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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
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bobthecimmerian on Tuesday June 19 2018, @12:34PM (15 children)
Having a social support network of friends or family that care about you and that you care about is linked to living longer even without considering things like having people support you through cancer treatment. People with a safety network like that are more likely to take their medicines, eat healthy, exercise, and be happy because they have something important to them to live for. That's also one of the biggest reason women tend to outlive men, because women are innately or culturally inclined to build and maintain those social networks (in the non-technological sense) and men are innately or culturally not.
That matters because a religious organization is like a neighborhood extended family. You meet people every week, you have a common set of beliefs, and so forth. It's a replacement for tribe, or for having most of your real extended family all live in the same town. Atheists generally don't have that. I've considered joining a Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church for this very reason. The UU is so wide open they'll let atheists, Muslims, Jews, anybody join and there's no conversion process to their religion. So you can be an atheist UU member without contradiction or any hassle from the other members. When my wife and I tried it for a bit we liked it, but not enough to sacrifice an hour every Sunday morning.
While I'm rambling, I will add that statistically conservative Americans are generally happier than liberals. I wonder if that's tied to religious affiliation too. I do not know for sure but I suspect more conservatives that are religious attend church every week than their liberal counterparts, and thus they get more of the community connection benefits.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Tuesday June 19 2018, @01:18PM (7 children)
Exactly, and the ***REAL*** problem is there are few social networks outside of religion, primarily due to how pervasive it is.
In an alternate universe where zeppelins fill the sky and nobody has ever heard of religion, there would be large numbers of state and privately run "recreation" centers. More people would physically gather together to share their general hobbies and interests.
TFA read more like "oh, you should worship our imaginary child molesting sky fairy to live longer", and it totally misses the root problem.
"A study finds..." yeish.
(Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Tuesday June 19 2018, @01:33PM
Oh come now! There's Facebook and Insta and Twitter and Linkedin and Tinder and...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 19 2018, @01:43PM (1 child)
Is that like a makerspace? Or more like a sports bar?
In which of them would you think you'll find more people physically gathered together?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:04PM
There's the old British model of the private club, or perhaps the pub at the end of the street.
People would congregate there far more than once a week.
In the US we tend towards social clubs, Elks Moose, Lions (ooh my!) VFW, etc.
There's sewing clubs, hackers clubs, and pickup basketball.
While I find this study rather suspect, and rather self serving, (obituaries are hardly reliable sources of information) that still doesn't explain why there is a difference between regular clubs, social groups or neighbors, and religious participation.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:15PM (2 children)
*cough*
Try the obverse of that coin. Religion is so pervasive because there aren't any other communities willing or able to fill the role. You mention a root problem? Maybe the root problem is, so very damned few people care about the people around them. Those who do care, and seek out like minded people, find themselves in churches.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:01PM (1 child)
An interesting idea that simply doesn't hold up. If it were true I'd expect a lot more good coming out of church groups, but instead they are almost always cultish social groups. Just an extension of tribalism, with some of the most vile humans hiding amongst "god's sheep".
*cough* maybe you're just an insecure fool who doesn't want to realize the truth about your own "tribe"? The answers are right there in the summary, give people solid community and healthy living practices and SHOCKER on average people who listen to the advice live longer! Maybe you shouldn't go re-up your whiskey glass.
(Score: 2, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:57PM
We get it - you hate Christians. You envy their community, their power, their self assurance, their inner peace. Don't like Christians? Don't associate with them.
Meanwhile, despite all their faults, Christians tend to be community oriented. Christians seek, and give help within the community. Better Christians offer help to those outside of their own communities. But, you've got to remember something. Christians aren't perfect. They are just forgiven.
My own tribe? You apparently read my posts pretty selectively. I've left the "tribe" behind. I'm not a member. I subscribe to many of the beliefs shared by most Christian communities, but I stand apart from any of the communities.
As an incidental - whatever has made you think that I am a drinking man?
So - which tribe to you belong to? Why do you hate Christians? Please, expound upon your misbeliefs, lack of belief, false beliefs, and more. Do you believe in beliefs?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:22PM
I think you've hit the nail on the head.
Religion has become a substituite for recreation in many people's eyes.
As a result, people who are not religious are alienated and suicides and mass murders go up because of lack of social structure.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:10PM (1 child)
I'll just say, as a former UU, and as someone related to a UU minister, you don't have to go every Sunday morning if you don't feel like it, and nobody will look down on you for doing that. Also, UUs vary a lot by congregation, so if there are multiple churches in your area you might do some shopping around.
Another reason to consider it is if you have little ones, because the UU education programs cover things like:
- An overview of all of the major world religions, including sometimes meeting the kids from other religious groups in town.
- A comprehensive sex education program that covers a lot of stuff the public schools leave out.
- Ethics, both from religious and non-religious viewpoints.
The joke that best describes the vibe: If you cross a UU with a Jehovah's Witness, you'll get somebody who knocks on your door and says "So what do you think about religion?"
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:41PM
Thanks. I was aware of those things, but I felt like we would attend so infrequently that we would miss most of the benefits. If you show up once every six weeks, even if everyone is welcoming you're not going to develop much of the same camaraderie you would get for being regulars.
That said, the kids' eyes glaze over when I bring up most discussions of ethics and ethical dilemmas. If being in a different context surrounded by other kids as they go over the same topics would get them more engaged, then it would be useful.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:11PM (2 children)
"not enough to sacrifice an hour every Sunday morning. "
In the context of your post, that is kinda funny. You were looking for an "extended family", but weren't willing to sacrifice an hour a week? And, uhhh, how solid a community were you expecting in return for just an hour per week?
In context, I think it fair to say that you wanted to be a hanger-on, but reap the rewards of a fully committed member of the community.
No, I'm not trying to be judgemental. Fact is, I'm very much the same. I was a member of a community. I reaped some of the rewards mentioned. But, eventually, it seemed to be too much bother to make the effort to remain part of that community. Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, answer the phone and respond to minor emergencies, cough up a dollar or twenty when another member really needs it, on and on it goes. Bear in mind that I'm not very social, and it does get to be a burden. Don't get me wrong, the tradeoffs are more than worth it to most people. But, I'm not really that kind of person.
Or, to shorten all of that up, "You get out of it what you put into it." An investment of one hour per week is likely to return relatively little.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:31PM (1 child)
I'm sure my answer to this is extremely typical, but I'm just too busy. I have four kids, two dogs, and an insomniac wife. So between soccer, rugby, football, dance, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, chorus, band, and the fact that my wife works some weekends and sleeps others... dragging everyone somewhere at 10 AM on a Sunday doesn't fly. At that time of day I'm usually out grocery shopping.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:43PM
The little quote at the bottom of the page says,
"All most men really want in life is a wife, a house, two kids and a car, a cat, no maybe a dog. Ummm, scratch one of the kids and add a dog. Definitely a dog."
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @03:43PM (1 child)
I don't think religion is the main reason why "statistically conservative Americans are generally happier than liberals". Remember, there are non-religious conservatives (Anonymous Coward for example) and there are religious liberals (Pope Francis for example).
How can you be happy if you are constantly feeling guilty for your privilege and for the historical battles won by your ancestors? Stuff like white guilt is self-hate.
Chasing after dates for polygamy is depressing:
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=26017&cid=691417 [soylentnews.org]
Knowing that your "friends" will instantly turn on you for wrongthink (see Kayne West) would make a person unhappy.
Conservatives tend to get their lives neatly in order. Don't knock it. You know where you will be sleeping and who you will be sleeping with. You know how the bills will get paid.
Liberals have jealousy/envy toward those who are better off. This is a cause of unhappiness. Conservatives are more willing to accept how things are, taking pride in their own accomplishments. Liberals are less able to take pride in their accomplishments; it was "the system" or "their privilege".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:03PM
Real leftists don't feel guilt over their ancestor's misdeeds or gloat over their ancestor's accomplishments; they know that the past is a thing to be learned from so that we can avoid emulating it in the future. None of my ancestors are documented in history as owning slaves, but even if they were, so what? It's unconscionable to hold a man responsible for the crimes of another, and idiotic to feel guilt for sins you haven't committed. Feeling anger over crimes inflicted upon your forbears is just as pointless and stupid - that's just playing the victim because you'd like to feel special and nothing makes the immature feel more special than persecution, whether real or merely perceived.