Studies in th Journal of Personal and Social Psychology (JPSP) going back to 1967 show that religion, or lack of it, is not an indicator of charitable or altruistic behavior. In fact in one test, in which students were given a questionnaire that quizzed them on their backgrounds, including religious affiliation, then given a test in which they had opportunities to cheat. The only grouping by religious affiliation in which a majority of test-takers did NOT cheat was - atheists (Smith, Wheeler & Diener, "Faith Without Works," Journl of Applied Social Psychology 5:320-30, 1973).

You can always ask yourself who is the more worthy of admiration: someone who is charitable because they fear eter...

Studies in th Journal of Personal and Social Psychology (JPSP) going back to 1967 show that religion, or lack of it, is not an indicator of charitable or altruistic behavior. In fact in one test, in which students were given a questionnaire that quizzed them on their backgrounds, including religious affiliation, then given a test in which they had opportunities to cheat. The only grouping by religious affiliation in which a majority of test-takers did NOT cheat was - atheists (Smith, Wheeler & Diener, "Faith Without Works," Journl of Applied Social Psychology 5:320-30, 1973).

You can always ask yourself who is the more worthy of admiration: someone who is charitable because they fear eternal damnation, or someone who is charitable because they believ it's the right and proper thing to do.