by: Jared Berry
On countless occasions I have heard atheists argue that religion doesn’t make you any more moral. They often argue that religion has no moral benefit whatsoever and is a net negative drag on society. They often make these claims choosing to ignore the countless positive influences of religion like charitable organizations (Samaritans Purse, SBC Disaster Relief, Salvation Army, etc.). If you look closely you will find that much of their argument is philosophical rather than factual. In fact, darwinian atheists believe in an evolutionary benefit at some point for every trait we see, yet somehow come to conclude that religion is just a useless fluke that made it in there somewhere. The term “meme” of internet fame, was invented by leading atheist Richard Dawkins just so he could eliminate religion (and other cultural elements) as an evolutionary biological development and thus not have to acknowledge a benefit [1]. This concept has been critized by other scientists as a pseudoscientific attempt to explain away religion and as just plain bad science [2].
In this LA Times article you will see a scientific study providing evidence that belief in God actually does make you more moral, especially when nobody is looking. According to the study it’s not just belief in any God, but in an “omniscient, moral-judging and punitive main deity” (Aka a singularly dominant, all knowing God with moral standards) that yields moral improvement. That sounds a lot like the God of my Bible. This article goes on to explain how belief in this type of God was likely a critical component in the development of advanced civilizations.
So much for religion being useless and detrimental… You guys need Jesus… literally… we all do. 🙂
[1] Wikipedia – Meme “Origins”
[2] Wikipedia – Meme “Criticism of meme theory”