I for one would like to see a study that shows that people who read bible are more moral than people who don't read bible (or people who play video games). In my anecdotal evidence, there is no real correlation, but hey, science.
They've already pirated the software so it's not morality, it's guilt.
Terrible wording aside, I think the two have both intersecting and unique qualities, guilt and morality, that depending on the person will be called into play at various points in the decision making process.
Disclaimer: IANAbehaviorist, I was just raised by one, and nearly married to one.
Maybe. Because it is a question on which significant numbers of people differ, it would be a poor choice for such a study.
> Is admitting that "Mohammed is the final messanger [sic] of God" moral or immoral?
No.
> Is calling the Pope God's representative on earth moral or immoral?
No.
> Is calling Jesus devine [sic] moral or immoral?
No.
> Until you can define what you're trying to measure, you cannot do any study.
Not every action is moral or immoral, and some actions have a moral component but it is debated which is preferable. On the other hand, LOTS of actions have clearly defined and widely accepted morality. Construct your study so you measure whether participants take more than their share of M&Ms or whether they cheat on the test when they think it will be undetectable.
True, but there are some actions which some people think are moral, and some think are immoral. The religious questions I gave are like that. People disagree about whether an action is moral or immoral. Some Christians will think that it's moral and right and good to call Jesus divine (and a sin and immoral to claim the opposite), whereas some (say) Muslims will think that it's blashpemy and wrong and immoral to call Jesus divine (and a moral and good thing to claim the opposite).
The incarceration rates of atheists vs christians in the US are quite telling.
Seems like 0.07% from survey by Federal Bureau of Prisons.
1. I don't think the data actually exists. The commonly cited figure of 0.2% atheists is extremely dubious.
2. There are too many confounding factors and hidden variables. A plurality of Hindus speak Hindi, but believing in Hinduism neither causes, nor is caused by speaking Hindi. Likewise, if atheists are underrepresented in prisons, there are just too many simple demographic explanations to draw any conclusions about morality.