Franc28
Seasoned Citizen
Posts: 144
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Post by Franc28 on May 5, 2004 22:42:52 GMT -5
Franc28 So you think that education and wealth are the same as virtue? I think you'll need to back that one up. I don't know where you got that idea. I never said that. So what are you talking about ? All I said is that the statistics about jail residents remain valid, whatever the underlying causation is.
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Post by AuntieSocial on May 6, 2004 7:32:50 GMT -5
Regardless of the drug/education issue, I feel that the prison population is useful in one instance. I have used the statistics before, and will again. Usually, it is when a theist asks what motivation an atheist has for being moral when we don't believe in a heaven. My usual answer is that we respect this life (as it is the only one we will have), and have developed personal ethical systems without the need of a God. I use the prison population as an indication that we tend to uphold and revere the secular laws (instead of hoping for absolution. I usually try to determine if the individual I am talking to believes in absolution first. And they usually tell me the only offence that can't be absolved if blasphemy.) I agree, Yaw that a large portion of the prison population in the US is in there because of drug infractions, however, even if those figures were factored out, I'm sure that you would still see a significant difference between those who believe and those who don't. Oh, and for everyone's reference, the here's the statistics zoul referenced.
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