The possible advantages and benefits of right-wing politics

-- Killing for God shows dangers of religion

-- Religious 12th graders hold more positive attitudes about life, new UNC study shows

-- Teens with regular religious practices get into less trouble; EurekAlert!

-- Attending Religious Services May Help Heart Health By Alison McCook; July 15, 2002; Yahoo!/Reuters Health; citing Diabetes Care 2002;25:1172-1176

-- Strong spiritual beliefs may help people recover from bereavement

-- Good grief: Religious people may have better health while mourning

Religious conservatives (in the USA at least) tend to verbally encourage marriage in general, and discourage pre-marital sex-- both of which would appear to do people more good than harm.

-- Living Together Pre-Marriage May Lead to Divorce By Alan Mozes; Yahoo!/Reuters Health; Feb 15, 2002; citing Journal of Marriage and Family 2002;64:180-192

-- Married men make more

-- Marriage can reduce life of crime; Eurekalert

Being married may reduce certain hormones in men which tend to make them more aggressive-- so this may help contribute to less crime, violence, and risk-taking in general among males (thereby helping society as a whole in some ways).

-- Married men have less testosterone; New Scientist

"Older people who have a strong sense of spiritual belief and personal meaning in life are less likely to suffer from depression or mental health problems"

-- Just for the Record Part IV; P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism by Dwight Meredith; October 27, 2002; citing ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat1.txt

From 1962 to 2001, the average growth rate in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) during years for which Republican presidents submitted budgets was 2.94%. The average rate for years when Democratic presidents submitted budgets was 3.92%.

-- Just for the Record Part III; P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism by Dwight Meredith; October 27, 2002; citing http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableViewFixed.asp?SelectedTable=1&FirstYear=2001&LastYear=2002&Freq=Qtr

-- 'the economy needs to be growing by more than 3 percent -- and possibly well above -- for jobs to be added'; Washington Post

-- 'the economy needs to grow faster than 3.5% to bring down unemployment'; Businessweek

"More than 2.5 million jobs have disappeared since President Bush took office"

-- Missing the good old 9-to-5 job? By SETH HARRIS; Jun. 05, 2003; The Miami Herald

-- No Job Could Mean No Wife; AlphaGalileo; 13 August 2002; David Young, University of Ulster; pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk; 028 9036 6178

Money is the foremost issue usually argued over by married couples. So, in general, the more money a married couple possesses, the fewer fights and arguments they have.

-- Study Explains Money Problems in Marriages By Lee Dye; ABCNEWS.com; found on or about 6-5-03

The overwhelming majority (90%) of young white male employees in USAmerica are destined to experience a smaller rise in income over their lives than their father's generation did

-- Ninety percent of young white male workers now doing worse than they would have 20 years ago; EurekAlert!; 20-Feb-2002; Contact: Joel Schwarz; joels@u.washington.edu; 206-543-2580; University of Washington

-- Wives' employment increases marital stability; Eurekalert

"More than three-quarters of unemployed Americans say family stress has increased since they lost their job"

-- Could Lack of Work Kill Your Marriage? By Marilyn Gardner; The Christian Science Monitor, Inc., and ABC News; June 6, 2003

-- Marriage can reduce life of crime; Eurekalert

-- Higher crime rate linked to low wages and unemployment, study finds; EurekAlert

"the economic decline of men will lead to prison crowding, labor shortages, harder times for families, even declining marriage prospects for successful women"

The types of religion involved can also have a strong impact on a nation's economic well being. Islam appears to be less business-friendly than Christianity, due to its perspectives on competition, private property, and the rights of women (roughly 50% of any given population circa 2003). The average effect of religion on economic growth overall however appears to be at least mildly beneficial in some ways.

-- Just for the Record Part IV; P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism by Dwight Meredith; October 27, 2002; citing ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat1.txt

-- 'the economy needs to be growing by more than 3 percent -- and possibly well above -- for jobs to be added'; Washington Post

-- 'the economy needs to grow faster than 3.5% to bring down unemployment'; Businessweek

From 1962 to 2001, the average growth rate in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) during years for which Republican presidents submitted budgets was 2.94%. The average rate for years when Democratic presidents submitted budgets was 3.92%.

-- Just for the Record Part III; P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism by Dwight Meredith; October 27, 2002; citing http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableViewFixed.asp?SelectedTable=1&FirstYear=2001&LastYear=2002&Freq=Qtr

Developing nations such as India can arguably be regarded as more religious than the USA, today and during the entire past century, and boast a population several times larger than America's. Yet as of 1999 Indian GDP (gross domestic product) stood at only a fraction that of America's, at $1.8 trillion compared to $9.3 trillion.

-- Religious 'vulnerable to compulsion'; 30 May, 2002; New Scientist/BBC

It appears that religious influence may raise the medical costs and risks for everyone who may require treatments involving donated organs or blood.

-- Mistrust, religious beliefs hinder blood and organ donation; 12-Feb-2002; Contact: Karen Blum; kblum@jhmi.edu; 410-955-1534; Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Various degrees of racism and sexism appear to accompany strong religious perspectives in many cases.

-- Probing religion's role in economic success By David R. Francis; The Christian Science Monitor; October 21, 2002; http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1021/p21s02-wmgn.html

-- Religion used to justify superiority of white Americans in 19th Century

-- Racism is a public health issue; EurekAlert!

-- Racism Really Does Make You Stupid

-- The price of prejudice: Interactions with minorities can sap mental capacity

-- Tech companies endorse affirmative action

-- Why Diversity Is Good Business; Businessweek

Something that surprised me personally was to come across the results of a survey indicating students attending private religious schools are more likely to cheat on tests than students of more secular institutions.

"The evidence is that a willingness to cheat has become the norm...The scary thing is that so many kids are entering the work force to become corporate executives, politicians, airplane mechanics and nuclear inspectors with the dispositions and skills of cheaters and thieves."

-- Michael Josephson, president, the Josephson Institute for Ethics, 2003

Religious school attendance seemed to worsen tendencies to lie and cheat, but lessen the likelihood of shoplifting. The rates of theft from family members appeared unaffected by school affiliation.