A study published Wednesday found that atheists are more likely to think that people who do good things are religious, which sort of makes my brain hurt.
You read that correctly: atheists associate a belief in God with “being generous, helpful and caring to a much greater extent,” study co-author Colin Holbrook said, according to EurekAlert. The research was conducted by a team from University California Merced, finding a direct set of biases linking the stereotype of being an “extraordinarily good person” with “being religious.”
Participants in the study were asked to read a prompt about a man engaging in very moral behavior, “from helping stray animals as a child to, as an adult, giving food and clothes to homeless people. Sometimes, during bitingly cold weather, he offered a spare room to homeless families,” the study noted. They were then asked whether they presumed the man was an atheist or if he believed in God, and whether or not he was a teacher.
American respondents were 20 times more likely to believe the man was religious, showing a direct correlation between the subconscious understanding of faith and being a good person.
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These results should be championed by conservatives the country over. Not only does it show an incredible social truth: that Christians are not the awful, judgmental, terrible people progressives love to hate. Actually, the study found that atheists tend to be associated with negative behaviors.
“Our evidence indicates that people stereotype believers as more likely to care about and help others. But this theoretical model suggests that the stereotype might actually have had merit in the past as major religions grew or may possibly be true even now — people who believe in God might actually be more likely to help others,” Holbrook added. “The evidence that believers are more prosocial is currently mixed, and it’s a question that calls for more research.” (RELATED:
Why not use this opportunity to start one of the largest social experiments in American history, and prove the stereotype correct? It would also be pretty cool if atheists proved their stereotype incorrect too.
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“Strangers with little in common beyond their shared spiritual beliefs in moralizing gods might be more inclined to trust and less inclined to exploit one another,” Holbrook noted. (RELATED: The Most Incredible Biblical Discoveries Of 2023)
Those of us who have faith, who believe in the higher power of God — no matter your faith — why not prove the atheists right: we are better at doing good things than them. In fact, I believe we’re so good at doing good things, we’ll even do great things for atheists the country-over. Why?
Because God didn’t put us here to judge. He put us here to help. What are you doing to further his cause?
