On Mon, 9 Jul 2001 18:16:41 -0700, you wrote:
>Michael Wiik wrote:
>> Researchers have found, for example, that religious people live, on
>> average, about seven years longer than other Americans. Levin cites a
>> study done by California's respected Human Population Laboratory that
>> tracked 5,000 people for 28 years and found that those who frequently
>> attended church were 23 percent less likely to die during the study
>> period than people who didn't regularly go to church. "This holds true
>> even controlling for the fact that religious folks tend to avoid such
>> behaviors as smoking and drinking that increase the risk of disease and
>> death," Levin reported.
>
>The maxim "unless you use a double-blind, you really can't
>draw valid conclusions" holds, I think. Other factors are
>just too hard to control for. I'm frankly amazed at how
>researchers almost never properly qualify their results.
>
>Take one criticism of the above statistic: the really sick, the
>generally unhealthy, the depressed---all will have a tendency to
>both skip church and die early. Duh!
Must disagree strenuously: the churches are typically packed with the
elderly and sick superstitous, trying to get to the next world.
It's fairly clear to me that religion does help most people in many
ways. Of course, OTOH, it is a major factor in accepting the apparent
truth that science is the only possible path to beating death.
>
>Lee Corbin
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