A typical Saturday activity for over-eighties Catholics and Latter-day Saints. Here, two teams of ultra-seniors, one from Utah and the other from Indiana, face off in a friendly 2004 game of pick-up football watched by an audience of ninety-year-olds who were deemed too old to participate. (Incidentally, the Utah old folks defeated the Midwestern old folks by a score of 20-17. \u00a0But a good time was had by all.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve shared any of my notes from\u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones<\/em> (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004). \u00a0So here are a few more, all of which qualify for inclusion in your Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- Faster Healing (page 41) \u2014<\/strong> A 1990 study found that religiously committed, church-attending elderly women recovered more quickly from broken hips. \u00a0They spent less time in the hospital, could walk further upon release from the hospital, and suffered less depression than otherwise comparable but religiously uncommitted \u00a0patients. [P. Pressman, J. S. Lyons, D. B. Larson, and J. J. Strain, \u201cReligious Belief, Depression, and Ambulation Status in Elderly Women with Broken Hips,\u201d American Journal of Psychiatry<\/em> 147\/6 (1990): 758-760.]<\/span><\/li>\n
- Less Premarital Sex Among Youth (page 42)<\/strong> \u2014<\/strong> A study of 477 freshmen students at religious colleges found that teenagers who attended church frequently were only half as likely to engage in premarital sex as those who attended less than weekly. \u00a0And, obviously, this would result in fewer sexually transmitted diseases among them, and fewer out-of-wedlock pregnancies. \u00a0[J. T. Woodroof, \u201cPremarital Sexual Behavior and Religious Adolescents,\u201d Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion<\/em> 24 (1985): 343-366.]<\/li>\n
- Fathers Spend More Time with Children (page 43) \u2014<\/strong> In a study the results of which were published in 2001, conservative Christians seemed more likely to put family ahead of career. \u00a0Fathers were more involved with their children, not only at home but in both church-related activities but in non-church-related ones (e.g., Scouts, youth groups, and father-child events). \u00a0[J. P. Bartowski, W. B. Wilcox, and C. G. Ellison, \u201cParenting and Evangelical Families,\u201d Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2001)]<\/li>\n
- More Effective Child Discipline (page 44) \u2014<\/strong> According to two articles on the subject, conservative Protestant parents were more likely to discipline children by spanking, but they were also less likely to yell at their children or to impose arbitrary punishments. \u00a0They were more prone to set clear expectations, to use corporal punishment only under well-defined circumstances, and to show leniency under mitigating circumstances. \u00a0Children subjected to such discipline did not appear to exhibit the characteristics typical of abuse or family dysfunction. \u00a0[J. P. Bartowski, W. B. Wilcox, and C. G. Ellison, \u201cParenting and Evangelical Families,\u201d Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2001); C. G. Ellison, \u201cConservative Protestantism and the Parental Use of Corporal Punishment,\u201d Social Forces<\/em> 75 (1996): 1003-1028]<\/li>\n
- Religion and Body Health (page 45) \u2014<\/strong> Unfortunately, as a large-scale 1998 survey of 3497 adults illustrated, churchgoers tend to be heavier than the population average, and obesity is a strong predictor of both poor health and early death. \u00a0But the overall benefits of religious involvement appear to mitigate the negative effects of being overweight, at least to some degree. \u00a0And the best results for both happiness and health appear to emerge from a combination of religious practice with good health practices. \u00a0[K. F. Ferraro, \u201cFirm Believers? Religion, Body Weight, and Well-Being,\u201d Review of Religious Research<\/em> 39 (1998): 224-244; J. E. Enstrom, \u201cCancer Mortality Among Mormons<\/a> in California During 1968-1975,\u201d Journal of the National Cancer Institute<\/em> 65 (1980): 1073-1082]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve shared any of my notes from\u00a0Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004). \u00a0So here are a few more, all of which qualify for inclusion in your Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File: \u00a0 Faster Healing […]<\/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":[10003,12280,2704,4714,12283,8022,4372,2412,6147,12289,743,243,12286],"class_list":["post-85771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-benefits","tag-discipline","tag-family","tag-father","tag-fatherhood","tag-fathers","tag-healing","tag-health","tag-medicine","tag-obesity","tag-religion","tag-science","tag-weight"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>