Editing Morality (section)

=== Empirical analyses ===
Several studies have been conducted on the empirics of morality in various countries, and the overall relationship between faith and [[crime]] is unclear.{{Ref label|B|b|none}} A 2001 review of studies on this topic found "The existing evidence surrounding the effect of religion on crime is varied, contested, and inconclusive, and currently, no persuasive answer exists as to the empirical relationship between religion and crime."<ref name = baier/> Phil Zuckerman's 2008 book, ''Society without God'', based on studies conducted during 14 months in Scandinavia in 2005–2006, notes that [[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]], "which are probably the least religious countries in the world, and possibly in the history of the world", enjoy "among the lowest violent crime rates in the world [and] the lowest levels of corruption in the world".<ref>{{cite book |title= Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us about Contentment|last= Zuckerman|first= Phil|publisher= New York University Press|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-8147-9714-3|page= 2|date= October 2008}}</ref>{{Ref label|C|c|none}}

Dozens of studies have been conducted on this topic since the twentieth century. A 2005 study by [[Gregory S. Paul]] published in the ''Journal of Religion and Society'' stated that, "In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies," and "In all secular developing democracies a centuries long-term trend has seen homicide rates drop to historical lows" with the exceptions being the United States (with a high religiosity level) and "theistic" Portugal.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html |journal=Journal of Religion and Society|title=Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look|first=Gregory S.|last=Paul|location=Baltimore, MD|year =2005 |volume =7|pages=4–5, 8, 10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214113448/http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html |archive-date=2011-12-14}}</ref>{{Ref label|D|d|none}} In a response, Gary Jensen builds on and refines Paul's study.<ref name="Jensen">Gary F. Jensen (2006) Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University [http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2006/2006-7.pdf "Religious Cosmologies and Homicide Rates among Nations: A Closer Look'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014231608/http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2006/2006-7.pdf |date=2013-10-14 }},  ''Journal of Religion and Society'', Vol. 8, {{ISSN|1522-5658}}</ref> he concludes that a "complex relationship" exists between religiosity and homicide "with some dimensions of religiosity encouraging homicide and other dimensions discouraging it". In April 2012, the results of a study which tested their subjects' [[Prosocial behavior|pro-social]] sentiments were published in the ''[[Social Psychological and Personality Science]]'' journal in which non-religious people had higher scores showing that they were more motivated by their own compassion to perform pro-social behaviors. Religious people were found to be less motivated by compassion to be charitable than by an inner sense of moral obligation.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120430140035.htm "Highly Religious People Are Less Motivated by Compassion Than Are Non-Believers"]. ''Science Daily''</ref><ref>Laura R. Saslow, Robb Willer, Matthew Feinberg, Paul K. Piff, Katharine Clark, Dacher Keltner and Sarina R. Saturn
[http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/04/25/1948550612444137.full.pdf+html "My Brother's Keeper? Compassion Predicts Generosity More Among Less Religious Individuals"]</ref>