Religion can be good for your mental health

Be fair, Bags, they had to sort out which god was going to take over which territory before they could do anything constructive. The Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods lost out. How long before the Abrahamic gods follow suit? That would still leave the gods of Hinduism, etc. but as education spreads in the 'Third World' they could be toppled too.

Won't it be a success for education when all the god myths are recognised for what they are?

In my experience, religion definitely has a beneficial effect on health and well-being. Just before my twenty-first birthday I was admitted to hospital with a perforated appendix, peritonitis and pleurisy; I was in such a state of shock my temperature was too low to register on a thermometer. My parents were told that I had a 20% chance of survival. As my mother had filled in the admission forms, she had listed my religion as Roman Catholic. In due course, shortly before going up to the theatre somewhere round about midnight, along came a priest and administered the Sacrament for the Sick – better known colloquially as the Last Rites. As I lost consciousness as the anaesthetic took hold, I thought, "Bloody old man didn't even ask me if he could anoint my feet. I'm damned if I'm going to die before my birthday." I am now 62. QED.

reminds me of a friend's story about herbrother who was a priest sitting by their mothers deathbed, discussing funeral hymns. Didn't work so well in her case though.

There is another aspect which might help people who are involved in a religious community and that is that they would be part of a group also praying for other sick people. This might make some realise they are not so badly off after all. Seeing people worse off than oneself can have a salutory effect.

I know this sort of research has been done many times and usually comes to the same conclusion but I cannot see how any of it can be 'proved'.

I would prefer it if we could all live and let live and not bash each other's beliefs. IMO calling religion 'superstition' may offend those with religious beliefs.

Applying rational thinking to beliefs is not damaging to people. I think it's important to remember that and not to confuse the two. Of course it is not allright to attack people verbally, but it is allright to attack beliefs. Otherwise human progress would stagnate. One only has to think of all the wacky beliefs people had in the past which are now widely regarded as, well, wacky, to put it mildly. There is no difference between arguing about whether the earth is the centre of the universe or not and arguing about any other issue of interest or importance to humans.

Inevitably, many people think their beliefs are bound up with who they are. This may well be the case, but they are not their beliefs. The beliefs exist separately from the person holding them. So attacking (that is arguing about the validity of) beliefs is not attacking the people holding them.

If people choose to be offended when something they believe is argued about and refuted, that is a personal problem they have. The problem is not caused by the fact that a belief is being attacked.

Attacking a belief IS NOT THE SAME as attacking a person.

Bags next you will be telling us the earth is not flat and carried on the back of an elephant. What an extraordinary thought!

I could have taken offence every time somebody told me that I couldn't be a moral person or bring up my children properly because I don't believe in any god. I am quite happy for people to believe anything they want and practise their religion in any way they want, as long as it is not impinging on anybody else's right to live how they choose, but I claim the right to voice my honestly held opinion that all belief in the supernatural is superstition. It is what I believe.

I think you should be able to refute a belief without denigrating it.

I agree, but what one person calls denigrating is not necessarily the same as what someon else calls denigrating. There lies the rub. The best thing is not to talk refutations of beliefs or arguments about beliefs personally (nor to deliver them in that way).

sorry, take refutations....

I suppose it depends how you define superstition. I mean by it the belief in some unprovable fact.
Billions of people worship different gods throughout the world. If Christians don't believe in the pantheon of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Hindu gods, then I just believe in one less god than them. I don't intend to enter into complicated philosphical arguments about the nature of belief, just to state my own belief. Why should that be offensive - I am not referring to any individual believer.

alison
But you are sooooo wrong. it is true the earth is flat, but it is carried on the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a rather large turtle who is swimming through space!
Honestly, the ignorance of some people!
Goes away shaking head sadlyz,

I've never understood what's offensive about atheists (or anyone else) stating their beliefs, or stating what they don't believe and why. The people who complain are very happy, usually, for religions to state what they believe to be true. What's the difference?

There isn't any.

Still, we won't get burnt at the stake, so things have improved (even though no American politician dare state that he/she is an atheist).

At least we'd be warm then ! Vide other thread!

But...dead?

"... things have improved (even though no American politician dare state that he/she is an atheist)."

I think you'll find that there is one brave atheist chap in the US legislature - can't remember his name off-hand. Of course, there will be many closet non-believers...

I think you are probably right - one recent survey I read found that one in four Americans are not believers, but they were very anxious that the survey should be confidential.

One of the few honest things to come from the mouth of Nick Clegg was when he told Nicky Campbell that he didn't believe in God. I don't think that's what the majority of voters will hold against him!

Littlenellie That's how I feel, too.

I think I have seen some studies which confirmed that being a member of even a virtual circle of friends is very good for your health. Hooray - being in GN is a medical necessity!

Just a bit off subject but aligned to some of Jeni's findings - DD is working for a company which is Govt funded to help get people back into work - she was at a training session for shop work this week. There were actual jobs there and for very good employers in the Dept store line. At the end of the chat etc the group were asked who would like to be put forward for one of these jobs - a couple of people recently made redundant indicated they would but the majority looked away. When the person running it said she did not understand this as the workshop was specifically for these jobs several of the group actually said they had no intention of going for a job but attended the session so their benefits were not stopped.
DD also says that many of the people they see are just not employable material mainly due to attitude, manner and way of dressing when supposedly going for an interview.
Jeni do you have any idea of what happens to the people who have the DLA etc stopped?

Yep! It's true, logging on to GN is an additional perk to our five-a-day health routine. And, it's a lot more fun.