Topic: Health and Religion - page 51. (Read 211023 times)

Indeed what exactly is the meaning of this very famous passage?

Since I referenced Peterson upthread I will share his interpretation which is in part 7 of his biblical series. I have linked directly to the relevant section below, however, it's a deep topic so it's still about 18 minutes from the start of the link to a detailed analysis of your passage above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gFjB9FTN58&t=56m54s

If you can spare the 18 minutes I highly recommend watching it.

It doesn't work, it's proven, get over it.

''Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him''

According to these verses, prayer is an opportunity to approach the greatest father of all time and openly express our needs and desires and directly ask for help yet prayer doesn't work, no one has seen a dead person revive or a amputee grow back an arm.

Prayer, all by itself, doesn't do much of anything. If it has positive thinking involved, the positive thinking might do something... like placebo action.

If the prayer is a prayer of faith, prayed to God, then God works. It isn't really the prayer working. Any studies that suggest that prayer doesn't work are looking at the wrong thing. Prayer is about relationship with God. Prayer as a mechanical thing won't work except if it has positive thinking attached to it. And even then it is not as powerful as faith prayer, prayed to God.

Yet numerous studies and logic have proven that prayer, for example, doesn't work.

Unfortunately it looks like all copies of that third article are behind paywalls. Let's mark it as disputed and move on.

In my opinion the correct way to approach a question like this not to ask does ___ make people good or lack of ___ make people bad but instead to ask a more basic question.

Are humans at evil?

It's pretty clear that we are quite evil in general. Looking at the history of the last hundred years brings this into crystallin focus. We are not completely evil we do have some redeeming qualities but probably not nearly as many as we fool ourselves into believing.

Once we acknowledge this disheartening truth it behooves us to pursue the goal of mitigating the deficiency.

Religion absolutely is NOT a hoax. Rather, it is the thing by which everybody lives. Check the definition from Dictionary.com at http://www.dictionary.com/browse/religion?s=t, particularly item 6: "something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience:
to make a religion of fighting prejudice."

Some formal religions are hoaxes. But your informal religion is your way of life.

There isn't and never was any chaos. The closest thing to it is lack of understanding of the order.

Religion is a hoax, not health. Health is serious, yes i certainly believe there is a certainty of degree where the gov. may be lying about certain things. By religions is the biggest hoax ever. You really gonna believe a man by the name of jesus who lived 400 years ago and dedicate your money and sundays to him? Seems like Jesus is a dead pimp and you guys who believe in religions are the prostitute. 

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are in abnormal, social, and personality psychology, with a particular interest in the psychology of religious and ideological belief.

He has posted a analysis of Biblical stories in Genesis from a framework of evolutionary progression and psychology.

It's a brilliant analysis grounded only in modern psychology and science purposefully setting aside questions of faith and metaphysics.

Peterson is in my opinion one of the great intellectuals of our time and a provides a stark rebuttal to the simplistic critiques of those who casually dismiss the book.

Below are the first parts of the series.

Biblical Series I: Introduction to the Idea of God

Biblical Series II: Genesis 1: Chaos & Order

Biblical Series III: God and the Hierarchy of Authority

Biblical Series IV: Adam and Eve: Self-Consciousness, Evil, and Death

Human being is God best creations .We are the masterpiece of God .This is the temple of God so we have to protect  from different vices in order to have a good health.
Health is very important to us as well religion because it guides us for a holy living.Love yourself for nobody will love it except you alone.God is love.

I can't read the last link and by the way ''Individuals living in devout countries were more likely to help strangers even if they themselves were not religious.'' Basically saying that even though they are atheists they only helped because they live in devout countries? Most countries are extremely religious anyways, it's quite hard to find the few that aren't so this is a flawed argument.

hmm.Imagine, that you live without any purpose except people who will die after you, will remember you good.
When you die, everything will end. No God, no life after death.
You decline that God and life after death is exist.
Actually this a paradox that you decline, but thought of existence of God will gnaw your brain.

That's probably a big part of the effect. Upthread I highlighted some studies that indicated that it was actual observance attendance in church etc rather then just professed belief that was correlated with improved health outcomes.

I think it goes deeper then just a sense of community however. Many communities are degenerative or non sustainable on iteration over time. Presumably this is why the "sense of community" has vanished from much of the world.

Perhaps the health and religion link is simply the result of result of the genuine application of iterable beliefs and principles over time. I don't know. The overall effect, however, is shockingly strong and surprising underreported.

I think that religion and health can't be associated. Religion is just a thing in your head that making troubles all the time and didn't changing your health.

Interesting. I wonder whether the health and religion link could be due to the community/social elements of religion. Certainly, a sense of "community" is lacking in many places around the world and that brings many ailments

Whatever your sources are for this
Astargath they are not giving you accurate information.

The Good Samaritan study had nothing to do with comparing atheists and religious. It was a study on the behavior of religious seminary students.

The Good Samaritan Experiement: Darley & Batson (1973)
http://socialpsychologyatpratt.blogspot.com/2011/10/good-samaritan-experiement-darley.html?m=1

What the Good Samaritan Experiement really tells us is that seminary students don't always do the right thing especially when they are in a hurry.

It also tells us that when their religion is fresh in their mind rather then mundane concerns they are more likely to do the right thing.

It is no surprise that humans even seminary students often fail. We already know that two thirds of the highly educated will administer a lethal electrical shock to an innocent if an authority figure pushes them to it. See:

The Milgram Experiment: Are We Evil?
http://www.mysticfiles.com/the-milgram-experiment-are-we-evil/

What is much more important in my opinion is the dramatic increase in the amount of students who stopped to help when their thoughts were not on a lecture about jobs and money but instead on a lecture about their religious principles.

Religion, Altruism, and Helping Strangers: A Multilevel Analysis of 126 Countries
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319234810_Religion_Altruism_and_Helping_Strangers_A_Multilevel_Analysis_of_126_Countries

Wrong. Regarding health, it is scientific known that placebo effect is real. Placebo effect revolves around what people believe. Religious belief affects health just like placebo effect. Why? Because both involve what is believed.

On top of placebo effect is... God hears and answers.

Religion and health or finances have nothing in common.

Buddhism, for example, may officially be a religion without gods, but most Buddhists still treat Buddha as a deity. Similarly, the Catholic Church vehemently opposes birth control, but the vast majority of Catholics practice it anyway. In fact, theological incorrectness is the norm rather than the exception among believers.

Do people practice what they preach?
Social scientific research on the topic offers some intriguing results.

When researchers ask people to report on their own behaviors and attitudes, religious individuals claim to be more altruistic, compassionate, honest, civic and charitable than nonreligious ones. Even among twins, more religious siblings describe themselves are being more generous.

But when we look at actual behavior, these differences are nowhere to be found.

Researchers have now looked at multiple aspects of moral conduct, from charitable giving and cheating in exams to helping strangers in need and cooperating with anonymous others.

In a classical experiment known as the “Good Samaritan Study,” researchers monitored who would stop to help an injured person lying in an alley. They found that religiosity played no role in helping behavior, even when participants were on their way to deliver a talk on the parable of the good Samaritan.

This finding has now been confirmed in numerous laboratory and field studies. Overall, the results are clear: No matter how we define morality, religious people do not behave more morally than atheists, although they often say (and likely believe) that they do.

According to 218 studies on the effects of loneliness and social isolation, researchers found that having poor social connections and intimate relationships is nearly twice as deadly as just being fat.