Atheists 'just as ethical as churchgoers'

Why did we somehow suspect this already.

What is important for pro-religious people, I believe, has always been to establish the value of religious life and spiritual practice independently from claims that religion positively impacts morals and ethics. The consistently problematic behavior of believers has long suggested these results now argued by researchers as well.

Atheists are just as ethical and have as strong a moral compass as churchgoers, new research shows.

People who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshipers, according to the study.

But people who did not have a religious background still appeared to have intuitive judgments of right and wrong in common with believers, according to the findings, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Dr Hauser added: "The research suggests that intuitive judgments of right and wrong seem to operate independently of explicit religious commitments.