This article states the obvious that atheists such as me are more analytical thinkers than religious individuals. However, I wouldn’t call religious people as having a strong sense of morality, as some of the most immoral people in the world are highly religious. Instead, I would say that religious people tend to be much more emotional than non-religious people.
Morality and religion are like oil and water, they don’t mix. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: The Telegraph
Atheists may struggle to see anything positive about religion because unemotional logic rules their brains, a new study suggests.
Non-religious people are more likely to be analytical thinkers, researchers say, while those who are intensely religious will have a strong sense of morality.
They also found that decreasing empathy among non-religious participants in the study corresponded to increasing dogmatism.
It suggests militant atheists “may lack the insight to see anything positive about religion [as] they can only see that it contradicts their scientific, analytical thinking”.
But while the analytical left side of the brain appears to rule the non-religious dogmatist’s mind, the opposite is true for those with staunch religious beliefs.
“It suggests that religious individuals may cling to certain beliefs, especially those which seem at odds with analytic reasoning, because those beliefs resonate with their moral sentiments,” said PhD student Jared Friedman, a co-author of the study.
Anthony Jack, associate professor of philosophy and co-author of the research, added “emotional resonance helps religious people to feel more certain”.
“The more moral correctness they see in something, the more it affirms their thinking,” he explains.
“In contrast, moral concerns make nonreligious people feel less certain.”
In both groups, higher critical reasoning skills were associated with lower levels of dogmatism.
However researchers warned that untempered empathy can be dangerous, Jack said: “Terrorists, within their bubble, believe it’s a highly moral thing they’re doing. They believe they are righting wrongs and protecting something sacred.”
The majority of participants in the study identified as Christian or non-religious; Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim participants also took part.
More than 900 people completed tests assessing dogmatism, empathetic concern, aspects of analytical reasoning, and prosocial intentions.
The study by Case Western Reserve University was published in the Journal of Religion and Health.
