University of Oregon Professor Azim Shariff and University of Kansas Professor Mijke Rhemtulla published an interesting study in the scientific journal PloS One finding that people who believe in heaven are more likely to commit a crime. It appears that the promise of fire and brimstone of hell is a far greater motivator for good conduct than the harps and cherubs of Heaven.


The study also found that people who believe in hell are less likely to commit a crime. A curious contrast. The data base for the study is huge — the professors collected data from surveys conducted between 1981 until 2007 with 143,197 participants in 67 countries.

The conclusion appears to be a bit of an extrapolation. It appears not based on individual accounts and actions but the comparison of national beliefs with national crime statistics. They compared the beliefs in these countries with data for homicides, robberies, rapes, kidnappings, assaults, thefts, auto thefts, drug crimes, burglaries and human trafficking. I was a bit skeptical about such an extrapolation since countries can have a myriad of different collateral influences. However, the professors do take these variables into consideration in reaching their intriguing conclusion:

Though religion has been shown to have generally positive effects on normative ‘prosocial’ behavior, recent laboratory research suggests that these effects may be driven primarily by supernatural punishment. Supernatural benevolence, on the other hand, may actually be associated with less prosocial behavior. Here, we investigate these effects at the societal level, showing that the proportion of people who believe in hell negatively predicts national crime rates whereas belief in heaven predicts higher crime rates. These effects remain after accounting for a host of covariates, and ultimately prove stronger predictors of national crime rates than economic variables such as GDP and income inequality. Expanding on laboratory research on religious prosociality, this is the first study to tie religious beliefs to large-scale cross-national trends in pro- and anti-social behavior."


I forget where this type of thinking would go on Kohlberg's Scale of Moral Development, but if I recall not very high.

A Christian believes that there is forgiveness so they are at liberty to sin, but they also believe in the love of God and what He stands for and have accepted Him into their hearts so that the desire to sin is so much less. I do not want to do anything that my Father tells me not to do. He might forgive me but it would hurt His heart and this I do not want to do.

A Christian believes that there is forgiveness so they are at liberty to sin,

Im thinking, maybe there are those who believe in a heaven in which everyone is admitted regardless of the lives they lived , some do believe Jesus death forgave everyone of anything they may do

and some just dont believe God would commit anyone to hellfire or to eternal death for committing any sins,,,


I guess THOSE PEOPLE wouldnt be deterred at all from committing sin or crime

,,,,while those who believe in a HELL, by definition, do have some deterrent,,,

I've said it before and I will say it again, if you need a threat of hellfire to tell you it's wrong to steal, it's wrong to murder, it's wrong to cheat on a spouse etc, then you need more help than that damn religion is gonna ever give you. EVERYONE knows these things are wrong, you don't need some book or empty threat to tell you that.

IF you believe that the mortal life is but a wink compared to eternal life,, knowing something is 'wrong' may not deter you if that 'wrong' gives you more fulfillment than the consequence will grief


people have even convinced themself it isnt 'wrong' unless it has some obvious immediate negative affect or consequence,,,

Depends what culture you come from Kliesto and what, if anything, 'caregivers' & society norms have taught you. This study was an international study. An example; a certain culture esteems a scammer's ability to make alot of money by stealing via scamming.

Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe just MAYBE the world isn't so black and white as you think it to be and rather things are more gray? No of course not, because your book says it is so, so it MUST be true. Think outside of it for one second, you might actually learn something.

And what exactly is so bad about doing something that gives fulfillment to you? If it's not harming anyone else and it's making you happy how is that wrong? Hint, it's not.

Any good parent would want their children to be happy and be doing something that gives their lives meaning. Thus, God would be the same. It would make NO sense for God to act in a way that we wouldn't.

My point was though these are UNIVERSAL laws, you don't need a book or religion to tell you they're bad or harmful. It's a common sense thing. Whether people apply it is another matter, but it's clear to all it is bad, and it WILL catch up with you if you do it long enough.