Are religious people less compasionate than others?

I think that they are less compassionate than other people because often times they will chose religious doctrine or beliefs even though those beliefs could be completely wrong. I have known people who chose religious beliefs over what they knew to actually be right even though they knew that what they were saying and doing was wrong. One of my male friends, that I had known since the 4th grade was Gay, and we all knew this, and none of us judged him after a long time because we knew who he was, and we knew it's who he is, but his cousin, who happened to be my friend as well, so this got a little dicey, that I had known since the first grade said that the Bible condemns homosexuality and she would not love her cousin if he ever admitted it or came near her. She and I got into an argument, and several other friends joined in where we ended up defending my male friend who was Gay, and not his cousin. I told her that he was her cousin, her familia, blood, and that she knew that what she was saying and doing was wrong. He was her family, and if he anything she needed to be supportive of him. She got angry at us, but we were just as angry at her for not being supportive of her cousin.

I believe so religious people must be compassionate than others, though maybe it depends upon the teachings and beliefs of the religion they're into. When you say religious it's understood the person is near to God, so it follows that person is more compassionate compared to others. Happy to see you Pose, guess you're in good health now. Blessings...

Hiya there:) Soo..i have talked about this with friends and family before,and i have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what religion people are in..they are human and no religion can really stop them from being who they are inside.religion tells you how your supposed to be..and what God/Gods whatever anyone wants to believe wants you to be..but without a doubt we have free will..and that gives even the pope, the right to be a jerk to anyone at any time..just because its free will in how we chose to react to others..i really wish people that go to church or worship would be compassionate.,.its just not in the cards in reality..though I must say,its does help alot more people than none that have a religion and it does help dont get me wrong..but there is just no way,us being human..that it perfects us.

Hi to all. I was surprised by the result of the survey. I believed that it is often the religious people who are compassionate. For me, being religious means belonging to certain religions like Catholicism. As such, members often go to churches and listen to Gospel teachings which is about loving others. In my opinion, if people always hear such, they would tend to become more compassionate. On the other hand, I also believe that non-religious people can also be compassionate. Maybe they were brought up to be like that. Or maybe they live among family and community of compassionate people that is why they were inflienced by the chatacter of people around them..

This does not surprise me one bit. Most of the religious people I know are prejudice (dislike anyone who is not christian, dislike gays, dislike people of other races, etc), cheat on their spouses, neglect their children, are greedy and do not contribute to the good of humanity in any way. Sitting on your knees in church and praying to a man in the sky does not contribute anything to humanity and does not make you a good person......only actions and compassion towards other people and the earth make one a good person and you do not need to be a churchgoer to do these things....I do not (and will never) step inside a church but I know I am a good person and I do good everyday....

Hi Pose: Yes, I feel shocked after these news even if it's not completely weird as I have seen this in some people that are supposed to be religious and are more judgemental than the rest of the people and show little compassion for the people around them. I think they are just religious just in name. I mean, they are so focused on their beliefs that they forget that it's not only about what you pray but how you treat the others and how you love your brothers what religion is about. ALVARO

I would be surprised, but it depends on what religion you are talking about. I would say that Christians are more compassionate, but Muslims would be less because the lesser would only be compassionate towards those of their own beliefs especially the ones that read the latter Koran because it talks about conquest and destroying the infidel. Compassion and genorosity should go together, but often do not. It depends on what finances the person has to give. And is the so called compassion real? And what is the goal? For instance, if it is to make a person feel good - like I suppose in the secular world, i.e. "Look how wonderful I am in that I gave thousands of dollars to charity," it is worse then a poor Christian giving a few pennies into the collection plat.

It doesn't surprise me at all..in fact I know a Pastor right now that to me is crabby all the time..and sometimes she acts like she is better then others??? What's up with that? Jesus taught us to be humble.....and compassionate! I am wondering where it is taught that they are better then others?

Nothing surprising in this result!! These days, religious people are those who become the cause for most of the deaths... they kill people in the name of religion... Religion is just a belief. Just because one doesn't believe in something, it doesn't mean he isn't compassionate. Compassion is due to one's character and not belief! Now-a-days the proportion of people who believe in a religion for its principles is becoming less. More people have become mad on their religion rather than being passionate and respectful. That's the reason they have become so cruel and heartless these days!!

Well I wouldn't think much of it if they only did 3 experiments. If they did 300, or 3000 experiments with similar results, it would intrigue me. Not enough evidence statistically to matter either way when they only tried it 3 times in my opinion.