Skellig Michael, and this pathway to its summit, should strike some \u201cStar Wars\u201d fans as a bit familiar.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven\u2019t seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones<\/em> (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004). \u00a0It\u2019s a lot of fun, and I\u2019m going to share some notes from it as I read it through.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The primary reasons for going to church are, of course, to worship God and give thanks to him, to learn and teach about the faith, to hear the Gospel, to reflect on the path that we\u2019ve been taking and on where we want to go, and, for Latter-day Saints, to renew our covenants with God. \u00a0But here are some additional potential benefits worth considering:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- Reduced Blood Pressure (p. 11).<\/strong> \u00a0According to a 1989 study, smokers who did not attend church were seven times more likely to suffer from abnormally high blood pressure than the average person. \u00a0On the other hand, church-attending smokers had lower blood pressure, resembling that of non-attending nonsmokers. \u00a0So, advised the principal author of the study, \u201cIf you are going to smoke, make sure you go to church.\u201d \u00a0[D. W. Larson, H. G. Koenig, B. H. Kaplan, R. S. Greenberg, E. Loge, and H. A. Tyroler, \u201cThe Impact of Religion on Men\u2019s Blood Pressure,\u201d Journal of Religion and Health<\/em> 28\/4 (1989): 265-278]<\/li>\n
- Happier Marriages (p. 13).<\/strong> \u00a0A study published in 1990 tested 228 married Seventh-day Adventists. \u00a0The authors took into account private religious practice (e.g., Bible reading, and personal and family prayer), \u201cintrinsic religiosity\u201d (i.e., how the person actually feels about religion), and public religious practice (e.g., attending church, public witnessing, giving financial support). \u00a0After controlling for several relevant factors, the authors of the study found that the best predictor of a happy marriage was consistent religious practice \u2014 including church attendance and personal and family devotions. \u00a0[M. G. Dudley and E. A. Kosinski, \u201cReligiosity and Marital Satisfaction: A Research Note,\u201d Review of Religious Research<\/em> 32 (1990): 78-86]<\/li>\n
- Better Behaved Teenagers (p. 14).<\/strong>\u00a0 In a bid to examine religion\u2019s possible role in lowering rates of high-risk behavior among high school students, a major 1998 study looked at a random group of 5000 teenagers across 135 American high schools. \u00a0The authors of the study looked at interpersonal violence, bringing a weapon to school, driving under the influence of alcohol, smoking cigarettes, using marijuana, binge drinking, and the use of seat belts. \u00a0They also included such lifestyle issues as diet, exercise, and patterns of sleep. \u00a0\u201cThe researchers found that church attendance was associated with fewer deliberate, potentially injurious behaviors, less substance abuse, and better lifestyle choices\u201d (14). \u00a0Moreover, teenagers who said that religion was important to them were far less likely to have brought a gun to school. \u00a0[J. M. Wallace and T. A. Forman, \u201cReligion\u2019s Role in Promoting Health and Reducing the Risk Among American Youth,\u201d Health Education and Behavior<\/em> 25 (1998): 721-741]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
These all seem to me excellent candidates for inclusion in your Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven\u2019t seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004). \u00a0It\u2019s a lot of fun, and I\u2019m going to share some notes from it as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10408,10405,3199,10003,4735,10411,909,10414,2412,10396,10399,1191,743,243,10402,9967],"class_list":["post-84557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adolescence","tag-adolescents","tag-attendance","tag-benefits","tag-church","tag-church-going","tag-faith","tag-going-to-church","tag-health","tag-low-blood-pressure","tag-marital-satisfaction","tag-marriage","tag-religion","tag-science","tag-teenagers","tag-well-being"],"yoast_head":"\n
Good Reasons to Attend Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good Reasons to Attend Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-24T03:15:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-24T06:08:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/12\/450px-080Skellig_Michael.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html\",\"name\":\"Good Reasons to Attend Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-24T03:15:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-24T06:08:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Good Reasons to Attend Church\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Good Reasons to Attend Church","description":" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Good Reasons to Attend Church","og_description":" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2020-04-24T03:15:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-24T06:08:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/12\/450px-080Skellig_Michael.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html","name":"Good Reasons to Attend Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-24T03:15:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-24T06:08:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Searching through a pile of papers, I came across a little book today that I haven't seen for quite a while: \u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/good-reasons-to-attend-church.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Good Reasons to Attend Church"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Skellig](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/12\/450px-080Skellig_Michael.jpg\")
<\/a>