Does Religion Influence Epidemics? 547
sciencehabit writes "Whether or not they believe in God, evolutionary biologists may need to pay closer mind to religion. That's because religious beliefs can shape key behaviors in ways that evolutionary theory would not predict, particularly when it comes to dealing with disease. According to a new study, some of today's major religions emerged at the same time as widespread infectious diseases, and the two may have helped shape one another. The same dynamics may be reflected today in how people in Malawi deal with the AIDS epidemic."
Re:Translation: Religion is born .... (Score:5, Informative)
They really are. Religion is based on irrational answers to rational problems.
EG:
Where do earthquakes come from?
Religion: GOD!
Science: Tectonic movement
Pretty easy to see how mutually exclusive they are.
Re:Cue the fun.... (Score:4, Informative)
Some of us don't push it until cornered. Some of us don't poke back until poked. We've seen anti-atheists because they're everywhere and include yourself.
And you're practically surrounded by the religious right here on Slashdot. How do you ever manage?
Re:Is the Catholic church still against condoms? (Score:2, Informative)
No, the Vatican's official policy is that condoms are okay to use in the interest of preventing disease. It took way too long for them to reach that conclusion, so criticize them for that. But don't spread misinformation.
Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ? (Score:5, Informative)
Hitler was not an atheist. He himself may not have known what he really believed [wikipedia.org], but he wasn't an atheist. This is one of those things people should stop casually repeating :)
You also skirt round a key point: yes, religion is used to justify appalling acts, but as far as I know atheism never has been. Not once. No-one has ever said "We must kill these people because they believe in a god". Religion is harmful because it can be used in this way. It can be used as a propaganda tool in a way non-belief cannot. When a dictator says "These people are against God and must die"', there are people listening and nodding their heads in agreement. Enough people genuinely believe that such rationalisations are valid that it enables mass campaigns of murder and terror.
Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ? (Score:3, Informative)
It's killed more than most illnesses I've heard of. And still does.
Mao, Hitler and Stalin were atheists. The 30 years war, the Crusades, the Spanish inquisition, Al Queda were religious. Your point is? Most mass murder is because of greed, not religion. Religion is used to justify the greed in some cases. In other cases, politics or biology are used as justification. But greed is at the heart of almost all killing and war. An atheistic world would be neither more peaceful nor less peaceful because even atheists are just as greedy as everyone else.
Hitler was a Catholic. It is a widely believed misconception that Hitler was an atheist, just as it is a misconception that he was a vegetarian.
Hitler himself wrote in Mein Kampf... "I am convinced that I am acting as the agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews, I am doing the Lord's work."
Years later he was also quoted as telling General Gerhart Engel... "I am now, as before, a Catholic and will always remain so."
Nazi Germany worked with the Catholic Church who blessed troops and equipment. Each infantry soldier even wore a belt with a buckle inscribed "Gott mit uns" - God is with us.