(August 30, 2018 at 9:50 am)Vicki Q Wrote:(August 28, 2018 at 6:24 pm)Rhondazvous Wrote: Ask Job from the bible or those nine people that Dylan Roof shot down in that church in South Carolina, they'll tell you bad things happen to people who obey god, too. There's no statistically significant difference in what happens to people who obey god and those who don't.
To begin with, couple of minor corrections.
Firstly, because Job stuck with God, his story finished up very happy indeed “the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before...The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part”.
Secondly, on your statistical claim,
a) religious people live about 4 years longer than their atheist/agnostic peers. Link
From your own link, "Abstinence, meditation and social ties may all be a factor in increased longevity." Notice what's missing from that list? Obeying God.
(August 30, 2018 at 9:50 am)Vicki Q Wrote: b) religious people tend to be happier. Link
You're drawing a link without accounting for confounding factors. As noted in the following article, improved health among the religious is explained by their attending religious services, not with obeying God. It stands to reason that people who are healthier are likely to be happier, as well as those who socialize and get out more. Again, nothing to do with obeying God. Which brings us to the ultimate question. Does simply believing yield benefits over non-belief, or is this evidence of some truth to the beliefs themselves? Your studies don't even come within a mile of that question.
(July 22, 2018 at 5:33 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: The science is in, and God is not the answer
Quote:Why, then, do people keep saying that religion is good for your health? Well, the reason the non-religious are healthier is because they also better educated and wealthy – the kinds of people who take care of themselves. It’s only if you statistically control for this that religious believers are more healthy than the non-religious.
But an analysis of nearly 60 different studies found that this is entirely to do with attending religious services. There is no connection between the intrinsic aspects of religion (belief in a god concept, religious/spiritual well-being, religious/spiritual experience, and religious motivation/orientation) and health.