Pew Research did a survey 'study' (a quantitative research not qualitative study) asking the question can you be a moral person without God. First of all, what does it mean to be a moral person and to ask can you be such without God suggests that one acknowledges God exists; otherwise, He would not be part of the question. Ask yourself...Can you be a decent decent citizen without laws (likely people would say no)? Can you be a rational loving parent without parental guidance (likely the answer would be no)? Can you be a good 'well read in many subjects' teacher without being taught by a good 'well read' teacher? No! Can you be a good employee without a good boss (well... here many would say yes but then why do we have bosses/managers)?
Somehow, most people do seem to know what it means to be good as in kind and emphatic toward someone else's suffering. Where does that come from? The amount of people's kindness and empathy differ by culture. Here in the US, many Americans are relativistic, that means that because they have feelings about someone or something they must be right about that. My good may or may not be your kind of 'good'.
Back to the study... in a recent Pew research, a report on religion in everyday life, Pew asked unaffiliated (nones) people whether beliefs are essential to be a “moral person.” According to Pew Research, the 'nones' those who declare no religious affiliation seem to be the more moral. For the unaffiliated, honesty tops the list, with about 58 percent of the nones saying that “being honest at all times” was essential to being a moral person. Any social scientists and social science report should never use the word "seems to be. We say, based on the numbers, we presume that this number of people are likely to... and yes that may sound like 'seem'. Agreed. But, let us remember then that is seems like and that is not the truth in any way shape or form. It is just likely.
In a country like America, According to Pew, there is an overwhelming majority of American people who do belong to some sort of religion. If are talking about a minority of people who say otherwise, we are observing a deviation from the norm which is what the majority does or believes. But, today, given our relativistic view on life, social scientists can see that or say that.
Pew reported that it discovered some other essentials that the unaffiliated believe make a moral person are being grateful for what you have (53 percent), committing to spend time with family (47 percent), forgiving those who have wronged you (39 percent), and working to protect the environment (35 percent). It appears that such respondents actually read the Bible because that is what Jesus Christ's ministry was about.
What Pew does not seem to recognize is that we are God's creation and we have his law written on our hearts or in our default mode. Those that don't recognize the Creator are still running on His default mode, because they can't escape it. We can also recognize that the majority has disseminated their information and it has reached all people in the group. That means that everyone knows Christ's teachings from believers only that they have fallen into denial or rebellion.
Pew's research question is flawed. We are created beings and created in the image of the Creator. All information that exists in the social imagination about living, being, loving come from the Creator.Sounds like there is no way out. For the time being that is likely the problem. Its called data embeddedness. Once programs have been programmed, it is difficult to upgrade them or update them or even delete what was once originally programmed because it contains original information.
What Pew or other social scientists fail to realize is that by thinking about God, the question if He is or not, already suggests He is built in us... its only our problem to recognize Him. You see, in social imagination, there is nothing that we imagine which does not exist. What about aliens? Truly, if we imagine 'alien's then they are not aliens. Further discussion on future blog.
*... if Pew has to ask how to be good without God, it acknowledges that He is and that He is Creator.
Here is another flaw in social science stats. Recently, a Reuter/Ipsos poll asked Americans aged 18 to 29 if they were in favor of letting transgender people use the restroom of their identity, the results were a 2-to-1 ratio. Which only means that this age group is closer to being fairly divided rather than 100% in favor. Among Americans aged 60 or more, the ratio was 2-to-1 in reverse with people saying restroom use should be mandated by the gender on one's birth certificate. Such a 'polarized' poll is unfair. It is not representative of the public at large. The report on this poll only tells us that millennials are likely to be more open to the idea. The report tries to show favorably of LBGT bathrooms through this younger age group which again is not representative of all Americans and not all American women, though the article tries to sell it that way. Again, we should wonder why Reuters/Ipsos did not ask married men/women with children. The problem with the study is that it is misleading. Again, this younger age group which was targeted to show a positive result (probably by the same age group working for Reuters/Ipsos) is hardly representative of all Americans on this sensitive topic. Looking at this millennial generation, we can often observe a self absorbed generation which if asked about getting paid to show up for a job interview would check or say 'Yes'. Again, Why didn't Reuters ask married women with children or married men with children. Sadly, no one pays attention to stats which show that young adult American students by comparison worldwide score the highest in self esteem not science. ~ For details on the study, check Reuters/Ipsos website
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