Posted by:
seymour
(
)
Date: November 20, 2010 03:01AM
I understand your reasoning. But it is possible for people to restrain themselves from killing each other, absent religion.
Here in the South, everyone's got religion. We've also got some of the most dangerous cities: New Orleans, LA; Jackson, MS, Birmingham, AL; Memphis, TN. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/americas-most-dangerous-cities.html)
We've also got 9 of the most 15 dangerous states (http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/05/most-dangerous-states-crime-rankings-for-2010/)
These same states also have some of the highest rates of regular church attendance (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060502/news_lz1n2thelist.html)
America, in general, considers itself religious, with 76% identifying themselves as Christian (http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf)
Compare the murder rates of Christian America (5 per 100,000) with the murder rates of relatively atheistic/agnostic Scandinavian countries (Norway 0.6 per 100,000; Sweden 0.92; Denmark 1.01) or Japan (.44), which identifies with Shintoism and Buddhism.
(Country murder rates compared at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate)
Religion that teaches people not to kill because God says we should value one another, oddly, isn't quite as effective as other belief systems. And this isn't even addressing the murders that are done in the name of religions, even when that religion specifically asks its adherents not to.
Your argument makes sense intuitively. And maybe it is not a good idea to remove religion entirely. But I honestly believe people can effectively learn to live in harmony when we realize we truly depend on each other, rather than on an invisible being, to make it through this life. Empathy, sympathy, love, and understanding is what will keep us from killing each other. Being told we should value one another because a being we can't really comprehend or verify the existence of told us to just doesn't seem to be the way to go.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2010 03:03AM by seymour.