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posted by janrinok on Saturday November 07 2015, @11:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the thank-$DEITY dept.

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


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:39AM (#260164)

    less likely to endorse harsh punishments

    but... but... but... my 6000 year old book tells me that it's okay to kill people for no good reason!

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:48AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:48AM (#260166)

    The book isnt 6000 years old, its somewhere under 2000 years old but, by some interprestations, says the earth is 6000 years old.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:00AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @01:00AM (#260173)

      Aw your ruining his fun of making fun of others... by using the meme of others who hate Christians.

      Having gone to a christian school I could have told you that. The kids are no better or worse than those in public schools. The only thing they lack is the hubris that public school is better. Having been in both. There is little difference other than an extra class or two every few days.

      The first post in this discussion puts it into perspective. SOOOO before you go jumping on the bandwagon. I suggest you listen to someone who bothered to read the paper.
      https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3rnzi6/religious_kids_are_harsher_and_less_generous_than/ [reddit.com]

      But basically r = .161. That does not say much one way or the other. Other than it may be worth studding more.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:57AM (#260221)

      Only the "New Testament" is under 2000 years old, the rest of it is somewhere between 5000-8000 years old.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @08:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @08:33PM (#260488)

        Don't forget God III the Final Revelation [wikipedia.org] is even newer than that at a mere 1400 years, give or take.

      • (Score: 1) by PocketSizeSUn on Sunday November 08 2015, @09:05PM

        by PocketSizeSUn (5340) on Sunday November 08 2015, @09:05PM (#260505)

        Judaism and Monotheism isn't that old. So clearly the book cannot be that old either.

        At best you could go with the estimated date the Torah was first being written (600 BCE) which would still be closer to 2600 years old. You could use the estimated time of Moses, as the Torah was supposedly dictated to Moses. Using that date would get you to ~1300 BCE so 3300 years old.
        The oldest written religious text being the Vedas at ~1500 BCE which only gets you 3500 years old.