The Costly Bias Against Christianity

 

 

In Modern Man in Search of a Soul, Carl Jung had written:

·       I have treated hundreds of patients, the larger number being Protestant, a smaller number Jews, and more than five or six believing Catholics…over 35 years of age. There has not been one whose problems, in the last resort, was not that of  finding a religious outlook on life.

His findings agree with thousands of others. In, “Spirituality & Health Research: Methods, Measurement, Statistics, and Resources,” Harold G. Koenig MD, has done more to survey the available research regarding the question of what is associated with positive mental and physical outcomes than perhaps anyone else. He has identified religion/spirituality (R/S) as the key element. For example:

SUICIDE: “We identified 141 studies that had examined relationships between R/ S and some aspect of suicide (completed suicide, attempted suicide, or attitudes toward suicide), and 106 (75 percent) reported significant inverse relationships [the less religion, the higher suicide risk]; 80 percent of the best designed studies reported this finding.”

Koenig also concluded that, “Those who are R/S live a healthier lifestyle that lowers their risk of physical illness.”

HYPERTENSION: “At least 63 studies have examined relationships between R/S and blood pressure (BP) or hypertension, and 36 (57 percent) of those reported lower BP or less hypertension in those who were more R/S or received R/S interventions. Of the 39 best studies, 24 (62 percent) reported this finding. In contrast, 7 of 63 studies (11 percent) reported higher BP or more hypertension in the more R/ S.”

CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE: “We identified 9 studies that focused on relationships between R/S and stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or carotid artery thickness, or examined the effects of an R/S “intervention on these outcomes. Four (44 percent) of those studies reported that R/S was related to significantly less disease, 4 found no association, and 1 found greater carotid artery thickness in those who were more R/S.”

DEMENTIA: “We located 21 studies that examined relationships between R/S and dementia or cognitive impairment. Of those, 10 (48 percent) reported significant inverse relationships, 3 (14 percent) found significant positive relationships, 2 reported mixed findings, and 6 (29 percent) found no association. Of the 14 most rigorously designed studies, 8 (57 percent) reported inverse relationships with R/ S, whereas 3 reported significant positive relationships. Of the 7 prospective cohort studies, 5 (71 percent) found that R/S involvement at baseline predicted significantly less cognitive decline over time.”

MORTALITY: “At least 121 studies have now examined that relationship, with 82 (68 percent) finding that greater R/S involvement predicted greater longevity, and 7 studies (6 percent) reported shorter longevity. Among studies with the most rigorous methodology, 13 of 17 (76 percent) found that R/S predicted greater longevity.”

From the above small sample of Koenig’s work, it is imperative that concerned mental health and medical professionals must not ignore R/S. This is particularly critical concerning our veterans. “Military Times” (2018/09/26) reported:

• About 20 veterans a day across the country take their own lives, and veterans accounted for 14 percent of all adult suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2016.

It should be noted that this is occurring at a time when secular mental health interventions have increased, while the military chaplaincy has become more restricted. This is tragic because our military personnel need the reassurance of the love, forgiveness, acceptance, and hope that is to be found in Jesus Christ, whatever their sins, traumas, or infirmities - the very needs that secularism is unable to fulfill.