Is faith in God beneficial to our overall health?

[OnceConvinced]

In another thread Peds Nurse said:

"There is also evidence that having faith in God is beneficial to our overall health. "

Questions for debate:
Is faith in God beneficial to our overall health? How so?

Is it really God or does it come down to living a healthy lifestyle and the confidence due to the belief that you have something superhuman backing you?

Could the same benefits be obtained by faith in other gods or even leaders of Christian cults? Or maybe even the power of positive thinking?

[Tart]

A satanist probably will live a less healthy life...

What is your understanding of Satanism and why do you assume this?

...(though this is an assumption i make, i bet it stands true)

Bets aren't settled by assumptions, or at least they shouldn't be. Facts are needed.

Ya here is some evidence of beliefs i think could certainly lead to unhealthy life styles... And being pressed on time, this is limited research to just the church of Satan itself...

"Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!"
https://www.churchofsatan.com/nine-satanic-statements/

"Satanists are encouraged to indulge in the seven deadly sins" "greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth."

"Satanism encourages its followers to indulge in their natural desires."

"The most simplified description of the Satanic belief is: indulgence instead of abstinence."

"Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires " be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, if you choose. Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which will enhance your sex-life, so long as it involves no one who does not wish to be involved."

"Definition of Good and Evil: Good is what you like. Evil is what you don't like."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey

[Tcg]

A satanist probably will live a less healthy life...

What is your understanding of Satanism and why do you assume this?

...(though this is an assumption i make, i bet it stands true)

Bets aren't settled by assumptions, or at least they shouldn't be. Facts are needed.

Ya here is some evidence of beliefs i think could certainly lead to unhealthy life styles... And being pressed on time, this is limited research to just the church of Satan itself...

"Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!"
https://www.churchofsatan.com/nine-satanic-statements/

"Satanists are encouraged to indulge in the seven deadly sins" "greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth."

"Satanism encourages its followers to indulge in their natural desires."

"The most simplified description of the Satanic belief is: indulgence instead of abstinence."

"Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires " be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, if you choose. Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which will enhance your sex-life, so long as it involves no one who does not wish to be involved."

"Definition of Good and Evil: Good is what you like. Evil is what you don't like."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey

Not surprisingly, you didn't present any evidence that any of this leads to a less healthy life.

You simply shifted your assumption to a different area.

[Tart]

A satanist probably will live a less healthy life...

What is your understanding of Satanism and why do you assume this?

...(though this is an assumption i make, i bet it stands true)

Bets aren't settled by assumptions, or at least they shouldn't be. Facts are needed.

Ya here is some evidence of beliefs i think could certainly lead to unhealthy life styles... And being pressed on time, this is limited research to just the church of Satan itself...

"Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!"
https://www.churchofsatan.com/nine-satanic-statements/

"Satanists are encouraged to indulge in the seven deadly sins" "greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth."

"Satanism encourages its followers to indulge in their natural desires."

"The most simplified description of the Satanic belief is: indulgence instead of abstinence."

"Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires " be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, if you choose. Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which will enhance your sex-life, so long as it involves no one who does not wish to be involved."

"Definition of Good and Evil: Good is what you like. Evil is what you don't like."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey

Not surprisingly, you didn't present any evidence that any of this leads to a less healthy life.

You simply shifted your assumption to a different area.

o...k...

Well I think our beliefs about our actions have direct effects to our health... If we believe it is a good thing to indulge in anything we wish, like unhealthy food, drugs, sex, laziness, rage, greed, why shouldn't we believe this will lead to an unhealthy lifestyle?

I mean, satanism tells its followers to "indulge" in "greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth"... That is basically by definition, an unhealthy lifestyle...



"Some unhealthy lifestyle choices that can contribute to heart disease include:"

"living a sedentary lifestyle and not getting enough physical exercise"[sloth]

"eating an unhealthy diet thats high in fat proteins, trans fats, sugary foods, and sodium" [Gluttony]

"smoking"

"excessive drinking"[gluttony]

"staying in a high-stress environment without proper stress management techniques"[anger]

"not managing your diabetes"[gluttony]

https://www.healthline.com/health/heart ... le-choices

[OnceConvinced]

The reality of the situation is this. God leads people to better lives... The scripture dictates prophecy, and a prophecy in the scripture is that God will prepare a path for those who believe...

I would say it's the belief in God that leads people to better lives. It then gives them a desire to be good people and live cleaner lives. However this is not the case for all people who believe in God. In fact when you look at Christians they don't tend to be any more moral than non-believers.

I know atheists who are also motivated to live clean lives. I am one such person, as is my current partner.

One thing we don't have is a god threatening to send us to hell if we don't submit to his will. Fear can be a great motivator, even if it's an unwarranted fear.

I mean, i always had a desire to live healthy, i just couldnt carry it out...

I don't think you give yourself enough credit.

I would end up with friends who were on the broad road, leading to destruction... I would find myself in places that wouldbnt be beneficial for health, but would actually be destructive in health.. Even though i had the desire to do good, this has never changed, i couldnt carry it out... And in fact my lack of knowledge, in retaining the truth, also led me to confusion. I didnt really believe in truth at all, just what i experience... God changes that ...

I have found that when people claim it's God that changed them it was more their own will. Most testimonies I hear from Christians is that they reached rock bottom. They were in such a bad place, they were desperate.

I wonder if that was the case with you?

Often it takes one being at rock bottom before they have the motivation to change. Once they have a gut full of where they are at. Only once they have that type of motivation, are they going to finally put in the action they need to be able to get there.

I have no doubt it was the same with you. I don't think you tried hard enough. You weren't motivated enough to succeed. After having had a guts full of failure you were determined to succeed and get out of that mess you were in. You finally decided to start taking REAL action. Of course there is the placebo that faith brings. If you believe you have a powerful god behind you, it's going to help give you a boost of confidence. A huge boost. And why wouldn't it?

However that does not mean there was any supernatural power behind you.

The other thing too, when someone starts attending church they end up with a group of like minded people building up their confidence and telling them, yes they can do it.

It's all about positive thinking and believing that you can change.

Just listen to all those testimonies Tart. I guarantee most of them have hit rock bottom. They have had a total guts full of the situation they are in and they are finally motivated enough to change. Without that motivation, you probably aren't going to get far.

One thing I have learnt the hard way, is that to get yourself out of those pits you need to take positive action. Just praying about it does absolutely no good. That is how I moved from my places of despair. Prayer/faith in God didn't work. I had to take action.

[OnceConvinced]

. A child can obtain actual comfort from a piece of cloth.

And this shows the power of the placebo. All it takes is the belief you have this supernatural item/thing/god that makes all the difference. We see this all the time with kids. One little item can be all it takes for them to be ready to deal with their issues and take on the world.

I think of my own kids and how they'd be all upset and crying because they had a little scratch on their finger and it was bleeding. It caused great trauma to them. So I get out the sticking plasters. (I call them placebos) and I wrap a sticking plaster around that finger.

Straight away they're all smiles and back to what they were doing before, as if that scratch was never there to begin with.

The power of the placebo is huge so it's no wonder that when people think they have a supernatural being behind them, they're going to overcome all the problems they didn't think they could deal with before.

Just a little positive thinking, plus being at that rock bottom place where you've had a complete gutsful of where you're at. Very powerful.

Yes, faith does give you that placebo. But that same placebo could be got from a tatty old blanket or cuddly toy... or sticking plaster.

[OnceConvinced]

[Replying to marco]

You suggest this as factual, but surely you have no evidence that no God is behind it,

Why would we even need to consider a god, when we know how powerful belief is? That simply having a belief that a god is behind you is sufficient.

Everyone who believes in a god, even different ones to you believes that his/her god helps them. But do you believe that to be true? Do you rule out the possibility that all other gods may be helping their followers with their problems?

We see people getting out of their pits on a regular basis and there seems to be no reason to believe any god did it, no matter how much the person may claim it was a god.

Why go for a supernatural explanation when a natural one will do? We all know the power of positive thinking. No god is needed for that.

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

Is faith in God beneficial to our overall health? How so?

I've seen data that suggests religious belief might well help in folks being 'em healthier. I conclude it's because they've sworn off wearing 'em clothes of mixed fibers.

Conclusions?

Don't it beat all, a god that can't be shown to even be there is now promoted to be him a dietician.

God can have him my my pork, and my crawdads, when it is, he cleaves it from him my cold, dead fork!

[OnceConvinced]

From the OP:

Is faith in God beneficial to our overall health? How so?

I've seen data that suggests religious belief might well help in folks being 'em healthier. I conclude it's because they've sworn off wearing 'em clothes of mixed fibers.

Yeah, wearing those clothes of mixed fabrics surely has to shorten our lives by many years. That's probably why we don't live to be 500 years old these days.

My family, due to being staunch Christians were always against things like smoking, drinking and anything else that might "sully the temple of the holy spirit". That certainly does explain why they may be healthier and live longer. However that's not about faith, that's about avoiding unhealthy activities.

But still, imagine if we didn't wear clothes with mixed fabrics!

Oh and a thing I just thought about, is watching TV. Sitting in front of that box for hours and hours every day. I'm surprised the omniscient god didn't think to mention about warning people about that too. Imagine how divine the bible would be if it actually took into account modern culture and technology?

[Jagella]

Questions for debate:
Is faith in God beneficial to our overall health? How so?

I've never noticed how belief in gods can be good for health. However, some religious doctrines that forbid unhealthy habits may help ensure good health.

Is it really God or does it come down to living a healthy lifestyle and the confidence due to the belief that you have something superhuman backing you?

I suppose theism might have a placebo effect that makes a person at least feel healthier.

Could the same benefits be obtained by faith in other gods or even leaders of Christian cults?

I'm not sure what you mean by "cults," but groups like the Mormons forbid smoking. No doubt a prohibition like that can have beneficial health effects.

Or maybe even the power of positive thinking?

"Positive thinking" no doubt can help a person endure poor health.

Another way to look at this issue is to ask if atheism or a lack of religious belief and practice is detrimental to one's health. I'm an atheist, and I'm in reasonably good health. I don't smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs.

In any case, I wouldn't turn to religion even if it was good for my health.

[Jagella]

But let me testify to you, the Holy Spirit has led me to live WAY healthier then in my past... I quit drugs, cigarettes, excessive drinking, and even soda, and added sugar... This was directly as a result of the impact God had on my life. I eat healthy, and now i exercise all the time... I even fast now, i have mroe self control, and have a desire to live well.

Got 6th place in my last 5K race... 23 minutes... Im determined to knock that down to 21 minutes... It will happen...

It's great to see that you're healthy and fit, but why couldn't you do all that without religion? I quit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco as an atheist, and I eat a healthy diet, so I know I don't see how religion is needed for good health.

It's not hard to see how much of the gospel could be terrible for your health. Mark 16 tells believers they can drink poison and handle poisonous snakes. Moreover, belief in an afterlife could lead to a person not caring about this life and not living to live longer.

So--if you think you're headed for heaven after you die, then your healthy living is delaying your arrival there!