All posts tagged: faith in God

So much COVID: Do you still believe in God?

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How was your life in early January? We had severe cold weather and something like a blizzard. Cars didn’t like to start, and I spend part of my working days outside. Yes, it was cold. My required COVID mask made my breath vent up to my forehead, and the moisture froze to my hair. I had the strange problem of combing ice out of my hair, all day. And yes, I had to wear a mask to protect from COVID, outside, at minus thirty, with only one other person in the area. That other person also had to wear a mask. It gets ridiculous, and we have been warned by the medical authorities that we will all be infected with the Omicron variant of COVID; we just don’t know when that will happen. Where I live, we are no longer told that vaccines will prevent COVID. The new motivator is that vaccines may reduce the severity of symptoms when we do get sick, and we will get sick. The goalposts are shifting. I could rant …

POLL: Are young people secretly turning to God online?

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According to a remarkable poll conducted on behalf of Religion Media Center over 50% of young people between the ages of 18 to 24 are watching online Church services during the COVID pandemic. Online services can be viewed on several social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook in the privacy of a person’s home. The poll was conducted by Savanta ComRes of 2,244 young adults in Britain between July 31 and August 3, 2020. The survey also revealed 45% of those aged between 18 and 24 and 49% of those aged between 25 and 34 had prayed in July. But what is equally significant is that by August the number praying had climbed to 55%. Rev Dr Peter Phillips, the director of the Centre for Digital Religion based in Durham, England, called the numbers staggering and added he was shocked by the results. And what can’t be understated is that while similar polls showed that older people’s interest in online church services waned as the pandemic went on, the same is not happening with …

Why would belief in God make us happier?

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In early December, there was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal written by a psychotherapist named Erica Komisar. In the article, Komisar basically told parents, even if they don’t believe, when their children ask them any questions about God, they should lie and tell them God is real. In fact, in her own practice she has given that very advice. Komisar then went on to explain why she does this. She says it is because faith in God helps children in real substantive ways, both emotionally and mentally. She cited a study conducted by Harvard and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that showed children who have faith in God and attend church at least once a week scored better results in several key areas including: Better mental health; Higher community involvements; Less likely to use drugs; and Less likely to have early sex. She added that the study of 5,000 youth revealed that children who attended religious service also had a deeper sense of purpose for their life and were more …

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel Photo: Bill Read/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is God a Good Idea?

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Is God a good idea? Is God just an idea? Did we invent something, or someone, from our psychology because we wanted some comfort in this world? This is a common idea. One of the founders of Christian Liberal thinking is Ludwig Feuerbach, who believed that we invented God by looking at ourselves. We created our creator in our own image; we looked into ourselves and put pieces of ourselves into our ‘superman in the sky.’ RELATED: Ludwig Feuerbach: Wikipedia Ludwig Feuerbach inspired many, including the founders of Communism, and probably the Nazis. He also inspired the Protestant Liberals. The result of that thinking, in Christian churches, was Liberal Theology, and the end result of Liberalism is empty churches. People who learn the teachings of doubt and dis-belief are not inspired to believe more; they are mostly inspired to leave. Look around your city and notice all the old and empty church buildings. We have some very beautiful buildings where I live, and they are mostly empty on Sunday; beautiful tombs. I remember a historical …

Photo Trent Roche/Flickr

European study shows faith and church attendance key to happiness

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According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology faith plays a key role in warding off depression and in providing “sustained happiness.” In their study reported by NBC, researchers with the University Medical Center in Holland and the London School of Economics compared the involvements of 9,000 Europeans aged 50 and over across 10 countries to find out what activities produced the best emotional benefit. The four areas compared included participation in religious organizations, political or community organizations,  charity groups and taking educational classes. The researchers found that only one — involvement in religious organizations — produced “sustained happiness” in the people studied. The study also showed that church participation gave people a sense of fulfillment and purpose and enabled people to make lifestyle choices that bettered their life. They also found the benefit extended across all countries included in the study. They even noticed a reduction in depression symptoms over a four-year period through increased church attendance. However, the research team was unable to find if it was faith in God …