We've
heard the claim 'religion poisons everything' ad nauseum. Turns out
that being religious has benefits even in this life. Via
David Bailey at
Science Meets Religion:
A 1999 study, which involved a
nine-year follow-up analysis of 21,000
American adults, found that
religious attendance of at least once per week resulted in seven
additional years of
life expectancy. What’s more, this effect mostly
remained in place even after adjusting for various social factors and
health behaviors [Hummer1999].
A 1997 study of 5286 weekly
church attendees in
Alameda County, California found that these persons
were 25% less likely to die than infrequent church attendees. These
results were attributed in part to better health practices, expanded
social involvement, exercising more, and remaining married longer
[Strawbridge1997].
In a 1998 study of 1931 elderly adults (55
years and older), weekly church attendees experienced the lowest rates
of mortality in the
study group, while non-attendees experienced the
highest rates. This study also showed that volunteer work in addition to
church attendance contributed to even longer life expectancy
[Oman1998].
A 1999 study of 4000 seniors (64 years and older)
found that the death hazard was 46% lower for frequent church attendees,
compared with infrequent church attendees. As noted in other studies,
frequent church attendees were physically healthier, had better social
support, and displayed a set of healthier lifestyle behaviors
[Koenig1999].
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| Ogden Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
A 2004 study comparing
Utah residents who are
members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) with
those who are not LDS confirmed, not surprisingly, that the LDS members
had much lower rates of tobacco, alcohol and drug usage than the non-LDS
group, since these substances are strongly discouraged by the Church.
The study found that life expectancy was 77.3 years for LDS males versus
70.0 years for non-LDS males, and 82.2 years for LDS females versus
76.4 for non-LDS females. Interestingly, however, the study noted that
differences in rates of tobacco use explains only about 1.5 years of the
7.3 year gap for males, and only 1.2 years of the 5.8 year gap for
females. The author suggests that this additional gap may be due to
better overall
physical health, better social support and other
lifestyle practices [Merrill2004].
In an April 2013
New York
Times column, Stanford scholar
Tanya M. Luhrmann summarized some of
these results, and then added her own observations. In evangelical
churches she has studied as an anthropologist, she found that people
really do look out for one another, showing up with dinner when friends
are sick, or simply talking with them when they are unhappy. They are
relatively more generous, often in private contributions, when others
are in need. She mentioned that when one member of an evangelical group
cried at needing a $1500 dental procedure, yet had no money, her
friends, many of whom were students with very limited funds, covered the
cost by anonymous donations [Luhrmann2013].
Source:
http://www.sciencemeetsreligion.org/blog/2013/04/are-there-benefits-to-religious-belief-and-participation/
