What's the Biggest Problem?

I’m getting worried that the LUEE folks will think I’m stalking them, so it’s high time I talked about another podcast. That’s right, I’m seeing other podcasts. Sorry you had to find out this way.

There’s this show called Geeks Without God, from three Minneapolis-based improv comics. They have a segment where at the end of every interview they ask each guest the same five questions. This month they rolled out a new series of questions. One of them is particularly interesting: “Say Religion is gone.  What is the biggest problem that now faces humanity?”

They have put this question to three guests so far. This week, Joseph Scrimshaw answered either guns or internet comments. Last week Miranda Richards answered the power vacuum that would develop, and the need to make sure that with all the leaders gone, the world wasn’t just handed over to assholes.

The first guest to get this question was Rebecca Watson, three weeks ago. She objected to the premise, because the wording of the question implies that religion is the biggest problem right now. When pressed she answered that income inequality is the biggest problem right now and would continue be the biggest problem with religion gone… that religion can worsen income inequality, but that income inequality can worsen religion to a much greater extent.

Like Rebecca, I think the premise could use some serious examining. It’s fairly well established that nonreligious people are more ethical than religious people. They are generally much less racist and sexist and homophobic and such, and they are much less likely to commit crimes. But it’s very difficult to figure out if that correlation means causation, and if so which is the cause.

Heina Dadabhoy did a very good takedown of the prison statistics. It’s true that in the United States the nonreligious are much less likely to be in prison, perhaps less than a twentieth as likely… but they are also better educated, better employed, wealthier, and whiter. That takes care of most or all of the distinction.

There’s a similar problem on the societal level. Sure, those countries with less religion are much better places to live, that’s indisputable. Phil Zuckerman wrote a great book on it, Society Without God. But the causation might go the other way. Zuckerman proposed - and was certainly not the first to do so - that religion flourishes in societies that aren’t nice places to live. That religious communities are a vital part of the social safety net when in places where governments fail. That the afterlife becomes valuable when life is cheap.

It’s been a few years since I’ve read his book, but from what I remember I think he also proposed that inequality contributed more than absolute wealth. This explains of the highly religious United States, which is relatively wealthy but has high concentration of wealth… some people are very very rich, but there is much more poverty than in many poorer countries.

That leads right to Rebecca’s answer… that the main problem in the world today is income inequality. If religion vanished overnight, the causes of religion would still be there. Something would take its place. People fighting for scraps would find new divisions to kill for. People desperate for escape would find new fairy tales to tell themselves. Leaders trying to control the populace would find new justifications for arbitrary rules.

I’m not sure it’s the best answer, though… it’s hard to disagree with Rebecca, but can anything really top internet comments for pure evil?