On 27 Jan 2008, at 01:43, Dave Land wrote: > On Jan 26, 2008, at 12:58 AM, Curtis Burisch wrote: > >>>> Better idea - remove tax exemptions and other special benefits for >>>> religions and quasi-religious organistions, with the exception of >>>> charitable ventures (which must be purely charitable subsidiaries >>>> of >>>> or wholly separate ventures). >>> >>> And only those over twenty-one should be allowed access to churches/ >>> temples/ashrams/mosques/synagogues and other places where the evil >>> nonsense of religion is purveyed or to the vile corrupting texts of >>> religion. >> >> Now there's a great idea! And, how about displaying a health warning >> outside churches/temples/etc., like the warnings on cigarette >> packets? > > Unfortunately for this plan, as I seem to recall having seen discussed > here recently, presence of religious faith has been shown to have > beneficial health effects. I am far too lazy to look it up for you.
http://www.tjols.com/article-450.html "Proponents of bringing religion into medicine cite research showing that religious devotion is associated with better health outcomes. But overwhelmingly, the evidence is weak and inconclusive, marred by serious flaws in research methods. Even the best review article in the field, published by Lynda Powell in the American Psychologist in 2003, found that in all but 43 of the hundreds of studies examined, the research methods were so flawed that they couldn’t definitively determine that religion and not other factors, including chance, was responsible for the outcomes. Of all the studies that attempt to establish a connection between religion and health, those finding an association between attendance at religious services and life expectancy are, without question, the strongest. In one of the best studies, a survey of more than 21,000 subjects, R. A. Hummer and colleagues found that frequency of religious attendance was inversely associated with mortality. However, the protective effect was entirely absent for patients with cancer, and only marginally significant for patients with heart disease, the two leading causes of death in the United States. A report published in the American Journal of Public Health in 1998 showed that, in a community sample of 2,023 affluent, largely white adults over age 55 in Marin County, California, religious attendance was associated with reduced mortality. However, the magnitude and significance of the effect varied depending upon the definition of attendance, and whether the model included other indices of social engagement. So while the data suggest some health benefits from social engagement, they are anything but a ringing endorsement of the health benefits of religion or religious faith, per se. " -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." ~Voltaire. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
