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Roy Zimmerman - I'll Pull Out
So you thought religion created good morals?
And yet the societies that actively ban(ned) religion are/were all run by atrocious tyrants, dominating a citizenry through fear.
I don't think any sane person would want to ban religion these days.
Besides, these societies that actively force(d) religion are/were all run by atrocious tyrants, dominating their citizens through fear. FEAR OF BURNING IN HELL, OR AT THE STAKE.
And while I know better than to get dragged into QM's fantasy land, I just had to point that out.
Jack Cafferty Loves Sarah Palin, Part II
Just don't, like, bring Choggie.
Matthew Good - Anti-Pop
wjolson (Member Profile)
thinker247
Nice F-22 Raptor RC
*runs*
So you thought religion created good morals?
bullshit patchwork science.
"the more faithful a nation is, the more likely to have bad shit there"
that's nothing to do with the title.
"on the strict terms of what he wrote, simply showing a corelation, the study holds up"
SOOO.... off you go, kneejerk atheists, expand that very limited conclusion into something it isn't. How scientific of you.
"science guy" is gonna make a lot of money on that book. nice.
You say "bullshit patchwork science", Mink. Did you read the paper? Are you quite well versed in Statistics? What parts of the study are "bullshit" or, otherwise, do not agree with what should be deemed "proper science"?
I almost hate to get myself kicked in the chin here, but, you appear to be pulling a "kneejerk deist" (and I say "deist" because you've noted several times in other threads that you're not really a "theist" by any definition of the word) reaction to merely what was said in the short interview.
So you thought religion created good morals?
Wouldn't it be more likely that high crime and poor living conditions would cause more religious faith rather than the faith causing the crime? Hardship is a very strong reason for seeking a blissful afterlife.
That would certainly fit the findings of the study. He never really suggested causation.
I quote from Quirkology by Richard Wiseman (an awesome read, by the way): Chapter 3 "Believing six impossible things before breakfast: Psychology enters the twilight zone.", pg 102-103
"By the middle 1920s, inflation in Germany was so high that paper money was carried in shopping bags, and people were eager to spend any money the moment that they had it, for fear that it would be severely devalued the following day. By 1932, almost half of the population were unemployed. In 1982, Vernon Padgett from Marshall Universty and Dale Jorgenson from the California State University published a paper comparing the number of articles on astrology, mysticism, and cults, appearing in the major German magazines and newspapers between the two world wars, and the degree of economic threat each year.* Articles on gardening and cooking were also counted as controls. An index of economic threat was calculated on the basis of wages, percentage of unemployed trade union members, and industrial production. When people were suffering an economic downturn, the number of articles on superstition increased. When things were going better, they decreased. The strong relationship between the two factors caused the authors to conclude that:
'... just as Trobriand islanders surrounded their more dangerous deep sea fishing with superstitions, Germans in the 1920s and 1930s became more superstitious during times of economic threat.'
The authors link their findings with much broader social issues, noting that in times of increased uncertainty, people look for a sense of certaintity and this need can cause them to support strong leadership regimes, and believe in various irrational determinants of their fate, such as superstition and mysticism."
*V.R. Padgett & D.O. Jorgenson - 'Superstition and economic threat: Germany, 1918-1940', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin #8, pages 736-74. 1982.
I guess you could look at the above study, and then look at what may occur within areas of the United States during this coming time of harsh economic crisis as well. Will it create an increase in religious belief/ferver and a higher degree of trust into other areas of superstition, the supernatural, and mysticism?
When times are hard, which I'm sure they are in some of the countries used in the study conducted which is discussed in the video, more people will want some sort of "control" in their out-of-control lives. They find that sense of "comfort" in handing control over to forces they believe to be "more powerful" than just mortal men and women.
Matthew Good - Weapon
Chevy Volt: the most important American car... maybe ever?
GM could've "saved" the automotive world from oil in the early 2000s with the EV-1. Instead they destroyed it. The EV-1 could do more than 100 miles to a charge, the Volt does less. I understand it is running on a generator that requires petrol to run it, to charge the battery, to keep the car going. It just seems slightly redundant. I know, I know, it will use less gas, and that is supposed to be "the point", however, it is still keeping the public holding onto oil.
I don't know what GM thinks they're doing, but they're doing it wrong.
The Role Play Tournament
Sucking up to John McCain
I really liked that, Nomino.
What is White Privilege?
Side note: I believe that the "Priviledge" in the title has an extra "iv" hanging out there.
I'm a PC
Jeebus, I hate that man. Just about as much as I hate L. Ron. Hubbard.