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Re: Could faith extend your life?
Posted:
Aug 20, 2001 5:45 PM
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rgclark@my-deja.com (Robert Clark) wrote in message news:<5f181508.0108151556.4b999e16@posting.google.com>...
> Study: Religious struggle may indicate greater risk of death among
> elderly
> "While several previous studies have demonstrated a reduced risk of
> death with more frequent church attendance, this is the first study to
> look closely at certain negative forms of religiousness as predictors
> of mortality. Feelings of "being abandoned or punished by God,"
> "believing the devil caused their illnesses" or "feeling abandoned by
> one's faith community" were identified as key factors in risk of death
> among elderly participants, said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, one of the
> authors of the study and an associate professor of psychiatry at Duke
> University Medical Center."
> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-08/dumc-srs080901.php
Sometimes I wonder if mainstream science reporters have to prove they
subscribe to the fallacy of confused cause and effect before they're
issued a press card. There are two words that should be defined on the
first page of the science section in every newspaper: 'cause' and
'correlation'. This is a correlation. You can explain it any way you
like. I once heard that the number of storks in French lakes during
any given spring correlates positively with the number of babies born
there in that year.
> I'm reminded of Pascal's Wager: since it costs you nothing to
> believe, it is better to believe than not since if the belief is true,
> the benefits are immensely greater. If this study is true it may in
> fact be beneficial to believe in a beneficent creator. This study
> might be combined with the others mentioned that compare the effects
> of belief and non-belief on mortality
On the contrary, it would cost me quite a bit to believe. I would lose
a lifetime in the service of a false idol in search of an illusory
prize. That is, unless Pascal was referring to a religion that I'm not
aware of where you sign on the dotted line, go off about your
business, and return in fifty years to collect your afterlife.
Besides, all that time in church would be bad for my health.
--Brendan Smith
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