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Here's a discovery that could make secular parents say hallelujah: Children who grow up in non-religious homes are more generous and altruistic than children from observant families. ...
A series of experiments involving 1,170 kids from a variety of religious backgrounds found that the non-believers were more likely to share stickers with their classmates and less likely to endorse harsh punishments for people who pushed or bumped into others.
The results "contradict the common-sense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind toward others," according to a study published this week in the journal Current Biology.
Worldwide, about 5.8 billion people consider themselves religious, and religion is a primary way for cultures to express their ideas about proper moral behavior — especially behavior that involves self-sacrifice for the sake of others.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 5, Insightful) by linkdude64 on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:24AM
...the issue is in the belief, "I am Right, according to an authoritative source." Paired with the fact that other people inevitably disagree, means, "You are Wrong, and Wrong People deserve punishment." (Whether in "this life or the next.")
Get two culturally dissimilar people who are ironically identical in their ways of thinking together and boom - unchecked rampant egoism and childish insecurity about our position in the universe disguised as a holy war. The great thing about Science, even if it is a "system of belief" as it is so commonly argued (without basis), is that it doesn't mandate punishment for people who disagree or are legitimately uninformed. So of course it's more compassionate.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Covalent on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:59AM
Exactly right. Faith is a dangerous thing. People ask me all the time if I believe in God. I say no. I also don't believe in spaghetti, or aluminum foil, or Thursday. Faith is not a thing I do. I try to judge the world based on evidence. I have awoken every day and have never floated to the ceiling. Therefore I have high confidence in Gravity. But I do not BELIEVE in Gravity. Gravity might be invisible pink unicorns that pull on my feet and they might go on strike tomorrow. It's just unlikely, given the evidence. I don't believe in climate change, though the evidence is very strong. It is less strong than the evidence for gravity.
Faith leads to segregation between us and them. Segregation leads to hatred. Hatred leads to suffering.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:20AM
*tips fedora*
(Score: 4, Informative) by Gaaark on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:24AM
I can't believe you just wrote that! (But there is strong evidence you just did).
But i also can't believe it's not butter...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:51AM
Posting song lyrics is pretty Fedora, but Iron Maiden's Holy Smoke is relevant here:
Now, religion ain't all bad. It was intertwined with the worlds best art, history, music and to understand religion is to understand the world is why the way it is. I have found that coming from a religious background is often a plus in the dating scene, as the women usually don't have literal interpretations but a foundation of solid, monogamous values. And I'm only talking about Christians, Buddhists, taoists, and Hindus in a positive manner -- Jews and Muslims are still scum.
(Score: 2) by ticho on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:18AM
Hey, I belong to the Pinkunicornian Gravity Church, and us pinkies are apalled by your lack of belief, you insensitive clod!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:17PM
All hail her hinederness SunButt! Party cannons to maximum! Love and tolerate all the non-believers!
(Score: 3, Funny) by maxwell demon on Sunday November 08 2015, @09:56AM
The FSM will punish you for that! :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 09 2015, @02:33AM
Indeed, the death of thousands as a result of the next tsunami is solely on his hands!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 09 2015, @07:46PM
I try to explain this as a matter of probability. Not that I have exact numbers but that I have a rough estimate of probability that something is true or not. While I don't have issue with people who choose a path of absolutes, there is some probability they are right, I don't find it compatible with my mode of thought. Anyway, I wrote more on this subject on my blog: http://about98percentdone.blogspot.com/2015/09/belief-absolute-conviction-or.html [blogspot.com]
- JCD
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:56AM
Maybe it doesn't mandate it, but I've definitely never seen a creationist ruthlessly mocked around here before...
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Some call me Tim on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:39AM
"The great thing about Science, even if it is a "system of belief" as it is so commonly argued (without basis), is that it doesn't mandate punishment for people who disagree or are legitimately uninformed. So of course it's more compassionate."
That's very true until politics get involved.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/16/al-gore-sxsw-punish-climate-deniers/ [ecowatch.com]
Galileo would understand.
Questioning science is how you do science!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @09:19PM
...traveling on an orthogonal course and in a different universe. Or maybe you didn't make yourself clear.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:51AM
Cue the next round of debate about global warming. Right then, I'll just go get me coat.