"Being godless might be good for your health - study shows

[IHAQ]

In recent decades, a number of studies have found that being religious can be good for your health.

People who regularly attend services are less likely to smoke, may be less likely to use drugs or be obese and may live longer than those who don’t attend services. Those findings have led some to conclude that, if religion is good for you, being an atheist will be bad for your health.

That’s not exactly the case, said David Speed, professor of psychology at the University of New Brunswick in St. John, Canada.

In a new study called " Godless in the Great White North,” published in the Journal of Religion and Health, Speed looked at data and found that atheists may be just as healthy as devoted believers.

“If you compare the health outcomes for those two groups, they are really similar to each other,” said Speed.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/global/ ... -might-be/

[Meadowchik]

Yes, it's real important to separate believers who don't attend from those who are actually atheist, and are therefore in that respect, living as they believe. Those are decidedly different conditions.

[Doctor Steuss]

Conclusion: Don’t be agnostic, or you will die.

[canpakes]

Conclusion: Don’t be agnostic, or you will die.

But will they know?

[Doctor Steuss]

Conclusion: Don’t be agnostic, or you will die.

But will they know?

Maybe. Maybe not. I don't have enough evidence to answer this question one way or the other.

[Philo Sofee]

Conclusion: Don’t be agnostic, or you will die.

Oh, I dunno......

[mentalgymnast]

Conclusion: Don’t be agnostic, or you will die.

That same argument could be made for God belief. Or any other belief for that matter.

Regards,
MG

[mentalgymnast]

In recent decades, a number of studies have found that being religious can be good for your health.

People who regularly attend services are less likely to smoke, may be less likely to use drugs or be obese and may live longer than those who don’t attend services. Those findings have led some to conclude that, if religion is good for you, being an atheist will be bad for your health.

That’s not exactly the case, said David Speed, professor of psychology at the University of New Brunswick in St. John, Canada.

In a new study called " Godless in the Great White North,” published in the Journal of Religion and Health, Speed looked at data and found that atheists may be just as healthy as devoted believers.

“If you compare the health outcomes for those two groups, they are really similar to each other,” said Speed.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/global/ ... -might-be/

Those...in the secular world who critique such emotional responses and strategies with the refrain, “But is it true?” are missing the point. Most religious beliefs are not true. But here’s the crux. The emotional brain doesn’t care. It doesn’t operate on the grounds of true and false. An emotion is not a representation or a judgment, so it cannot be evaluated like a theory. Emotions are not true or false. Even a terrible fear inside a dream is still a terrible fear. This means that the criteria for measuring a healthy theory are not the criteria for measuring a healthy emotion. Unlike a healthy theory, which must correspond to empirical facts, a “healthy emotion” might be one that contributes to neurochemical homeostasis or other affective states that promote biological flourishing.
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Need-Religio ... 6/ref=nodl_

I think that on the whole religions are able to reach more ‘emotions’ than cold, hard disbelief. That’s not to say, at all, that atheists as individuals can’t be happy here and there. But they tend more towards social isolation, more so than religionists. The emotional ‘boost’ that drives religious adherents in a community is contagious and spreads out into a critical mass. Atheists don’t have that same advantage.

Healthy human emotion is extremely important in the ecosystem. Religious belief, even when untrue, creates happy people with positive emotions that drive them towards success. Of course, if one particular religion happens to actually be true, then all the better, right?

Regards,
MG

[Res Ipsa]

MG, your imaginings of what it’s like to be an atheist are truly cringe-worthy. I think you may have watched too much Star Trek and are confusing atheists with Vulcans.

You don’t seem to have the required empathy to imagine how life is experienced by an atheist. Religion, like anything else we encounter can evoke both positive and negative emotion. And if the conscious brain isn’t focused on religion, it will generate emotion about whatever it encounters. Just because your emotions are focused on God doesn’t mean God belief is required to feel emotion. In fact, you might be surprised at the variety of things that can trigger healthy emotions when God isn’t hogging the stage.

[mentalgymnast]

MG, your imaginings of what it’s like to be an atheist are truly cringe-worthy.

This is a gross over generalization and misconstruing of anything that I actually said.

If you say you’re happy, I believe you. Happy?

Cringe worthy? C’mon.

Regards,
MG