Shock, Horror - Iona Institute Finds Religious People are "Happier" & "Healthier"

[A_man_about_a_dog]

BreakingNews.ie

Surprise, surprise.... the Iona Institute have released a report which claims that those with more religious views are generally happier, in terms of lower depression levels, than people who are not religious. The report also claims that people with strong religious views tend to recover from illness much quicker than non-religious patients.

The study concluded that religion is rarely a socially destructive force and is beneficial to both the individual & wider society.


Frankly, what else would one expect of the Iona Institute other than a report which promotes religion in a highly favourable light? What I want to know is how do they measure whether religious people have better recovery times than non-religious people? Is it a case of them simply asking patients how they 'feel' and then separating those patients who described themselves as 'religious' from the 'non-religious' and coming up with a set of figures?

I certainly don't buy into the notion that people with strong religious views are going to have shorter recovery times than those atheistic or agnostic views. Sounds like a load of old hobble thrown together in a manner which produces the results that the boys up in Iona HQ want to see. I often wonder why the likes of breaking news and rte.ie carry these stories on their main pages.... surely there has to be more important happenings going on in the world this morning than the Iona Institute releasing a highly biased report, no?

[Oppenheimer]

She seems happy.......

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwAyNhqYuE&feature=related]YouTube - Laughing at/with Jesusophile[/ame]

[ibis]

When ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise...

[mccafferty cat]

I wonder will the Iona Institute ever release a report showing anything negative about religion?

More chance of seeing David Quinn dressed in leathers at an upstairs fetish gay swingers club

[mccafferty cat]

Oh, and they even wheeled out that quack Patricia Casey on Morning Ireland earlier

[Andrew49]

[KingKane]

She seems happy.......

YouTube - Laughing at/with Jesusophile

So is he

Jerry O'Connell in the parody video Tom Cruise WANTS you to see! from Jerry Minor and Jerry O'Connell

[Wakeupcall]

People who stick to religion need answers.

if you feel that you already have all your answers, then maybe you will be happier... if not maybe you will find the knowledge you seek and be happier in the future

[KingKane]

"People who practice religion are happier and healthier than those who don't, according to a study being published today by the Iona Institute.

The conservative think tank says the study has found that religious practice is associated with lower-than-average rates of depression and other mental illnesses and better rates of recovery following illness.

It is also associated with lower-than-average rates of alcohol and drug abuse, marital breakdown and crime.

The study concludes that religion is rarely socially destructive, but is usually socially and personally beneficial. "

Just being devil's advocate but it could also be that people lose their faith in religion when faced with real problems like "alcohol and drug abuse, marital breakdown and crime" because it fails them.

Or that religious people are unwilling to admit they have a problem with depression and mental illness? After all, is the decline in pirates the cause of global warning?

[setanta]

As I understand it this is not even based on any original research but rather is a cobbling together of specious claims made by US religious fundamentalists based on questionable "research" they have undertaken.

As has been said before, "Nothing to see here, kindly move along!"