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posted by mrpg on Tuesday June 19 2018, @09:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the god-is-real-not-an-integer dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

[...] A new nationwide study of obituaries has found that people with religious affiliations lived nearly four years longer than those with no ties to religion.

That four-year boost -- found in an analysis of more than 1,000 obits from around the country -- was calculated after taking into account the sex and marital status of those who died, two factors that have strong effects on lifespan.

[...] "We found that volunteerism and involvement in social organizations only accounted for a little less than one year of the longevity boost that religious affiliation provided," Wallace said. "There's still a lot of the benefit of religious affiliation that this can't explain."

So what else explains how religion helps people live longer? It may be related to the rules and norms of many religions that restrict unhealthy practices such as alcohol and drug use and having sex with many partners, Way said.

In addition, "many religions promote stress-reducing practices that may improve health, such as gratitude, prayer or meditation," he said.

[...] Way said there are limitations to the study, including the fact that it could not control for important factors related to longevity such as race and health behaviors. But a potential strength was that, unlike other studies, religious affiliation was not self-reported, but was reported by the obituary writer.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Aiwendil on Tuesday June 19 2018, @10:39AM (7 children)

    by Aiwendil (531) on Tuesday June 19 2018, @10:39AM (#694907) Journal

    With apologies to calvin and hobbes. But do the lifespan increase exceed the time spent with religious practices (incl travel time to and from)?

    Btw, 4 years average out to about 438h/year (if you would live about 80 years without the extra four years). So that means if the extra time spent due to religion exceeds about 80minutes/day (~8.5h/week) you end up at a net loss.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @10:56AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @10:56AM (#694914)
    Extra time spend with Catholic school girls a net loss? You're doing them wrong...
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday June 19 2018, @12:41PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday June 19 2018, @12:41PM (#694954) Journal

      No they're doing it wrong because they don't know what to do with it. Experience counts.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday June 19 2018, @11:00AM (4 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Tuesday June 19 2018, @11:00AM (#694917) Homepage Journal

    You make it sound really very dull. But I think church is so nice. I am Presbyterian Protestant. When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed. I think in terms of "let’s go on and let’s make it right." President Obama said something I really like, he said "I'm more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards." He forgave. And that's what church is all about. Plus the wine & cracker!!!

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Tuesday June 19 2018, @11:42AM

      by Gaaark (41) on Tuesday June 19 2018, @11:42AM (#694932) Journal

      "Plus the wine & cracker!!!"
      And the children...all those children the parents trust us with......FOOLS!

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:21PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:21PM (#695053) Journal

      I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed.

      Have you ever tried prunes?

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:26PM (#695058)

      Over here at The Peoples Temple they give us Kool-Aid.

    • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday June 19 2018, @04:56PM

      by Aiwendil (531) on Tuesday June 19 2018, @04:56PM (#695122) Journal

      The cracker thing are for wimps - I know people that are into vore* :)

      Think about that the next time someone dressed in fancy robes tells you to munch down on a jewish carpenter ;)

      (* Vorarephilia)