Hazarding an assumption here, I blame you not for holding this stereotype. It has been ingrained into your mind since birth, and by no accident either.
This stereotype of disposition - that religious people tend to be more altruistic than other people - festoons a poisonous fallacy that begets a broader, more unfortunate reality. In the daring words of Christopher Hitchens, "religion poisons everything."
Big stuff. I like the images you create in your intro.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing empirical data on the matter. Great topic:)
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ReplyDeleteI have always wondered about this myth. My friends and I back home have been in many heated debates surrounding this topic. I for one think that altruism is independent of religion in that religion does not cause altruism. I feel like the two could be correlated on an individual basis, but for the masses there is too much variability to say the two are directly related.
ReplyDeleteI would like to note that while I would agree that it doesn't require religious motivation to be altruistic, I don't agree that it inhibits it either. Does Mr. Hitchins's belief that religion poisons everything apply to altruism? While i would say that "no, religion doesn't make someone more altruistic" I wouldn't say "yes, religion makes someone less altruistic." I suppose I'm just warning against attacking this myth so strongly that you create a new one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe! Fortunately, I refrained from using Christopher Hitchens as a source. I included him in my "read this not that" under non-recommended sources. But yes, if I were to believe Mr. Hitchens then religion would indeed inhibit altruism.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your presentation; I never known anything about the topic. I have two questions. Who song that song you were playing when you first presented your topic in class? And why did you pick this topic?
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