Surveying religious belief needs social science not hard science

[mike_c]

8. someone who accepts and spreads moral precepts founded upon religious dogma...

...i.e. "Thou shalt not lie." Even, or perhaps especially, about whether one attended church last week.

Moralist: One who follows a system of moral principles.

Religion adds an interesting dimension to moralism. On one hand, I think certain human mores are generally agreed upon despite cultural disparities-- most people instinctively don't want to be lied to, stolen from, unfairly attacked, and so on, so most people extend those same moral protections to others, at least emotionally and intellectually, if not always in reality. It's what we mean by "knowing right from wrong," regardless of our actual practice.

Religion adds another layer of complexity by both codifying moral precepts, making them explicit rather than implicit, and generally by adding additional consequences for failure to adhere to those basic moral ideals, e.g. god's displeasure. So it's especially ironic to read that surveys about religion are suspect mainly because religious people themselves can't be trusted to respond honestly to simple questions like "did you attend church last Sunday?"