Below are some atheism and morality studies.
Barna Group study on behavior of atheists vs. evangelical Christians
Richard Deem wrote:
| “ | A random sample of 1003 adults were surveyed in May, 2008 by The Barna Group for their participation in a number of negative behaviors within the previous week. The results showed that there were vast differences in the behaviors of evangelicals compared to agnostics/atheists.
These results show that atheists/agnostics participate in morally questionable behaviors to a much greater degree than evangelical Christians - an average of nearly five times the frequency![2] |
” |
The Barna Group found that atheists and agnostics in America were more likely, than theists in America, to look upon the following behaviors as morally acceptable: illegal drug use; excessive drinking; sexual relationships outside of marriage; abortion; cohabitating with someone of opposite sex outside of marriage; obscene language; gambling; pornography and obscene sexual behavior; and engaging in homosexuality/bisexuality.[3]
Given the many diseases associated with homosexuality, the biblical prohibition against homosexuality is quite arguably one of the many examples where the Bible exhibited knowledge that was ahead of its time. See also: Atheism and sexual immorality
Atheists with social contacts with Christians give more to charity than other atheists
See also: Atheists adopting theistic morality and Protestant cultural legacies
Dr. William Lane Craig points out that the social science research indicates that atheists who have family/social contacts with religious people give more to charity than atheists who do not have such an influence.[4]
Craig, citing research published by author Arthur C. Brooks, points out that atheists raised in religious households are twice as likely to give to charity than those raised in nonreligious households.[5]
University study: Public perception of atheist morality
In 2014, a University of Kentucky study was published by Will M. Gervais, which was entitled "Everything is permitted? People intuitively judge immorality as representative of atheists", and the study indicated that "even atheist participants viewed immorality as significantly more representative of atheists than of other people."[6]
The abstract of the University of Kentucky study which was published in the journal Plos One states:
| “ | American participants intuitively judged a wide variety of immoral acts (e.g., serial murder, consensual incest, necrobestiality, cannibalism) as representative of atheists, but not of eleven other religious, ethnic, and cultural groups. Even atheist participants judged immoral acts as more representative of atheists than of other groups. These findings demonstrate a prevalent intuition that belief in God serves a necessary function in inhibiting immoral conduct, and may help explain persistent negative perceptions of atheists.[7] | ” |
See also:
Atheist morality statistics
- Atheism statistics (Has many statistics relating to topics about atheism and morality)
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ Christians Give more to Charity than Atheists (YouTube video featuring an audio clip of Dr. William Lane Craig)
- ↑ Atheism Doesn't Lead to Immoral Behavior - Or Does It? by Richard Deem
- ↑ Practical outcomes replace biblical principles as the moral standard, Barna Group
- ↑ Christians Give more to Charity than Atheists (YouTube video featuring an audio clip of Dr. William Lane Craig)
- ↑ Christians Give more to Charity than Atheists (YouTube video featuring an audio clip of Dr. William Lane Craig)
- ↑ Gervais, Will M. (April 9, 2014). "Everything is permitted? People intuitively judge immorality as representative of atheists". PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092302.
- ↑ Everything Is Permitted? People Intuitively Judge Immorality as Representative of Atheists