Religion Makes Children What?...

I don't much care about the Starbucks kerfuffle. But this article that came out saying the researchers had shown that "religious children" were more selfish/mean than other children made me snort my coffee (yes...Starbucks, red cup).

Have they not met children?

The researcher found this by accident--looking for empathy or sharing across cultures. Instead he found what he attributes to "moral licensing:"

Why are religious people less moral? One factor is a psychological phenomenon known as ‘moral licensing’: a person will justify doing something bad or immoral – like being racist – because they’ve already done something ‘good’, such as praying. “It’s an unconscious bias,” Decety explains. “They don’t even see that’s not compatible with what they’ve been learning in church.”

I don't disagree. But did you also study the non-religious children who "helped clean the dishes" who were willing to start WWIII over the last cookie because "I helped and you didn't"? Did they study the non-religious children who gave mom a hug, then smacked their sibling because they wouldn't share the TV remote?

I get the "moral licensing." But the following insinuation that, therefore, religion is not a good thing for children just doesn't wash.

Not one major religion in the world advocates selfish behavior. Not. One. And as much as we might like to, once we see what adulthood is all about, we do not stay children. We do, if we practice religion as an adult, work on our tendency toward moral licensing. Sometimes we succeed.

Having met children, I would like to practice religion with them...the religion that at least makes an effort to overcome our selfish, mean tendencies. The alternative is pretty grim.

And, if you disagree, I may hit you...

Cause I work in a church, ya know...