| Words Of Wisdom said: I go to church for Christmas as a family tradition and the church does a lot of fun stuff around Christmas too so it's alright. I don't show my appreciation for life by praying and giving thanks... I show my appreciation for life by getting out and enjoying it.
Besides, consider this. 1) The average lifespan in the U.S. is 78 or so. 2) The average amount of time spent at Church on a Sunday is about 3 hours (a fair assumption). 3) The number of weeks in a year is 52 (let's exclude all those extra days/weeks). Even with all these assumptions, this means that the average person who goes to church weekly will spend about 507 days of their life in church; that's over a year and a half of your life in church. 4) The average lifespan in the U.S. in days is 28,470 (78 * 365). If we divide average lifespan in days by the average days spent in church by a person, we get a number around 56. Just consider that for a moment: For every 56~57 people who attend church weekly all their lives, the church has effectively killed one person. |
I beg to differ! There are many scientific studies that show Churchgoers live an average of 1.8-8 years (or so, depending on the study) longer than non-churchgoers. If a weekly churchgoer spends roughly 1.5 years in church, they have a net gain of life OUTSIDE of church over the non-churchgoer.
So God gives that time back to us 
. And if you go to a church you enjoy, like I do, you don't consider it time lost, but time well spent. My time in church not only will probably give me longer life than otherwise, but it will help me to live that life better and more fulfilled!
Weekly for me!
A few quick sources:
http://www.livescience.com/health/060403_church_good.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/05/990517064323.htm
http://www.webmd.com/news/20000809/religious-people-live-longer-than-nonbelievers
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LivingLonger/story?id=1242497
