Religion – Are We Better With or Without?

When I saw that WUPR was looking for articles that tackle the theme of Religion, my mind immediately, and excitedly, raced back to December 2015 and a paper I wrote in high school titled, “Religion – Are We Better off With or Without It?” I had a Back to the Future moment, where I wanted to go back to the past, find the paper, and dust it off for the audience I must have been writing it for two years in the future. The paper is too long to present in its entirety here, but because the topic is relevant and worth considering, particularly because we seem to be living in an era where religion is increasingly shunned and the lessons of the past are lost, I’d like to share some of the points of the paper.

A 2015 Pew Research Center report found that a strong majority (76.5%) of U.S. adults said they believe in God and identify with a religion (70.6% Christian faith, 5.9% non-Christian and all other world religions). However, this is down from 82% found in a 2008 Harris Poll. The Pew report shows atheists increasing from 1.6% to 3.1% and agnostics from 2.4% to 4% over the same period, and the debate about religion only seems to be growing in intensity in our society. For example, there is a Freedom from Religion Foundation, but also a Freedom from Atheism Foundation, which offers aid in case “you or someone you know has been the victim of militant, confrontational atheism.” It is not difficult to find debates in the media or on social media sites about whether or not the world is a better or worse place because of religion. And the debate picks up when acts of terror are committed in the name of God, or someone’s idea of God, anyway. This gives rise to an important question: Are we better off with religion or without it?

Many people argue that religion and science cannot co-exist and are somehow at odds. Of course, the scientist credited with advancing the Big Bang Theory, George Lemaitre, was a Catholic priest. Albert Einstein wrote in his 1941 Symposium Science, Philosophy, and Religion, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”. It is only slightly ironic, then, that scientific studies examining the benefits and effects of religion in people’s lives show religion is a positive force. Researchers from the University of Michigan, analyzing data from an annual survey of high school seniors from 135 schools in 48 states, found that religious involvement has a large impact on students’ present lifestyles and sets them up for a healthy adult lifestyle. How so, you might ask?

Many of the students held beliefs about “moderation in all things,” and “maintaining the purity of the body as the vessel of the soul.” They had religious practices that involve delaying, or even denying, harmful things and self-indulgent behaviors. The study found that students who said religion was important in their lives, and attended religious services frequently, had lower rates of drinking, smoking, and drug use and higher rates of healthy eating, seatbelt usage, and not carrying weapons. The researchers found these practices carried forward in life, significantly reducing exposure to major risk factors that cause cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other major causes of death in our society.

[pullquote]Students who said religion was important in their lives, and attended religious services frequently, had lower rates of drinking, smoking, and drug use, and higher rates of healthy eating, seatbelt usage, and not carrying weapons.[/pullquote]

Good health and increased longevity in religious people have been proven time and again in studies. Why the connection exists is something of a mystery. Yet hundreds of studies, by different researchers, observing different populations around the world support this relationship. On July 12, 1999, twelve of the world’s leading theologians, physicians, and psychoneuroimmunologists came to Duke University to study this. Their work was especially important because the group included scientists who were, in their own words, “highly skeptical” of religion. The group learned that the mind-body-spirit are “intimately connected through many neurological, endocrine, and immune pathways,” and acknowledged “the close connection between mental health and immune functioning.” They stated that “even the most ardent skeptic may admit the emotional benefits of faith, the physical ramifications of religious belief.” Given the data from so many studies and the exhaustive research of top experts, even “ardent skeptics,” if honest, must acknowledge the positive force of religion.

Research that overwhelmingly shows higher rates of happiness for religious people is important because the number of people indicating some religious affiliation is declining at the same time our mental health is declining too. The National Institute of Mental Health estimated the rate for major depression in American adults at 6.7% in 2013, representing almost 16 million adults. According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, that number more than doubled from 3.33% just a dozen years earlier. And the rate for major depression was highest among 18-25 year olds at 8.7%. This same group has a rate of religiousness that is declining more than other groups – a 2015 Pew survey showed 36% had no religious affiliation. There are certainly other factors that affect their mental health, but religion has been shown to be a positive force linked to improved happiness and a longer lifespan. A large study by the University of California at Berkeley in 1971 found that the religiously committed had much less psychological distress than the uncommitted, and study after study conforms that finding. Lim and Putnam, professors from the University of Wisconsin and Harvard, respectively, say there is controversy about how religion shapes satisfaction. But, they say, “The positive association between religiosity and life satisfaction is well documented.”

I also want to address a misguided criticism that is often repeated despite having been disproved many times. That criticism claims religion is the cause of most wars, and that more people have died in the name of religion and religious wars than anything else. In his comedic analysis of the Ten Commandments, comedian George Carlin used to say, “More people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason.” His shtick was hilarious, and drew loud applause, but as a factual matter, this is untrue. In their well-respected three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars, authors Philip and Axelrod document the entire history of recorded warfare and note that from their list of 1,763 wars, only 123 had a religious cause. In other words, less than 7% of wars, representing less than 2% of all people killed in warfare, could be classified as religious.

[pullquote]Less than 7% of wars, representing less than 2% of all people killed in warfare, could be classified as religious.[/pullquote]

In his book, Lethal Politics and Death by Government, R.J. Rummel says, “…men, women, and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed or worked to death, buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed or killed in any other of a myriad of ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. The dead could conceivably be nearly 360 million people.” The most devastating totals include Joseph Stalin (42.7 million) and Moa Zedong (37.8 million). These death totals dwarf the estimated 1-3 million people killed in the Crusades and perhaps 3,000 killed in the Inquisition. As author Jimmy Akin explains on his website, “Religion is
a powerful motivator, and thus is often evoked in wartime, but the real reasons most wars are fought have nothing to do with it.” He goes on to explain that the real reasons have to do with gaining or staying in power, gaining political control of resources, or simply a leader’s ambitions. In a HuffPost Religion column, Rabbi Alan Lurie details major conflicts, including genocides in the 20th century alone that killed over 160 million civilians, and concludes, “History simply does not support the hypothesis” that religion is a major cause of conflict.

In my high school paper I cite Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., who, while looking at the impact of religious practices, noted that the most comprehensive reviews of studies reveal that 81% show positive benefits of religious practices, 15% show neutral effects, and only 4% show harm. “Religious practices,” Dr. Fagan concluded, “appear to have enormous potential for addressing today’s social problems.” While it seems like he could have said that yesterday, Dr. Fagan was writing in 1996, and the societal problems he noted include violent crime, substance abuse, rising illegitimacy, and welfare dependency. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that these issues seem to have worsened over last 20 years given the statistics that show religiousness has declined during this time as well.

People have held religious beliefs and practiced their religions for thousands of years. There is overwhelming evidence of the positive benefits associated with religion and those who are religiously committed, much of it coming from or being confirmed by the scientific community. We may not understand the why or the how – emotions, mind, body, community, or something else – but with such compelling evidence, the
relationship is a convincing one. Given the many studies and the enormous body of work showing a powerful, positive relationship between religious commitment and physical health, mental health, increased longevity, personal happiness, and other desirable traits, it seems clear: We are much better off with religion than without it.

Christina Passerell ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at cpasserell@wustl.edu.