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Altruism in Children: Religious and Non-Religious

Started by Recusant, November 06, 2015, 07:05:23 PM

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Recusant

More lies from the atheistic scientists!

"Does religion make kids less generous?" | PHYS.ORG

QuoteReligious parents are more likely to describe their children as empathetic and concerned about justice than are non-religious parents. But, new evidence reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on November 5 suggests that the opposite is in fact true.

In the study, children growing up in households that weren't religious were significantly more likely to share than were children growing up in religious homes. The findings support the notion that the secularization of moral discourse may serve to increase rather than decrease human kindness, the researchers say.

"Some past research had demonstrated that religious people aren't more likely to do good than their nonreligious counterparts," said Jean Decety of the University of Chicago. "Our study goes beyond that by showing that religious people are less generous, and not only adults but children too."

[Continues . . .]

The paper: "The Negative Association between Religiousness and Children's Altruism across the World" | Current Biology (PDF)

QuoteIn Brief:

Decety and colleagues assessed altruism and moral cognition in six countries. Parents in religious households reported that their children expressed more empathy and sensitivity for justice in everyday life. However, religiousness was inversely predictive of children's altruism and positively correlated with their punitive tendencies.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


xSilverPhinx

Very interesting.

QuoteThe results might be explained in part by "moral licensing," a phenomenon in which doing something "good"—in this case practicing a religion—can leave people less concerned about the consequences of immoral behavior, the researchers say. They also come as a timely reminder that religion and morality are not one and the same.

This makes sense. Also, in my experience dealing with some religious people, it seems it's easier for them to transfer responsibility for their actions onto someone else, that someone being a god or demons/the devil.

One exceptionally annoying behaviour of many religious people (not just Christians) is their tendency to blame the devil or evil beings for bad deeds. If it's morally questionable, it's because the devil led them to do it.  ::) 
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


No one

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 06, 2015, 07:28:57 PM
Very interesting.

QuoteThis makes sense. Also, in my experience dealing with some religious people, it seems it's easier for them to transfer responsibility for their actions onto someone else, that someone being a god or demons/the devil.

One exceptionally annoying behaviour of many religious people (not just Christians) is their tendency to blame the devil or evil beings for bad deeds. If it's morally questionable, it's because the devil led them to do it.  ::) 

The dominant "intelligent" species of this little pale blue dot is a truly a malevolent one. It is just the nature of this beast. However, this sickening obscene trait, does not sit well with their over valued self worth, and sense of moral superiority. Hence the creation of an evil essence beyond thier control, which forces them to commit terrible, terrible acts upon one another.

xSilverPhinx

I wouldn't go so far as to say that humans are malevolent. People have the capacity for it, sure, but there is also potential for great benevolence and altruism as well.

About feelings of moral superiority, I just find it funny that some people have a need to have an omnipresent and omniscient father figure somewhere in the background who will reward them for moral behaviour and punish them if otherwise. Without this father figure there would be no reason to be moral, in their eyes, and they say that atheists are immoral people since we don't adhere to this particular extrinsically motivated  system of reward and punishment. 

Most theists have a childish mentality when it comes to moral consciousness, it seems.

Anyways I'm just ranting a little...and preaching to the choir, but just the other day I heard a theist rave on about how unbelievers are evil. It's speech that instigates hate and fear, and affects us directly.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Ecurb Noselrub

Hard for me to buy into this based on my personal experience working for a health care system.  The smartest folks are surgeons, and they are more likely to be atheists than nurses.  Nurses are nicer, hands down.  Surgeons can be real jerks. Not all, but the biggest jerks are the genius surgeons.

Recusant

Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on November 08, 2015, 12:38:36 AM
Hard for me to buy into this based on my personal experience working for a health care system.  The smartest folks are surgeons, and they are more likely to be atheists than nurses.  Nurses are nicer, hands down.  Surgeons can be real jerks. Not all, but the biggest jerks are the genius surgeons.

Surgeons in general are noted as tending to be arrogant and self-regarding, so even though your experience is anecdotal, I would not try to dispute it. However, atheist surgeons are only a tiny subset of atheists. Their personality traits qua atheists are not definitive, and even less so if we're discussing the children of non-religious households in comparison to the children of religious households.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken