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To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (13978)	6/2/2007 1:31:02 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

I think many people would still say religion forms their basis of what is right and wrong (even for those people who don't actually know what their religion says- and according to polls, that's a pretty big percentage). I don't think anyone is saying it's "just" wired in morality. I think what researchers are finding is that certain concepts- like fairness- are possibly wired in, and that various societies work these wired in concepts, usually by using an overlayment of religion. That explains why most religions cover the same well worn moral territory. And of course many scientists suspect that humans are wired for mysticism as well as morality. If you combine those two proclivities you could predit that creatures would evolve mystic systems that comported with their underlying moral wiring- and when you look at comparative religions, isn't that pretty much what we see?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (13978)	6/2/2007 3:36:45 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

A moral sense being hardwired into humanity to a certain extent is taught by the Bible - Romans 2:15 - where it is said "in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them". So this would be another case of physical evidence being found which supports the Bible. But it would be wrong to think that religion doesn't support and raise the hardwired moral sense. Consider the findings of economist Arthur Brooks that religious people are profoundly more generous than non-religious (if human morality were only limited to that which is inborn there should be no such difference): In 2000, religious people gave about three and a half times as much as secular people — $2,210 versus $642. And even when religious giving is excluded from the numbers, Mr. BROOKS found, religious people still give $88 more per year to nonreligious charities. He writes that religious people are more likely than the nonreligious to volunteer for secular charitable activities, give blood, and return money when they are accidentally given too much change. "There is not one measurably significant way I have ever found in which religious people are not more charitable than nonreligious people," Mr. BROOKS says. "The fact is, if it weren't for religious people in your community, the PTA would shut down." Byron R. Johnson, a sociology professor and co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, says he recently gathered data that show similar results — such as high levels of civic engagement among religious people — while assembling a report on faith in America that was released in September. "It was not surprising to me that the lil ol' farmer in South Dakota outgave people in San Francisco," Mr. Johnson says. "But I think to the everyday citizen, this might strike them as counterintuitive." SOURCE: Who Really Cares (Basic Books) philanthropy.com