Originally Posted by
fire_of_avalon
Here are some observations from me because I like sticking my nose in it.
1) Darwinism and the Theory of Evolution are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Darwin had his own theories concerning the evolution of animals based on bird watching. While his studies did have some merit to the scientific community, there are also errors and outright guesses he made.
2) Under the right conditions, every scientific Law can be unproven. Even gravity. (Kepler's Law, specifically, is the most easily observed "broken" law of science).
3) Fundamentalists of any type are bad. Even fundamental atheists.
4) Where can I find the study? It'd be an interesting read, and I'd prefer to have the facts and judge them for myself than reading what this article-y guy is saying about them.
5) This is a poorly written article. That doesn't mean much to the topic at hand, but I just wanted to say that to boost myself. I'm a bigman.
Basically, I feel this is one of those studies that probably makes the numbers work for it, because they don't quote any numbers at all in the article itself. However, that could be because (as I already said), it's a poorly written article.
Oh, I forgot 6) The vast majority of the "red" states are also the poorer states in the nation. Lack of money = lack of education = increased likelihood of all the bad things this study talks about = lack of resources to get education = lack of money = loop de loop! What does that mean? Well, why are people religious? (Several people in this thread have already said it.) Why? Hope! God will make the bad stuff go away! Why? Because he promised! What I mean is, one explanation for this is the fact that some people grasp at straws. And sometimes religion is one of those straws.
Also, it was said earlier that there are, literally, hundreds of cultural and ethnic distinctions that have the potential to bring conflict.
Also, there are more Americans than most of the other countries listed. If you have more people, there are going to be more murders, more kids with babies, and look! More religious nuts!
Okay, so now that I've not made much sense, here's my real point. While it's certainly possible that religious involvement on a fundamentalist scale is capable of potentially affecting crime rates and other things, there are innumerable other factors (geography, wealth, enviornment, heredity, secular tradition etc, etc) that ALSO influence the "bad things" in the world, and to a much higher degree.
So, someone wants to tell me that the presence of religion is a problem in developed countries, developed countries like America? Not only that, but it's a problem worth my attention? Let's cure AIDS, Cancer, Heart Disease, poverty, child abuse, spousal abuse, animal abuse, depression, hunger, and plain old meanness in the United States before we start worrying about that. I cannot see how there can be a correlation between social ills and religion as clearly defined as it is between other factors that contribute to social ills.
And to finish, stop lumping human beings together. You can't say "ALL CONSERVATIVE CHRISTAINS THINK LIKE ERIC RUDOLPH", because that just isn't true. That's like me saying all Germans think like Hitler.
Oh, and before anyone starts with anything, I'm a rather liberal non-denominational "Christian" as in follower of Christ's teachings. I just keep an open mind.
EDIT: Also, this is a mini-rant directed at no one in particular, besides the mean people of the world. I repeat, this is directed at no one in this thread. This is based primarily off of the article, and the some
couple of science speak posts I saw.
EDIT2: Also, I like the word also.
Maybe our science will end up pointing to a God, Judist or not. Who knows. It would seem irrational to us, but imagine how irrational we would seem to those whom found him. Now I am just being irrational
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