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
You cannot believe in the God of the Bible without believing in the Bible. Satan is the god of this world and many who believe in him deny the bible. There are many other gods peope believe in that are not of the Bible. See Exodus 34:14
I think somebody may be confusing "churchiness"-- being a joiner, attending services, taking a role in the visible local church mechanism...
with actual religious faith and belief, which is usually actually HIGHER among men than women, in the USA at least. This study seems to be contaminated by Canada.
Certainly far more men than women have voted/taken the political stances, that Christianity would cause/teach them to do, in the last 25 to 40 years in the USA.
But I doubt you can believe in and worship, the God of Israel, YHWH, the same god that Christians and Jews worship, without veneration of and immersion in, the Bible.
Most churches prefer to show Christian men as crybabies (Promise Keepers) who have to imitate women to prove that they are men.
LOL and Amen. I am proud to be a part of a denomination that offends more liberals per capita than any denomination on earth today.
Heh, I always liked this "get out of jail free card" of a religious concept. I know a few Christians closely who hold this view and it basically means they can do anything they like and still get to Heaven because they "believe." I asked them if a non-beliver, a baby raised in some non-Christian country, for instance, would get to heaven, or spend eternity in hell. Well, the Bible is pretty clear on that -- hellsville for the little children -- tough luck on them. No matter how loving and charitable and giving and every other thing we consider quality in a human being -- it is to the hellsville dumpster for them, cuz they didn't believe. But "believers" can cheat, steal, fornicate, lie, doublecross others, etc -- and they have a direct pass to Heaven.
Ya gotta get a kick out of looney religions and their nutty believers. It always makes me smile (except when they grab the hot coals and try to burn out the eyes of us disbelievers.)
Actually, the Bible was written by Catholics.
Since leaving the Catholic Church, I've found that God does not seem to be upset. I've never been closer to God in my life than I am today. This, after years of Sunday school, church (hated it always), "sacraments," and all the gobledygook.
I left the church, and think that the Bible is a good story, but it is a story, written by men. Good reading, 1000 years ago. Yet I've never been closer to God than today. When I am willing to listen, that is. Which is shamefully not often enough.
It is a lot harder to find God on your own, than to sit, confused, on a bench every Sunday. Watching the guy next to you, to see how much he put on the plate. But it is worth it.
Ooooh, rough stuff. But accurate nonetheless. It's high time for a resurgence of full-bodied maleness among the followers of Christ, but don't expect to figure out what it should look like from anything you might have seen through the lens of the current poisonous culture.
My younger daughter has been working overtime and is surprised that the heavy schedule drains her so much. Her boyfriend has been working 20-plus shifts (not every day, mind you!) and he is still going. I told her, "Guys are tough, and we enjoy running 'pedal to the metal'. You can't expect to do the same -- you're a woman." It's a self-evident fact, but can you imagine how weird it was to say this out loud, given the 30-plus year-long feminist propaganda barrage to the effect that there really is no difference?
Let's recover the freedom to be what we ought, and stop pretending to be what we ain't!
When men buy into this stuff, like the Promise Keeper attenders you mention, they can be controlled by the men in charge of the religion, using the same interpretations of the "scriptures" that the old time rulers used to keep people in subjugation to the crown. Is it any wonder that there is a "King James" version of the Bible??!!
This is perhaps one of "lowest IQ" responses I've ever seen on FR. Dear Dr, GET HELP. Bloviations do not followers make~
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