August 19, 2006
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Is Religion Bad For a Culture?
I was just reading an article on humaniststudies.org. In the article, Martin Foreman suggest that religion causes bad behavior. He cites some studies that countries who are atheist actually behave better. His article is based on a study done by the “Journal of Religion and Society.” It compared 18 different countries including the United States and Japan.
The study found that countries that have a larger portion of people that believe in God, tend to have a higher rate of violence and teenage pregnancy. For example, according to the study the Japanese have fewer than 10% that are “certain that God exist.” Japan is said to have the lowest rate of teenage pregnancy.
The article points out that America has over 50% that believe in God. Yet according to the article, “The U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and homicide rates are at least five times greater than in Europe and ten times higher than in Japan.”
The author concludes by stating that religion weakens a culture.
Is Religion bad for a culture?
Comments (229)
Sin weakens a culture.
It definitely can be.
No, I think it helps some of our society.
I don’t think that’s a reasonable correlation to make. No, I don’t think it’s religion that is bad for a culture.
you cannot compare the US to Japan, because firstly there is a massive population difference. And also a cultural difference. In a country where everyone believes they are free to do anything they want then things go wrong, finally i agree with the previous comment, sin weakens a culture.
absolutely… religion gives us a moral foundation on which to live
I have read the study and it’s completely fraudulent. The man cherry picks between cultures to get the results he wants. The answer is no, religion, especially the Christian religion, is the one thing that every society that respects human rights has in common.
No
1st, look at the source which is already prone to anti-religion bias.
2nd, you haven’t showed the reasoning behind the positive linear relationship.
Thus ignoring the study, religion is actually part of culture. One of the definitions for culture on Merriam Webster’s online website is:
the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time
have you noticed how degraded Japanese morals are? In their game shows and their cartoon anime they have no respect for human dignity and morals
Legalism is bad for a culture; Christianity (which involved grace) vastly improves a culture. Look at the analyses of cultures where the number of Christians has drastically increased. You can’t deny the improvement.
I agree with the first commenter. Sin weakens a culture.
the reason why the US has a high pregnancy rate is because of the freakin liberalism movement that started out with the hippies… “if it feels good, do it”… every one I talk to says sex feels good, so there you go… it’s because of the liberals
I think that’s BS. There are many other variables between the stated countries which far more likely contribute to these social malaise.
Have to agree with the first one. Religion is an integral part of humanity and is very important in bringing people together, it should not divide us!!!
This is a funny question. Maybe nominal religion weakens culture, but fully-devoted followers of Christ would do nothing but help a culture.
no
they probably aren’t true believers if they keep in the path of sin
but all fall short
Anyone remember the inquisition??? How’s that for religion ruining a culture?
So, yes, it certainly CAN be… but shouldn’t be used as a blanket statement.
Though I admit that soome of the most horrific acts of violence in our history have been done in “the name of God”, I don’t think that religion makes for a weak society.
no
Yes, it can be.
Did the study mention that Japan also has the highest rate of depression and suicide in the world?
Religion and believing in “God” are not the same thing. The Japaneese have strong cultural patters that are accepted by everyone, the culture of honor and shame is not religion as we might think of it as such.
These religions bring around the idea of compromise, a sign of weakness
Perhaps driving Japanese cars is good for culture . . .
That’s like comparing differences in crime between cities in different states with one having a small population and the other being a city like Los Angeles, and then saying one is more violent than the other. You can’t make that assumption.
No….Many religous organizations…whatever they may be..help out and reach out to the poor in society. They provide many rehab programs..schools…even shelter. They contribute to society. And most of all emotional support in the time of need.
A simple correlation does not show causation. Perhaps teen pregnancy is higher in the USA because there are fewer per capita abortions? Based on the way that the Japanese treated prisoners in WW II it is clear that as recent as 60 years ago the USA had a much higher repect for life than the Japanese did.
Belief in God does not show how religious a person is and not all religions are created equal. I would not call America a religious country; very few actually practice their religions. They stay home on Sundays and many that do attend church are completely absent from their religion on other days. If John Kerry, Arnold Swartzenager, Rudi Guiliani or Ted Kennedy were serious about their religions, they would have left the Catholic Church long ago.
Perhaps a better correlation would be Iran, Iraq, Afghanstan, Saudi Arabia and other middle-eastern countries where religion really is at the forefront of their culture. Violence and persecution of women is certainly at very high levels there.
I’m writing an article right now about rice consumption…it seems that in a country that has the majority of the population believing in the divine nature of Buddah, more rice is consumed.
I would have to say it depends on the religion. No one would be able to convince me that a country of true practicing Christians would make it weaker. If anything everyone would be kinder, more responsible and more compassionate.
No, but religious zealots are definately bad for a culture, and everyone involved.
of course its not bad send this guy my way Id like to argue my case
No.
But it can lead to rebellion.
And acceptance of sin.
I agree with OJesuslovesyousomuch (The first commenter)
when she says that sin weakens a culture.
Those statistics don’t seem so cause-and-effect to me. Also what LadySadie says is true.
Besides, in America it’s “accepted” to believe in God just as it is culturally “accepted” to have sex at younger ages (causing teenage pregnancy).
Also what the survey doesn’t explain is how they tally “more” or “less” violence or teenage pregnancy. Is it a bare count of violent acts? Because we have a bigger population than Japan, that makes the finding suspiscious. If it’s by acts to the population count, it would be easier to compare “more” or “less.”
Basically, I just don’t like statistics.
No, I don’t think so. I’m not religious, but I have nothing against religion and certainly don’t believe that religion and violence or teenage pregnancy are related in any way. In fact, I believe that religion and culture are much the same thing. The earliest signs of culture (art, literature, etc.) were all very much tied to religion. Japan’s culture is very strongly tied to Shinto religion, whether the individual people believe in it or not. I’ve always been of the opinion that most of the problems here in the US are caused by the alienation people feel from their leaders, their neighbors and even (or maybe especially) the natural world around them.
Religion have caused wars and fights. I do believe that. But does religion weaken culture? No. In fact, religion pretty much forms a lot of culture. Many of America’s popular holidays come from religion–Christmas, Easter… the angels on top of some Christmas trees?
And America having a high rate of teenage pregnancy almost has nothing to do with believing in God–I blame it on the music most of the American teenage population listens to and the shit some people talk.
allow me to shed some light on the subject:
If you get pregnant in Japan or China out of wedlock, your Father might kill you. If you steal, your government will cut off your hand. If you kill and are caught, your government will kill you.
In Europe (most areas) If you get pregnant out of wedlock, you are a disgrace to your family, and are either shunned completely or looked down on as a whore the rest of your life. If you kill, your government will kill you.
In America, if you get pregnant out of wedlock, you are a poor misguided youth who made a mistake, and it wasn’t your fault anyway, that monster of a boy made you do it, and the pressure was too much. If you steal, you get a slap on the wrist and community service. If you kill, you usually get a prison sentence in which you can study law to your heart’s content, watch tv, and lift weights all day, and you don’t even have to do hard labour unless you want to! My Dad worked in a Texas prision for 13 years, and ended up calling himself and his co-workers “buttlers in grey”
And I have to strongly agree with LadySadie about believeing in God and being a Christian are not the same thing. A lot of folks talking about Heaven ain’t goin’ there!
Cowboy
YES
Yea i thaink it can be to a ceritain point. Donno how but i just thaink so
xX-Nicole-Xx
Yes.
Actually I don’t really know, I just don’t like it.
Not religion, just catholicism. Ha. No, I’m serious. There’s a reason why the best sex freaks come from catholic schools. I don’t know what it is, cause it doesn’t matter.
Definitley. Its’ bad for the whole world, IMO.
Well, ideology, condemnation, and intolerance are bad for the world….which a lot of religions….such as Christianity and Islam teach.
The suicide rate in Japan has nothing to do with religion, lack thereof or the belief in god, or lack thereof.
I think so.
no
depends on religion
the answer to almost all of the question now days are “depends” :-p
”
I would have to say it depends on the religion. No one would be able to convince me that a country of true practicing Christians would make it weaker. If anything everyone would be kinder, more responsible and more compassionate.
Posted 8/19/2006 at 10:29 AM by dropsofjupiterihh”
Sure, if we had LIBERAL Christians. If we had Conservative Christians everywhere, I’d hate my life. I wouldn’t give in and kill myself but my quality of life would sure as hell be horrible.
Teenage pregnancy and religion…..
A lot of religions place a lot of taboos on sex and if there wasn’t such a taboo on sex and if parents communicated with their kids about sex and told them about condoms, birth control, STDs, etc. then I’m sure a lot of teenage girls wouldn’t end up pregnant and the STD rate among teens would be much lower.
The more you talk about something, the less shame, stigma, taboo, etc is attached to it.
America wants to present itself as such a righteous country but everyone who pretends to be holier-than-thou probably has the most skeletons in their closet than anyone.
Plus 80% of the prison population are Christians…and they were Christians before they went in.
I love evilbible.com.
religion is culture.
Without religion there is no culture. Without culture, however, there still might be religion.
Hence, it might be actually be GOOD for the culture, whether you like it or not.
Sorry, I just pulled that out of thin air. Honestly, I think religion has formed the foundation for American culture, so it can’t be bad–but the same religion is now desconstructing the same culture we took more than 200 years to build… oops.
I think so. I’m not a big fan of religion. It seems like brainwashing to me. I prefer spirituality. I believe in God and Jesus, but I do not go to church because I feel like I have to follow THEIR rules instead of God’s.
Today, in America, “religion” has come to mean just about anything an individual wants it to mean; “my religion” seems to be the dominant theme. As a result, in America today, asking if religion weakens a culture is not very different from asking if people weaken a culture.
no …. its not the religions fault that america has many problems we’re more developed and this development causes problems we probably have a good lifestyle compared to coutries who have nothing but along with happiness comes problems
dan, you really read a lot about backwards thinking people.
No… People can’t hide behind religion… they need to be responsible for their own actions.
Sweden has an EXTREMELY low rate of teenage pregnancy… because their sex ed program is one of the best in the world… and they also don’t censor sex on TV… The swedes are very proud of their culture and their bodies. The human body is celebrated in that country (source… Comparing Media from Around the World by Robert McKenzie).
Here in the US, we censor everything… According to Dr. Robert McKenzie’s article “A Bleeping Critique” about censorship, censoring words and ideas just invites the mind to think about what was being censored more. So if you see a swear word, it just kind of rolls off of you… but if you see something like F**K… your mind has to play a game to decipher what that means and put more thought into it than just with the word. So censorship defeats the purpose… part of the reason… when you censor so much that half a song or half a TV program is bleeped out… the brain is working overtime! It’s then processing those ideas and words and further embedding them into the minds of those watching or listening. Put 2 and 2 together…
Also our sex ed programs are definitely less than par. They say abstain abstain abstain, but then they don’t TELL you about the other options. If you’re trying to prevent teen pregnancy, wouldn’t you tell teens the ways to protect themselves? Yeah, maybe everyone believes that no sex is better than safe sex, but isn’t safe sex better than unprotected and unsafe sex and all the issues that can come with that?
Religion I don’t think has anything to do with it… in some cases… religion actually can help… because of religious beliefs like abstaining from sex until getting married… but I know teens rebel and do it anyway.
That’s just my thoughts.
Doesn’t Japan have the highest suicide rate?
RELIGION can ruin a culture…..SIN ruins a culture…..PEOPLE ruin culture……GOD, and FAITH in God, can bring out the most wonderful and beautiful things in a human being.
Plus, that study is a correlational study, and shows no cause and effect. Prove to me that religion ruins culture.
No, he is splitting hairs.
There are LOTS of things wrong with America, and religion can be used for good and bad, and as an excuse FOR NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONESELF.
Religion is for sheep. And manipulators. Yes it weakens culture. And it turns intellect to mush.
From what you say about the article it sounds like the author establishes no causal link between higher levels of religious belief and teenpregnancy. Just because two statistics are present in a population, that doesn’t mean that one is caused by the other. *grin* for all we know, maybe a higher rate of pregnancy and violence results in greater faith in God and not vice versa.
Pfft. The pregnancy rate among married, adult Japanese women is low. They just don’t want to get saddled with kids. Makes sense that the younger generation would pick up on this as well. Besides it’s a well ordered society with a LONG history of religion. The current population may not be religious, but their values were passed down to them from past generations.
Studies will find what they are looking for. You could just as easily say that atheistic Communism in Russia has lead to a high rate of alcoholism. (Actually, I might believe that…)
CAN religion harm a society? Sure. But many example cited by detractors of religion merely illustrate what happens when irreligious men abuse religion for their own personal gain. The Crusades were NOT about religion. They were about gaining wealth for the ruling classes. Religion was merely an excuse to stir up the masses.
Its true, so much competition and fighting over religion. Why can’t people get over the stupid little differences and reckognize the huge similarities? By the way no one needs religion, why act on faith when you have a mind. Everything great has come from the human mind, everything that makes our life easier and more bare-able. Using faith will only ruin your mind or stop its potential.
YOU BETTER READ THIS!!!
There are other factors to consider than just the religion part. In America we have lower dress, respect and honor standards than in Japan for example. Also just because they don’t believe in God, most of the eastern people are very religious, and have very high morals. Those factors have to be considered when people ask questions about these things.
Very good question!
That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. Look at history and learn the cultures without religion are the roughest cultures. Look at post-ww2 Germany. Look at ost 1917 Russia.
Cough #MARXISM# Cough Cough Cough
I believe it is unfair to fixate on one aspect of a culture and pinpoint the blame for certain trends on it. And if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t it religion that drove the pilgrims to America? And the freedoms they sought to practice their “stultifying beliefs” (as someone once said) was what caused them to defend themselves from being re-absorbed into the world they left? I don’t see how it weakened our founders.
If we weren’t inherently evil, I might agree. Corruption, sin and the true nature of man… that weakens a culture. Religion is a scapegoat for man’s flaws.
A thought about the teenage pregnancy rate in this country: I have family in the south. I live in the north. The way of life here is very different from there. I’d say 98% of my cousins started having babies at 16, and not because they weren’t talked to about sex and birth control. They fell in love, they had babies, even if it didn’t work out in the end. It’s just accepted for what it is.
And the only true way to prevent pregnancy is DON’T DO IT. I don’t care how many condoms or birth control pills you pass out. They are man made and therefore fallible. And take into consideration the psychology behind teenagers having sex… why do they do it? Because they think that is how to keep their partner. And when that isn’t enough…how many purposely get pregnant in an attempt to keep their partner? And this is not just for teenagers… this also accounts for single moms who aren’t teens.
There are many other factors to consider when looking to find the core of weakness in a system.
yes. Everything in moderation people, and YES that means religion too!
That’s the sorriest excuse for a scientific study I’ve ever seen. More to the point, it’s the stupidest study I’ve ever seen.
Bad people make bad societies. Bad people acting under the guise of religion have done a lot of harm. But Judaism and Christianity have largely had a positive influence on the world–if you consider the abolition of slavery, the elevation of women’s status, the rise of science, capitalism and individual rights to be positive things. You can look at any micro-segment of history and see where bad people of a certain religious tradition did bad things. The big picture shows a trend toward more freedom, more equality, and more compassion. These religious traditions so profoundly affected the way everyone in Western society thinks that we all take it for granted. One might argue that atheism and secularism will be even greater forces for progress in the long run, but so far their track record is spotty. (See Nazism and Communism.)
That’s a terrible correlation. That kind of research shows absolutely nothing.
Actually I think it is.
The commies think so, are you red now Dan?
YES!! Oh yes yes yes. Because most people in the USA are huge conservatives, everybody says “oh teenage sex is wrong”, therefore teens will want to have sex more. if you don’t act like its a big deal, they won’t want it more. forcing a religion upon a country [which president bush is oh so extremely doing] will ruin it.
sin and religious abuse, together, weaken society
It depends on which religion and whether they actually follow its precepts.
Saying that is like saying if A is true, and B is true, then C necessarily comes from A and B. The logic is not there. Just because A is True and B is true, doesn’t necessarily mean that C is.
A – I’m a white man (true)
B – White men can’t jump (some times true)
doesn’t necessarily mean that
C – I can’t jump.
They are not necessarily related.
Yes.
No. When you kick the one and only God (the Christian/Jewish God) out of your culture, then you have no guidelines and rules and you have chaos. God’s law is set in stone. Man’s law can be changed at any whim that comes along. I am not talking about religious fanatics here. Fanatics are satan driven.
religion is the root of all evil.
yes, it can.
looks like an overwhelming amount of people are going with no, it doesn’t, which I agree with.
The author of the study seems to have ignored several key parts, and only chose to look at a few things in a culture.
i’ve heard some countries don’t report all the crime that actually happens. is this true?
There are a thousand other factors that could correllate to the crime rate/ teenaged pregnancy ratios of America to other nations. This is not a closed system. Has he compared the per capita incomes of the various nations? Cultural influences? Governmental differences?
To say that the faith correllation is “a correlation so strong that there is good reason to suppose that religious belief does more harm than good” is overreaching and unscientific. I also find his lack of source citation, particularly involving statistics, to be disturbing.
Furthermore, if what he is writing is true, one would expect the areas of the States that stereotypically contain more people of faith to have higher crime rates, and vice versa. I have no statistics to support or refute this, but appealing solely to popular perception: is this so? I don’t believe it is.
I think that religion can weaken a society in that “religion” usually does not offer much hope or grace. When you peel off the layers of religion and get down to faith you find a God of hope and grace. A God who is very much in love with us and desires for relationship with us. When we understand that we begin to want to live in a manner worthy of His love (not that we earn His love). It makes us want to bring Him glory through our daily living.
Now, regarding the teen pregnancy thing…that, to me, isn’t the thing to compare. I would be more interested in how many teens are sexually active (and not married). Not to be all fundamentalist on everyone (’cause I’m not), but if the culture there is more open to teen sex then it is probably easier to get a hold of contraceptives. Ideally our teens will learn to respect themselves enough to hold on to their sexuality until they have someone committed to them. Marriage is a good marker of commitment
).
Well…anyways…
Yes. I’ve read some of those articles, and it definitely does look that way. It’s not just teen pregnancy. It’s factors like education/literacy, health care, infant mortality, etc. The more secular societies seem to do better all around. So I’d have to say that, based on that, religion is bad for culture.
I think the author of the article, Martin Foreman, has an axe to grind against religion and is just manipulating statistics to support his claims.
To prove that religion can be good for culture, I would cite the Renaissance. If Da Vinci and Michelangelo were not inspired by their religion, how could they have produced works like ”The Last Supper” and “David”?
Also, though it is lesser known, there was a trememdous development of science during the Abbasid dynasty in the Muslim world. We owe major advances in algebra, navigation, chemistry, and medicine to this period.
Are these studies taking into account Nazi Germany and the religion-less China, that mandated killing babies that weren’t male. . .No, I disagree.
I don’t think religion is bad for a culture.. the people who believe in God aren’t always religious. They may believe in a supreme being or beings, but they don’t necessarily believe in or adhere to the moral code generally associated with having a God.
It’s more about morality then religion.. we don’t have the morality of Japanese society in some respects.
no…no..and no..
I think religion is bad in general, but I don’t think the study was necessarily accurate in suggesting that Japan has a more well-behaved society because a greater percentage of the population is atheist.
It depends on what religion…ppl seem to think there is a dif between religion and spirituality…a lot of, “Christians,” will say they are not into “religion,” they’re into a “relationship.” – Guess it all depends on how one defines the word “religion.”
i believe so.
it’s too controversial and causes so many arguements.
that’s what i’ve always said.
Religion is unnecessary for a culture. It isn’t bad, but jus make sure everybody has the same religion, or make a law against talking about it. Damn religion.
religion starts wars that’s for sure.
i agree with dietcokke
No. People rebelling against religion is bad for culture.
No, postmodernism corrupts both religions and cultures.
I don’t think those stats have much to do with religion. It may be just a coincidence. Don’t blame religion for teenage pregnancies and violence, blame TV or something.
Religion is just used as a scapegoat.
It depends on what you’re using that religion for.
Yes. It’s horrible for a culture. Everyone is saying about the “Anti-religion bias” when if you look at it, they’ve a good point. I know I’m going a bit out of the comfort zone for some people, but look at 9/11. The whole reason the “terrorists” did it is because they wanted to please THEIR God. If they were Atheist, odds are that they wouldn’t've killed so many people in the name of their God, because they wouldn’t've had one. So, in conclusion, religion has many negative effects on a culture.
I don’t agree with the statement that religion weakens a culture. In fact I believe that spirituality and faith (not necessarily “religion” which is an entirely different thing) in whatever God, Goddess or higher being that you believe in strengthens a culture, at least at an individualistic level. However, I think it is quite interesting that most (and I’m not saying ALL) wars can be traced back to religious beliefs on some level (as chickaroo831 pointed out). And some people would argue that a war eventually strengthens a culture. I, however, am not one of those people. I tend to see organized religion as a strain on culture, whereas faith and spirituality are a strengthening factor. But again- two different things.
I should have said “the idea” of religion in that first sentence…. but I think you get the point
.
Religion is just a bunch of rules and regulations that make it difficult for rebellious humanbeings to follow. What is the first thing you want to do when given a rule??? Break it!
Relationships are what change people and it was when I came into a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that my life changed in a radical way… oh, and I had been a part of the “Christian religion” for many years prior to that, but came to find out there is a big difference in being a “Christian” and a child of God as a follower of Christ.
I have a shirt that says, “It’s against my relationship to have a religion”… if you know Jesus, you know what this is talking about! In Him there is freedom from the bondage of sin, whereas in ANY religion where you are trying to uphold a bunch of regulations… you remain enslaved ~ and failure is at hand.
religion breeds hate. hate weakens a culture.
“If they were Atheist, odds are that they wouldn’t've killed so many people in the name of their God”
Yes so true they would have done it in the name of a more perfect society.
The greasiest mass murderers in history were atheists, see communism.
The author of that article is citing two different sets of statistics that have no direct relation to each other. By the same token, you could say that, in Japan, over 90% of the population eats rice with their meal every day. Could this mean that eating rice makes one a less violent and less promiscuous person?
Culture is also an ambiguous term. This author is implying that culture = civility, and that isn’t true.
Yes.
I think something’s wrong with his logic. The argument made here sounds very shallow, and his support is somewhat too general.
Hi Dan-
Do you have a link to this article?
More often than not, authors of such articles are trying to promote their own beliefs and will sift through all sorts of data and find correlations, which everyone who has taken any science course knows does not equal causation, to support their argument. For me to have a firm opinion on this article, I would have to read it.
To answer your question, I think that religion does not weaken a culture but enriches it as a culture is a conglomeration of many things. Whether it does so in a way that is positive or negative is purely subjective.
Washington DC has the highest murder rate in the nation.
Is the government bad for a culture?
“Religion is for sheep. And manipulators. Yes it weakens culture. And it turns intellect to mush.”
Obviously something other than God has turned this person’s intellect to mush.
Personally, I’d rather be a sheep than a goat, thanks very much. My journey in religion has been an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey.
Those statistics point to the culture itself, not religion, as the culprit. American culture is notorious for being depraved, and most of the ‘religious’ people in America have religions that only reflect their own selfishness. Japan’s culture is very different than ours, different enough that they should not be compared. America has such high rates because it is America, Japan has low rates because it is Japan; religion is completely unrelated.
-Jared
No, but I think that when more people believe in some sort of religion others who don’t react more negatively than they normally would. I’m not sure I said that in a way that entirely makes sense, but hey, I tried.
Bull shit.
Yes, it easily can.
But it’s also not good to generalize about something as broad as religon. But when it gets in the way of information (such as in our conservative babtist schools how they teach abstinence and no valuable information concerning birth control, and how the bio majors don’t get to learn about evolution), than it’s allways bad. Propoganda my friend.
It can be bad for a culture, in my opinion. When something is forbidden, the more excitement it causes. Did you know that more Christians buy porn than nonbelievers? Google it up or something as I had read it somewhere. It is proof here where I am where there’s a porn shop for every church on the corner. Obviously in a bible belt community, the porn business is thriving.
i would say yes but in this case i am i going to say no because religeon and culture are very synonymous with eachother. they mean the same thing and if we didnt have religeon we wouldnt have culture. if you believe in the bible or god or whatever you want to call it. it says that is basically all started with religeon and that is what their culture was based on. you go to india and almost their whole day revolves around religeon. i dont know what you all say but my answer is no.
Morgen
absolutely not. religion should be the foundation of a culture.
I know, more people in Japan eat rice than here in America. Maybe rice is what keeps them in check. We should feed our convits nothing but rice to straighten them out.
Yep, our lack of rice makes us murderers and sex addicts.
Why do people not go to church? I think it’s because there are so many hypocrites in church. Isn’t everyone acceptable in God’s eyes? Yet you see people dressed up in their Sunday best and their kids that look like they should be in an ad for a magazine. How is anyone going to be comfortable going to church when they are poor and can’t afford to buy Sunday clothes? The world has all kinds of people that God made so we shouldn’t feel embarrassed if your best shirt is the one that doesn’t have holes in it.
I would like to go to church where I am accepted regardless of what I and my kids wear. I would like to be comfortable associating with the whole congregation and not made to feel like I am such strange creature who doesn’t belong in that little society.
Religion can create havoc when forced on people who already believe in something else. Christians have actually tied their religion to Paganistic rituals such as Easter. I thought Easter was about bunnies and eggs, not the resurrection of Christ.
This is a matter of culture and not of God. The American culture (if there is ONE specific culture in the US… which really there is no one American culture) in itself is crazed and wild and does not have as much of a horribly straight moral system as that of another country. The American society is a sick society, and those which don’t believe me should find out which country has had the highest number of serial killers; yes, the good ol’ USA. Americans, as one society, have priorities in life that are not “moral”.
Like LadySadie said, Japan has strong cultural patters accepted by everyone. The US doesn’t. Is this a bad thing? In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. It’s limiting to the people in one way but in another, it’s nice to know you can basically be anyone you want in the US without some sort big of fear of rejection. You can kill someone and you actually can be “innocent” because of “insanity”; you can be a woman and go to any college you wish; hell, there is little you can’t do.
I don’t question that religion ruins a lot. Religion may well as be the core of an insane number of deaths in the history of humanity. But to make religion responsible for all the crap a society may have is just wrong. The mistakes humans make are not the responsibility of God (which may or may not exist), the mistakes humans make are our responsibilities.
I think the only solution the the lack of “morals” of humanity is that we should start taking care for ourselves instead of trying to fix everyone else.
50% believe in God? Or a god? The thing is, we create our own god with our own rules. I can be completely passive towards Christianity and still have a god with all the rules I want. I think that this article or what is stated about it completely disproves the author’s conclusion. Japan teaches discipline and control within it’s religious system, so I say it is good for soceity. The only other problem is that the question is already biased as it is stated. It implies that society trumps religion when in fact it does not. Societies come and go but religion maintains. Maybe the reason for society being so terrible is because they want to trump God and do not care. Ever wonder why some churches can last 50 years and some only 5? Maybe it is because the 5 year churches have become self centered and feel they should trump God. Of course there are other reasons but put two churches 2 miles apart in the same town and one has 50 years and one has 5. Self centeredness in society is what causes such things. Maybe they do believe in God, YHWH, but self control is definately needed and should be taught or else we will loose control of everything in this nation.
I know, more people in Japan eat rice than here in America. Maybe rice is what keeps them in check. We should feed our convits nothing but rice to straighten them out.
Yep, our lack of rice makes us murderers and sex addicts.
Posted 8/19/2006 at 3:09 PM by funny_guydude
I’d say that’s the best point made so far.
No, in fact, most cultures are known by their religions.
Yes. You can blame those redneck evangelicals.
Firstly, I don’t agree with that study on a scientific basis. Comparing the cultures of the U.S. and Japan is like comparing night and day–having been to both countries, I think I can safely say Japan’s culture involves a lot more RESPECT, among other things.
As for the question: I’ve always wondered whether the world would be better off with or without religion. However, religion dates so far back-it has been, and is, present in so many cultures, that it’s really impossible to tell.
As mentioned, there are several times when religion was harmful. One mustn’t forget the Inquisition, various cults, or religions that involved human sacrifice. The greatest problem with religion, however, is its ability to influence people’s decisions to the extent that they don’t think for themselves (i.e: Homosexuality is wrong because “God” says so.)
On the flip side, religion often acts as a Santa Claus for adults–do something bad, and you will be punished! Do something good, and you get to come sit on God’s lap. It gives people a reason to believe they should be nice. In a perfect world, everyone would know that anyway–but for now, religion should do the trick.
That has nothing to do with Religion, just because teenage pregnancy is a higher percentage then Japan, that doesnt mean it has to do with Religion.
Religion Helps Society
Religion is bad for culture, but Christianity, true Christianity, is not.
Let’s face it – teenagers are idiots. Total and complete idiots.
If we would listen to what the older generation has to say about what they shouldn’t have done and follow their good advice (not counting any bad advice they might hand out), we would be so much stronger than we are.
We are weak without God, we are injust without law.
+ jessica +
I don’t think one could really correlate those two sets of data.
For example, I’m sure we’ve all heard the statistic that states that 50% of marriages end in divorce. How did they come up with that statistic? By comparing the number of marriages in a given year to the number of divorces in the same given year. You can’t correlate those two sets of data.
Saying that over 50% of Americans believe in God, yet we have a higher teen pregnancy rate than Japan, whose citizens are less inclined to believe in God doesn’t make sense to me, really. I don’t think that those two sets of data can be correlated.
“Religion”…*sigh. I hate that word, Dan. As a Christian, someone who people might mistakenly call “religious”, I do think that “religion” can harm a society. Passion, faith, and a genuine belief and love for God can only strengthen any society.
I repeated myself three times in my last comment, but I think I made the point clear.
It’s interesting but I’m not sure religion is the cause…how can you compare when there are so many causes?
No, I don’t agree with that study. Everyone else who disagrees with it has already said what I was going to say, so I’ll try to keep this short. Over 50% of Americans may have said that they believe in God, but their lifestyle probably doesn’t reflect that. Believing that God exists and devoting your life to following Him are two different things. I believe that Satan exists, but I don’t worship Satan. I think it’s probably more accepted here in the United States that God exists than it is in Japan (which is shown by the study), but maybe they should have also asked those people if they think they’re going to Heaven when they die. Some people may say they believe in God for whatever reason – maybe their family was raised as Christians or some other reason – but they may have decided to choose not to try to follow a ‘Christian’ lifestyle (which is hard to determine exactly, but I don’t know what else to put there to explain what I mean) because they think it wouldn’t be “fun” or “cool.”
I just think that asking that question would have made the study more precise. But as a Christian, I would definitely say that religion has the potential to help society, if those who claimed to believe in God would act like it.
Forgive me for sounding so judgemental. After I just read back over that, it seemed that way, but I really just don’t know how else to say what I feel on the matter.
This is what we call manioulative statistics.. Japan has a low birth rate PERIOD.. The do not have a high emphasis on a family like other cultures do because they are so sucess driven and they do not percieve raising a child as sucessful asgetting promoted at work.
Italy also has a low birth rate, and yet a majority of the people there claim to be devout catholics…
That gues study is nothing more than saying “A happens in a country where people believe Z, so thus A and Z are intrinsically related!” But nothing could be further from the truth.
Isn’t Japan one of those countries that puts a limit on how many kids you can have? I highly doubt religion is the cause for teen pregnancy rates. It’s the sex-saturated media and stupidity of teens that causes teen pregnancy rates to skyrocket.
Religion does seem to cause violence though. But it’s only because no one can agree on which religion is the right one, so they fight over it. Religion may be bad for people, but faith isn’t. Religion is the practice and structure of certain faiths…faith is just the raw surety of God without scientific evidence.
Isn’t Japan one of those countries that puts a limit on how many kids you can have? I highly doubt religion is the cause for teen pregnancy rates. It’s the sex-saturated media and stupidity of teens that causes teen pregnancy rates to skyrocket.
Religion does seem to cause violence though. But it’s only because no one can agree on which religion is the right one, so they fight over it. Religion may be bad for people, but faith isn’t. Religion is the practice and structure of certain faiths…faith is just the raw surety of God without scientific evidence.
Yes. That would be my opinion. Of course, I also draw a distinction between “following” a religion and being a spiritual person.
No. I really don’t think that his conclusion had anything to do with his “evidence”.
There just seems to be no correlation.
THAT IS SOOOOO STUPID!!!!
ok.. sorry
But just because people “believe” in God
Doesn’t mean they follow Him
or do what’s right
Religion is NOT bad for a country.
If I didn’t have God
or wasn’t a christian today
I don’t know where I’d be
<><Renee’
I don’t think “religion” weakens a culture, I thinks its people that aren’t fully devoted! People who REALLY believe in Christ wouldn’t be getting pregnant and killing people! Thats why so many people are atheists, its because most christians don’t do what they believe! Thank God for the people that are true to their beliefs though!
~Emily~
I think it’s because when people are OVER religous, they act the most idiotic. I don’t think religon is to blame it’s just people who mis-intepent it.
I think a fundamentalist view point of religion can be bad for a culture. LIberalism is the way to go!
religion applies rules that people don’t want to follow. by making all these rules up, people will do their best to break them as much as they can. and since sex before marriage, murder, etc, are a bad thing to do, of course people will want to do this only to defy the rules of religion.
therefore, religion does make a society worse in many cases, BUT not necessarily always.
the eastern religions, for example have the philosophy that good and evil must CO-exist and most people can accept that and live in peace – not as many rules in these religions!
some religions would work and some religions force people into too many unwanted rules.
Religion is the BASE of culture!
This ex-pshyciatrist (who is now a family doctor) was questioned why he changed his job. His answer was that If a person believes in God, they dont need a shrink. The only people who need a shrink are people who don’t beleive in God. Cause if you beleive in God and actualy have true faith and TRUELY beleive, then you’ll never have a problem.
~Mayisha
ya, ever noticed that most of the western civilization is MESSED UP!!!
THATS the culture problem!
It’s always dangerous to make assumptions from correlations. Sure, having strongly religious ideals in a country could lead to things such as poor (or nonexistent) sex ed, sexuality is ivewed as shameful and not to be talked about, yet teens still have hormones and you end up with naive teens that get pregnant. At the same time, the correlation in that article could be caused by some external factor related to either religion or teenage sex, or not related to them at all.
I remember in college (when I was still fairly actively christian) sitting outside a lecture hall and hearing the proffessor inside quoting someone who said that religion was, basically, bad for society. Thinking of my family and all our very nice church friends, I thought “how in the heck can anyone think that?!?” But religion is oppressive (it’s been behind many of the socialized discriminations we have had to fight against, including discrimination against blacks, women, and now gays). It condones the shunning out of reason and science. It instead condones you to believe, wholeheartedly and never questioningly, your religious leaders (this is asking for corruption). And more wars have been fought for “god” than for any other cause.
Religion can do a world of good. it can also destroy people and societies.
No.
It’s not bad. However, it certainly can be. In the past, there used to be holy wars and could very well happen again, if we’re not too careful.
And the only reasons certain/most parts of Europe aren’t having any trouble in that department is because their tolerance levels are much higher than America’s. Those who inhabit those areas are more flexible, laidback and accepting. They simply do their best not to discriminate or exclude anyone based on religion, heritage, sexual preference or gender. That’s why! lol
Japan? Gee. That’s like comparing pears to oranges! lol Don’t you think?
No. But this is Japan and America we’re talking about. Bad for America.
I would have to know your definition of religion to answer the question. Most of the problems with “religions” come from people who extrapolate from the original source vast volumes of rules and requirements never intended… Living by the law – so to speak! Many Christians would think they are above such things, yet are they? We often forget that the original Christians had no “New Testament” – yet perhaps they were the best of Christians. It was a long time after the death and resurection that they were penned, and even longer before they were accepted as valid scriptures, and still longer before they were put in a print form that could be easily distributed, and yet longer before being translated to common languages that could be widely understood. Yet there were good Christians all this long time… Good Christians with no New Testament – imagine!!! How could that be? But it was – and I think still is!
um, one: teen women in japan who become pregnate have a death wish. Two: the countries without the religions also have the stricter governments. Therefore, it’s democracy that weakens the culture. Not religion. But since that’s not true, then that whole study is bogus.
Some religions are dangerous. Some aren’t. Ultimately one has to be right, but that’s another story. I’ve seen some very dangerous religions out there…among them illumanism, atheism, and paganism. These religions teach a dangerous set of morals. I don’t think the statistics you brought to the table are tangeble. You give religion one catagory, when in fact, there are too many to just put in one catagory…there are too many variables here.
My religion shuns violence, and encourages repentance. That’s all I have to say about that.
I personally don’t think religion has anything to do with it… in fact, I think that if we didn’t have religion (in the U.S.)then there’d probably be more teen pregnancies because of all the afore mentioned liberalistic “if it feels good, do it” stuff that’s being taught these days. I think this because unless something other than religion promoted abstinence, there wouldn’t be much else to enforce it if there were no religion. So if there were no religion, then the liberalistic views would more than likely be the norm. Even if they do promote the use of condoms or birth control, NOTHING is 100% effective except for abstinence, and if it’s ok to do it once then why wouldn’t it be ok again? So chances are that those people having the pre-marrital sex would be doing it more than just once, increasing the chances that the condoms/birth control would be uneffective, therefore causing teen pregnancies. That’s how I see it regarding the pregnancies, anyway, as for the crime, I don’t know but I doubt it has to do with religion. Sorry for the long response.
God Bless,
Chris
Um, it’s more like drugs weaken a culture… not religion, or music as someone else in this thread said.
Religion just confuses people and makes them argue over stuff. Then they go on with their lives with both sides empty-handed. Religion just makes the individual feel better about their lives.
I think we’d need more information to go off to say one way or the other. How many pregnant teens have religious parents to rebel from? I think you’ll find there are a lot more rebellious teens than there are teenagers that are devout-whatevers. How many of our murders are from religious nuts that claim god spoke to them and told them to do it? Or even just people that believe that god will forgive them, no matter their sins?
Japan maybe more depressed and suicidal, but who would you want living next to you? Someone’s that depressed and only going to hurt themselves? Or someone that’s busy drowning her five children in the bathtub because she’s convinced they’re evil? What if she would have decided that you, her neighbor, were the evil one?
Maybe since most religions don’t approve of fornication, more kids do it for the rush. Atheists usually seem to not like stating opinions that anyone would oppose to (at least ones I know….don’t mean to stereotype).
…
Japan does have a huge level of depression and mental disorders, though.
I really think it’s all the tv shows and magazines that feature sex in them that are the cause of so many teens having sex in America.
Maybe the Japanese just put a little more thought into what they showed on tv and if it was constructive or not.
“Or someone that’s busy drowning her five children in the bathtub because she’s convinced they’re evil? What if she would have decided that you, her neighbor, were the evil one?”
That’s not religious, that’s zealous. You shouldn’t blame a religion for that.
Not for me. Religion saved my life.
Religion depends on how you interpret it. You should believe what you want and not what you don’t. I’m Christian and know that yes, some stuff in the bible is made up. I do not think men are superior just because some sexist preist added that to the bible in some idiotic attempt to make gender a competition. I do believe that there is a God who creatued the Earth and humans and animals, and that he died for our sins. I don’t believe that God would ask anyone to kill their children or tell someone their religion was wrong and that they were a heathen because they weren’t Christian. Anyone who was really Christian, really spiritual, wouldn’t rebel. The teens who got pregnant or the ones who got them pregnant didn’t have to be Christian, either.
Their parents could’ve been Christian and the teens could’ve been atheist, trying to rebel.
People “believe” but they don’t live it.
That’s why our nation’s in the pits.
No i don’t think so. It’s not about the religion. It’s about HOW the religion is taught to the young.
um….. mabye idk?
Agree with rc_4jc and another_evil_person
Some ppl keep saying they believe all the while using the religion for gaining power or earning $$ (not true followers)
some people mis-intepent the religion. Both could weaken a culture, but it is not the religion to blame.
no it defines it
“Is Religion bad for a culture?” Rubberish. Bad logic on that author’s part.
That is a very flawed way of supporting an arguement. That’s like saying that global warming is a direct result of the shrinking numbers of pirates. It’s ridiculous. It is so annoying when someone takes statistics and manipulates them to push their personal agenda. If religion were a detrament to society, then some of the most famous, influential cultures and societies like the ancient Greeks, Romans, etc. wouldn’t have existed.
religion ruins pretty much everything.
Japan just has accepted crime, aka the Yakuza. Research it
Religion is bad for a culture, I say very loudly.
But religion is not bad at all for an induvidual. It’s a miracle that anyone can really have hope these days. The world seems to be going down the toilet…
If people don’t stop mixing all these things together, state and religion, more and more people are going to be martyrs and die for their faith, and more and more people are going to be killed from another’s faith.
But this doesn’t mean I’m totally against organized religion, just in case if you got that kind of vibe.
have you noticed how degraded Japanese morals are? In their game shows and their cartoon anime they have no respect for human dignity and morals
Posted 8/19/2006 at 10:02 AM by MCTCanadian
And American movies, video games, and reality TV are just chock-full of integrity. /sarcasm
“If you get pregnant in Japan or China out of wedlock, your Father might kill you. If you steal, your government will cut off your hand. If you kill and are caught, your government will kill you.
In Europe (most areas) If you get pregnant out of wedlock, you are a disgrace to your family, and are either shunned completely or looked down on as a whore the rest of your life. If you kill, your government will kill you.”
I just died laughing. That’s the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard.
Has this completely ignorant, misguided “cowboy_christian” person ever LIVED in Japan or China or Europe? Certainly doesn’t seem like it, seeing as has the whole thing completely mixed up.
“If you steal your government will cut off your hand.”
Uh no, idiot, that isn’t Japan or China. That’s parts of the Mid East.
As for Europe, hell…kids there are worse than they are here. I was the only virgin out of my group of friends when I was 13 living in Europe. Teenage pregnancy isn’t just accepted, it’s the norm.
I just LOVE it how uncultured monoglots can sit in their Bible belt houses and spout off completely untrue shit about countries they’ve never been to nor lived in.
~ A girl who grew up in South East Asia, and who lived in Europe for 4 years.
This ex-pshyciatrist (who is now a family doctor) was questioned why he changed his job. His answer was that If a person believes in God, they dont need a shrink. The only people who need a shrink are people who don’t beleive in God. Cause if you beleive in God and actualy have true faith and TRUELY beleive, then you’ll never have a problem.
~Mayisha
Posted 8/19/2006 at 6:03 PM by swanhalkxgirl
No wonder he’s an ex-psychiatrist. He probably got fired for being so goddamn stupid.
As for the question, no. People are bad for culture, because people suck.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! America is a very large country! Of course it’s going to have more violence! It has much more teenagers, right? Then, there are going to be more teenage pregnancies. If you want to blame someone for that, you can blame the media, not religious people. I think it’s a great thing to believe in God, or at least some spectacular higher power. I think believing in God lets people know that life has purpose, and that we all have a friend in a really high place looking out for us. People who don’t believe in God can still be nice and love life and all, but I think it’s a great thing to believe in God. I certainly don’t see how that would be harmful. There are way too many differences between the countries for anyone to claim that one thing has caused more violence and teenage pregnancy. There is no way those results were credible!!!!!!
yes
“I just LOVE it how uncultured monoglots can sit in their Bible belt houses and spout off completely untrue shit about countries they’ve never been to nor lived in.”
Props to bittersunday
There nearly always seems to be a kind of ‘one-upsmanship’ stuff going on with religion. One will purport this, another will condemn it. My answer is yes!
how about corea? it’s something like 70% christian..
yet the crime rate is wayyyyyyyyyyyy less than the states…
Japan is shame based we are guilt based…
i mean, that’s a huge fucking difference
Idk that study is flawed they didn’t look at a ton of other factors for instance: sexual education who learns more about contraceptives.
sure japanese kids aren’t getting preggers but they may be having more sex ( i don’t know if this is true, i don’t feel like looking it up, it could be a possibility)
Maybe you should think about it this way….those countries who believe in GOD don’t have a CRUEL punishment system and believe in forgiveness where as the countries who DON’T believe in GOD will whip you with a cane if you shoplift and kill your child if it is a girl….the consiquences are more unhuman…hummmmm something to think about….
it can be sometimes though religion kills if your religious it doesnt mean your going to heaven it can mean you are just going through the acts and being a good person the only way to heaven is through the son jesus christ so yeah i would say religion can and most of the time is bad for society
rubbish. thats crap. it doesnt even start to take into account any other variables.
that i think the statement you refer to is a post hoc ergo propter hoc
fallacy
No, we’re a bigger country, of course we’re going to have more of everything.
So let’s get this straight: the author of this article thinks religion is a weakening force on a culture, and the evidence of this is when people don’t observe commandments like “Thou shalt not murder” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
The logical leap is truly astounding.
I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist!
That is a rash conclusion because as everything it depends on many factors such as,whether that particular religion suits well with the culture and also whether the religion is very rigid.Religion may have many bad points but I think it may be good in the sense that it gives hope and structure to people who believe they need it to survive in this world.
As for japanese having lower teen pregnancies and crime,I think that is obviously due to another realm of cultural factors.
You could say that, if you understand “religion” to mean the prevailing or promoted belief system (and its spin-offs) in a culture. I see this culture as separating the deed from the doer, and anything to get away from personal responsibility. At the same time, we are short on personal freedoms and choice. Many people feel the pressure to do what society prescribes, even when it is at odds with what is right and what reflects character and integrity. Honor and shame are characteristics of people who believe their behavior defines them. What they do is about them, and if it is wrong they don’t feel that there is an outside scapegoat, nor do they have to feel that they are inherently wretched beings in need of deliverance.
That is the most fallacious misuse of statistics I have ever seen. The Japanese culture condemns dishonor (such as teen pregnancy, violence), while American appears to glorify it. The rates of violence and teen pregnancy have nothing to do with the number of people who believe in God and everything to do with the way people are raised.
To be technical, the culture of the country as a whole is a confounding variable, so we can’t make that conclusion from this study.
Japan and America have big enough cultural diferences that influence all those things. While a piece of it may be religious rules make some people feel like breaking them, most of it has to be the cultural stuff.
That is a horribly-founded study. Did they mention how high suicide rates are in Japan? Rape cases? How about organized crime? America developed very differently than Japan and Europe, and is an entirely different type of economy and culture. Two aspects of this culture, with no necessary direct correlation, are an emphasis on religion and an increased crime rate.
bittersunday, you seem to have nothing to say except to make fun of what other people have said.
ok…lets think… how big is the Japanese population…uhuh…and how big is the American population? I’m seeing BIG DIFFERENCE here. And plus, in Japan, it is culturally unacceptable to be pregnant, and their parents are a lot harsher than ours when it comes to that sort of thing, so sex isn’t as…well-practiced as in the U.S.
You shouldn’t say religion the question should of been is Christianity bad for culture since this article is about the Christian God. Yes I feel it is Christians will not feel the same way because if I say its bad for shunning science (don’t argue look at other cultures scientific achievments) but a Christian may say thats good because it stops us from sinning. Through out history Christians have tried to stop scientific enlightenment and continue to do say today. People commit more crimes here because they feel god will forgive them. so they might not care if they go to prison for life because they have an after life of bliss ahead. Buty an atheist who cherishs the time he has will be more cautious in this sort of situation. Now I’m not saying All Christians or all Atheists but this is a majority mindscape
i love your site
Religion is one of the building blocks of culture. How can it be detrimental?
Oh hell yes. It’s fucking annoying. But, sometimes it’s not too bad, but it influenes things too much.
It can be
you are effin retarted
Religion isn’t bad but there are the religous zealots that we have to watch out for.
Otherwise it can’t hurt. check out this interesting medical study on the power of prayer
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,193084,00.html
Funny, I’m actually studying this right now in a class called (wait for it) myth and religion.
Religion and myth creates social order, gives us a cosmic perspective, navigates human experiences (like death and depression), and gives us a sense of awe. (Joseph Campbell)
Also, myth and religion has these elements that make it good:
Grace, Specualtion, Mystery, Authority, Rituals, and Tradition (Houston Smith)
I honestly believe that religion is good, but the people who believe in it take it to extreme zealous heights, and create bad situations. (Take the Sudanese crisis or the Holy Wars)
i think religion arises from the culture. if a culture is violent or sufferring, it will require a highly redemptive form of religion, one with a forgiving god. if the culture is relatively peaceful and has a high standard of living people need less feeling of redemption. furthermore, less prosperous societies can struggle with feelings of being out of control. thus the people turn to a higher power. societies like japan, in which the standard of living is very high across the board (in america there is a poor class), have more of a feeling of control. people see the universe as a series of causes and effects. there is less reason to need to feel that someone is in control when one feels that one influences one’s own life
I don’t understand how you can find a comparison between the fact that country number one has little religion, less teen pregnancy, and violence to country number two which has more religion, teen pregnancy and violence. So therefore religion must be the problem. What kind of a conclusion is that?
bittersunday, you seem to have nothing to say except to make fun of what other people have said.
Posted 8/20/2006 at 10:32 AM by EhSteve99
If you were actually literate and / or observant and read my last comment, you would have seen that I answered the question at hand. I don’t make fun of what everyone says, only people who say stupid shit like “If you believe in god you will have no problems”, “If you get pregnant in Japan your father will kill you” and “Japanese people have no morals”. How can one NOT make fun of any or all three of those statements? They are ignorant, unfounded, and (quite frankly) stupid statements to make. I don’t tolerate people spewing crap about things they know nothing about, so my purpose is educational only.
Or do you expect people to just sit politely on their asses and not call anyone out who says something fallible and ignorant?
So do me a favour next time, Mr. EhSteve, and actually READ before you comment. Savvy?
Religion is culture. Religion has given us our fundamental values such as the facts that killing is bad and to be altruistic. The values that America is based on are Christian values essentially. Religion has given us morality and standards of behavior. People usually behave ‘well’ for fear of being eternally damned. On the teen pregnancy issue. I would like to point out that teen pregnancy was no issue 100 years ago seeing as how it was considered normal to be a mother at 18. It seems to fight the biological clock to become a mother in your late 20s to 30s. Another part of this is that some religions such as the Catholic religion are fervently against abortion and correct sex education. Some Catholics that I know believe that a woman gets pregnant only if she wishes to and the ‘bad sperm’ can be expelled willingly from the body. The teen pregnancies can be linked to normal rise in the sex drive hormones and lack of sex education by religious families.
What does religion have to do with teen girls getting pregnant? Did God tell them to go have sex? No. The girl was the one that made the stupid choice. God gives us free will, you know.
No. Besides, my father believes in God, yet he has no ‘religion’. I don’t think that religion has anything to do with the pregnency or homicide rates in Japan. They live differently over there, and I’m sure that they have things that are an issue there that aren’t here.
Of course religion causes a problem.
It causes a problem for satan. He doesn’t have to worry about Athiests because he already owns them.
according to this, yes.
As certain as I am that religion is malevolent and maladaptive,
this study is merely correlational, and not causational as he
(or you) state(s).
Japan actually has quite a convervative society with quite strict
prohibitions upon codes of conduct and honour…the individual
is emphasized as starkly less important than the group, and therefore
crimes against others are next to non-existent, while crimes
against the self (suicide to escape dishonour) are much more
prevalent than here, where the individual is championed and
also where crimes against others are astronomically high and
crimes against the self occur on a diminished scale.
Thus, it would have been more appropriate had the author used
data from societies which are more alike, as there would then
be fewer variables, and a stronger correlational link could be
determined. As it stands, it’s a fairly average study. However,
knowing you and your penchant for melodrama (and for handpicking
details from studies and reports), I fault you for lacking
proper citation, not linking to said repository of said article,
and for being an all-around insufferable, self-righteous, douche.
Thus, fuck you.
That conclusion seems to be a bit of a leap. There are a lot more differences between the US and Japan than ther percentage of athiests.
YES it is… it’s not sin
Depends on the religion and the culture. Also, it largely depends on what you define as “bad behavior”.
I think people–and teenagers/young adults in particular–can tell when religion is mere formalism and ritual, and when it is real. For so many, religion is nothing but outward conformity to an artificial standard. Hypocrisy among those who should be respected certainly can lead to the abandonment of morals and ethics by those who see how false so many are who espouse them.
In a word, yes.
I think that’s one example where you find two statistics that are totally unrelated and find some connection.
Although frankly, I’ll buy that study just because I hate religion -_-
That’s about as logical a conclusion is this:
The state of Arkansas is home to the Arkansas Razorbacks, and just so happens to be one of the last ranking states for quality of education. Experts conclude Razorback football is destroying the Arkansan intellect.
That is ridiculous! There are wayy to many variables! How in the world does he know religion is the thing affecting all of it?
[ariana]
religion IS a culture.
Yes, it is. But you see, it only has a negative effect on the non-religious side. And sometimes on its own members.
Like someone said, the Japanese have strong cultural rules that aren’t has well-kept in the U.S.
But also, I think that there a is a sort of “Law of Conservation of Evil” that states that if you lose evil in one group of people, the evil goes to another group of people. I think that this conservation law has led the Christians to corruption, and thus leading the liberals into Christian-like behavior.
“I think people–and teenagers/young adults in particular–can tell when religion is mere formalism and ritual, and when it is real. For so many, religion is nothing but outward conformity to an artificial standard. Hypocrisy among those who should be respected certainly can lead to the abandonment of morals and ethics by those who see how false so many are who espouse them.
In a word, yes.”
Holy crap I am gonna save that on my computer.
let’s see, where to begin?
religion of course is man’s chase to find a god. Christianity is God’s chase to reconcile a sinful man to Himself.
And all those people getting pregnant and murdering… those are not people seeking to live Christ’s life… otherwise, they wouldn’t be doing all that stuff.
As for other statistics, there are lots of other factors – like how things that the Bible teach as wrong gets treated as okay behavior, and so people not trying to live by the Bible won’t report them as crimes or whatever…
Hmm interesting, reading that i think so…
E