The statistics come from intake forms. So, yes, it is fair to use. Yes, some people convert or 'find' religion in prison, but the statistic I used is from the prison intake forms that a convict would fill out when first arriving there, before anyone 'got to them' yet.
Priests and ministers also get more involved in poor and "bad" communities. But whatever.
Your statistic was 85% of peeps are religious. 80-100% of peeps in jail are religious. Am I missing something here cuz these results don't show it either way?
I don't know what you don't understand about that. 85 % of Americans claim a religion, so that means 15% don't claim one. Now, if 80-100% (depending) of people in prison claim a religion, then religious people make up the vast majority of the prison population. The 15% of Americans that are NOT religious are NOT committing most of the crimes, the religious ones are.
The arguement here is, are religious people 'better citizens' or not. If religious people were better citizens, they wouldn't make up the vast majority of the prison population. The 15% of non-religious people could make up 100% of the prison population (and then some, there's something like 2 million inmates) if it were true that non-religious people were more apt to commit crimes. The fact that the statistics show that most inmates are religious is telling. If religious people were 'better citizens', the statistics would show that there would be a much higher proportion of non-religious people incarcerated.
Haha. Yes, I see your logic but you are misinterpreting the statistics.
Let me make it easy for you. Imagine we have a population of 1000. 85% are religious, which is 850 people, and 15% are not, which is 150 people. Lets say, of this population 10% go to jail, which is 100 people. Of that 100 people 80% are religious, 80 people, and 20% are not religious, 20 people. Thus the odds of a religious person committing a crime is the number of religious criminals divided by the total number of religious people, 80/850=0.094. Similarly for non-religious people its 20/150=0.133. As you can see 0.133>0.094 showing that the average non-religious person are far more likely to commit a crime.
Of course is I used the other end of the range you suggested for religious inmates, 100%, then it would be the average religious person that were more likely to commit a crime.
Your statistics are not accurate enough to make any significant claim.
Religious People Make Better Citizens - or not
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The statistics come from intake forms. So, yes, it is fair to use. Yes, some people convert or 'find' religion in prison, but the statistic I used is from the prison intake forms that a convict would fill out when first arriving there, before anyone 'got to them' yet.
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UnrecognizableMan
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Priests and ministers also get more involved in poor and "bad" communities. But whatever.
Your statistic was 85% of peeps are religious. 80-100% of peeps in jail are religious. Am I missing something here cuz these results don't show it either way?
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UnrecognizableMan
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wigsplitz
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Is it not cool to say peeps anymore?
I don't know what you don't understand about that. 85 % of Americans claim a religion, so that means 15% don't claim one. Now, if 80-100% (depending) of people in prison claim a religion, then religious people make up the vast majority of the prison population. The 15% of Americans that are NOT religious are NOT committing most of the crimes, the religious ones are.
The arguement here is, are religious people 'better citizens' or not. If religious people were better citizens, they wouldn't make up the vast majority of the prison population. The 15% of non-religious people could make up 100% of the prison population (and then some, there's something like 2 million inmates) if it were true that non-religious people were more apt to commit crimes. The fact that the statistics show that most inmates are religious is telling. If religious people were 'better citizens', the statistics would show that there would be a much higher proportion of non-religious people incarcerated.
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UnrecognizableMan
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Haha. Yes, I see your logic but you are misinterpreting the statistics.
Let me make it easy for you. Imagine we have a population of 1000. 85% are religious, which is 850 people, and 15% are not, which is 150 people. Lets say, of this population 10% go to jail, which is 100 people. Of that 100 people 80% are religious, 80 people, and 20% are not religious, 20 people. Thus the odds of a religious person committing a crime is the number of religious criminals divided by the total number of religious people, 80/850=0.094. Similarly for non-religious people its 20/150=0.133. As you can see 0.133>0.094 showing that the average non-religious person are far more likely to commit a crime.
Of course is I used the other end of the range you suggested for religious inmates, 100%, then it would be the average religious person that were more likely to commit a crime.
Your statistics are not accurate enough to make any significant claim.