5 Lies Theists Tell About Atheists. Might be worth a look for some of you religious types to get more of an insight on the Atheist position. [Spirituality & Religion]

@Lostpoet Well i wouldn't be at all surprised to find that was the case. It's something that boosts group cohesion and identity which are very important in highly social animals like humans.

@SW-User Times magazine disagrees with you. I'll have to find the article.

Religious people live on average 11 years longer than non-religious.

Learning songs and listening to instrumental music helps with developing language skills in children primary class.

Being in a group makes people healthier and happier

Believing in a higher power takes away stress and anxiety

@SW-User [quote]The exact nature of the connections between religious participation, happiness, civic engagement and health remains unclear and needs further study. [/quote] That's exactly the same ambiguous statement you'd expect to find in a organizational think group.


And they even state that it does have benefits
[quote]Rather, it could be that certain kinds of people tend to be active in multiple types of activities (secular as well as religious), many of which may provide physical or psychological benefits.5 Moreover, such people may be more active partly because they are happier and healthier, rather than the other way around[/quote]

@SW-User Is it one of those things where you can't prove causation and just because you know one scientific meaning doesn't mean you can apply it to everything. And the benefits of learning music at a young age which almost all religions a corporate and studying the Bible or any religious texts, feeling part of a community have significant advantages for people than living without it.

And that is scientific fact. You can take God out of it and it's still a better thing for individual growth than atheism is.

@Lostpoet

[quote]You can take God out of it[/quote]

Well let's [i]do[/i] take god out of it because the potential benefits of belonging to a religious community have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the object of the religion actually exists.

@Pikachu Religion is a concept like many things. You can't prove that love exists but it has physical properties.

@SW-User

[quote]if you take god out it is atheism!
[/quote]

lol true, i suppose.
If you take god out and keep the community then you've just got a social club.

@SW-User

Oh yes? Which ones are those?

@SW-User I don't see the equivocation. I'll narrow down my meaning religion as in any group of like thinking people. That should include atheist as well. If you and a bunch of your buddies want to get together and socialize and sing hymns together than you should have the same benefits of a lifetime of religious gathering. My argument is that being part of a religion is in itself a beneficial endeavor.

@Lostpoet Not always true.
The pastor at my university tells me one of his primary jobs is to help students whose faith is getting in the way of creating a happy and functional life, irrespective of what faith they believe in.
Every year a small number of students have a major crisis due to what they believe, and it usually turns out to be some kind of exaggeration of a standard set of beliefs. It's at least common enough that the university finds it financially beneficial to pay his wages and provide him with a chapel, office and rooms for counselling.
He is a profoundly open minded man, a leader in the Uniting Church with a PhD in theology and world religion and a D.Sc. in evolutionary science.

@hartfire Do you have his phone number?

@Lostpoet Robert Lingard - Senior Pastoral Care Coordinator - 02 6626 9296
Southern Cross University, Lismore Campus, Lismore, NSW, Australia

@hartfire Thank you.