A transcript from last Sunday’s broadcast of “Coast to Coast AM”
While I would say that anyone who seeks a quid pro quo relationship with God is missing the point, Ian Punnet responds to the question ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’
Turns out spirituality has a physical benefit as well!
by Ian Punnett
MARYVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman’s four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said.
The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with The Rev. Fred Winters, then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said. Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the ground as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other people, Trent said.
I’ve been thinking about that story a bit throughout the day because I too preached this morning, just a regular day in the pulpit and I’ve had people wander into services like that too. A priest friend of mine, Spenser, has had a thief on the run with a gun charge into a church when he was preaching but fortunately, everybody was OK.
Shootings in churches are a growing problem and there doesn’t appear to be any consistency on the motive of the shooters or the choices of victims. A person of faith might expect that God might protect worshippers at a time like that but we know that’s not true.
So, if God won’t stop the bullets intended for the faithful, something that’s questioned in the “Watchmen” movie, what good is God worship?
The latest scientific research into the benefits of a religious life is in and once more, I’m guessing, it will confound those that think only the illogical and the superstitious are people of faith.
According to the latest neuroscience research at Physorg.com:
Believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress, according to new University of Toronto research that shows distinct brain differences between believers and non-believers.
In two studies, participants performed a Stroop task – a well-known test of cognitive control – while hooked up to electrodes that measured their brain activity.
Compared to non-believers, the religious participants showed significantly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that helps modify behavior by signaling when attention and control are needed, usually as a result of some anxiety-producing event like making a mistake. The stronger their religious zeal and the more they believed in God, the less their ACC fired in response to their own errors, and the fewer errors they made.
The study’s lead author says, “We found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors. They’re much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error.”
The findings show religious belief has a calming effect on its devotees, which makes them less likely to feel anxious about making errors or facing the unknown.
Lest you think this is some kind of fluke, the conclusion that being religious means being healthier is nothing new. Last year there was this piece at “LiveScience.com”:
There are many things you can do to increase your life expectancy: exercise, eat well, take your medication and … go to church.
A new study finds people who attend religious services weekly live longer.
Statistically, regular religious attendance will add 1.8-to-3.1 years to your life.
The surgeon who conducted that survey speculated that the social aspect of religion could play a role in the results: “There is something about being knit into the type of community that religious communities embody that has a way of mediating a positive health effect,” he told LiveScience. Perhaps, he said, being involved in a religion “can then decrease your level of stress in life or increase your ability to cope with stress.”
Another possibility: “Being in a religious community helps you make meaning out of your life,” the surgeon/researcher suggested.
Which is just like I’ve always said: “The meaning of life is living a life full of meaning.” People living meaningful lives are usually too busy to be depressed. This has always been a conclusion about people of faith that goes back a few years:
Jan. 23, 2005 — ABCNews
Is there a secret weapon against depression? Research suggests it might be religion. Studies show that people who practice some sort of religion are happier and less stressed out than those who don’t.
Those findings come as no surprise to Dr. Harold Koenig, a psychologist and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University, who says there are a number of factors that contribute to religious people being happier.
“Generally, religious people have a positive view of the world,” said Koenig. “They believe they are here for a reason. They see a purpose and a meaning in their life and have hope.”
Of course, having a sense of purpose doesn’t make people of faith bullet-proof or put a forcefield around them that keeps out life’s hassles, crisis or disappointments. It’s just having a sense of purpose gives you a horizon line to fly by:
Religious people have more self-control than their less religious counterparts, leading to lower rates of substance abuse, better school achievement, better health behaviors, less depression, and longer lives, says University of Miami professor of Psychology, Michael McCullough.
McCullough’s new meta-study, appearing in the journal Psychological Bulletin, posits that self-control is critical for success in life, and religious people have more self-control than do their less religious counterparts. Thus, religious people may be better at pursuing and achieving long-term goals that are important to them. (Science-A-Go-Go)
So, not to fine a point on it, but in response to those who love to make it seem that believing in the Divine is akin to believing in the tooth fairy, I say: What’s so illogical or superstitious about living a longer, better, healthier, happier life? Especially when faith in God is such a broad concept–as witnessed by the graphic novel and movie “Watchmen” where the character of Dr. Manhattan is the embodiment of the intersection between science and religion. Cool story on that at “Newsarama”:
Among all the characters populating the Watchmen film, the glowing, blue figure of Dr. Manhattan stands out as a god-like being that is seemingly beyond comprehension.
Yet when filmmakers approached the character, it was essential to comprehend as much as possible about Dr. Manhattan and his strange powers. So they enlisted the help of James Kakalios, a physics professor at the University of Minnesota who wrote the book, The Physics of Superheroes.
“Most of [Dr. Manhattan's] powers, though not all, have some quantum mechanical aspect to them,” Kakalios explained.
“And just like Dr. Manhattan, most quantum physicists have really hot girlfriends and walk around without pants on . . . “
Yeah, he didn’t actually say that last part–but you know he wished he could!
