Is Religion Good or Bad for Society?

Is Religion Good or Bad for Society? Tim Zebo http://www.slideshare.net/jerseyguy http://www.facebook.com/tim.zebo tzebo@usa.net Ver. 9/12/10 Image: http://www.earthzine.org/2008/04/29/noctilucent-cloud /

Which Religion?, Which Society? Ver. 091210 tjz- Image: http://www.adherents.com 22 Major “Religions”! 200 Countries!

Informal Survey of 9 UUs What’s Good?, What’s Bad?
Gives desperate people hope
Makes dying easier
Offers a sense of community
Instills an ethical code
Promotes love thy neighbor
Offers “comforting” tools (pray for help when afraid)
Works to eliminate poverty Feeds the hungry
Houses the homeless
Encourages respect for environment
Gives people something to do on Sunday
Good for Society?
Preaching hope prevents change
Creates fear of dying
Creates us vs. them mentality
Makes for benighted brains
Promotes bad public policy
Promotes patriarchal hierarchy
Oppresses women
Deceives people about our relationship to the natural world
Fosters endless culture wars: abortion, gay marriage, stem cells
Teaches dangerous, misleading and wasteful sex education
Inspires violence around the world
Gets people up early on Sunday
Bad for Society? Ver. 091210 tjz-

Paleontologist Gregory Paul “Why Does Religion Persist?” 2009: Theodicy’s Problem: A Statistical Look at the Holocaust of the Children and the Implications of Natural Evil For the Free Will and Best of All Possible Worlds Hypotheses Philosophy & Theology (published bi-annually by Marquette University) http://www.gspaulscienceofreligion.com/index.htm l Ver. 091210 tjz- 2005: Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies 2009: The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions 2008: The Big Religion Questions Finally Solved

Gregory Paul’s Insight -1 “22 Major Religions?”=>Measure Religiosity
Belief in God
Regular prayer
Belief in the literal truth of Bible
Regularly attend religious services
Belief in life after death
Belief in heaven
Belief in hell
Agnostic or Atheist
Accept evolution
Nine Measures of “Religiosity” http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf
International Social Survey Program (ISSP)
45 Countries
800 million people
35 Questions
1000-2800 responses/ country
ISSP: 1998
Pew
Eurobarometer
Evolution Ver. 091210 tjz-

Gregory Paul’s Insight - 2 “Religion’s Benefits?”=>Measure “Success”
Homicides
Incarceration
Suicides: ages 15-24
Suicides: all ages
Under age 5 mortality
Lifespan
Gonorrhea: ages15-19
Gonorrhea: all ages
Syphilis: ages 15-19
Syphilis: all ages
Abortions: ages 15-19
Births: ages 15-17
Fertility
Marriages
Marriage duration
Divorces
Alcohol consumption
Life satisfaction
Corruption
Per capita income
Income inequality
Poverty index
Employment levels
Average hours worked
Resource exploitation
25 “Successful Society” Indicators http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf Ver. 091210 tjz-

Gregory Paul’s Insight-3 “Which Society?” 17, Prosperous, 1 st World Democracies Ver. 091210 tjz-
Austria
Denmark
France
Germany
Holland
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Western Europe
United States
Canada
North America
Japan
Far East
Norway
Sweden
Scandinavia
Great Britain
Ireland
Australia
New Zealand
U.K.

Surprise Ver. 091210 tjz- http://aspiritualbrain.com/2009/03/page/5/

Religiosity vs Successful Societies Scale http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pd f Ver. 091210 tjz- … but…Correlation is NOT Causation.
Every 10 unit increase in Religiosity is associated with a 7 unit Decrease in “Success” as a society.
“ Test of the West”

Gregory Paul’s Conclusion http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304222504575173890997846742.html
4/10/10, Essay: Why Belief in God is Not Innate
“ In every prosperous democracy with:
Universal health care
Job and retirement security
Low levels of social ills
People abandon churches because they no longer need protection and assistance of supernatural powers.
Ver. 091210 tjz- Great!........but is Religion Good or Bad for Society? “ Faith is ( largely) a side-effect of socio-economic conditions!”

Image: http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/aha/aha1.jpg Ver. 091210 tjz- Religion’s past “Goods?” or “Bads?” Who Cares! History can’t be changed! How will religion impact our future?

Lester Brown’s Plan B 4.0 Ver. 091210 tjz- http://www.earthpolicy.org/

A Civilization in Trouble
World is facing huge unresolved social and environmental problems
Rapid population growth, rampant poverty, hunger and disease in many countries
Climate change
Water tables falling and rivers running dry
Forests shrinking
Soils eroding, grasslands turning to desert
Species disappearing, fisheries collapsing
Photo Credit: iStockPhoto / Steven Allan Ver. 091210 tjz- http://www.earthpolicy.org/

Lester Brown’s Plan B: What’s Our Future? Ver. 091210 tjz- & Hunger & Poverty With Collapsing Resources Mostly in Poor & - Very Religious – Countries 2050: 2.4 Billion More People http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304222504575173890997846742.html

Plan B to Save Civilization: Four Goals
Stabilize Population
Eradicate Poverty
Restore the Earth’s Natural Support Systems
Stabilize Climate
http:// www.earthpolicy.org / ; Image Credit: iStockPhoto / Joe Gough Ver. 091210 tjz- Will Religion Help or Hinder?

Will Religion Help or Hinder?
Gives desperate people hope
Offers a sense of community
Instills an ethical code
Offers “comforting” tools
Good for Society
Promotes bad public policy
Promotes patriarchal hierarchy
Oppresses women
Teaches dangerous, misleading and wasteful sex education
Bad for Society No more darkness; no more night. Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light! - to access audio, click here: Ver. 091210 tjz- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuntDNsQGcc&feature=channel http://bit.ly/cvgj7P To access video, click here: http:// bit.ly/bRSTkl

Will Religion Help or Hinder? Lester Brown’s Plan B 4.0 : Four Goals
Eradicate Poverty
Stabilize Climate
http:// www.earthpolicy.org / ; Image Credit: iStockPhoto / Joe Gough Ver. 091210 tjz- Science & Engineering

Will Religion Help or Hinder? Teaching & Promoting Science Ver. 091210 tjz- To access video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D8AeiAamjY http://bit.ly/djy6bt

Will Religion Help or Hinder? Lester Brown’s Plan B 4.0 : Four Goals
Eradicate Poverty
Stabilize Climate
http:// www.earthpolicy.org / ; Image Credit: iStockPhoto / Joe Gough Ver. 091210 tjz-

Action Anyone? Ver. 091210 tjz- Image: http://www.speedwaybikes.com/tracks/actionpark2008.htm

How Can We Individually Help? Take Action to Support…
Reproductive Health Care and Family Planning:
International Planned Parenthood Federation ( http://www.ippf.org/en/ )
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice ( http://www.rcrc.org/ )
Amnesty International ( http://www.amnesty.org/ )
Separation of Science and Religion in U.S. Education:
National Center for Science Education ( http://ncse.com/ )
Teach Them Science ( http:// www.teachthemscience.org / )
Separation of Church and State:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State ( http:// www.au.org / )
Freedom from Religion Foundation ( http:// www.ffrf.org / )
Center for Inquiry ( http:// www.centerforinquiry.net / )
Equal rights for all - including same-sex couples
Human Rights Watch ( http://www.hrw.org/ )
Ver. 091210 tjz-

How Can We as a Group Help? Become a “Center for Critical Thinking” Ver. 091210 tjz- http://www.criticalthinking.org/

Let’s Dialog

Religiosity: 17 Countries “ Absolutely Believe in God” tjz- Ver. 091210 http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf
God belief is NOT an inherited or cultural property of humans
There is no “God gene”!

Religiosity: 16* Countries “ Absolutely Believe in Life After Death” tjz- Ver. 091210 * No data for Australia http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf
Millions of people in Western democracies don’t believe in a “soul”.
There is no “spirituality gene”!

Religiosity: 17 Countries Accept “Humans Evolved from Animals” tjz- http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf Ver. 091210 “ Test of the West”

Successful Societies: 4 Countries 6 Indicators http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP073984414.pdf Ver. 091210 tjz- “ Test of the West”

2009 Pew Research U.S. Survey “ Accept Humans Evolved from Animals” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1105/darwin-debate-religion-evolution Ver. 091210 tjz-

Will Religion Help or Hinder? Teaching & Promoting Science
Stories from October 2008 meeting of 60 U.S. high-school science teachers in Atlanta:
“ Students burst into tears when told they’d be studying evolution.”
“ Students repeatedly screamed ‘No!’ when he began talking about evolution.”
“ Churches train students to come to school with questions to ask to sabotage my lessons.”
Creation Museum in KY is taxpayer-subsidized scientific falsehood and mis-education center.
Ver. 091210 tjz- Dawkins, Richard, “The Greatest Show on earth”, Pg. 436

Tools for Critical Thinking - 1 Ver. 091210 tjz- http://confront.intel-research.net/Dispute_Finder.html

.1% (1,000 People) Spontaneously Recovered 1% (10 people) were prayed for “ Nun healed after a night of prayer to Pope John Paul II shortly after his death.” Person with Cancer http://trueslant.com/michaelshermer/2010/04/03/would-i-ever-pray-for-a-miracle-watch-abc-2020-special-on-miracles-to-find-out/ Understanding Claims that Defy Science and Reason Ver. 091210 tjz- 1,000,000 people develop cancer 999,000 People die from cancer 1% (9,990 people) were prayed for Death rate (deaths/week) Tools for Critical Thinking - 2

Is Religion Good or Bad for Society?

by Tim Zebo on May 09, 2010

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Is Religion Good or Bad for Society? — Presentation Transcript

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