Does Religion Do More Harm or Good?

The new atheist argument:

Dawkins: “Faith is one of the world’s great evils.”

Hitchens: “Religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children.”

Harris: religion is “both false and dangerous.”

Psychological Bulletin, 2012

n “Does Religious Belief Promote Prosociality?: A Critical Examination”

Is religion toxic? Or does it enhance human flourishing?

n  The Crusades and Inquistions, the KKK, the gay-bashing religious right

n  Muslim terrorists, the Taliban

n  The anti-slavery movement, the faith-fostered hospitals, orphanages, hospices, and universities

n  The genocides of Stalin and Mao

The extremes remind us: religion comes in varied forms with varied effects

Faith and human flourishing

n  Faith and happiness

Faith and Happiness

n  Freud: Religion as sickness –  Hitchens: religion “does not make its adherents happy”

n  C. S. Lewis: “Joy is the serious business of heaven”

Spirituality and Happiness

From Gallup survey of adult Americans."

0"

20"

40"

60"

80"

100"

Low" High"

Percent “very happy”"

Spiritual commitment"

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (676,000 Americans during 2010 & 2011) (Newport, Witters, & Sangeeta, gallup.com, 2/16/2012)

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

Nonreligious (31%)

Moderately religious (28%)

Very religious (41%)

Gallup surveys of 350,000 Americans, 2010 (www.gallup.com, 31 December 2010)

“Very religious Americans are doing very well: . . . very religious Americans have higher overall wellbeing, lead healthier lives, and are less likely to have ever been diagnosed with depression . . .”

But does religious engagement cause happiness?

n  Australian-German research team mined data from 20 years of annual interviews of 12,000+ Germans

n  “Individuals who become more religious over time record long term gains in life satisfaction, while those who become less religious record long term losses.”

n  Ergo, “religious beliefs and activities can make a substantial difference to life satisfaction.”

Source: Bruce Headey et al., 2009

Faith and human flourishing

n  Faith and happiness n  Faith and health

Social and psychological well-being affect physical health n  Negative emotions correlate with

–  cardiovascular disease –  diminished immune functioning –  premature death

n  Lack of social support predicts increased risk of ill health and premature death

Study following 5286 Californians over 28 years (McCullough et. al.)

Faith and human flourishing

n  Faith and happiness n  Faith and health n  Faith and helping behaviors

Two worldviews . . . n  The universe has “no evil and no good, nothing

but blind pitiless indifference” (Dawkins) n  The religious idea: all people are God’s children

whom the creator admonishes us to love, with selfless compassion.

World Parliament of Religion, 1993 “Every form of egoism should be rejected . . . . We must treat others as we wish others to treat us . . . . We consider humankind our family.”

Taize chant (Ubi Caritas) “Live in charity and steadfast love. Live in charity God will dwell with you.”

Evolutionary psychologists: religion fosters morality, social cohesion, and group survival.

Faith and Values

n  Actively religious people much less often – are juvenile delinquents – abuse drugs and alcohol

n  Actively religious Israelis, Dutch, Spaniards, Greeks, and Germans are less hedonistic and self-oriented

Faith and generosity

n  Money n  Time

Charitable Contributions

0.00%

0.50%

1.00%

1.50%

2.00%

2.50%

3.00%

3.50%

Nonattenders Occasionalattenders

Weekly Attenders

UK Monthly Charitable Contributions (as reported by M. Argyle, Psychologist, January, 2002 from Halfpenny & Lowe, 1994)

7.94

23.75

£0.00

£5.00

£10.00

£15.00

£20.00

£25.00

Religion not very important Religion very important

Percent Working Among the Poor, Infirm, or Elderly

Spiritual commitment"

“Highly uncommitted”"

“Moderately uncommitted”"

0"

10"

20"

30"

40"

50"

“Moderately committed”"

Percentage"

“Highly committed”"

Is volunteering church-focused? (Data from a Gallup-conducted “Baylor Religion Survey” of 1,721 Americans, reported by F. C. Mencken and C. D. Bader, 2007)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Never Attenders Weekly Attenders

Percent Doing Community Volunteering “Not Through the Church”

Robert Putnam and David Campbell: American Grace: How Religion is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives

n  Religious Americans 3+ times more likely to be involved in community (belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, donate time and $)

n  Link appears causal: nonattenders become more engaged after attending

Summarized in Christian Century, 6/16/2009

“National Context, Religiosity, and Volunteering: Results from 53 Countries” (American Sociological Review, 2006, by Stijn Ruiter and Nan Dirk De Graaf)

n  European Values Surveys and World Values Surveys of 117,007 people

n  “People who attend church twice a week are more than 5 times more likely to volunteer than people who never visit church.”

0 %

10 %

20 %

30 %

40 %

50 %

Europe Americas Africa Asia

28 % 28 %

15 %

26 %

43 % 39 %

23 %

41 %

Have  you  done  any  of  the  following  in  the  last  month:    Donate to charity

Gallup World Survey 2000+  per  country  x  140  countries,  2006  to  2008  

Less religious Highly religious

Highly relig = relig is important in daily life + attend service in last week Less relig = all others

Annual income of highly religious = $10,000 (£6,000)

Annual income of less religious = $17,500

(£11,000)

“The data presented here offer compelling evidence of the role of religious dedication in helping to encourage supportive, community-oriented behaviors . . . .”

0 %

5 %

10 %

15 %

20 %

25 %

30 %

Europe Americas Africa Asia

17 % 18 % 17 % 19 %

24 %

29 % 27 %

24 %

Volunteer time to an organization

Gallup World Survey

Less religious Highly religious

“Priming” (subtly activating) religious thoughts enhances generosity

n  UBC experiment (replicated in USA & Belgium): – Participants first unscrambled sentences,

which for some included the words spirit, divine, God, sacred, and prophet.

– Then given a choice—how many $1 coins to keep vs. give?

– Those primed with the God concepts were doubly generous (average of $4.22 versus $1.84).

“I want my attorney, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God . . . Then I shall be robbed and cuckolded less often.”

~ Voltaire

The bottom line:

n  So, is religion “toxic,” “dangerous,” and “one of the world’s great evils”?

n  Actually, religious engagement predicts – Happiness – Health – Helping

But a fact of life . . .

Religiosity of country (or state)

Religiosity of individuals

The religious engagement paradox:

Religious engagement correlates •  negatively with well-being across places •  positively across individuals

I.e., irreligious places (nations, states) and religious individuals are flourishing

Indeed, people in religious countries and/or states n  Are less satisfied n  Die sooner n  Smoke more n  Commit more crime n  Have more teen births

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Life Today 0 = worst possible, 10 = best possible

Gallup World Survey, 2006-2008

USA

Togo

Percentage saying religion is important in their daily life

Norway (7.7, 24%)

The negative correlation disappears when controlling for life circumstances (e.g., income)

(Diener, Tay, & Myers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Uganda Ethiopia

Experienced enjoyment "during a lot of the day yesterday" (Gallup Poll, 2008, controlling for gender, age, etc.)

Religionimportant indaily lifeReligion notimportant indaily life

S. Crabtree & B. Pelham, “Religion Provides Emotional Boost to World’s Poor,” www.gallup.com, 3/06/2009

Note: Religion is most important, and best predicts daily life enjoyment, in poorer countries, such as these.

Ed Diener observations on Gallup data (personal communication, 1/16/2009)

n  Across nations – Negative correlation between national

religiosity and life satisfaction – Controlling for income (which is lower in

highly religious countries) the correlation disappears

n  Across individuals within most countries: “religious people have higher life satisfaction in most every nation”

The same religious engagement paradox occurs across American states

Emotional Well-Being

75,0000

77,0000

79,0000

81,0000

83,0000

20  %   30  %   40  %   50  %   60  %   70  %  

Emot

iona

l Hea

lth

Inde

x (G

allu

p)

Religious Attendance, by State (Gallup, 2008-2009)

r = -.23

% Very Happy and Religious Attendance (n=51,858, NORC, 1972-2012)

26%30%

33%37%

40%

48%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Never Severaltime per

year

Monthly+ NearlyWeekly

Weekly Severaltimes

weekly

Life expectancy

73

75

77

79

81

83

20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 %

Life

Exp

ecta

ncy,

200

5

Religious Attendance, by State (Gallup, 2008-2009)

r = -.63

Life Expectancy at Age 20, by Worship Attendance (21,204 Americans in National Health Interview Survey)

75.3

79.7

81.982.9

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

Never Less than weekly Weekly More than weekly

Smoking

0 %

5 %

10 %

15 %

20 %

25 %

30 %

20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 %

Smok

ing

Rat

e (C

DC

)

Religious Attendance, by State (Gallup, 2008-2009)

r = .33

Utah

Smoking Rate & Religious Adherence, by State

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Religious Adherence (Association of Religious Data Archives)

Smok

ing

Rat

e (C

DC

)

West coast

South OR

WA HI

CA

KY

MS

GA

TN

SC

AR

AL LA

The more secular west coast states are healthier places

Religious Attendance and Smoking Rate (n=16,2276, NORC, 1972-2010)

48%

36%

21%

11%

25%

32%

44%44%

48%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Never <Once ayear

Once ayear

Severaltimes

per year

Monthly 2-3x/mo NearlyWeekly

Weekly Severaltimes

weekly

Smoking rate

Crime rate

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

20  %   30  %   40  %   50  %   60  %   70  %  

Tota

l Cri

me

Rat

e

Religious Attendance, by State (Gallup, 2008-2009)

r = .36

Crime rates

Religious Attendance and Arrest Rate (n=10,535, NORC, 1972-2008)

21%

19%

15%

11%10%

9%8%

5%6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Never <Once ayear

Once ayear

Severaltimes

per year

Monthly 2-3x/mo NearlyWeekly

Weekly Severaltimes

weekly

Arrest rate (“picked up & charged”)

What do you suppose: Are rich people more likely to vote Republican or Democrat?

Low income states vote Republican

test.causeweb.org/wiki/chance/index.php/Chance_News_92#Simpson.E2.80.99s_paradox_and_the_ecological_fallacy

High income individuals vote Republican

test.causeweb.org/wiki/chance/index.php/Chance_News_92#Simpson.E2.80.99s_paradox_and_the_ecological_fallacy

The wealth and politics paradox: n  Poor states and n  Rich individuals n  Vote Republican

Conclusions n  Religion has had both perverse and beneficial

associations n  Irreligious countries and states are flourishing

(when income/education not controlled) n  But across individuals, religiosity correlates with

happiness, health, altruism, civility (and marital stability and freedom from teen pregnancy).

n  Thus: “Dawkins’ diatribe against religion, however well-intentioned, is . . . deeply misinformed.”

~ Evolutionary biologist (and fellow atheist) David Sloan Wilson