Is it true that the rate of crime is lower in atheists?

Question

A Christian knows that as long as they repent, they can commit whatever crime they want. An atheist knows that once a crime is commited, nothing can take it back and they have to live with the guilt.
Seems like there is a greater likelyhood of criminal Christians...

Also, I heard the suicide rate is lower among atheists because they don't live with the constant guilt of being a disappointment to their Creator...

Mahal - if we were to graph education and atheism, the level of atheism goes up steadily as people are more educated.
It's true and proven, so suck my godless balls Mahal!

Answer 1

I know there's data on the crime rates and suicide. So yes, I do believe those are true (Unless I was looking at forged data). There's also a positive correlation between education and atheism. Which is why I find the following amusing:

"You're a good example of why I constantly refer to Atheists as "sub-human", a-moral, and uneducated. It's really easy for Christians to get the best of you in any debate. It really must be embarrassing for you." ~ Mahal

Oh, that's gotta be the funniest Fundie Xian I've seen in awhile. So much anger and ignorance.

Answer 2

Read this, this is the truth and not biased.
Dagestan, Nigeria, Kashmir, China, Israel, Thailand, Chechnya, Somalia, Sudan, Ivory coast, Afghanistan, Philippines, Indonesia,
Turkey/Greece, Kosovo, Pap new guinea, Chad, Eritrea, Iraq, Egypt
Lebanon, these are countries attacked by Islamic extremists almost every week. Not all terrorists are Islamic, just most. The Islamic religion is peaceful and murderous. Some parts it say not to kill, while other parts it say to kill. Its confusing, but Mohammed ( the Islamic prophet was a merchant, then a warrior who killed and slayed thousands ( that’s why its peaceful and murderous ). You’ve probably heard this that the war against terrorism is a jihad, it is. Islamic people can and are usually as peaceful as normal people. remember that. But on average the muslim people are stuck in a different era. People 100s or 1000s of years ago that were Christian treated woman like crap, killed people because of their religion, had dictators or kings and many other things. But the vast majority have evolded. So people don’t follow things under the bible ( example if you commit adultery you shall be stoned, killed to death by I think throwing rocks ). No Christian does that. But Islamic peoples are stuck in third world countries and are treating woman like crap, having dictators, killing other religions and so forth. The majority of the Islamic people need to turn modern. If there is an Islamic person they are just as normal as you as long as they are modern. It really isn’t mainly about there religion, its there stuck in a different era.

Answer 3

According to all the statistics I have found on the Internet yes it is true. Do a search for yourself and see. Some people have claimed that the statistics are inaccurate because people in prison have a better chance of getting out early if they claim to have " Found God " and that may be so.

The most interesting thing I found when I researched your question ( I started researching it last year ) was the near absence of agnostics in prison.

Another interesting fact I will leave you to find for yourself is to examine what the crimes are that each religious ( or non-religious ) group of people are in for. It will blow your mind.

Answer 4

Yeah I mean as an Atheist, if you commit a murder and are caught there when everything you remaining existance is a 10x10 cell where you could be raped, or snuffed out of existance. But as a christian you could find god in jail and win the spiritual lottery. A just god indeed.

Answer 5

Crime rates would be a hard thing to measure since you would have to use a questionnaire, and people would have to answer honestly. There aren't atheistic communities you could get the crime rates of. (Enforced atheism, like in North Korea, wouldn't be legit.)

As for the suicide rate, that would be an interesting study. However, and this is coming from a non-religious person, might the suicide rates in atheists be higher, since they know there is actually no meaning to life, and by taking their own, they are not disappointing a creator? Seems to me atheists have it tougher. We have to create our own meaning.

Answer 6

Not all Christians believe that way. JOhn saw that God judged men out of the books that contained their works.

Revelation 20:12-13

Answer 7

where did you find this info?

Mahal:
do you always condemn an entire popluation of people based on a few individuals? you give theists a very bad name

monica:
you are a moron. 'nuff said

yummygood:
christians commit crimes all the time, to say that no christian commits crime is obviously false.

Answer 8

Christians commit the same number and types of crimes as the rest of us except they go a tad over on the number of non-violent sex crimes (sodomy, incest, sex with a minor, etc).

Answer 9

it's probably true that there are less atheists in the prison system. prisons tend to be populated by people who come from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, and poor people tend to be religious.

Answer 10

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, Christians love to use God as an excuse to do bad things *cough, George Bush, cough*