Gregory Paul and Phil Zuckerman (author of Society Without God) write in The Washington Post that: A growing body of social science research reveals that atheists, and non-religious people in general, are far from the unsavory beings many assume them to be. On basic questions of morality and human decency — issues such as governmental use of torture, the death penalty, punitive hitting of children, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, environmental degradation or human rights — the irreligious tend to be more ethical than their religious peers, particularly compared with those who describe themselves as very religious. Consider that at the societal level, murder rates are far lower in secularized nations such as Japan or Sweden than they are in the much more religious United…