Has mankkelli degenerated to cut and paste?
The gist of the article is, social bonds help us through life. After all we are social creatures.
Religious People Live Longer
by mankkeli 14 Replies latest jw experiences
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steve2
There is a statistical grain of truth in Mankkeli's quote - but the salient factors are as follows:
The main research bearing this out is on such groups as Seventh-Day Adventists and Latter-Day Saints and - to the best of my knowledge - none of it has focused specifically on Jehovah's witnesses. Incidentally, among the most impressive statistics on longevity are those involving Japanese from Okinawa - a region of Japan whose predominant religions are non-Christian.
So, whatever targets Mankkeli was aiming for when he started this thread, he may not have successfully hit the ones he intended. Firstly, none of the research supports the Jehovah's witnesses' lifestyle and in fact "supports" the lifestyles of Christian groups other than the JWs and secondly, research on non-Christian belief systems suggests they too enjoy longer lives.
Is Mankkeli broadening his views and championing religions other than JWs? That would be a logical conclusion - but I doubt that's what he intended.
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NewChapter
Knows---I'm not plagerizing---I already had this in my head when I read you post. LOL
We are SOCIAL CREATURES (knowsnothing said it first) so this can make a lot of sense. Getting around people, building up a nice community, having somewhere to turn for stress or help. For a non-religious person, this is an area of life where they will have to pay special attention--it doesn't just fall out of the air. But not everyone does. If non-religious people got involved in some type of community, I'm pretty sure their numbers would level out.
I am not religious, but I go to a Unitarian Universalist church. I feel positive effects of belonging to a community. It has nothing to do with belief.
Oh and since leaving the evil KH, I have stopped taking antidepressants (after 20 years of constant use that coincided with the 20 year I was baptized) I haven't had a panic attack, I've had no suicidal thoughts, my days are much calmer and I feel lighter. Leaving the hall has added years to my life.
NC
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Knowsnothing
Knows---I'm not plagerizing---I already had this in my head when I read you post. LOL
I am not religious, but I go to a Unitarian Universalist church. I feel positive effects of belonging to a community. It has nothing to do with belief.
Np, NC. Community is what it is all about.
BTW, I am curious. What services (if they have any at all) does your church observe? Feel good sermons and such? (without holy texts and such, I mean)
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NewChapter
Hi Knows, the thing about UU is that each church will be very different. They do sometimes read from some holy texts---but it's pretty equal opportunity. The pastor will often read essays and such from humans that have some good stuff to apply to our lives.
The last sermon I made it for talked about death by a thousand cuts.
She said that when severe injustice happens, people react to it. But the more sinister injustice are the small things. Like racism or sexism. Perhaps the laws don't allow blatant discrimination, however little things happen all day every day that still do damage. Sometime the target is not even sure it is so subtle---or if they are sure and say something it can seem so mild they get accused of playing the race card or that they don't have a sense of humor---whatever. So it was just a talk about how tiring that can be for people.
Then there's music and quiet moments. My church does not pray (as a group, though I'm sure some individuals may do so), but instead they take a moment to breathe and reflect. It's surprising how rare it is that any of us sit in total silence and just breathe. Every time she does it, I'm astonished to realize that I haven't stopped even once to just let it all go.
More interesting to me are all of the other programs they have. They work for charity, have education programs, get together for coffee and writing groups. The members really get a lot of leeway. They told me that I could start my own writing group at the church and make it totally secular. The one they have now has a spiritual twist which I'm not interested in.
Just good people with a home base that want to help everyone be their best---without defining what is best for everyone.
NC