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"Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to 7 years of extra life expectancy." Uh-oh. "Research shows that attending faith-based services 4 times per month

by fleddr 4y ago

"Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to 7 years of extra life expectancy." Uh-oh. "Research shows that attending faith-based services 4 times per month will add 4 to 14 years of life expectancy." Looks like my atheism is is worse than smoking, who knew.

mkoubaa 4y ago
I don't like the terminology of "faith-based" here. These are religious services, and some religions don't place a big importance on faith
pcurve 4y ago
lol! I needed that laugh, thanks. I know you're being funny, but if you already hold similar belief systems and also practice healthy living / thinking on your own, you'll be fine.
- fleddr 4y ago
  I'm technically a Roman Catholic. My parents told me that if I performed the rituals, like communion, I'd get a new bike and it would make grandma happy. My father's belief system: Dad: "It's freezing in this church". Mum: "Shhhht! We're in session, have some respect". Dad: "At least it will be warm in hell".
Qem 4y ago
Did they control for marriage and divorce? Maybe religious people are just more likely to marry and remain married when older. Lonely elderly people are at increased risk of death, as loneliness increase risk of mental disease and death from disease and accidents, when nobody is around to call help
- fleddr 4y ago
  Maybe, but in that case they could just say "married couples live longer". I really think they're referring to the communal feeling of religion. Forget about the religion itself, it's an incredibly effective way to get to know hundreds of people, which enriches your life. We're social creatures and religion is social on steroids.
ska 4y ago
> Looks like my atheism is is worse than smoking, who knew. It's plausible that the faith-based stuff is just a decent proxy for actually having a functional community and community support.
- gowld 4y ago
  proxy, or cause? Going to a community event on a regular basis is a way to meet people and build relationships. Faith is a way to incentivize going to a community event on a regular basis, and faith communities provide quite a lot of the supply of community events.
- rtev 4y ago
  That’s a strong possibility. While I’m not religious, I frequently envy the close community that religious life brings.
  - zoinks-scoob 4y ago
    Some religions aren’t really over the moon with dogma and mostly just loosely hold a community together. Try a Friends meeting sometime and see what you think.
    - DoreenMichele 4y ago
      Friends -- aka Quakers, for anyone confused. https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Friends#:~:text=The%20Religious%20Society%20of%20Friends%20is%20a%20group,or%20Quakers%20-%20both%20mean%20the%20same%20thing https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Fri....
    - chmod600 4y ago
      If the sense of purpose isn't there, usually the "community" behind it is shallow. I'm not saying only religion offers a sense of purpose. But just a bunch of nice people in a building talking about being nice doesn't often work.
      - 4y ago
gsatic 4y ago
Faith doesn't need to be faith in religion. Have you met sports fans?
- baobabKoodaa 4y ago
  Sports fans are not exactly known for their longevity.
jp0d 4y ago
Makes a strong case for us atheists to form some sort of community and chat about STEM and acknowledge our science gods like Einstein. Now that I think about it, we will probably end up entering into some sort of debate. haha..
zaptrem 4y ago
I'm religious and this seems like some serious causation/correlation confusion. Maybe attending services/having purpose is correlated, but establishing causation for such a thing afaik is impossible.
physicles 4y ago
Former born-again evangelical Christian here, stopped believing about 10 years ago. I haven't yet found anything like the communities within the churches I was deeply involved in. But I do think it's possible to find outside religion, and I'm getting closer every year. I've been lucky to live for the last 10 years in a place* where it's easy to form lasting friendships with like-minded, earnest people. For me, I know I'm in the right place when I have friends with whom I can share my insecurities, and they can share theirs, and there's no judgment. From here I think it's just a matter of prioritizing community whenever it's time to move next, whether it's seeking out groups of friends from our little diaspora or making new friends. That makes sense to do whether I have a partner or not. (*never expected that Beijing would be so great in this way. I don't know if the expat scene in other major cities is similar; maybe it's just because the community is small here and the city attracts people who prefer not to coast through life)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

by fleddr 4y ago

mkoubaa 4y ago

I don't like the terminology of "faith-based" here. These are religious services, and some religions don't place a big importance on faith

pcurve 4y ago

lol! I needed that laugh, thanks. I know you're being funny, but if you already hold similar belief systems and also practice healthy living / thinking on your own, you'll be fine.

fleddr 4y ago
I'm technically a Roman Catholic. My parents told me that if I performed the rituals, like communion, I'd get a new bike and it would make grandma happy. My father's belief system: Dad: "It's freezing in this church". Mum: "Shhhht! We're in session, have some respect". Dad: "At least it will be warm in hell".

Qem 4y ago

Did they control for marriage and divorce? Maybe religious people are just more likely to marry and remain married when older. Lonely elderly people are at increased risk of death, as loneliness increase risk of mental disease and death from disease and accidents, when nobody is around to call help

fleddr 4y ago
Maybe, but in that case they could just say "married couples live longer". I really think they're referring to the communal feeling of religion. Forget about the religion itself, it's an incredibly effective way to get to know hundreds of people, which enriches your life. We're social creatures and religion is social on steroids.

ska 4y ago

> Looks like my atheism is is worse than smoking, who knew. It's plausible that the faith-based stuff is just a decent proxy for actually having a functional community and community support.

gowld 4y ago
proxy, or cause? Going to a community event on a regular basis is a way to meet people and build relationships. Faith is a way to incentivize going to a community event on a regular basis, and faith communities provide quite a lot of the supply of community events.
rtev 4y ago
That’s a strong possibility. While I’m not religious, I frequently envy the close community that religious life brings.
- zoinks-scoob 4y ago
  Some religions aren’t really over the moon with dogma and mostly just loosely hold a community together. Try a Friends meeting sometime and see what you think.
  - DoreenMichele 4y ago
    Friends -- aka Quakers, for anyone confused. https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Friends#:~:text=The%20Religious%20Society%20of%20Friends%20is%20a%20group,or%20Quakers%20-%20both%20mean%20the%20same%20thing https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Fri....
  - chmod600 4y ago
    If the sense of purpose isn't there, usually the "community" behind it is shallow. I'm not saying only religion offers a sense of purpose. But just a bunch of nice people in a building talking about being nice doesn't often work.
    - 4y ago

gsatic 4y ago

Faith doesn't need to be faith in religion. Have you met sports fans?

baobabKoodaa 4y ago
Sports fans are not exactly known for their longevity.

jp0d 4y ago

Makes a strong case for us atheists to form some sort of community and chat about STEM and acknowledge our science gods like Einstein. Now that I think about it, we will probably end up entering into some sort of debate. haha..

zaptrem 4y ago

I'm religious and this seems like some serious causation/correlation confusion. Maybe attending services/having purpose is correlated, but establishing causation for such a thing afaik is impossible.

physicles 4y ago

Former born-again evangelical Christian here, stopped believing about 10 years ago. I haven't yet found anything like the communities within the churches I was deeply involved in. But I do think it's possible to find outside religion, and I'm getting closer every year. I've been lucky to live for the last 10 years in a place* where it's easy to form lasting friendships with like-minded, earnest people. For me, I know I'm in the right place when I have friends with whom I can share my insecurities, and they can share theirs, and there's no judgment. From here I think it's just a matter of prioritizing community whenever it's time to move next, whether it's seeking out groups of friends from our little diaspora or making new friends. That makes sense to do whether I have a partner or not. (*never expected that Beijing would be so great in this way. I don't know if the expat scene in other major cities is similar; maybe it's just because the community is small here and the city attracts people who prefer not to coast through life)

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]