[MD] The Moral Landscape

[david buchanan]

The following is a re-run from last August but I think it bears repeating:

There is a sociologist named Phil Zuckerman who looked at the levels of religiosity in the various nations and their possible correlations to the basic quality of life in those nations. He also looked at the levels of religiosity within the United States, from state to state, and compared that to the levels of social dysfunction. This would include everything from drunk driving to divorce, domestic abuse, poverty, ignorance and crime in general. As it turns out, nation by nation or state by state, the more religious the population the more social disease there is. Other surveys show a correlation between religiosity and low educational and intelligence levels. Most Americans (85%) say they believe in God. By contrast, less than 1% of the members of the national academy of science say they believe in any kind of personal God. Most Americans also believe that you can't be a moral person without religion, but the demographic facts say the opposite is true no matter where you look.
Sam Harris said, "Contrary to the views of many conservative pundits and the Christian Right, the least religious countries in the world today are not full of chaos and immorality, but are actually among the safest, healthiest, most well-educated, prosperous, ethical, and successful societies on earth. Based on a year´s worth of research conducted while living in Scandinavia, Society Without God by Phil Zuckerman explores life in a largely secular culture, delving into the unique worldviews of secular men and women who live in a largely irreligious society, and explaining the reasons why some nations are less religious than others, and why relgious faith doesn't seem to be the secret to national success that so many claim it to be."
Zuckerman's book, "Society Without God" shows that societies are better off in all kinds of ways when they are secular rather than religious. As is the case in the United States, the nation in question need not officially be a theocracy for it to count as a religious nation or as a nation with a religious culture. Outside of Africa, Afghanistan is the poorest nation on earth and, probably NOT coincidentally, the home of the Taliban.

Thanks.

dmb