[COMMENT: OK, Christians, what do we do with this one? Can we rescue
the reputation of God? Can we stand before God when our so-called
"Christian" nation behaves as indicated below? See
article by George Barna on the
other side of the issue. E.
Fox]
<<The study concluded that the US was the world’s only
prosperous democracy where murder rates were still high, and that the least
devout nations were the least dysfunctional. Mr Paul said that rates of
gonorrhoea in adolescents in the US were up to 300 times higher than in less
devout democratic countries. The US also suffered from “ uniquely high”
adolescent and adult syphilis infection rates, and adolescent abortion rates,
the study suggested.>>
September 27, 2005
The Times
RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high
murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research
published today.
According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary
for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.
The study counters the view of believers that religion is
necessary to provide the moral and ethical foundations of a healthy society.
It compares the social peformance of relatively secular
countries, such as Britain, with the US, where the majority believes in a
creator rather than the theory of evolution. Many conservative evangelicals in
the US consider Darwinism to be a social evil, believing that it inspires
atheism and amorality.
Many liberal Christians and believers of other faiths hold
that religious belief is socially beneficial, believing that it helps to lower
rates of violent crime, murder, suicide, sexual promiscuity and abortion. The
benefits of religious belief to a society have been described as its
“spiritual capital”. But the study claims that the devotion of many in the US
may actually contribute to its ills.
The paper, published in the Journal of Religion and Society,
a US academic journal, reports: “Many Americans agree that their churchgoing
nation is an exceptional, God-blessed, shining city on the hill that stands as
an impressive example for an increasingly skeptical world.
“In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a
creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult
mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous
democracies.
“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional
of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”
Gregory Paul, the author of the study and a social
scientist, used data from the International Social Survey Programme, Gallup
and other research bodies to reach his conclusions.
He compared social indicators such as murder rates,
abortion, suicide and teenage pregnancy.
The study concluded that the US was the world’s only
prosperous democracy where murder rates were still high, and that the least
devout nations were the least dysfunctional. Mr Paul said that rates of
gonorrhoea in adolescents in the US were up to 300 times higher than in less
devout democratic countries. The US also suffered from “ uniquely high”
adolescent and adult syphilis infection rates, and adolescent abortion rates,
the study suggested.
Mr Paul said: “The study shows that England, despite the
social ills it has, is actually performing a good deal better than the USA in
most indicators, even though it is now a much less religious nation than
America.”
He said that the disparity was even greater when the US was
compared with other countries, including France, Japan and the Scandinavian
countries. These nations had been the most successful in reducing murder
rates, early mortality, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion, he added.
Mr Paul delayed releasing the study until now because of
Hurricane Katrina. He said that the evidence accumulated by a number of
different studies suggested that religion might actually contribute to social
ills. “I suspect that Europeans are increasingly repelled by the poor societal
performance of the Christian states,” he added.
He said that most Western nations would become more
religious only if the theory of evolution could be overturned and the
existence of God scientifically proven. Likewise, the theory of evolution
would not enjoy majority support in the US unless there was a marked decline
in religious belief, Mr Paul said.
“The non-religious, pro-evolution democracies contradict the
dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens
ardently believe in a moral creator.
“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must
experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”