Morality, religion intertwined

OPINION:

Am I the only person tired of hearing about the crime wave caused by drug addicts and the mentally ill, abetted by bail reform and soft-on-crime district attorneys? Could it be that a considerable portion of those who break the law are simply malign miscreants? Since the Biden administration is always looking for root causes for the border crisis, are there also root causes of increased crime happening across this nation?
 
What factors reduce the chances that a person will break the law? I propose that there are three. First, the individual grew up in a household with both a mother and a father. Second, the individual earned at least a high school diploma. Third, the household regularly worshipped at a church or synagogue. I suggest that if all three of these conditions are present, the chances of a person being incarcerated are remote. Race is irrelevant.
 
There is ample research showing that a large majority of inmates grew up in fatherless homes. Also, most prison inmates did not complete high school. To my knowledge, however, there are no data that addresses the percentage of inmates who attended a church or synagogue growing up, even though spirituality and religion are believed to play a major part in determining an individual’s attitude toward committing a crime.
 
It is time to dig deeper and consider lack of religious belief as a root cause of random crime and other nihilistic practices. We can heed G.K. Chesterton’s dictum that when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything. The hubris of man that insists that morality can be attained without religion. It can’t be done.

RON PHIPPS
Annapolis, Maryland