Scripture brings out the "bully" in christians!

Research links some scriptures to hostile acts

Just let me say this straight out: I'm not surprised at the findings of this study. What irks me is that its methodology makes it utterly useless.

PROVO — Chances are, not many people in Utah would like to think of scripture as a violent medium that promotes hostility.

But a study of 490 students — 248 of them at Brigham Young University — suggests a correlation between exposure to scriptural violence that is condoned by God and increased aggression.

University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman, BYU professor Robert Ridge and three other researchers co-wrote "When God Sanctions Killing," which will appear in the March issue of Psychological Science magazine.

Although the study points to a correlation between scriptural violence and aggression, Ridge said the research is not meant to attack scripture study.

You would think for a control group, they would use all US students, not mix in a group from The Netherlands! They recruited two groups, one of which was 99% bible+gawd believers (from Utah) and the other (control group?) was 50% pro-gawd and 27% pro-bible.

For the test, they were divided into two-person-teams and shown various passages from the bible, some of which were violent. They each wore headphones and had a buzzer ("weapon") that they had to push "as fast possible" for 25 trials. The fastest was given the "honor" of choosing how loud the buzzer would sound into the other's headset!

...Aggression was measured by the frequency with which the winning students blasted their partners.

The study indicated that those with a stronger religious background responded with slightly more hostility — and louder blasts — than those who were not as religious.

And Ridge says that indicates a correlation between aggression and isolated violent passages.

The correlation also mirrors studies that show the relationship between hostility and violent movies, music or video games. The key difference is that if scriptures are read as a whole and not taken out of context, the results can be the opposite, Ridge says, as the overall themes of the Bible, specifically, are peace and love.

WTF does that mean? Is Ridge a xian? Oh, hell yeah! Is the bible full of violence that masks its "true message of love"? Yes! Do people read the bible just for the "juicy violent bits"? Maybe. Do people come away from a bible reading remembering the violence and forgetting the love? I wouldn't be surprised!

Daniel Judd, BYU professor of ancient scripture, who was not involved in the study, said he agrees with the importance of understanding scriptural context. Taken by itself, a scriptural passage can wrongly rationalize negative behavior, he says.

"You can use scripture to justify anything you're looking for," Judd said.

Now there's a newsflash!

Cross posted from God is for Suckers!)