Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

Post Praetorian said:

Allow a scenario in which a small theft might be guaranteed to go unnoticed. Given that the Christian yet knows that the Lord watcheth all, what might yet prevail upon the atheist to stay his hand?

Are there any statistics that show the incidence of petty theft is lower among Christians than among atheists? Aren't atheists disproportionately underrepresented in prison populations?

If such statistics regarding theft might exist, surely they must be suspect...for which alleged thief might answer such a survey truthfully? Particularly if not yet apprehended?

The relative religiosity of prisoners has been considered, but three factors may yet account for such a divergence:

1) Any association between atheism and increased/decreased intellect/bravery.

2) Any consideration that it might be wise to admit to a given faith background to gain church support and sponsorship with an aim for early parole.

3) The real possibility that many an avowed atheist might, when at a very low ebb, consider a principled atheism to be a far less satisfying state than a more hopeful theistic outlook...particularly when allowing that if one is to believe at the same time in a finite, earthly, existence while at the same moment squandering it within a 10 x 10 one might become fairly unbalanced.