What a bunch of tripe,
But in the REAL world
1) Atheist/Agnostic are ~15% of the population yet make up just 0.2% of the prison population, while Christians make up 76.5% of the general population yet 83.8% of the prison population.
2) From 1991 to 2001, The Number of the non-religious doubled in number while at the same time the number calling themselves Christians declined by 10% this decline in Christianity is especially seen in young people.
Yet the even though the younger generations are the most unchristian, violent crime rate has declined through this period, as well as the abortion rate dropped by about 25 percent for both married and unmarried women through the 1990s , The teen Pregnancy Rate Reached a Record Low, More Teenagers are saying no to sex and Drug use by teenagers continues to decline.
Now if believing in an invisable man in the sky had anything to do with being moral, As the country turns more secular wouldn't the trends be going in the opposite direction?
Here is two articles for ya' on how the morailty of young people in our country is improving greatly
Rush Limbaugh on the Next Generation and It's the Morning after in America
You will notice 1 thing missing from both articles, Religion.
3) Born Again Christians are more likely to divorce than Non-Christians
Born Again Adults - 27%
All other adults - 24%
Non-denominational Protestant - 34%
Jews - 30%
Baptist - 29%
Mormons - 24%
Catholics - 21%
Lutherans - 21%
Atheists/Agnostics 21%
Not surprising then as the country became less Christian, the Divorce rate is now the lowest since 1970
4) The births to unmarried women rate is highest in the Bible Belt
5) Modern day Japan is for all practical purposes an Atheist country yet their society seems to be doing fine. Compare them to very Christian countries like those in Latin America whose societies are in constant chaos and turmoil.
It's not hard to figure out why this is the case, just look at the philosophies
Atheist: This is all that's it, you only get one shot so don't screw it up
vs
Christian: God doesn't want you to sin but *Wink* *Wink*, God made you a sinner so do what you will just somewhere down the road just accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and put some bucks in the collection plate and all is forgiven and you get to go to paradise for eternity!
And there you have it folks.
Two really big flaws in your "stats" right of the bat -- How many non-chrisrian couples never get married and just cohabitate without getting married in the first place? This would knock your divorce rate down a little.
Out of wedlock births? Compare the abortions per pregancy in the "Bible Belt" to Cali or the East Coast and I think you would find a discrepancy there that would explain your datum.
If us christians are doing things so wrong, why don't you show up at church today and tell us hypocrites just how bad we are screwing it up?
Christian: God doesn't want you to sin but *Wink* *Wink*, God made you a sinner so do what you will...
God gave mankind "free will". That gives you the ability to reject Him. That's what mankind did - historically through Adam as well as ever since. That's not God's fault. That's ours (and yours).
... just somewhere down the road just acept Jesus Christ as your personal savior...
God provided the means to return into a relationship with Him after we have broken it. And, yes, that is through Jesus. It requires almost nothing on our part and everything on His part. It doesn't cost you a dime.
... and put some bucks in the collection plate and all is forgiven and you get to go to paradise for eternity!
You either made this up or you heard it from a fool. There is not a shred of truth in it and you know it. You are just mocking.
Mark.
Oh, so GOD is the cause of immorality, huh?
Which standard are you using for immorality, His or yours?
You just proved the article's premise.
You’ve got so many straw dogs in your post that you should go into the hay business.
The immorality is increasing, not decreasing.
Your post illustrates the fact that America is turning from the first measure of morality.
This one is interpreted different ways these days. I won't argue it is an issue in modern day US.
Turn on the TV any night, or listen to people at the mall. The second measure of morality if blatently rejected.
Need I make any comment? The Sabbath has become a regular shopping or sports day. Nobody objects to working on the Sabbath, as long as they get a day or two off each week.
Does anyone think we are honoring our parents MORE these days?
Yes, we've had a recent decline in the murder rate.
Hard to tell, but it looks like this is more prevalent and openly accepted in the country.
The police told us at a recent community meeting on the daily break-ins and home invasions in our neighborhood not to bother calling in car break-ins. They throw those reports away. There are too many for them to bother with.
During the '90s we were flooded with articles about why lying is actually a good thing.
We have an entire political party based on coveting the belongings of others.
I was once where you are, decades ago. It is a perniciously arrogant place to dwell, dependent upon continually asserting that which your inner self knows is an error in your own reasoning. Is it possible to prove a negative? NO. Since it is impossible to prove a negative, why is your philosophy of life based upon the assumption of soemthing in the negative which it is impossible for you to ever have proof of, now or in some hereafter?
The mental position of atheist is supremely arrogant, supplanting the wonder at creation's reality with the little godhood of believing your intellect has seen the proof of a negative. The reality of faith stands in sharp contrast to that pernicious arrogance.
Consider the little child. The arrogance of assuming godhood, to 'know' there is no god has not crept into the little child's heart yet, so the little child instinctively has faith and it drives their life daily, even in unconditionally loving his parents and trusting their guidance. Argue if you will, but to proclaim there is no God is to at once dispaly a pernicious arrogance ... and it would be so easy to just state 'I don't know'.
'God IS, and He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him.' If one's morality is based on something less than 'an authority higher than man', the whim of those in power will always trump the life of those who are powerless, for their power rests upon usurpation of what our Declaration of Independence recognized as 'God given and thus inalienable rights'. If your morals are at your whim, I don't want you leading anything in my America ... we have the evidence of a democrat party proving that failed leadership and basing their empowerment upon the blood of more than 44 million alive innocent unborn fellow human beings.
In some respects, that is exactly the same perspective of the believer. A big difference is that the believer doesn't ignore the anthropology of man composed of body, soul, and spirit, whereas the atheist confuses the soul with soul and spirit thereby ignoring the spirit life.
From the perspective of receiving a regenerated human spirit and those rewards predestined for us from eternity past, you only get one shot, so don't screw it up.
Because most people accept religion while in prison. Dope.
You said, in part: Now if believing in an invisable man in the sky had anything to do with being moral, As the country turns more secular wouldn’t the trends be going in the opposite direction?
***
No. Belief in God (or your invisible man in the sky) does not change human nature. We are still as rotten as ever. David believed in God and slept with Bathsheba while he sent her husband to the front lines of war to be killed. Acting in a morally acceptable manner is not the issue, true belief in God is.