Research suggests morality can survive without religion

[trotsky]

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/01/13/Research-suggests-morality-can-survive-without-religion/6411452715270/

MANCHESTER, England, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Results from a longitudinal survey suggest morality hasn't declined with the decline of organized religion. The findings were published in the journal Politics and Religion.

"Religion has been in sharp decline in many European countries," study author Ingrid Storm, a researcher at Manchester University, said in a press release. "Each new generation is less religious than the one before, so I was interested to find out if there is any reason to expect moral decline."

...

"As religion has declined in Europe there has also been an increase in acceptance of personal autonomy on issues concerning sexuality and family," she added. "Each generation is more liberal on these issues than the one before. In contrast, we find no evidence that moral values have become more self-interested or anti-social."

For many of us, this could be filed under "Not Really News."

[randr]

1. They need to measure the immorality of organized religion--nt

[enough]

2. Maybe the real question is: "Can morality survive religion?"

[DetlefK]

3. That's actually a quite excellent question.

There was a study that showed that children that were raised religioulsy are less generous and propose tougher punishments for a bad deed, compared to children with a smaller influence of religion. But IIRC, the study was also criticized for having a flawed method.

[edhopper]

4. I don't see religious institutions

acting any more morally than secular ones.

[cleanhippie]

7. Yet we do see them acting less morally.

Funny thing, that.

[rug]

5. Religion is no more a guarantee of morality than atheism is a guarantee of reason.

[goldent]

6. Religion has had a large effect on societal norms for thousands of years.

This is analogous to Newton's First Law of Motion:

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

[trotsky]

8. Are you making a claim that society would be static if not for religion? n/t

[goldent]

9. Religion has had a large influence on what society is today.

That influence will remain. It is common sense that the decline of religion is not going to result in any immediate change in societal norms - this is analogous to inertia. However, it is always nice to have a study that confirms common sense.

[trotsky]

10. So did slavery. n/t