An active faith may hold the key to a longer, healthier life
An active faith may hold the key to a longer, healthier life
Khadija, an older Algerian woman, at first seems not to understand the question when asked about the role her religion and beliefs play in her well-being.
By *Elisa Di Benedetto and *Larbi Megari
She instinctively relied on Islam as a young woman living in remote villages in the Berber mountains during the fight for independence from France in the 1950s and early 1960s,
Today, living with her husband and a daughter in an apartment in the Algerian capital, Khadija spends much of her time near her radio or television listening to the Quran.
After much reflection, she shifts her focus from those memories to look directly at her interviewer, her eyes mixed with emotion and resolve, and declares: “Religion provides a massive feeling of comfort and reassurance. Nothing made me so strong and emboldened me in the face of all the hard times l have been through during my lifetime. Faith stands for health.”
Shaking her head from left to right, and allowing a small smile on her face, Khadija concludes the interview by saying, “I cannot conceive of life without religion.”
She is not alone.
Social and medical sciences are increasingly finding evidence to support how religion promotes better health, including living longer.
Religion and Health: Findings from Three Studies
- The key finding of a study of nearly 15,000 individuals in the 2003–2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study is that older Mexicans who participate once or more per week in religious activities tend to exhibit a 19 percent reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality than those who never participate. All-cause mortality measures the death rate from all causes of death for a population in a given time period.
- In a U.S. study of nearly 75,000 women from 1992 to 2012, frequent religious attendance was associated with a third lower all-cause mortality compared with women who had never attended religious services.
- A study analyzing three waves of older populations in Taiwan found religious attendance and private devotions were related to longer lives.
Why would religion promote better health and longevity?
There are several reasons, researchers suggest.
They range from the networks of supportive close friends that religious communities can provide to faith teachings discouraging risky behaviors to the assurance that a loving deity is by their side.
There are limits. No one is saying religion can predict longer health in individual cases.
It is also true that there are many aspects of religious life that can endanger public health, such as decisions by some houses of worship to hold large gatherings that place entire communities at risk during the coronavirus epidemic.
But this voluminous new wave of research is helping both religious communities and medical professionals to understand the promises and pitfalls of the faith-health connection.
In the end, the potential for science and religion to work together for the common good holds great promise for improving global health during the pandemic and beyond.
Religion and Health: The benefits of faith
In Limana, a small town in northeastern Italy, Giorgio Fornasier serves as a tenor and organist in his Catholic parish, where he is also organizing the church archives.
“I strongly believe religion improves the quality of life. I am evidence myself,” Fornasier says. “Real faith is linked to serenity and helps you cope with and overcome the challenges that life brings.”
His own faith was challenged early on when his son, Daniele, was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi Syndrome. In response, Giorgio Fornasier later would become president of the international non-profit organization.
At 72, with more time and fewer distractions, he said practices such as praying the rosary and being active in his parish community have resulted in a significant maturing and a deeper consciousness of faith.
While he often thinks about death, Giorgio said it does not frighten him. Referring to God as “the great director,” he adds: “the only bank acknowledging your benefits is up above, and it does that when you least expect it.”
It is not just believers finding evidence for a faith-health connection.
With decades of expanding research, many scholars on religion and health are confident in saying that there is strong evidence that religious practices and beliefs are benefiting large segments of the population.
Religion and Health: Four reasons
You are not alone: While research on loneliness is documenting the potential mental health dangers of a dearth of human contact, the vibrant social networks religious communities can offer members can be a major health advantage, particularly for older persons. A recent study analyzing data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing found as frequent religious attenders reported larger social networks, the less likely they were to report signs of poor mental health.
Having a loving God by your side also makes a difference: Numerous studies find that an association between an image of God as just and merciful with benefits such as a good night’s sleep, greater self-esteem, a lower likelihood of being anxious or depressed and having a greater sense of optimism and hope even while facing stressful situations.
Prayer, worship, meditation and inner peace: Personal spiritual practices are also strongly linked to health. “Prayer can help reduce anxiety,” says professor Julian Hughes, an authority on dementia and a member of the clinical advisory board of the Journal of Medical Ethics. “There is a similarity and there is evidence that mindfulness does us good. When you are not thinking about anything else going on in your life, you are sort of calm. The act of praying might itself be calming and helpful to you.”
Promoting health through Scripture and tradition. Most major faith traditions treat the body as a divine gift and preach against behaviors such as alcohol or drug abuse, gluttony and promiscuity. Highly religious individuals, including adolescents and young adults, tend to take these teachings seriously, research shows. “The correct religiosity gives people good health and makes their life even longer,” says Samir, a middle-aged architect in Algeria. “This is logic, when you have a religion that guides you through your life to be clean, to eat healthy, to do everything that keeps you fit, even daily prayers, going forth and back to mosques on a daily basis, fasting during one whole month.”
In challenging times such as the coronavirus epidemic, all of these factors also contribute to a sense of meaning and purpose that can promote a sense of peace despite the fears surrounding the virus.
Religion and Health: Crossing barriers for a brighter future
Consider this story of the peace an African refugee felt on a dangerous trek to Europe.
For 10 months, in a journey from his home country in Gambia, Bubacarr said the same daily prayer from the Quran the first thing in the morning and the last thing he did before falling asleep.
The words, “I seek refuge with the Lod and cherisher of Mankind” sustained the teen as he traveled from West Africa to the Niger, across the desert, and up to Libya, where he was detained before crossing the Mediterranean Sea on an inflatable boat packed with people until he made it to the Italian coast in 2016.
“I would have never been able to get here without my faith and my religion. It kept me alive,” said the devout young man who asked not to be identified. “This body was given to me by Allah and it is my responsibility to keep it healthy and if I follow His teachings I will live longer.”
Religion and Health: There are dangers as well
Research is not only discovering the protective benefits of religion, but is shedding light on ways religion may imperil health.
As scholars delve deeper into the factors supporting or undermining a healthy spirituality, they are finding diverse characteristics such as an individual’s image of God or scriptural interpretations or their relations with other community members can impact their health.
So, for example, while believing in a loving, merciful God has protective health benefits, belief in a distant, judgmental God is associated with addiction, greater stress and anxiety and mental health issues such as depression.
And while treating one another with compassion and respect strengthens positive social networks that provide support and comfort, overly judgmental religious leaders and members can increase fear, shame and guilt and tear apart communities.
What a growing number of studies are calling for are ways for science and religion to work together in applying new discoveries in medicine and other fields that have the potential to relieve suffering and provide more years of better physical and mental health.
Religion and Health: ‘Holistic Approach’
Several studies suggest the best outcomes in many cases occur when science and religion cooperate, with, for example, religious communities educating their communities about subjects such as the need for social distancing during an epidemic and doctors recognizing how beliefs play a major role in the health of their patients.
An “holistic approach” was the advice given by many of the health care workers and religious experts attending the “Religion and Medical Ethics Symposium”, co-hosted by the World Innovation Summit for Health and the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome last December.
“There is no doubt that religiosity provides positive outcomes,” said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the pontifical academy. “The Gospel reminds us that man does not live on bread alone. Man lives especially on love and where love is there are bigger energies, potential, there is a growth process, producing love relationships and not conflict.
“And when love grows life lengthens.”
*Elisa Di Benedetto, co-managing director of the International Association of Religion Journalists, is also a freelance writer based in Italy.
*Larbi Megari, co-managing director of the International Association of Religion Journalists, is a freelance writer based in Algeria.
Resources:
Association of Religion Data Archives: Search some 1,000 surveys and find citations for several hundred journal articles for comprehensive information on topics such as heaven and Hell.
ARDA National Profiles: View religious, demographic, socio-economic and public opinion data for all nations with populations of more than 2 million. Public opinion tab includes data on beliefs regarding life after death.
The ARDA’s YouTube Channel – How Religion and Science Can Work Together for the Common Good: What happens when you bring together respected social scientists who for many years have gathered significant data on the relationship between science and religion? A humble dialogue offering new pathways to cooperative efforts on issues from climate change to eradicating disease.
The International Association of Religion Journalists: The IARJ offers critical resources for worldwide reporting on religion.
Articles:
Al-Yousefi, Nada A., Observations of Muslim Physicians Regarding the Influence of Religion on Health and Their Clinical Approach. This study assessed “Muslim physicians’ beliefs and behaviors regarding religious discussions in clinical practice,” and the factors that influenced the discussion of religion in clinical settings.
Megari, Larbi. GlobalPlus: Religion and death. How worshippers, and secular individuals, face the great existential question of the meaning of life in the face of mortality can make a major difference in areas from mental health to preventing terrorism and promoting more generous, compassionate societies.
Takyi, Baffour K., GlobalPlus: Ebola, religion and health in Africa. Before the coronavirus, global scientists and medical workers faced and learned much from dealing with diseases such as Ebola and AIDS. This overview sheds light on the complexities of religion and health in Africa.
Zimmer, Zachary, Jagger, Carol, Chiu, Chi-Tsun, Ofstedal, Mary Beth, Rojo, Florencia, and Saito, Yasuhiko. Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review. The article research points “toward a requirement and even an obligation on the part of the scientific community to explore the connection between religiosity, spirituality and health in order to more fully understand the determinants of quality of life in old age and in so doing suggest ways for improving human health and the human condition.”
Books:
Koenig, Harold, Religion and Mental Health: Research and Clinical Applications. The book summarizes research on how religion may help people better cope or exacerbate their stress, covering its relationship to depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse, well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, generosity, gratitude and meaning and purpose in life.
This column was originally published at the ARDA website.
Image by Idobi, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Image courtesy of Giorgio Fornasier
Image by Shahbaz Aslam429`, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]
European Bureau for Conscientious Objection ask for Military to #STAYHOME
The EBCO has made a call for the military to stop. They said that “In times of pandemic, EBCO (European Bureau for Conscientious Objection) and Movimento Nonviolento come together to say that there is always a useful distancing: that of our consciences from war and its preparation. What does it mean? It means spending in sectors that defend us from real threats to society and our lives, as this virus is overwhelmingly showing us. It means supporting conscientious objectors to military service who refuse to train to kill others. It means defending and promoting human rights, such as the right to health and the right to life especially for the most vulnerable.
What can you do?
Take a photo with one of our wonderful signs and share it with us by tagging our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Use the #StayAtHome #MilitaryDistancing hashtags until May 15th, International Conscientious Objection Day.
Even if we cannot take to the streets, we remain united in our homes to reiterate our opposition to the war and its preparation.”
Growing Popularity Of Buddhism In Europe
Buddhism has flourished in the world since it was brought to India by the Buddha, his teacher, many thousands of years ago. In the West, however, it has not been as popular for several reasons, not the least of which is its religious and metaphysical connotations. However, it has experienced a resurgence in recent years and the rapid growth of Buddhism in Europe demonstrates that it is the religion of choice of an increasing number of people.
Buddhism has never been more popular in Europe than it is today. With the rebirth of Christianity in the West and the subsequent birth of a new faith in Asia, there has been a surge in the number of Europeans who are keen on the spirituality of Buddhism. According to many, it is the religious symbolism of Buddhist philosophy and rituals that has made it appealing to Westerners. It is also true that the relative lack of religiousness of Buddhism in Europe makes it more acceptable.
Of course, the rise of Buddhism in Europe does not prove that it is the most popular religion in the world. There are other religions in the world that have a far higher level of popularity. Still, if there is any religion that has the potential to grow exponentially in terms of influence and popularity over the next few decades, it is Buddhism. There is a reason why Buddhism is the second largest religion in the world.
Buddhism in Britain is far from a new phenomenon. This may be due to the fact that many Britons learned about Buddhism in the West. It could also be because many Christians in Britain have converted to the religion in recent times.
In America, meanwhile, Buddhism is on the rise. Though Buddhists make up only a tiny proportion of the country’s population, it has now surpassed Christianity as the second largest religion in America. If the country’s demographics hold true, it is only a matter of time before the Buddhists of Britain will surpass the number of Christians in the country.
In other parts of the world, however, Buddhism is not so popular. It is not as widespread as it is in Europe. The belief is that it is still too ‘worldly’ for many people to become involved with. Despite this, however, Buddhism is slowly gaining more adherents in countries like Russia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
One of the main reasons why the followers of Buddhism in Europe are growing so rapidly is because people who would never have even considered becoming Buddhists are starting to discover the wonders of the religion. There is no denying that Buddhism is a religion that is pretty esoteric. While it has its roots in Hinduism, there are many who find it hard to connect with.
As a result, it is growing in popularity in places where it had previously failed to catch on. For these reasons, the interest in Buddhism in Europe is rising. A large part of this is down to its growing attractiveness to people who would otherwise be unfamiliar with it.
Top story – International Women’s Day 2020 – 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration
Marking Women’s Day 2020, MEPs are looking at achievements and challenges in gender equality since the 1995 adoption of the Beijing Declaration.
Source : © European Union, 2020 – EP
Fighting plastic pollution | News | European Parliament
Up to 200 plastic bags are thrown away every year by the average European, most of them after having been used only once. The tiny particles these bags are made of can enter water or even the food cycle. To reduce these risks, the EU wants to restrict the use of plastic bags. MEPs and the Council have agreed a deal, which the environment committee will put to a vote on 31 March, ahead of the plenary vote in April. Watch the meeting and check out our chart on the use of plastic bags in the EU
Top story – Future of Europe – Improving the EU
What is the best way to improve the EU so that it is better able to meet future challenges? Find out what ideas Parliament and others have come up with.
Source : © European Union, 2020 – EP
Everything You Wanted to Know About carnivals
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EU passenger rights | News | European Parliament
Travelling over the Christmas holidays can prove a real headache when ticket prices go north, temperatures go south and you go nowhere. Luckily, you enjoy rights under European legislation when your flight is delayed or cancelled. However, there is always room for improvement. On 17 December the Parliament’s transport committee voted in favour of strengthening these rights. Read on to find out what the current situation is and how it could change.
Top story – How to fight disinformation – The European Parliament tackles “fake news”
Citizens often turn to the European Parliament to ask what the European Union (EU) is doing to fight disinformation and the ‘infodemic’.
A growing number of governments, as well as foreign and domestic non-state actors such as extremist movements, are using increasingly sophisticated techniques, including algorithms, automation and artificial intelligence to spread disinformation (meaning deliberately deceptive information) in Europe. With the war in Ukraine, foreign and particularly Russian actors are increasingly interfering in the media and on social networks. One of their main aims is to create confusion and polarise society, thus undermining democracy. The EU has stepped up its efforts to protect its democratic processes from manipulation.
Action taken by the European Parliament
The European Parliament has consistently pushed for a joint European response to disinformation and called for more resources to fight disinformation in EU countries and its neighbourhood. It has done so via its budgetary powers, as well as through hearings and resolutions (further details are available here).
In a resolution of March 2022, based on the work of a Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE), Parliament acknowledges that the EU’s lack of awareness and counter-measures makes it attractive to interference by malicious foreign actors, endangering democracy. It therefore calls for:
- a common strategy and a series of specific measures, such as, banning Russian propaganda channels and requiring platforms to do their part to reduce information manipulation and interference,
- more public funding for independent, pluralistic, and widely-distributed media and fact-checking institutions,
- preventing foreign actors from hiring former high-level politicians.
In March 2022, Parliament set up a new special Committee on Foreign Interference (INGE2). The committee will identify gaps in EU legislation that could be exploited for malicious purposes. It will have a year to present its recommendations.
The European Parliament’s anti-disinformation team monitors and analyses disinformation, cooperates with other institutions and civil society, and organises training and awareness raising activities. The unit can be contacted at [email protected]. The Parliament also has a webpage on ‘How to fight disinformation‘ and shares in-house research as well as information on media literacy and reliable sources through its social media channels.
Action taken by the EU as a whole
The EU’s 2018 action plan against disinformation and the 2020 European democracy action plan have resulted:
- more support, including funding and training, for quality journalism and media literacy,
- a code of practice on disinformation (see related Q&A) between leading social networks, online platforms and advertisers. The signatories commit to employing best practices against disinformation, taking down fake accounts and reporting on their actions. In May 2021, the Commission published guidance to strengthen this code – more information in this press release),
- a digital services act, proposed by the European Commission in December 2020. This aims to create a safer digital space in which the fundamental rights of all users of digital services are protected (more information here).
- the InVID project (which stands for ‘In video veritas‘ – or ‘In video, there is truth’), partly funded by the EU. The project aims to tackle the problem of fake videos on social media, which spread conspiracy theories and other falsehoods. The platform allows users to carry out a reverse image search of videos to detect whether the images have been used in a different context and/or manipulated.
- an EU-supported Social Observatory for Disinformation and Social Media Analysis (SOMA), bringing European fact-checking organisations and researchers together to fight against disinformation.
Action taken by the European Council
Faced with the threat of Kremlin disinformation campaigns, the EU set up an ‘East Strat Com Task force‘ in March 2015. The Task Force exposes false claims from actors close to Russia that seek to undermine the EU and manages a debunking site called ‘EUvsDisinfo‘.
Further reading
- How to spot when news is fake, animated graphic available in all EU languages, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), February 2019
- Trump’s disinformation ‘magaphone’: Consequences, first lessons and outlook, Briefing, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), February 2021
- Foreign interference in democracies, Topical Digest, Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE), September 2020
- The sharp power of knowledge: Foreign authoritarian meddling in academia, Study, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), December 2019
- Regulating disinformation with artificial intelligence, Study, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), March 2019
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