Posted by:
Tall Man, Short Hair
(
)
Date: July 30, 2015 11:17PM
I think I'd go slow on this one.
Next time you're headed to the hospital or read a story in the news about an injured person taken to the hospital, look for how many health facilities are named "Saint SomethingOrOther." The Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians all sponsor hospitals. In some areas of the country, your wish to eliminate all religion will leave huge populations with virtually no health care options at all.
Also, if you have an opportunity to talk to a homeless person, battered wife, or drug addict, ask them how their lives would change if no religious person or organization existed to help them. Hint: Salvation Army serves millions of free meals to these folks every year. They also provide free housing, job training, and financial assistance.
Also, just check a few stats. Kids graduate from Catholic High Schools at a higher rate than virtually any other education system. On average, Catholic School grads earn hundreds of thousands more over over their lifetimes than their peers in other systems. They graduate from college at a higher rate as well. The poorer and more at-risk a student is, the greater the relative achievement gains in Catholic schools. etc. etc.
Also, a 2010 Harvard study showed that cohesive communities like those found in religions tend to promote better behavior, more community involvement, vote more regularly, donate more time and more money to causes. Atheist groups can show similar traits, but there are few cohesive atheist groups out there that are created to promote public welfare. That arena is dominated by the religious.
Atheists tend to be a very narrow demographic. It's dominated by affluent white people. That's part of the reason there are so few atheists in prison. Affluent white people are severely underrepresented in the prison population and crime stats overall.
Religious people often team up to create organizations dedicated to helping the less fortunate and needy. Atheists seem to agree on very little, but tend to team up to argue that all religion is evil.
A couple links regarding the above:
"Fellow Atheists: Quit Bragging About Our Prison Underrepresentation"
http://skepchick.org/2014/06/atheists-prison/https://ace.nd.edu/catholic-school-advantage/catholic-school-advantage-fact-sheetEdited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2015 11:47PM by Tall Man, Short Hair.