I am not sure from where the assumption comes that having a religion or a god makes it more likely that one will be morally and behaviorally "good". I have yet to see any consistent or empirical evidence to support this assumption.
Nancy Melucci Long Beach City College Jim G: I would recommend perusing the literature, and you will find it. Or go directly to someone like David Myers on essays such as "Godliness and goodness." So I looked at this: _http://www.davidmyers.org/Brix?pageID=92_ (http://www.davidmyers.org/Brix?pageID=92) And found a statement that the record is mixed - that religion is both the source of works of good (abolishing the slave trade for example) and evil (endless crusades of religion against religion resulting in wholesale slaughter). And that some slightly greater portion of people professing a religion give to charity, do volunteer work, and the like. Those are nice things but aren't the sum and total of moral behavior. Myers is eloquent - lots of nice quotes from folks like Voltaire - but I don't think religiosity guarantees morality any more than being non-religious prevents it. There is a presumption (note the very negative reaction most Americans have to anyone's proclamation of being atheist or agnostic) that you can' t be good without God. I would call this suspicion a form of prejudice. Also, as a thinking woman - I've said this before - I am permanently put off by the fact that most of the major organized world religions either include the overt agenda of promoting the subjugation of women (or have incorporated this in some form) and the denigration of sexuality in all but the most narrowly circumscribed contexts. A lot of what proponents of any religion consider to be "good behavior" I consider to be irrelevant. Practicing a religion is one way to be good. But after reading Myers I still think it is not necessary and is certainly not sufficient. Nancy Melucci LBCC LB, CA ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
