Yeah because the Soviets, Jacobins and Chinese are such wonderful governments
According to some Euro-centric research today, "belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems."The author of the study used data to compare God-fearing America with God-less Europe. He found that "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." (emphasis mine)
This type of journalism and research is such a waste of time. All he found was that America has problems that Europe has to a lesser degree. It correlates, not causes. One could also draw from this study that belief in God (as defined as America) correlates to owning bigger cars and houses. One could also draw from this study that belief in God is inversely related to visiting other countries (since Europeans visit more foreign countries than Americans do). One could also draw from this study that belief in God means you dislike monarchs. Any social scientist will tell you that correlation is, at best, a weak way to compare items and certainly no way to draw such large conclusions as this author has.
Please tell the French under the Jacobins, Russians under the Soviets and modern-day Chinese that secular governments are better than religious ones. When they agree, then you've got my attention.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 1:14 PM
