I have felt this is true for years. But now, the facts come out to prove it. Thank God (pun intended).
A study founded by the University of Chicago shows that kids raised without religion show more kindness and altruism.
The study looked at 1170 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years in six countries (Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey, USA, and South Africa). The study examined “the religiousness of their household, and parent-reported child empathy and sensitivity to justice.”
Here's what the study found: “family religious identification decreases children’s altruistic behaviors” and “children from religious households are harsher in their punitive tendencies.”
In other words, kids raised in a household void of religion are more kind and generous.
The study notes:
Across all countries, parents in religious households reported that their children expressed more empathy and sensitivity for justice in everyday life than non-religious parents. However, religiousness was inversely predictive of children’s altruism and positively correlated with their punitive tendencies. Together these results reveal the similarity across countries in how religion negatively influences children’s altruism, challenging the view that religiosity facilitates prosocial behavior.
This is fascinating, as a big part of the atheist vs religious debate stems around whether kinds would intuitively have morals and ethics without religion. I always thought this was obvious. Kids don't need to be scared into behaving nicely in order for them to realize that's a better way to live for all.
What do you think of this study??