Comments on Epiphenom: Blood donations: religious and non-religious are e...

If nothing else, you would expect religious ser...

2010-04-16T01:36:19.332+01:00
If nothing else, you would expect religious service attenders to donate more, simply because (in the US at least) conscientious and dutiful people are expected to do both.

Not everyone can give blood. Though it's easy to assume that a blood donation is as easy to give as a monetary donation, that is certainly not the case.

@alias Edmund: by generous I mean altruistic acts,...

2010-04-13T19:43:16.968+01:00
@alias Edmund: by generous I mean altruistic acts, but you are right that the devil is in the detail. For example, if a rich person votes for a political party that favours taxing the rich, then does that count as a generous act?

From an evolutionary perspective, many anthropologists have proposed that religion came about as a way to increase pro-social behaviour and so increase the success of the group. There are, of course, lots of other ways to do that (tattoos, uniforms - even marching in step and singing). Religion provides a way to bind this together and give them ritual, sacred meaning.

Jehova Witness's won't be taking advantage...

2010-04-13T18:49:37.652+01:00
Jehova Witness's won't be taking advantage of any blood donations any time soon. They'd rather die than to take a blood donation. Another way religion hurts people.

How to operationalize the statement "Religiou...

2010-04-13T16:06:07.149+01:00
How to operationalize the statement "Religious people are more generous than others"? This is difficult because moral judgments are not objective(if anything is). Did the study tell what kind of action is generous according to religious people?

There are many factors which may prohibit religious people to act generously in some particular action. These factors may not have anything to do with religion. For example working-hours, sickness, family(hurry) etc..
Even antireligious campaigns may make them feel unwanted and make them withdraw from public life.

Tribe-like behavior is normal to all people, so it would be interesting to know how religious and anti-religious people define generosity.

Which actions in common society cannot be defined as tools to increase group solidarity? I think economics, advertising, material welfare, food production, culture: theatre, movies, TV, meals etc... can all be seen as tools for group solidarity. So how much this explains just religion? Even smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol can be solidarity for the group..