Armads said:
George Barna, president of Barna Research group (a research group that leans in favor of christianity [their goal is to solve problems within the christian community so they have a pretty good record of being truthful when it comes to religious survey]) "While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages." Divorce rate by religion:
Many studies show that the higher one acheives academically the less likely one is to believe in god. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1101376/an_analysis_of_educational_level_and.html
Surveys also show that belief in god is linked to a higher likelihood to commit homicide (and a lower likelihood to commit suicide) able 1: Homicide and Suicide Rates (Natural Logarithms) by Measures of Religiosity (World Value Survey Nations)
This survey was done across 46 nations. The study suggests that those who passionately believe in god are more likely to commit homicide because it is an act of passion which is inseperable from religious and moral teachings. Or in other words, people who believe in god have a personality type which is also more likely to commit murder. Those who put hold the other values in higher regard such as attending services and belonging to religion are of a much lower likelihood. I don't think that I need to expound upon the gender inequality that religions have instilled when the Vatican has recently just declared ordaining a woman as a priest is a crime that is a crime as grave as a priest raping a little boy. Overall per capita development tends to reduce religious belief, where as increasing poverty rates cause it to rise. And the question was an honest one, what are the other benefits of being religious? Becuase I don't see many |
I think the problem with surveys is that they don't present the whole problem. I liked where you were going with your analysis of the murder rates and their relationship to personality types.
I'll begin by saying that I was raised as a Christian but have been disappointed that I have very few people who I believe personfy the Christian faith. In other words, I think people who are religious don't represent their faith.
One example I have of the benefits of religion is positive thinking. In a completely non-religious way, positive thinking can allow you to overcome obstacles. You don't need to be religious to know the value of positive thinking. In a related study, it was demonstrated that people who are good at lying to themselves are better at winning sprint races. They can tell themselves they are faster, they believe it, and perform better.
Now it's possible to convince someone of the power of positive thinking, but I don't believe it's possible to convince 5 billion people that they should all start using positive thinkig. One thing we know about human nature is the need to be able to describe our experiences through narratives. Another thing is that people have a tough time grasping the concept of probability and randomness. I'm not talking about PhDs here, I'm talking about average people. It's a lot easier to have a religion. Praying to a god to give you strength is exactly the same as telling yourself you're good at what you do.
I haven't done a lot of research on the topic though, but there was one that showed that religious people are happier. Not because of their religion but becase being religious allowed them to be part of a community. It provided many people with a basic human need that they may not otherwise have had. It doesn't mean you have to be religious but there are benefits to being religious.
I'm NOT saying anyone HAS to be religious. I may not be religious myself but I can see that there are some benefits. I don't the subject well, but this is just what I thought when I read the OP.
