And what areas would be considered wealthy but not religious? Most first world countries, while maybe not devoutly religious, still follow some form of religion. Or so I thought. Even in America the phrase 'in God we trust' is printed on their money.

The overwhelmingly vast majority of crime is committed by asantaists.

Enough said. 🎅

Judges I know of usually base their sentences on a number of things, like the person's employment record, rap sheet, mental health history, work in the community, letters attesting to character and such. I'd be surprised if it was religion as the reason or only reason.

Faith in the west is now an after thought. In America it probably holds the most influence but its nothing compared to places like the middle east where its at the forefront of everything.

The only growing religion in the west is Islam and thats because of mass immigration over a sustained period. Atheism or non committed believers (those who claim to be religious on a form but are in no way religious) are growing. But then we are more progressive here. progression kills belief.

No, the majority have ticked a box to say they are religious, something quite different. The article makes it clear that "24% of prisoners in 2010 claimed to be Anglicans, 17% Roman Catholics, 7% other Christians, 12% Muslims, and 5% of other faiths"
There are various reasons why someone might tick a box on entry to prison, the idea that that because a criminal ticked a box they must be practicing adherence to that faith is pretty far fetched,

As I've already said it's expedient to claim a religion, it's also simply a cultural identifier that people tick in the box.

That is a hell of a long way to reach a conclusion that religious thinking is intrinsically connected to criminal activity


Irrelevant for the reasons posted. And correlation is not causality.


Then I'd hang loose on that conclusion until more studies are conducted.


Yes but we have other factors involved here, cultural, socio economic, And if you're going to pick out gangs from highly religious countries well you're going to get a highly religious percentage in those gangs. What about gangs and criminal activity in highly secular countries, do the statistics remain the same




I'd like a link to the studies that prove causation and not correlation, the only thing I can see here is religion will not prevent criminal activity, especially when influenced by socio economic and cultural values. Well I think we all knew that.

The idea that criminal activity is specifically linked to this and the contra indication that atheism produces law abiding citizens, not so much.

Yes and in many prisons, those who tick the boxes get out of the cells for religious service time.

Well of course but its all we have to base it on. They ticked the box so therefore consider themselves religious. Who are you to dictate to someone what they believe or dont?

Is this a god given opportunity to make projections on personal "opinion" I ask myself.

Frequently they're ticking the box of the religion they were raised in. Doesn't mean they are practicing, going to church or mosque, or even praying other than that God lets them beat the case so they can go do it again.

All evidence so far supports the theory that criminals are more likely to be religious. That doesnt mean religion is the cause, only that they are religious.

Ive provided a few links above to show this. Our prisons are full of religious people.

Eventually the obvious becomes apparent.

I'm sorry but not in the case you make.

Who exactly mentioned practicing?

If someone ticks a box stating they follow a particular faith, then they follow that faith.

What do you mean by follow the faith?

As I see it a lot of people just mention the one they were raised in.

Im sorry that you are wrong but theres little I can do about it. Clearly you cant possibly bring yourself to see whats in front of you. You demonstrated it post after post in the other atheist bashing thread.

Meanwhile, I just keep providing the facts and statistics. You, nothing.

Despite what religion has tried to brainwash into society for centuries, there is no set requirement for how to follow a faith. Its ultimately down to the individual.

So without asking each individual, all we have is the fact hey state they are religious. It is irrelevant how they follow their particular faith.

Perhaps because the atheists who do commit crimes aren't labelled as such in media reports of their arrests. It will be just "Student rapes young woman", "Teacher touched young boys", "34 year old unemployed labourer robs bank" or "Taxi Driver stabs Yorkshire man". Therefore, it's impossible to tell how many of the people who commit crimes (and whose religious beliefs or lack thereof aren't mentioned in media reports) are atheists.

Well no fz is correct in that in the U.S. at least, being in prison is more related to race and poverty than anything else. And many minorities are Protestant.

The wealthy for one can afford better lawyers and make plea deals.

Many criminals drift away from religion to commit crimes and return to church when they are turning their lives around.

Religion can also help lower crime in black communities.

Opinion.

The facts are, most people in US and UK prisons are religious.

See, religious folk tend to have a hard time accepting bad people are religious to and try to dismiss it or claim they're not really religious. This of course doesn't wash.

The best current example is the denial of Isis terrorists being muslims.

Well you can ask individuals what they mean when they say they are religious. I have asked, maybe many hundreds as my own personal informal sample.

And I would say that mostly, the ones who are committing crimes and still committing them, are just ticking a box, don't go to church, don't pray or maybe they do pray once in a while but it is mostly to ask God get out of legal trouble.

The one who are genuinely changing will go back to church, start praying to change their lives or for forgiveness.

Do you have to go to church to be religious then. Church, mosque etc?

What makes someone religious then. Lets quantify it here.

1. Must attend religious ceremony
2. Must pray a minimum of 2 times per day
3...

No one is saying bad people aren't religious. They can be religious or not religious.

But having more religious in prison correlates with race and poverty, that you are overlooking.

You don't see a higher proportion of Black Protestant lawyers and doctors in prison, for example. Or white college professors. So it's not being Protestant that correlates with staying out of prison, it's wealth and education.

And Catholics have a smaller representation in prison.

The fact is most people in prison claim they're innocent.

What they claim and what they are is another matter.

You seem to be trying extra hard to essentially criminalise the religious for your own purposes. That seems to be increasingly common among online atheists this marginalisation of anyone not atheist. It's like atheism's gone from being a philosophical concept with a long history and heritage of thinkers, to a pub brawl hate group.

Well there's a difference in practicing and non practicing, let's put it that way.

And I linked above to a study of how religion lowers crime in certain communities.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4384046

Then you have not read what Blair gave as her reasons. Religion; or lack of it should not be a factor in sentancing at all.
Try to be honest here; would you be defending this if a persons atheism was given as a reason to reduce a punishment?