** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
I find it an interesting study. The author's motivation may remain
shrouded in mystery, but we can't just interprete his motivation in a
way that suites our view of the article. The question that needs
addressing is "if the report is true (you can't just say it isn't true
without proof), what is responsible for the higher occurence of
HOMICIDE, ABORTION, TEEN PREGNANCY AND STDs in otherwise God-fearing
(or more realistically, God-aware) societies?"
> "Wilmot B. Valhmu" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
>
> Honestly, I'm a little baffled. Is this a polemic
> against religion/religious belief or a news report?
> Undoubtedly, there are a lot of assertions in this
> piece that can be taken to tasks regarding veracity.
>
> I definitely will look to read the original article by
> Mr. Gregory St. Paul. Of particular interest are the
> assumptions (if any) that frame his study.
>
> If time permits, I will do that before heading for the
> Christmas break.
>
> - Wilmot
>
>
> --- Aggo Akyea wrote:
>
> > The Dark Side of Faith
> >
> > by Rosa Brooks
> > Saturday, October 1, 2005
> > Los Angeles Times
> >
> > It's official: Too much religion may be a
> > dangerous thing.
> >
> > This is the implication of a study reported in the
> > current issue of the Journal of Religion and
> > Society, a publication of Creighton University's
> > Center for the Study of Religion. The study, by
> > evolutionary scientist Gregory S. Paul, looks at the
> > correlation between levels of "popular religiosity"
> > and various "quantifiable societal health"
> > indicators in 18 prosperous democracies, including
> > the United States.
> > [http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html]
> >
> > Paul ranked societies based on the percentage of
> > their population expressing absolute belief in God,
> > the frequency of prayer reported by their citizens
> > and their frequency of attendance at religious
> > services. He then correlated this with data on
> > rates of homicide, sexually transmitted disease,
> > teen pregnancy, abortion and child mortality.
> >
> > He found that the most religious democracies
> > exhibited substantially higher degrees of social
> > dysfunction than societies with larger percentages
> > of atheists and agnostics. Of the nations studied,
> > the U.S. ? which has by far the largest percentage
> > of people who take the Bible literally and express
> > absolute belief in God (and the lowest percentage
> > of atheists and agnostics) ? also has by far the
> > highest levels of homicide, abortion, teen
> > pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
> >
> > This conclusion will come as no surprise to those
> > who have long gnashed their teeth in frustration
> > while listening to right-wing evangelical claims
> > that secular liberals are weak on "values." Paul's
> > study confirms globally what is already evident in
> > the U.S.: When it comes to "values," if you look at
> > facts rather than mere rhetoric, the substantially
> > more secular blue states routinely leave the Bible
> > Belt red states in the dust.
> >
> > Murder rates? Six of the seven states with the
> > highest 2003 homicide rates were "red" in the 2004
> > elections (Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona,
> > Georgia, South Carolina), while the deep blue
> > Northeastern states had murder rates well below the
> > national average. Infant mortality rates? Highest
> > in the South and Southwest; lowest in New England.
> > Divorce rates? Marriages break up far more in red
> > states than in blue. Teen pregnancy rates? The
> > same.
> >
> > Of course, the red/blue divide is only an
> > imperfect proxy for levels of religiosity. And
> > while Paul's study found that the correlation
> > between high degrees of religiosity and high
> > degrees of social dysfunction appears robust, it
> > could be that high levels of social dysfunction fuel
> > religiosity, rather than the other way around.
> >
> > Although correlation is not causation, Paul's
> > study offers much food for thought. At a minimum,
> > his findings suggest that contrary to popular
> > belief, lack of religiosity does societies no
> > particular harm. This should offer ammunition to
> > those who maintain that religious belief is a
> > purely private matter and that government should
> > remain neutral, not only among religions but also
> > between religion and lack of religion. It should
> > also give a boost to critics of "faith-based"
> > social services and abstinence-only disease and
> > pregnancy prevention programs.
> >
> > We shouldn't shy away from the possibility that
> > too much religiosity may be socially dangerous.
> > Secular, rationalist approaches to problem-solving
> > emphasize uncertainty, evidence and perpetual
> > reevaluation. Religious faith is inherently
> > nonrational.
> >
> > This in itself does not make religion worthless or
> > dangerous. All humans hold nonrational beliefs, and
> > some of these may have both individual and societal
> > value. But historically, societies run into trouble
> > when powerful religions become imperial and
> > absolutist.
> >
> > The claim that religion can have a dark side
> > should not be news. Does anyone doubt that Islamic
> > extremism is linked to the recent rise in
> > international terrorism? And since the history of
> > Christianity is every bit as blood-drenched as the
> > history of Islam, why should we doubt that
> > extremist forms of modern American Christianity have
> > their own pernicious and measurable effects on
> > national health and well-being?
> >
> > Arguably, Paul's study invites us to conclude that
> > the most serious threat humanity faces today is
> > religious extremism: nonrational, absolutist belief
> > systems that refuse to tolerate difference and
> > dissent.
> >
> > My prediction is that right-wing evangelicals will
> > do their best to discredit Paul's substantive
> > findings. But when they fail, they'll just shrug:
> > So what if highly religious societies have more
> > murders and disease than less religious societies?
> > Remember the trials of Job? God likes to test the
> > faithful.
> >
> > To the truly nonrational, even evidence that on
> > its face undermines your beliefs can be twisted to
> > support them. Absolutism means never having to say
> > you're sorry.
> >
> > And that, of course, is what makes it so very
> > dangerous.
> >
> > © Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Aggo Akyea
> > http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/akyea
> >
> > "Instead of studying how to make it worth men's
> > while to buy my baskets,
> > I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of
> > selling them."
> > WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau ? 1854
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:
>
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html
>
> AAM Website: http://www.africanassociation.org
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Photos
> Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add photos, events,
> holidays, whatever.
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html
AAM Website: http://www.africanassociation.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
