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Belief in Heaven, Hell Alters Crime Rates

Believers in heaven more likely to be unlawful: study

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 25, 2012 7:08 PM CDT

(Newser) – If God is going to let you off easy, why not commit the crime? That sums up the findings of a study by two US professors who say that countries with a belief in hell have lower crime rates than those with a greater belief in heaven, the Daily Mail reports. The researchers looked for mentions of heaven, hell, and God in surveys of more than 143,000 participants in 67 countries between 1981 and 2007.

"I think it's an important clue about the differential effects of supernatural punishment and supernatural benevolence," said Azim Shariff of the University of Oregon. Last year, he wrote an article saying that undergrads who believed in a forgiving God were more likely to cheat than those who believed in a punishing God. "There is less of a divine deterrent," he said. In 2003, Harvard researchers found that developed countries performed better economically if the population believed more in hell than in heaven.

Believers in hell are less likely to commit crimes, study says.
Believers in hell are less likely to commit crimes, study says.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 96 comments
MasterOfSparks
Jun 26, 2012 7:18 PM CDT
I had an interesting experience recently. I found myself in a religious debate (on youtube) with someone whose name ended with 44. I guessed that was his age when he signed up. It turned out, though, that he was only 15 and I had to terminate the discussion. But the interesting part was that, even though he was able to write on a surprising adult level about a number of different topics, when he discussed certain religious views his writing descended to about a 8 year old level at best. It was like he was accessing programmed memories from his childhood without yet being able to wrap them in adult terminology. My theory is that those who have religion pounded into them as children revert to a childish mentality when they think on the topic while those who come to Christianity as adults think about it in terms of an alcoholic or drug abuser or whatever their own personal screwed up story that invariably accompanies the desperation that caused them to seek out something they could cling to as a crutch. I think that would make a much more interesting topic for research than the one currently under discussion.
Nimitz
Jun 26, 2012 3:12 PM CDT
This study only 'proves' that there are a lot of crazy, misinformed people in the world.  Even universalists understand that nobody gets off scot-free.  Each of us has to pay for our misdeeds one way or other.  Even when punishment is redemptive (as opposed to destructive) in nature/scope, there is STILL punishment.  I call it 'empathy therapy.'
ZAXXON
Jun 26, 2012 10:14 AM CDT
Its all bull  all we have is science Humans cant handle the unanswered Keep believing in talking snakes and pregnant virgins and crusty men parting seas. I'd sooner believe in Mario and Luigi saving a princess

 
crime rate • religious beliefs • heaven • hell

 
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