Wednesday, August 27, 2014

My criticism of Michael Horton's statement included on AtheistNexus.org dicussion about atheists and crime


Reply by Joan Denoo 3 hours ago

The first article I found comparing religious and non-religious and violence is not a statistical analysis, however, it does give rationale for violence.
Religion, Violence, Crime and Mass Suicide

"According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Christians make up almost 80 percent of the prison population. Atheists make up about 0.2 percent. [...] It is safe to conclude that the godless do not fill prisons. Published studies do indicate that a child's risk of sexual abuse by a family member increases as the family's religious denomination becomes more conservative, that is, when the teachings of scriptures and other doctrines are taken more literally. Similarly, the probability of wife abuse increases with the rigidity of a church's teachings pertaining to gender roles and hierarchy. [...] Even observers from the Christian side have expressed dismay that the current dominance of evangelical Christianity in America has not translated into a strengthening of the nation's moral character or the characters of evangelical Christians themselves. In an article in Christianity Today, theologian Ronald Sider lamented [...]:
"The findings in numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. 'Gallup and Barna,' laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, 'hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general.' "
The entire article is well worth the read.
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So, Michael Horton who is a fundamentalist evangelical Christian theologian is shocked over this study that shows fundamentalist evangelical Christians also engage in immoral behavior, just like the "world". He sounds self-righteous by accusing the "world" of embracing "lifestyles" that are "hedonistic", "materialistic", "self-centered" and "sexually-immoral" in "general". I think that Michael Horton sounds selfish and self-centered to expect the rest of the world to live up to fundamentalist evangelical Christian "standards". Michael Horton, why should people strive to live up to your particular judgmental, prejudiced, hate-filled, sex-hating, self-righteous view of the world?  Fundamentalist evangelical Christians are not "morally superior" than anyone else and I think this study strongly implies this fact.



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