]

3. People who have a religious belief find an atheist's non belief

anathema to their very core of existence. In my experience, it's an alien concept that simply confounds them and they cannot grasp that I have no belief whatsoever, and do not feel compelled to acquire one. They often return to the same question, insisting that I must believe in some higher being, becoming frustrated when I don't confess to harboring some secret belief in the paranormal.

I, on the other hand, am somewhat suspicious of anyone who must be forced into basic human morality on penalty of eternal suffering, rather than just a personal desire to be kind.

[uriel1972]

7. Exactly...

I do the right thing, because it's the right thing to do. Not because some reward or punishment scenario. To me that makes me a more moral person than the "Check-list People"

[Akamai]

4. I put this up last week, about how the religious right is less empathetic with the poor.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029417235

The gist of the story is that right-wing evangelical Christians say that people who fail, fail because of their own deficits. They are almost twice as likely as others to attribute personal failings to these people not doing well, as are other citizens.

So it turns out that right wing Christian evangelism allows you to look down on the poor and blame them for their ills.

this is what I posted:

*******************************


Christians twice as likely to blame a person's poverty on lack of effort, poll finds.

Interesting results! Maybe this is one reason the right-wing Christians supported Trump?

Any thots?

From: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/christians-poverty-blame-lack-effort-twice-likely-us-white-evangelicals-faith-relgion-a7875541.html

"Christians – especially white evangelicals - apparently much more predisposed to believe it's your own fault if you're poor.

"Which is generally more often to blame if a person is poor: lack of effort on their own part, or difficult circumstances beyond their control?

"The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation asked 1,686 American adults to answer that question - and found that religion is a significant predictor of how Americans perceive poverty.

"Christians are much more likely than non-Christians to view poverty as the result of individual failings, especially white evangelical Christians.


""There's a strong Christian impulse to understand poverty as deeply rooted in morality - often, as the Bible makes clear, in unwillingness to work, in bad financial decisions or in broken family structures," said Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "The Christian world view is saying that all poverty is due to sin, though that doesn't necessarily mean the sin of the person in poverty. In the Garden of Eden, there would have been no poverty. In a fallen world, there is poverty.""

[neeksgeek]

5. Personal anecdote...

I was raised in a basically non-church-going household. I would not describe myself as an atheist, but I've been called that, as well as satanic, because I'm a free thinker who doesn't attend church. This is especially true in my extended family. For instance:

I have an uncle who is devoutly Christian. He's got two sons. My cousins have both had major morality problems, not that I'm judging. Just stating facts. One has served time for dealing drugs, and the other is divorced because he beat his wife.

So this uncle is continually amazed that I've never been in jail, am not a druggie, etc, given how awful and immoral I am compared to my god-fearing cousins.

Shrug. What can you say to that?

[BigmanPigman]

6. Is killing an innocent person moral or immoral?

When you look back over the last 2,000 years and the number of people killed, hurt, and tortured in wars and other actions based on religious ideals I would say atheists are highly moral in comparison to those who are religious.

HYPOCRITES!

[LakeArenal]

8. Say the judgey judgertans ...

that say judge not lest ye be judged.

[trotsky]

11. Hell, the "best" Christians are always the most judgmental.

But don't worry, *they're* not judging, *God* is! Hooray!

[bobalew]

9. Conflating "Belief" with actual knowledge is the problem.

If you have knowledge there is absolutely no need for "belief". I know what is ethical and harmonious, therefore I am "Moral" already....

[trotsky]

10. Centuries of religious bigotry are hard to overcome. n/t