Religious involvement = longer life?

Question

http://www.apa.org/releases/religion.html

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/spirituality-may-help-people-live-longer

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000603/fob8.asp

What do you all think of these? So is it that atheists don't live as long?

Answer 1

I believe the results of these studies may be real, and I'm an atheist. That said, none of these studies control for risky behaviors such as alcohol consumption, drug usage, promiscuity, etc. I suspect that the difference is more about lifestyle differences than it is about church attendance per se.

Church goers have a couple of things that would tend to increase lifespan:

- a larger social network through their churches
- less partying
- a greater aversion to suicide

That said, if I add up all the time a typical churchgoer expends on church related activity:

say 3 hours/week on church/ prayer/bible study/etc. *52 weeks/year * 70 years = 10920 waking hours / 16 waking hours/day = 683 days

So the typical church goer probably expends about 2 years of life on church activity, not including monetary costs. None of the studies reported how many extra years of life religious activity add on average, but if it's not way more than 2, religious people are not getting a good deal.

Answer 2

There are other factors here you have to take into account before you can jump to conclusions.

The first article, for example, uses "public religious involvement" as a guideline. This means people who attend weekly services somewhere, which is not necessarily a good indication on how "religious" a person is. Regardless, this tends to happen much more often among families who life in the suburbs and have a higher income, and related to all of that a higher life expectancy.

Answer 3

First of all, none of those papers even suggest a causal relation between religion and living longer.

All those websites cite regular religious involvement as the factor studied. The important thing to remember is that they didn't differentiate between atheists and believers, but between people who went to Church regularly and people who didn't. The people who didn't may also have been believers.

Additionally, none of those papers account for hidden variables. For example, it seems reasonable that people who were generally healthier were more able to regularly attend religious services, where as sick people could not do so. That suggests that the illness causes the decline in attendance and not the other way.

Answer 4

1.) This conclusion is drawn on a meta-analysis. Because you are essentially trying to compare apples and oranges (or Fuji apples with golden delicious apples), any data cultivated from meta studies should be taken with a grain of salt.

2.) The meta-analysis measured not belief in god but public involvement in religious activities. So, in other words, an atheist would reap the same benefit if he went to church.

3.) Elderly people being active in anything will keep them engaged and prolong life.

4.) When you're at church you can't be smoking or drinking.

Answer 5

correlation does not equal causation.

To add to the fudge factor, one of the articles states:


George A. Kaplan, a social epidemiologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, expresses skepticism about the new report. "There are only a handful of good studies on religion and physical health," so mixing them with many inferior studies "doesn't tell us much more than we know already," he says.

"There is absolutely no basis for recommending religiosity as a preventive strategy [in health care]," Kaplan says.

Answer 6

"Resounding silence. particular, that's what i grew to become into looking forward to. the fact hurts." <<<< Very suitable conceited and egotistical of you. you comprehend what? i do no longer provide a crap who lives longer than who - how long someone lives has to do with each guy or woman and not some over-arching thought alongside with "non secular human beings stay longer." and that i could extremely no longer stay longer if I could desire to alter into such as you! Edit: Oh, and now I see which you at the instant are not merely conceited and egotistical by skill of cheating to boot! Did you think of you're able to ruin out with no longer giving us the comprehensive quote from Dr. Joseph?

Answer 7

Social involvement = longer life

Answer 8

Chances are you will live longer because you usually lead a better happier life if you believe in something.(for me there is but one all mighty GOD) but as with everything else there are exceptions to the rule and only God knows why.The real question is what happens after you die when you don't believe and/or when you do?

Answer 9

yeah spendin those extra minutes worshipin somethin that doesnt exist

Answer 10

i wud prefer short & happy life....even if u r right lol