Why do people still worship a 'higher power'

[clever_username]

No. If 80% of Americans classify themselves as Christians and 59% of prison inmates are religious that doesn't mean religious people are less likely to go to prison. You have to look at the inmate population as a whole. If 59% of the inmate population is Christian that means that a MAJORITY of criminals are christians, Thus refuting the idea that christianity has any positive effect on morality. Below 10% of the American population is in Prison so that's why we see the difference of 80% Americans being christian and only 59% in Prison being christian. You don't compair the population on the outside to that on the inside. You take the population on the inside as a whole and compaire it to itself to see what percent of Criminals are christians.

I disagree. It's from the American adult population that the prison popultion is constructed, so if that input stream is disproportionately less in makeup for one classification, I would say that classification is less likely.

[clever_username]

The argument could be made, though, that Christians may be less likely to be prosecuted and convicted due to socioeconomic and/or racial factors, which throws our simplified data a big curve.

[Johnny Apollo]

I disagree. It's from the American adult population that the prison popultion is constructed, so if that input stream is disproportionately less in makeup for one classification, I would say that classification is less likely.

The input stream itself is extremly small compaired to the population.


If ALL americans went to prison then your 80%/59% would be true.

But only a small minority of about 4% or so of Americans are currently in Prison. While a whopping 59% of them are Christians.

[Johnny Apollo]

The argument could be made, though, that Christians may be less likely to be prosecuted and convicted due to socioeconomic and/or racial factors, which throws our simplified data a big curve.

It's true that parrol officers do smile upon religious fundamentalism.

Supposedly a guy who worships an imaginary being in the sky is better able to function in society than somoene who doesn't...

[clever_username]

4% is still 12 million. That's a big enough sample size....

Again though, I would say we are debating simplified numbers. I'm sure the true variables have filled more than a doctoral dissertation or two.

[Johnny Apollo]

4% is still 12 million. That's a big enough sample size....

Again though, I would say we are debating simplified numbers. I'm sure the true variables have filled more than a doctoral dissertation or two.

Right. so the sample size is 12 million in and of itself. You don't copaire it from where the sample came from or else your numbers will get mixed.


In short all you have to remember is this "The majority of criminals are Christians."

[clever_username]

Right. so the sample size is 12 million in and of itself. You don't copaire it from where the sample came from or else your numbers will get mixed.


In short all you have to remember is this "The majority of criminals are Christians."

Still don't agree. If you assume that any randomly-selected adult from the US population has an equal propensity of going to prison, then so long as you draw enough samples (12 million certainly is enough), then you would expect your prison population demographics to be identitical. But, at 80% versus 59%, it is not, therefore based on this simple argument, Christians have less propensity.

Agian, though, I do beleive there are other mitigating factors outside of declared religion that determine a population's likelihood for imprisionment.