Does Religion Make You Nice?

[Nihilistic Heathen]

Does Religion Make You Nice?
Does atheism make you mean?

Many Americans doubt the morality of atheists. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans say that they would not vote for an otherwise qualified atheist as president, meaning a nonbeliever would have a harder time getting elected than a Muslim, a homosexual, or a Jew. Many would go further and agree with conservative commentator Laura Schlessinger that morality requires a belief in God—otherwise, all we have is our selfish desires. In The Ten Commandments, she approvingly quotes Dostoyevsky: "Where there is no God, all is permitted." The opposing view, held by a small minority of secularists, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, is that belief in God makes us worse. As Hitchens puts it, "Religion poisons everything."

Arguments about the merits of religions are often battled out with reference to history, by comparing the sins of theists and atheists. (I see your Crusades and raise you Stalin!) But a more promising approach is to look at empirical research that directly addresses the effects of religion on how people behave.

In a review published in Science last month, psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Azim Shariff discuss several experiments that lean pro-Schlessinger. In one of their own studies, they primed half the participants with a spirituality-themed word jumble (including the words divine and God) and gave the other half the same task with nonspiritual words. Then, they gave all the participants $10 each and told them that they could either keep it or share their cash reward with another (anonymous) subject. Ultimately, the spiritual-jumble group parted with more than twice as much money as the control. Norenzayan and Shariff suggest that this lopsided outcome is the result of an evolutionary imperative to care about one's reputation. If you think about God, you believe someone is watching. This argument is bolstered by other research that they review showing that people are more generous and less likely to cheat when others are around. More surprisingly, people also behave better when exposed to posters with eyes on them.

[moochie]

You it makes you evil fanatic that dies for your religion

[RWGR]

Does Atheism Make You Nice?
Does Religion make you mean?



NEXT!!

[moochie]

IS reLIGION THE 10 COMMANDMENTS? ALL TOGETHER?

[RWGR]

Ehhh?

[moochie]

Ehhh?

i could follow the 10 commandments without being religious

[RWGR]

But can you be religious without following the Ten Commandments?

[moochie]

But can you be religious without following the Ten Commandments?

maybe depends what religion though

[Soundbear]

i could follow the 10 commandments without being religious

One would hope so. But I suspect you will have trouble with the first.

[moochie]

deeply religious you become a kamikaze suicide bomber who dies for their religion :shocked:

[moochie]

The 10 Commandments - God's Revelation in the Old Testament
The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old Testament at Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

The 10 Commandments - Christ's Summation in the New Testament
About 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at Matthew 22, when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

A reflective reading of Christ's teaching reveals that the first four commandments given to the children of Israel are contained in the statement: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It continues that the last six commandments are enclosed in the statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself."


http://www.allabouttruth.org/10-commandments.htm

[Soundbear]

That's the way it is.

[Anapeg]

While I have in all honesty, a problem coming up with people I don't like, I can come up with individuals I would rather not associate with. They come in all forms of believer and non believer and those of us in between. Your religious views, I find, have little to do with your moral compass. There are 'nice' people in all walks of society and religion (or the lack of same).

[Soundbear]

That is very true, Anapeg.

[BlueSky]

It should not be true, that a person's religious views have little to do with their moral compass. Isn't that the definition of a hypocrite?

[RWGR]

That is very true, Anapeg.

What??

[animal lover]

I've often wondered that myself Keebler. If you're going by the ten commandmenmts it sure sounds that way doesn't it??

[RWGR]

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above

So are statues of Jesus, or Mary, blasphemous?

Nope.

The statues and graven images God warns about were made to be worshiped. Think of the golden calf crafted by the Israelites.

Statues of Mary and Jesus are not worshiped; they are used to focus the mind.

[BlueSky]

It doesn't matter who the statues represent. If people are bowing down to the statue as a representation of God, and worhsipping them, that is blasphemous, beause you are attributing those representations with divine qualities.

It is interesting that the Jewish people were instructed to sculpt cherubims as a part of the decor of the ark of the covenant. So making some statues was okay. But those same people would never worship those angels or bow down to them.

[RWGR]

It doesn't matter who the statues represent. If people are bowing down to the statue as a representation of God, and worhsipping them, that is blasphemous, beause you are attributing those representations with divine qualities.

It is interesting that the Jewish people were instructed to sculpt cherubims as a part of the decor of the ark of the covenant. So making some statues was okay. But those same people would never worship those angels or bow down to them.

Correct.

Statues and such are fine. Attributing to them divine qualities, as Bluesky says, is the problematic part.