Paul made the following statements: 1. In the real world, optimism seems at least a bit more common in the nonbeliever compared with the believer. 2. Belief in morality seems to be roughly as common in each group, perhaps with a slight edge to the believers. 3. Actual moral behavior is clearly far more common among nonbelievers compared with believers. 4. ... religious _fundamentalism_ is responsible for far more evil than is atheism, even if just by pure volume. I don't think that there can be any real doubt about that proposition. 5. Genuine wonder seems CLEARLY more common among nonbelievers than among believers. 6. ... if the fundamentalists are included in the group of believers the advantage in morality and wonder clearly goes to the nonbelievers. These are some very interesting statements. As has been suggested previously on this list, our own personal beliefs and values about religion and spirituality can affect the conclusions that we reach about the world around us. Fortunately, the above statements can be empirically investigated. Does anyone here on the list know of any research to support these statements? My guess is that the differences between believers and nonbelievers are much more complex than the above statements suggest. I would also guess that you would find interesting results through within-group analyses of believers and nonbelievers. For instance, are some nonbelievers (of course, this term would need to be operationally defined) less likely to engage in moral behavior (again, need operational definitions) than other nonbelievers? What are the variables that distinguish these two subgroups of nonbelievers. Similarly, do some believers experience greater levels of wonder than other believers? Again, what the salient predictor variables? I think that within-group differences are just as interesting, if not more interesting, than between-group differences. Perhaps more harm has been done throughout history by making the assumption that all nonbelievers are alike and all believers are alike. I've known some very moral nonbelievers who seem to have done fine without religion and I've known some very immoral nonbelievers who probably could have used more religion in their lives. I've also known some very moral believers whose religion has been beneficial to them and I've known some very immoral believers who probably could have used less religion in their lives. We should be careful not to stereotype people, but rather recognize that within-group differences likely exist. Personal reflections aside, what does the research say about these issues? Rod
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