Study: Key to happiness is having friends at church

[loco]

Dec 8, 2010

Attending religious services regularly and having close friends in your congregation are keys to having a happier, more satisfying life, a new study finds.

Even attending irregularly increases a person’s sense of well-being, as long as there is a circle of friendships within the community and a strong, shared religious identity, according to the study reported in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

Numerous studies have shown that religious people report a higher level of well-being compared with the non-religious, says Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s the lead author of the study.

Lim’s study finds that when people with similar levels of attendance are compared, the key factors determining happiness are the social aspect of religion and a shared religious connection. He says that “90 percent of the correlation between church attendance and life satisfaction can be explained if you have these close interactions.”

Gannett News Service

http://www.suntimes.com/news/2728257-418/church-religious-having-attendance-friends.html

[outby43]

Of course it does.  You can say the same thing for any activity you enjoy.  Weekend softball teams, orgys, weekly karaoke, etc..No matter what the activity, you will be happier with like minded individuals.  Has nothing to do with religion IMO.

[loco]

Of course it does.  You can say the same thing for any activity you enjoy.  Weekend softball teams, orgys, weekly karaoke, etc..No matter what the activity, you will be happier with like minded individuals.  Has nothing to do with religion IMO.

And I respect your opinion, but

Numerous studies have shown that religious people report a higher level of well-being compared with the non-religious, says Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s the lead author of the study.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/2728257-418/church-religious-having-attendance-friends.html

[big L dawg]

ahhh..the opium of the masses..I feel grrrrreat!!!

[loco]

ahhh..the opium of the masses..I feel grrrrreat!!!

Except having friends at church is far from any drug.

[big L dawg]

Except having friends at church is far from any drug.

except having friends at church is no different than having friends period...of course a person that has friend will be happier this is a retarded thread...

[loco]

except having friends at church is no different than having friends period...of course a person that has friend will be happier this is a retarded thread...

Numerous studies have shown that religious people report a higher level of well-being compared with the non-religious, says Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s the lead author of the study.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/2728257-418/church-religious-having-attendance-friends.html

[big L dawg]

"higher level"

haha oh brother...care to define how they measure levels of "well being" from person to person...you people never cease to amaze me with your dogma/propaganda...

[Mr. Magoo]

There are way too many variables that would have an effect to reach this conclusion

[loco]

"higher level"

haha oh brother...care to define how they measure levels of "well being" from person to person...you people never cease to amaze me with your dogma/propaganda...

"you people"?  What's that supposed to mean?

I did not conduct the study.  I am simply posting the results.  Funny how some people get so upset over this.

[Mr. Magoo]

"you people"?  What's that supposed to mean?

I did not conduct the study.  I am simply posting the results.  Funny how some people get so upset over this.

I don't disagree with the study that was done, I disagree with the certainty of the conclusion they reached

They would have had to control for a huge amount of variables to determine that "having friends at church" is the one that has the most effect on happiness levels. And when they did control for those variables, in no way would friends at church had explained 90% of it. He said the word correlation but he then says that church attendance causes happiness, so I think he meant to say causation. I don't think causation can be explained when there are so many other influences.

[Butterbean]

"you people"?  What's that supposed to mean?

Racist post reported.












 

[loco]

Racist post reported.


 

 

[big L dawg]

Racist post reported.












 

 

[George Whorewell]

Cold beer, warm *ussy and a place in doors to take a *hit.

[Deicide]

Dec 8, 2010

Attending religious services regularly and having close friends in your congregation are keys to having a happier, more satisfying life, a new study finds.

Even attending irregularly increases a person’s sense of well-being, as long as there is a circle of friendships within the community and a strong, shared religious identity, according to the study reported in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

Numerous studies have shown that religious people report a higher level of well-being compared with the non-religious, says Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s the lead author of the study.

Lim’s study finds that when people with similar levels of attendance are compared, the key factors determining happiness are the social aspect of religion and a shared religious connection. He says that “90 percent of the correlation between church attendance and life satisfaction can be explained if you have these close interactions.”

Gannett News Service

http://www.suntimes.com/news/2728257-418/church-religious-having-attendance-friends.html

Entirely possibly, in fact very likely. Offers ZERO evidence that the tenets of Chrisitanity are true though.

[Migs]

Of course it does.  You can say the same thing for any activity you enjoy.  Weekend softball teams, orgys, weekly karaoke, etc..No matter what the activity, you will be happier with like minded individuals.  Has nothing to do with religion IMO.

yup

[Dos Equis]

Makes sense.  It is usually a happy place.  Lots of love.  Great fellowship.  Get to talk story with people you don't see every day.  Good way to stay grounded. 

[MCWAY]

Entirely possibly, in fact very likely. Offers ZERO evidence that the tenets of Chrisitanity are true though.

That's not the purpose of this study, per se.

But, the fact that atheists are trying to replicate the function of church with their humanist centers (or as Beach Bum and I called them, "un-churches") says that gathering of the brethren at church has much merit.

[MuscleMcMannus]

All I know is there are some hot fucking women in church.  And I guarantee you 50% of them are up to no fucking good whether they are fucking like little whores or whatever nastry evil ungodly acts they do on a weekly basis. 

LOL...If you surround yourself with like minded people i.e. FRIENDS or hell even if you live in a place where there is a great sense of community....block parties, friendly neighbors who you hang out with and help each other..........it has fuck all to do with religion.  Most religious people are some of the biggest fucking hypocrites I've ever met in my life.........let alone pretty boring when it comes to talking about life, the universe, etc.  It's always a default to god in every discussion, argument.  Gets old. 

I had a thought the other night that maybe god put us on earth so that we would abandon all fucking notion of a higher being and believe in ourselves, our minds, learn to respect the earth, love each other.  I mean what's the point of life if you just default back to some fucking heaven that is better than life on earth.  The struggle?  Blah blah blah........religion, heaven and the belief in an all loving, all knowing god makes no fucking sense.  I've yet to come across any religion or philosophy that really makes any sense if you think about it.  I like some tenets of buddhism but even that philosophy/religion fails miserably when life is put under a microscope.  We choose our life?  Life is all about the struggle?  Yeah right.......tell that to the little kid who's mom puts out cigarette butts on his back and who's dad is making him suck his dick at night.  Tell that to the young kids that die of the most horrific disease you can imagine.  Tell that to all the innocent victims there will be when nuclear war breaks out.  Yeah life is great.......we all chose this wonderful world and life for the experience?  Thank you all loving god~!  LMAO!  Religion is heroin for the masses.  If I believe in anything it's nature and science like the native Americans did.  Science, understanding, rational logic, etc. has gotten us a lot farther than believing in some bearded white dude. 

[MuscleMcMannus]

I saw some stupid fucking sign in a U-haul rental center the other day when I rented a truck.  It was some fucking prayer that basically said god please protect our soldiers as they fight for blah blah blah.  LMAO!  As if god gives some fucking precedent to US soldiers and the USA?  LMAO!  A great example or how clueless fucking religious people are.  If there is a god sitting up there watching all of us Im sure he gives fuck all if you're black, yellow, purple, American, or whatever.  Least of all he probably gives a fuck if  you're a soldier.  LOL.  Again religious people are such fucking hypocrites.

[Dos Equis]

Someone's pretty angry.  Go to church.  Might make you happier. 

[loco]

Someone's pretty angry.  Go to church.  Might make you happier. 

 

[MuscleMcMannus]

Someone's pretty angry.  Go to church.  Might make you happier. 

Im not angry at all.  I'm one of the happiest people you could meet.....but it took me a few years to cut through all the bullshit that society trys to put on you.......to create this fake reality that you THINK you live in.  I see the world and humanity for what it is.  And once you do that you can truly live free and happy.  But if you buy into the bullshit that society, the media, religion tries to make you believe then you'll always live on your knees.  The world is a much worse, evil place than most want to realize.  It scares them.  Religion has been and will always be a defense mechanism.  Human beings existed well before they found religion and they will exist well after we realize there is life on other planets........intellige nt life.  The sad thing is so many people are going to be disappointed when they die and realize there isn't some heaven where the streets are lined with gold and you get 12 virgins to suck you off everyday.   

[Nathan]

Again religious people are such fucking hypocrites.

True we are all pretty hypocritical. I believe the 1st commandment states thou shall not kill! strait forward is it not?

We do whats best for us not whats best for others, because we fail to realize our existence depends on each other.

United we stand divided we fall.....