Do you see any benefits to religious faith?

[Simon Moon]

I'm surprised that few have made reference to any studies or scientific literature. I think the general unbiased consensus is that religion tends have a net positive mental health benefit:

http://baylorisr.org/wp-content/uploads/...health.pdf
http://roa.sagepub.com/content/27/2/197.short

The studies I've read on the subject, seem to point more to the community and support theists have associated with  their religion, not the religion itself.

I will read these later to see if they say anything different.

Yep, just as I thought.

The studies that are quoted in the first link in Chad's post (Larson, Gartner, Koenig) point to religious attendance, not the religion itself.

As a Forbes article says in reference to these and other studies, "Interestingly, there is a large body of research on the health, economic, educational, and other benefits (or lack thereof) of religion. Most researchers have found that the myriad non-spiritual benefits of religion are related to regular religious attendance. It is less the strength of your faith than the dependability of your arrival at religious services and other events that matters. This suggests that the mechanism for these benefits may be as much or more the social network that a religious community provides than the actual practice of the religion in a theological sense. Or it may be that those with the most faith also attend services regularly.

Also, all the results presented here are benefits found to derive from religious attendance or involvement in any religion, so there is nothing here to suggest that one’s particular beliefs are the key to the results."


So, as much as you'd like to believe the benefits are due to the religion itself, it is actually due to the community the 'ingroup' receives as part of the religion.

In other words, the same benefits could be received from regular attendance to ANY group where the sense of community is included.