Posted on 12/22/2002 4:52:42 PM PST by freeforall
Why men don't like church: testosterone Skipping services typical of engaging in 'short-sighted' risks
Emanuella Grinberg The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, December 22, 2002
The risk-taking impulse that makes more men than women commit crimes is also the reason men are more likely not to be religious, says a sociologist.
"It seems that not being religious is a form of risk-taking, consistent with other patterns of short-sighted behaviour in men," said Rodney Stark, a professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington, whose study will be published in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
"Every minister knows it's harder to get the guys to church than the women," he said. "We ought to be asking why this is."
Biological differences between men and women mean that men are more likely to have an "underdeveloped ability to inhibit their impulses," he said. "Especially those involving immediately gratification and thrills."
Mr. Stark based his conclusions on World Values Surveys, a poll of residents in 57 countries, with about 1,000 respondents in each country, which included the U.S., most European countries, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, China and India. The results showed that there were sex differences everywhere, even in religions that are very male-centred, such as Orthodox Judaism.
Mr. Stark and fellow sociologist Alan Miller published another paper based on whether gender socialization or differences in social power played a role in religiousness. Studies have shown that career women are just as religious as housewives, he said.
Mr. Stark isn't satisfied with the notion that women are socialized to be more nurturing and have more time for worship than men. For him, it is a matter of gender that makes men less religious, but not a matter of the socialization of genders, said Mr. Stark.
"It used to be said that women were socialized to raise the kids and take care of the home, but when you compare a career woman to a housewife, you see that both are still a heck of a lot more religious than any man."
He says that if not a product of socialization, low rates of male religiousness can be attributed to physiology, much like higher instances of crime among men compared with women.
"There are big gender differences among Christians, Orthodox Jews and Muslims, but in each case, more women are going to more services and saying they adhere to religious mores than men. If it were a matter of socialization, it would show up in the results," he said.
Mr. Stark also said his findings are consistent with the beliefs of criminologists across North America who find aggression more prevalent in men than women.
"High testosterone levels have been proven to make men more likely to commit crimes. The tendency in men toward risky behaviour keeps turning up even where socialization is different, and so does crime and delinquency."
© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen
AND Man enough to die for others.
This example of self-sacrifice ought to inspire the entire USMC.
Well, your friends are either wholly mis-informed or are holding back: there's a Gospel passage in which Christ states UNEQUIVOCALLY "unless you are like one of these [little children] you shall NOT enter the Kingdom."
OTOH, maybe you don't really want to understand religion, eh?
You can't live in that hermetically-sealed, logic-proof enclosure forever.
You silly religionists, you make me laugh with your goofy beliefs.
I don't make things up. And if this makes you laugh, better get it in while you can.
At one time, prayer services in a local church I know and love were serious sessions of "back-seat driving" the universe. The prayers ranged around the world, and embraced real-world issues near to home. When praying for "kings and those in authority," folks would start out at the most important area of leadership -- fathers and husbands in the church -- and work their way down to the least important, the most trivial -- President Bush.
Alas, a new philosophy of prayer began directing these events, and the "signal to noise ratio" degraded below 1. There was a striking decline in the attention invested in the world around us, and a sickening hyptertrophy of effeminate "let's see how spiritual I can make myself feel" emotional acrobatics.
I'm praying more in private, now.
IMO, many are "bored" at Mass because they have NO idea what the Mass is about. Those who are "bored" at Mass reveal their ignorance of what the Mass is; and there is blame aplenty for that condition<>
See also a great book on the issue by a catholic writer, Leon Podle's tome on the feminization of Chrisianity.
I've always wondered about that....i've always lived in eastern time zone so I could go to church in morning and get home in time for footballl games!
'Mr.' Stark obviously must not have the xperience of being a man...
You apparently don't know the Bible or you would't have made such a broad and incorrect statement. It is clear about the matter and children will not be held accountable for their sins as they cannot fully conceive of right and wrong. God is infinitely wise, just, and compassionate. Or perhaps that man is wiser and more compassionate in this matter?. Those raised without the Gospel will be held accountable according to natural law; i.e. that God's greatness is everywhere and there are things that are inherently wrong.
And the Bible also teaches that guaranteed salvation is not and should not be used as a "get out of jail free card". It is not a license to sin, it is a pardon FROM sin. Salvation doesn't make you perfect, only forgiven. Those who think that they can attain salvation without a change in heart and actions are in for a rude awakening.
BTW, I have no desire to "grab the hot coals and try to burn out the eyes" of non-believers. Well, perhaps with the exception of the ACLU.
That would be a more rational position -- unfortunately it isn't what the Bible says. Anyhow, it wasn't just children I was referring to, but children who also grow up to be adults but never hear of Jesus are still sent to that great dumpster of eternal fire. The Bible says that Jesus said the only way to heaven is through a belief in him. Since these "children come adults" never have the requiste belief, the outcome is clear. Hell.
No, it says that the only way to heaven is through him. The "a belief in" part is something added by some Protestant evangelicals. (And no, "faith" is not identical to "a belief in," anymore than being faithful to your wife means believing she exists and that she married you.)
God saves. Man does not save. Man's belief in God does not save. God saves. He can save a little child who dies in a non-Christian environment never having known about Jesus, if he so desires. It's not for us to set limits on his grace and mercy.
It's really none of our business what God does or did with people who unavoidably die without hearing the Gospel. It is our business to preach the Gospel to those we can reach, and to concern ourselves with their salvation, and in particular, with the salvation of the person we see in the mirror.
That would seem a cruel pursuit, if through ignorance they were guaranteed entry into heaven, and thus by your "evangelism" you introduce to them "choice" and therefore the threat of hell.
However, whether or not people do or do not go to church on Sunday, I have come to the conclusion that, much like keeping the Christmas spirit the whole year through, it's often better to keep the faith going the whole week through. I would rather see a man pray about how life is going to work out for the guy he's about to fire than be in a church parking lot where basic rules of civility, muchless Christianity, have been forgotten. And because so many churches seem to preach about anything but the Bible (fund-raisers, schools budgets, political stands, etc.), it's often better to be engaged in reading the Bible in daily private quiet prayer time than enduring temporal rhetoric and calling it "worship".
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