Are Christians Moral?

Part of the belief in Christianity is the belief that any “religion” is better than atheism.  Even a moderate form of secularized religion is to be preferred over atheism.  After all, a secularist might not oppose the recruiting efforts of churches.  The secularist might also be willing to ignore even blatant corruption in the church because of a general respect for Religion and The Religious.  This certainly was the attitude of Ben Franklin.  He thought that church was a waste of a Sunday, but at the same time Franklin contributed money to many churches and thought that religion was important to maintaining a moral and “honest” society.  Franklin believed that religion was very good — for his neighbors.

The scientific evidence, however, suggests just the opposite.  Every study done on this topic, comparing the Atheists with The Religious, suggests that Atheists are more moral and ethical.  The statistical evidence is clear.  Prisons are full of Christians and Muslims, but there are only a tiny number of atheists, compared with the general population.  Atheists are also better educated and more successful in their careers. 

At the same time, there are news stories coming out almost daily about religious pedophiles, ministers who steal from the church funds, and church youth leaders who seduce the teens who are put in their care.  Although teenage pregnancy is a pervasive problem in our society, religious schools are especially fertile ground for this problem.  At our local parochial school, the girl who is elected senior Prom Queen is typically selected from among the one or two senior cheerleaders who aren’t “showing” yet.  The children of The Religious have higher rates of venereal disease and higher rates of out-of-wedlock pregnancy.  They also tend to be poorly educated and caught in dead-end jobs.

Yet the myth persists that The Religious are better or more moral than atheists or secular folk.  This is probably a case where recruiting new members and religious self-promotion (vitally necessary to any religion) has led the public to form a questionable opinion.  That is, because the churches are always talking about morality and the breakdown of ethics in society, people wrongly believe that The Religious are moral.  
  

On the contrary, The Religious almost always support the appearance of morality over the substance.  I’ve known many Christian businessmen who are good at “talking up” the idea of religion and morality, but I can’t think of one I would trust to hold my wallet.  The Religious often “talk a good game” but are generally more dishonest than you might imagine.  A businessman who touts his religion is, like the religious politicians, simply using his phony image to deceive his next victim.  Religion is often used as a “front” to hide the pervasive corruption.  Think of The Sopranos.