First things first. Hello to you from a former Nebraskan. Hometown, Niobrara. But thats been awhile. I understand the issues of religion there.
A thought provoking study. Not sure about the "gives us license ". It may be simply our reaction to a perceived or not perceived jilting of our generousity.
The hypocrisy is systemic to religious activity, "it is ok to do some bad, god will forgive me, because I believe in him/her"..

I have known many people who were assholes all week long then they would go to church on Sunday, feel all contrite, go to the altar, feel all cleansed by the blood, and then go home and start their week of assholery all over again.

I left organized religion because of all the hypocrisy I saw--much of it from those standing behind the pulpit. I knew I didn't need to go to church to be a better Christian than most of them. And, of course, I later realized that I did not need to believe in a god to be a better person than most of them.

Interesting, thanks for posting. I don't think I'm like that, but I'm probably kidding myself.

I don't think it does.....of course that's MY thought process. If anything, when we do something bad we just like to pretend we didn't know... "The devil made me do it" being the most popular bull crap. We know damn well when and why we do shenanigans and good things have nothing to do with it.

Of course! Everlasting grace. Isn't that how it works?

Well it certainly feels better eating cookies when I know I had a salad for lunch

Combine this article with the closing question at last nights debate on would you do charity or ask forgiveness - with the female candidates asking for forgiveness but the males giving something - and it raises interesting and perhaps disturbing questions about the male of the species?

This sounds about right, Linx. Religion gives us a license to be bad because we can always be forgiven. We all know there is a public and private part to our lives. A nose picker does not want others to see him do it. If you ask him, he will lie.

I can imagine this being true for many people. There's a mega-church in my neighborhood, and the people sure do drive like assholes when they're leaving in Sundays.

It seems to me, no research data maybe I am under guestimating , but based on my experience and observation I would say that 99% of those people claiming to be Christian are actually typical dishonest illogical atheist. This would give explination to apparent contradiction and could show why there are such evils in the world.

Does everyone on Earth have true freedom to have their own brick home, business and property built by true masons free from mortgage, free from rent, free from taxation, free from governmental terrorism and free from religious oppression?

Does everyone on Earth have access to all education of knowledge, understanding, wisdom, skills, crafts, trades and college certifications of any kind free from tuition, free from loans, and free from any fees so that all human animals can enjoy the fullness of intellectual capabilities of knowing anything and everything about anything and everything? The intelligence capabilities being the one major difference between human animals and any other known creature.

With having such free education everyone could be a doctor of everykind, but does everyone on Earth have access to enjoy any medical services needed free from cost, free from fees and free from indebtedness?

But what is really going on, capitalism wage slave labor to keep the masses of people ignorant and enslaved submit to Authority-666 pay taxes, kill solders in wars for purposes of establishing and reinforcing laws of taxation for the guaranteed income, health care, retirement and housing for governmental officials. God bless America.

Me, I simply follow along with those inherent ethics and morals as passed down through countless generations from my earliest ancestors, which is where we all got our true ethics and morals from in the first places even though there are those who either choose to ignore them or completely forsake them all together.

I am the same public & private, 99% of the time. Got over that self-conscious BS at about age 18, never looked back.

I call bullshit.

It never worked that way for me.

g

Especially as so much of Christianity as a religion is about providing people with fake ways to do good. Examples. Donate to the church when they hold out the collection plate, saves you having to find a charity and make sure your money is well spent. Confess to the priest, saves you having to own up to and face the person you really harmed. Sit on the pew for an hour, saves you having to help build a community. Etc. etc.