It is a peer reviewed study, That study only noteworthy issue is looking at non-smokers, as it was assumed that LDS had longer lives due to not smoking, when it turns out there are other benefits due to other practices. and i was referring to the code that LDS is brought up to has measurable benefits (Longer life) and thus is really a no cost.
As i said, I am not going to covert you over a message board, but I live my life according to a set of religious rules, and sure, you can do that secularly, but I doubt many people would or could live up to a LDS level without a religious backing, both in willpower and also in community.
Well, I guess it's time for me to speak up.
I was LDS (or 'Mormon') for fifteen years. Went directly into atheism, pending further evidence of supernatural spooky creatures; when that evidence presents itself, I'll reconsider.
I don't doubt that Mormons live longer. They don't drink alcohol, tea, or coffee; they don't smoke; and they subvert personal stress by concerning themselves with the afterlife, rather than worrying about making this life a decent one. Of *course* they live longer. Shaolin monks probably outlive their peers, too, along with other monastic cultures.
I could form my own religion based on fictional Vulcan's Kolinahr. No emotions, no heated conflict. All rational vegetarians that don't eat animal fat or smoke cigarettes or guzzle whiskey drinks. Then I could show you statistics that demonstrate that they live longer than most. Of course they do. This isn't anything complicated.
However, it proves nothing as far as supernatural deities are concerned. Just because cutting out drinking and smoking is healthy - something that everyone in this day and age is aware of, despite their religion - doesn't mean that God is real and smiling upon them. It's just basic nutrition/chemistry/etc.
Anyway, to get down to it - as I said, I was a Mormon for many years. 'We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost...' etc. I could quote the entirety of the 'Articles of Faith'. What I learned was that there is a difference between satisfaction and happiness. I was happy believing the church-stories about what I was promised in the afterlife. Who wouldn't be happy believing in an afterlife spent with your family, the people you love, and the creation of your own world? However, after a certain point, I found that I could only be truly satisfied with the truth. Satisfaction, by my definition, is being comforted by the fact that I know something is real. I could believe in any one of a thousand fictions that would make me happy. I could justify any belief, or action that I took, on the basis that it makes me feel 'happy'. In the end, however, it's far more important to me that I recognize a TRUTH, even if it is unhappy, because I will never be satisfied by a happy lie.
Because I believe in providing useful examples, here's one:
You're in a happy relationship with your significant other.
You get along great with her (or him). Your interaction is as close to perfect as it gets. However, for whatever reason, you have the nagging suspicion that she or he is cheating on you. You have no evidence, nothing concrete - just a nagging suspicion. Maybe she/he had a few too 'friendly' dinners with a member of the opposite sex. Maybe she/he spends a remarkable amount of time on the phone with said member of the opposite sex. Something triggers your feelings of discomfort with the situation... but as far as you can tell, it could be entirely in your head. You have no real reason to suspect, just the slightest hunch. This leaves you with a choice.
Do you ignore it? So far as you can tell, your relationship is as positive as it has ever been. You can choose to have faith in your significant other, and tell yourself that it's your own weakness that causes you to suspect your mate.
Or, you can attempt to clear/confirm your suspicion by either confronting your mate - which may fracture the trust between you - or 'spy' and attempt to find evidence to confirm or clear your suspicions.
In the first scenario, in which you choose to cast out your suspicions; you're choosing HAPPINESS. Your relationship is fine, after all, why go looking for trouble? You have FAITH in your partner. This is the easygoing, harmonious tact, but it doesn't provide truth.
In the second scenario, you're risking the HAPPINESS of that relationship, because what you will really be *SATISFIED* with is the TRUTH.
You can have faith and happiness, or you can have truth and satisfaction.
When I left the Mormon church - and all of religion - it was because I decided that I could only be satisfied with the truth about reality. I could never settle for being 'happy' about a 'faith' in reality.
Here's reality - life isn't awesome. It's rarely even 'happy'. There's plenty of pleasure to be had - don't get me wrong - but any belief system that purports that everything is going to be awesome and sunshine and rainbows - if one follows a set of arbitrary rules - is ridiculous. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I like The Final Frontier so much, against the popular opinion - I like Kirk's declaration that he 'NEEDS HIS PAIN!' - that is, he welcomes a painful, horrible, regrettable, but TRUE truth and rejects a peaceful, happy substitute - and then dares question the Almighty's motives from the perspective of pragmatism.
Please think about it. It was perhaps the greatest epiphany of my life when I realized that satisfaction is far more valuable and useful than happiness.
About humans' feelings and emotions in different life situations and how dealing with it certain ways can have different consequences...positive and negative.... Basically, it is talking about the livelihood of man.
