TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Pamela Fayerman,
VANCOUVER SUN September 26, 2009

Bending down to place flowers at the graves of his parents, 87-year old Marcelo Carr lost his balance, hitting his head on the tombstone at Ocean View cemetery.

The trauma caused paralysis in his upper and lower limbs. Three months into his stay at Vancouver General Hospital, he says doctors told him to resign himself to his limitations and accept life in a wheelchair.

For Carr's 84-year old brother, Stan, the accident was just as traumatic and life-changing. As his brother’s primary caregiver, Stan is at Marcelo’s side 12 hours a day. Now, a little more than a year since the fall, Marcelo is able to walk with his brother’s assistance and his arms have also regained some function.

The men don’t discount the assistance from physiotherapists and other health professionals in Marcelo’s gradual recovery. But nothing would be possible, they say, without the healing power of prayer. It helped lift Stan’s depression after the accident. And it has given them both the physical and emotional strength to endure.

Chris Bernard, a Providence Health Care pastoral care worker at St. Vincent’s Hospital (Langara site), the long-term care residence where Marcelo now resides, is an integral force in their journey. Such workers offer emotional and spiritual support, companionship and compassion to people of all faiths, spiritualities and belief systems. Providence Health Care is believed to have the largest number of hospital chaplains in the province, in accordance with the founding legacy of the nuns who laid out its spiritual underpinnings, according to Liz Macdonald, coordinator of pastoral care services at St. Paul's Hospital.

Although Catholic icons abound in the many hospitals and facilities throughout the Providence organization, Bernard and Macdonald help facilitate multifaith prayer or non-religious reflection and meditation.

"As care providers, we take a holistic view of the patient/resident ... to ensure all the facets of their being receive attention — social, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. In this context, healing means the return to wholeness and integration of the person. Even if the patient/resident cannot be physically cured per se, they can attain healing in other dimensions of their humanity," Bernard says.

When she visits patients in hospital who are open to praying, Macdonald, a former nurse, says “we may pray for restoration or a cure if we think there is one, but if not, we pray for strength to accept suffering, to be at peace, to accept that in life, there is suffering. We thank God for the medical technology and the skills of doctors, nurses and other health professionals and ask that God give strength.”

Bernard adds prayer brings about insight, connectedness, understanding, tranquility, reconciliation and peaceful acceptance.

Skeptics may doubt the power of prayer, but in a recent article, Jeff Levin, a leading researcher in the area of faith and healing, noted that a review of over 1,200 studies of religion and health found a positive effect of some sort (hope, optimism, physical and emotional strength and recovery) in the vast majority.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article. And for a Urantia Book perspective on prayer and health, please consider the following:

91:4.5 Remember, even if prayer does not change God, it very often effects great and lasting changes in the one who prays in faith and confident expectation. Prayer has been the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery, and fair-mindedness in the men and women of the evolving races.

Labels: faith, health, hospital, Pamela Fayerman, prayer, spirituality

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Twittering God

Charlotte White, Promotions Coordinator, www.AuthorHouse.com

SCOTTSDALE, Sept. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- For centuries chirping was a bird thing. Not anymore. Now millions of people Twitter daily to keep in contact with friends through tweet messages that say what they are doing, much like 58% of the U.S. population who pray daily according to a recent Pew Survey. But can Twitter mesh with spirituality?

"Twitter seems to fill emptiness with short messages of 140 characters or less about what's happening in life. Tweets may provide warmth to senders and receivers like an electronic blanket," says John Groh, author of Rubbing God's Ear With His Promises, a book of prayers. "While Twitter may appeal to some who want self-affirmation, praying arcs away from self by relying on God's promises," he adds.

Like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter is a social interconnector that lets "followers" maintain contact with acquaintances. Reportedly the free service played a role in the uprising in Iran this year and the Mumbai massacre of 2008.

Tweeting makes a home in some churches. Micro-blogging raises the bandwidth in several Nashville, Seattle, Charlotte and New York City churches with tweeting during sermons. One man solicits prayers to God on Twitter and then prints, rolls and inserts them in Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Labels: Charlotte White, God, John Groh, prayer, social networking, spirituality, Twitter

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Let doctors pray for patients, BMA to hear

British Medical Association conference to be told praying for patients should not be grounds for NHS disciplinary action

Doctors' attempts to discuss spiritual affairs with patients or to offer prayers for them should not trigger NHS disciplinary action, the British Medical Association will be told this week.

The issue has been raised in a series of critical motions to be debated at the BMA's conference in Liverpool during a session on medical ethics.

Concerns about what is professionally appropriate have been highlighted by the case of a nurse, Caroline Petrie from Weston-super-Mare, who was suspended after a patient complained she had offered to pray for her.

Her primary care trust later agreed she could continue to pray for patients as long as she asked them first if they had any spiritual needs.

Most of the BMA motions effectively support that position but insist spiritual discussions should not be grounds for disciplinary intervention by NHS managers.

The main motion, put forward by the BMA's agenda committee, states that it "is concerned that ... any discussion of spiritual matters with patients or colleagues could lead to disciplinary action".

It adds: "Offering to pray for a patient should not be grounds for suspension." Spiritual matters should be raised, it suggests, "with respect for the views and sensitivities of individuals".

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: British Medical Association, medicine, prayer, workplace spirituality

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Friday, June 26, 2009

Does Prayer Work? Do Prayer Studies Work?

By Wendy Cadge
June 25, 2009

Can the efficacy of prayer be determined through a double-blind clinical trial? Do studies measure prayer in ways that even make sense? Perhaps we’re learning more about medical science than about the healing power of prayer.
Image of Buddhist Monk performing healing ceremony courtesy of kevsunblush under Creative Commons license.

On March 31, 2006, the New York Times published a front page article under the headline, “Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer.” The article reported the results of a multiyear study designed to determine whether prayers offered by strangers influenced the recovery of people undergoing heart surgery—they did not.

Published in the prominent American Heart Journal, this was the latest in a line of medical research studies published over the past forty years that sought the answer to this hotly debated question.

But do these findings actually lead to a final conclusion that intercessory prayer does not help people recover from heart surgery? Can such a question be answered through a double-blind clinical trial? Is prayer “measured” in these studies in ways that even make sense?

The health care providers I interviewed for my book about religion and spirituality in hospitals asked me some of these questions; wanting to know what I thought about intercessory prayer studies as a scholar of religion. Knowing nothing about them I began to read, recently publishing in the Journal of Religion what I believe to be the first social history of medical studies of intercessory prayer.

Between 1965 and 2006, about 75 researchers working in small teams published eighteen research articles in English language medical literature reporting on intercessory prayer studies. The Cochrane Review (an organization that compiles medical studies on specific topics to offer clear recommendations) analyzed the literature—first in the 1990s, and several times since. While initially they suggested further study of intercessory prayer, TCR recently called for an end to such studies.

The efficacy of prayer as an adjunct to healing has been debated for many years. First it was thought to be effective, then, not. And now, the debate is rekindled. Please click on "external source" to access the complete article.

Labels: healing, intercessory prayer, prayer, Wendy Cadge

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Two-thirds of [English] teenagers don't believe in God... and think reality TV is more important

Mail Foreign Service
22nd June 2009

Nearly two-thirds of teenagers don't believe in God and think that reality television is far more important than religion, new research has revealed.

The survey showed that 66 per cent of teens do not believe a deity exists while 50 per cent have never prayed and 16 per cent have never been to church.

Teenagers rated family, friends, money, music and even reality TV shows above faith.
Children from a London school take part in a service at Westminster Abbey: The numbers of teenagers who believe in God has dwindled

Children from a London school take part in a service at Westminster Abbey: The numbers of teenagers who believe in God has dwindled

Other statistics which emerged from the report included:

* 59 per cent of children believed religion has had a negative influence on the world
* 60 per cent only go to church for a wedding or christening
* Only 30 per cent of teenagers think there is an afterlife...
* ... while 10 per cent believe in reincarnation
* 47 per cent said organised religion had no place in the world
* 60 per cent don't believe Religious Studies should be compulsory in schools
* However, 91 per cent agreed they should treat others the way they wished to be treated themselves

Please click on "external source" for the complete article...the one bright spot - the overwhelming percentage of these teens do believe in some form of the "Golden Rule..."

Labels: church, God, prayer, Reality TV, religion, teenagers

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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?

The Science Of Spirituality
Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

All Things Considered, May 21, 2009 · Ninety percent of Americans say they pray — for their health, or their love life or their final exams. But does prayer do any good?

For decades, scientists have tried to test the power of prayer and positive thinking, with mixed results. Now some scientists are fording new — and controversial — territory.

This is one of a five-part series currently running on National Public Radio (All Things Considered). This article can also be run as audio from the link below. It is well-worth the time it takes, and nice to know that such intensive research is being done on spirituality. This site has all the previous presentations as well.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: All Things Considered, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, healing, NPR radio, positive thinking, prayer, spirituality

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Friday, May 08, 2009

President to proclaim National (but private) Day of Prayer

May 7, 2009

Though President Barack Obama insists that prayer is a private act, he will follow in the footsteps of previous presidents today, signing a proclamation to declare the National Day of Prayer then moving on to other business of the day. At the same time, the president has asked a federal court in Wisconsin to dismiss an attempt to abolish the special occasion.

In a lawsuit filed during the Bush Administration, the Freedom From Religion Foundation claims the day violates the separation of church and state. It asks the judge to declare the law unconstitutional and to order presidents and governors to stop issuing prayer proclamations such as the one expected from Obama today.

The National Day of Prayer became law in 1952 under President Harry Truman following a six-week crusade in the nation’s capital led by Rev. Billy Graham. Members of the House and Senate introduced a joint resolution for an annual National Day of Prayer, "on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals."

But the idea was not new. It had been proposed and rejected several times. In an 1808 letter to Rev. Samuel Miller, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it."

This is a short excerpt from the article, which can be accessed by clicking on "external source."

Labels: Freedom From Religion Foundation, National Day of Prayer, prayer, President Obama

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This is your brain on religion

David Ian Miller
Monday, April 27, 2009

Want to build a better brain? Ramp up your spiritual practice, says Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania. Meditation and prayer can improve your physical, intellectual, and emotional well-being and may even slow the brain's aging process.

Newberg, who is also the director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, is the author of four books, including the recently released "How God Changes Your Brain," which discusses the results of brain scans that he and his team conducted on more than 100 meditating or praying people. The research shows that the physical and emotional benefits of spiritual observances dramatically accrue over years of practice, but even recent converts exhibit healthier brains -- in one study Newburg's team scanned the brains of people who had never meditated before, then taught them simple meditative methods. After eight weeks of meditating 12 minutes a day, an evaluation showed considerable improvement in memory scores and a measurable decrease in anxiety and anger.

Atheists can feel free to jump right in here as Newburg's research indicates that faith in a divine being isn't required to benefit from meditation. But pessimists may be out of luck -- faith in a positive outcome is necessary for the best results.

The remainder of this article consists of an interview with the author about his research. Please click on "external source" to access the complete article.

Labels: Andrew Newberg, David Ian Miller, meditation, neuroscience, prayer

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Friday, May 01, 2009

Study: Prayer Leads to Good Health

Monday, April 27, 2009

By: Phil Brennan

Writing in his new book, "How God Changes Your Brain," Andrew Newberg, reports the results of brain scans that he and his team conducted on more than 100 meditating or praying people.

Newberg, director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, says his research shows that the physical and emotional benefits of spiritual observances “dramatically accrue over years of practice, but even recent converts exhibit healthier brains,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s David Ian Miller.

In one of Newberg’s studies his team did brain scans on people who had never meditated before and went on to teach them simple meditative methods, Miller writes. After a mere eight weeks of just 12 minutes a day of meditation, there was a considerable improvement in memory scores and a measurable decrease in anxiety and anger.

Newberg’s study echoes a 1999 study, "Scientific Research of Prayer: Can the Power of Prayer Be Proven?" by researcher Debra Williams.

Williams looked at more than 4,000 participants over the age of 65. She learned that those who pray and attend religious services on a weekly basis, especially those between the ages of 65 and 74, had lower blood pressure than their counterparts who did not pray or attend religious services, according to Jet magazine.

Moreover, they found that the more religious a person, particularly those who prayed or studied the Bible weekly, the lower the blood pressure. These people, the study showed were 40 percent less likely to have high diastolic pressure or diastolic hypertension than those who did not attend religious services, pray, or study the Bible.

Labels: Andrew Newberg, Center for Spirituality and the Mind, Debra Williams, health, meditation, neurotheology, Phil Brennan, prayer

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Medical Miracles

By Carrie Davis
Published: April 23, 2009

You’ve heard the stories of the impossible happening. Someone recovers from a disease and doctors can’t explain why.

Now a recent study shows an overwhelming majority of people, including doctors, believe in medical miracles and many think religion plays a big part in these miracles.

We talked to an Upstate man who is living proof miracles do happen and his doctor to find out why.

According to some people, Bill Pitts shouldn’t be here. He’s walking a life path he never thought possible and he’s been given a second chance to try a passion he’d only ever dreamed about.

You see Bill Pitts has stage four colon cancer. Three years ago he stopped all his treatments to live out his last days enjoying time with his family and his art.

According to his doctor, Dr. Steve Courso, Pitts is a medical miracle.

He says, “He was here just last month and he looks great. we can’t see any signs of the cancer in him.“

Dr. Courso says no one can figure out why these miracles happen. They are unexplainable by modern science.

Dr. Courso admits, “I don’t have a medical explanation. I just simply smile and realize God’s presence is in these patients.“

At Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Chaplain Carson Rogerson says he’s seen cases like Bill Pitts before. He says he believes the miracles may occur when a persons mind, body and soul all get in line.

There is some proof supporting healing power of prayer. A study done at Pacific College of Medicine found that people who received prayer were six times less likely to be hospitalized than those who didn’t have someone praying for them.

According to national survey, 72 percent of doctors believe miracles have occurred compared to 86 percent of the general public.

Today, 70 percent of physicians and 85 percent of general public believe a miracle is possible now.

When asked about prayer, 54 percent of doctors say they pray for their patients to get better.

Please click on "external source" for further information, and links to other articles regarding studies on prayer and healing.

Labels: Carrie Davis, medicine, meditation, miracles, prayer, worship

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Institutions trying to be more inclusive with public prayer

By Kathryn Kennedy
The Daily Reflector

Monday, March 23, 2009

Page one of three. Click on "external source of complete article.

One must only drive around Greenville to see how religiously diverse the community is today.

The city houses all the world's major religions, Mayor Pat Dunn pointed out: The Al-Masjid Islamic Center, Congregation Bayt Shalom, The Hindu Society, a Tibetan Buddhist Meditation & Study Center, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Protestant, Catholic and Evangelical churches.

There are no statistics available for Greenville or Pitt County in particular — the U.S. Census Bureau doesn't record religious data. But a recent American Religious Identification Survey showed increases in non-believers, Muslims, new religious movements like Wicca or Scientology, and nondenominational Christians nationwide. And as Greenville's population grows, so do the minority groups.

“The university and medical school bring in people from all over the world. When that happens, you will get a bigger picture of what the world religions are,” said Debi Habiba Niswander, leader of the Interfaith Alliance of Eastern Carolina which represents nine religious traditions and non-believers.

City government and other institutions are reacting to that growth in an effort to be more inclusive in a long-standing national tradition — public prayer.

“We have 200 years of history if you go back,” Dunn said, noting that Congress opens with a prayer. City Council has a prayer schedule wherein each council member has a turn at delivering the invocation.

Niswander, who is a Universal Sufi, said a large part of the Interfaith organization don't want people to stop praying before meetings and banquets — though a couple are concerned with the separation of church and state. Most just want to feel recognized.

“It's a social norm,” she said. “To ask them not to (pray) is not right either. To ask them to do that where it includes everybody in that room, I think that is right. And needed.”

With that idea, the Interfaith Alliance held a discussion on inclusivity in public prayer in February. More than 20 people of various religious backgrounds and traditions took part.

“I really wanted to see where people were,” Niswander said, “how much it affected them. If people say, ‘Well I'm so used to it, it doesn't bother me anymore,' which we did hear. As a minority, their views, their way of looking at things and beliefs are pushed down. And the more that happens, the more you just become conditioned to it, which does not make it right.

“A public prayer ... includes the whole group that's in that room. We pray. That kind of inclusiveness. But they're not really taking into effect necessarily who that whole group is.”

Some are already responding to the increased diversity locally. The city of Greenville adopted a pre-meeting prayer policy in 2002. It states that prayers should be sensitive to members of the audience who do not share their beliefs and should not be used to advance or disparage a particular faith or belief.

The council also approved an objective this year to “promote an inclusive community that is respectful of all faiths.”

Many council members, including Larry Spell, don't drop names during their invocations. They give what is clearly a prayer but ambiguously religious. At the March 2 council meeting, Spell's prayer was, “Let us pray. Grant us wisdom and peace so that we may do the city's business in a collegial manner.”

He described it as a general prayer that anyone attending or watching can “apply as they see fit.”

The Pitt County Department of Social Services board has held a moment of “silent prayer or silent meditation” for more than a decade. The change was initiated when non-Christians first served on the board.

“It's probably a step forward to attaining a politically correct agenda,” Chairman Chris Haddock said. He identifies himself as a Christian but said he's not uncomfortable with the procedure because the moment allows one to pray “in whatever way you see fit in that setting.”

City Councilman Calvin Mercer also asks the room to observe a moment of silence when it's his turn to deliver the invocation, but for a different reason.

“I pray in private,” Mercer said. “I pray for my city. But when I'm on the public payroll, conducting public business, I'm not comfortable giving a prayer.”

Labels: inclusion, interfaith, Kathryn Kennedy, prayer

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Church that cannot be attacked

A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

March 11, 2009

One heartbreaking aspect of the killing of the pastor in a Maryville, Ill., church last Sunday is that it happened in a church during a service – a place and time of refuge. It leaves one asking, Is there no time that is sacred, is there no place that is truly safe?

As meaningful as our places of worship may be, they are not the bulwarks of safety we wish they could be. But behind the physical structures is something unassailable and thereby safe because it is not material. It is our spiritual consciousness or our place of communion with the one infinite Creator, or divine Mind.

The Psalmist referred to this place of peace as "the secret place of the most High": "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust" (91:1, 2). This psalm assures us that we all have a place not subject to events, not at the mercy of violence – a place evil can never touch because it can only be accessed by aligning oneself with God's good thoughts.

The secret place of the most High is not an abstract place of retreat to avoid dealing with the world. Christ Jesus prayed consistently and was always conscious of his spiritual refuge in God. This protected him from an angry mob in the temple. He'd been sharing with this congregation that his spiritual identity (and therefore everyone's spiritual identity) exists in timeless, deathless, eternal oneness with God. This offended some listeners, and the crowd responded violently, preparing to stone him. "But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by" (John 8:59).

Mary Baker Eddy described Church as "the structure of Truth and Love..." ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. 583). Prayer can help each person become conscious of dwelling in this spiritual structure. And we can feel this structure as an infinite embrace, the embrace of God's tender care, which is with everyone in Maryville, in churches throughout the world, and with all people everywhere.

Labels: Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy, prayer, safety, worship

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Coaches walk fine line on praying with students

Published on Friday, March 06, 2009
By Jesse J. Holland
The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — Coach Marcus Borden used to bow his head and drop to one knee when his football team prayed. But the Supreme Court on Monday ended the practice when it refused to hear the high school coach’s appeal of a school district ban on employees joining a student-led prayer.

“We’ve become so politically correct in terms of how we deal with religion that it’s being pretty severely limited in schools right now, and individuals suffer,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization that focuses on First Amendment and religious freedom issues.

But Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said some parents had complained about Borden leading prayers before the East Brunswick, N.J., school district ordered him to stop and banned all staff members from joining in student-led prayer.

“The bottom line is people in positions of authority, like a coach, have to be extremely careful about trying to promote their ideas, or implying that if you don’t pray, you may not play,” Lynn said.

The high court without comment refused to reconsider the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding the ban.

The district established the ban in 2005 after parents complained about Borden, coach at East Brunswick High School since 1983, sometimes leading prayers at the Friday afternoon team pasta dinner or in the locker room before games.

Judge D. Michael Fisher, writing for the Philadelphia appeals court, said Borden’s past action of leading the prayers made his head-bowing seem inappropriate. “A reasonable observer would conclude that he is continuing to endorse religion when he bows his head during the pre-meal grace and takes a knee with his team in the locker room while they pray,” Fisher said.

School employees should avoid looking like they’re endorsing religion in any way, said Lynn, whose group represented the school district.

The Supreme Court ended school-sponsored prayer in 1962 when it said that directing that a prayer be said at the beginning of each school day was a violation of the First Amendment. The justices reaffirmed the decision in 2000 by saying a Texas school district was giving the impression of prayer sponsorship by letting students use loudspeakers under the direction of a faculty member for prayers before sporting events.

Labels: Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Jesse J. Holland, prayer, religion, sports, supreme court

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Friday, March 06, 2009

Women More Religious Than Men

By Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director
28 February 2009

A new analysis of survey data finds women pray more often then men, are more likely to believe in God, and are more religious than men in a variety of other ways.

The latest findings, released Friday, are no surprise, only confirming what other studies have found for decades. Still, the new numbers illustrate interesting and stark differences. They come from a fresh review of data that was collected in a 2007 survey and initially released last year by the Pew Research Center. The percent of women (and then men) who:

* Are affiliated with a religion: 86 (79).
* Have absolutely certain belief in a God or universal spirit: 77 (65).
* Pray at least daily: 66 (49).
* Have absolutely certain belief in a personal God: 58 (45).

The survey involved interviews with more than 35,000 U.S. adults by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

George H. Gallup, Jr., in an analysis for the Gallup polling organization back in 2002, wrote that the differences in religiosity between men and women have been shown consistently across the previous seven decades of polls.

Among the reasons women tend to be more religious:

* Mothers have tended to spend more time raising children, which often means overseeing their involvement in church activities.
* Though two-income households are more common today, in the past women often had more flexible daily schedules, permitting more church involvement during the week.
* Women tend to be more open about sharing personal problems and are more relational than men. Other Gallup research shows a higher proportion of women than men say they have a "best friend" in their congregation, he wrote.

Lastly, Gallup argued, "More so than men, women lean toward an empirical [depending on experience or observation] rather than a rational basis for faith."

There may be another reason. Rodney Stark, a professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington, flips the question around: Why are men less religious?

"Studies of biochemistry imply that both male irreligiousness and male lawlessness are rooted in the fact that far more males than females have an underdeveloped ability to inhibit their impulses, especially those involving immediate gratification and thrills," Stark argued in a 2002 paper in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

The upshot is that some men are shortsighted and don't think ahead, Stark said, and so "going to prison or going to hell just doesn't matter to these men."

Stark may have purposely overstated the case, but you get the point. My wife suggested another reason: Life is simply harder for women. While I can't argue with that, I also can't find any research connecting that to prayer or church attendance.

Labels: faith, George Gallup, God, Pew Research Center survey, prayer, religion, Robert Roy Britt, spirituality, women

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Pew study looks at the religious landscape of African-Americans

by Helen Gray
Feb. 20, 2009

This is the first of a three-page article. Please click on "external source" for complete article.

Through slavery and segregation, the black church has provided hope, unity and sanctuary.

Today African-Americans are the nation’s most religious group. So says a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

“While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as whole,” says the study’s overview.

Compared to the rest of the population, more African-Americans have a religious affiliation, attend worship, pray frequently and place greater importance on religion in their lives.

The data come from Pew’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, collected in 2007 and released last summer. Pew recently came out with a new analysis of African-Americans.

“Given the inauguration of (Barack) Obama, (Martin Luther) King Day and Black History Month, we thought it would be a good time to look at this subgroup,” Pew researcher Greg Smith said. “This new analysis helps people understand religion in the African-American community, which is a large group.”

The study is in line with other studies that have had similar results, said Lawrence Mamiya, religion and Africana studies professor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Among the Pew findings:

•Eighty-seven percent of African-Americans say they belong to a particular religious group, compared to 83 percent among the total population.

•Seventy-nine percent say religion is “very important” in their lives, compared to 56 percent of the total population.

•Fifty-three percent say they attend religious services at least once a week, compared to 39 percent of the total population.

•Seventy-six percent say they pray at least on a daily basis, compared to 58 percent of the total population.

•Eighty-eight percent say they are absolutely certain that God exists, compared to 71 percent of the total population.

The religious portrait of African-Americans reveals that they are overwhelmingly Protestant (78 percent), with 59 percent belonging to historically black churches.

Only 12 percent of African-Americans are not affiliated with any particular religion; 5 percent are Catholic; 1 percent are Jehovah’s Witnesses; 1 percent are Muslim; 1 percent are atheist or agnostic; and small fractions are in other faiths.

“What I like about the study is that it indicates diversity in the African-American religious community,” said Anthony Pinn, humanities and religious studies professor at Rice University in Houston.

In reviewing the data for African-American women, Pew researchers concluded that “no group of men or women from any other racial or ethnic background exhibits comparably high levels of religious observance.”

According to the survey, 84 percent of African-American women say religion is very important to them, and 59 percent attend religious services at least once a week.

“Black women often say ‘my pastor’ or ‘my church,’ which denotes a sense of ownership and independence and trust, which they wouldn’t say about other institutions in American society, like they wouldn’t say ‘my Democratic party’ or even ‘my NAACP,’?” Mamiya said.

Additional findings:

•Religious beliefs: In addition to the high belief in God, 55 percent interpret Scripture as the literal word of God compared to 33 percent of the overall population; 83 percent believe in angels and demons compared to 68 percent of the overall population; 84 percent believe in miracles compared to 79 percent of the overall population; and 58 percent are absolutely convinced there is life after death compared to 50 percent of the overall population.

Labels: African-Americans, church, Helen Gray, Pew Religion and Public Life Survey, prayer, religion, worship

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Biology of Belief

The Biology of Belief
By JEFFREY KLUGER Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009

This is page one of a four-page article - well worth the read. Please click on "external source" to access the entire article

Most folks probably couldn't locate their parietal lobe with a map and a compass. For the record, it's at the top of your head — aft of the frontal lobe, fore of the occipital lobe, north of the temporal lobe. What makes the parietal lobe special is not where it lives but what it does — particularly concerning matters of faith.

If you've ever prayed so hard that you've lost all sense of a larger world outside yourself, that's your parietal lobe at work. If you've ever meditated so deeply that you'd swear the very boundaries of your body had dissolved, that's your parietal too. There are other regions responsible for making your brain the spiritual amusement park it can be: your thalamus plays a role, as do your frontal lobes. But it's your parietal lobe — a central mass of tissue that processes sensory input — that may have the most transporting effect. (Read "Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs".)

Needy creatures that we are, we put the brain's spiritual centers to use all the time. We pray for peace; we meditate for serenity; we chant for wealth. We travel to Lourdes in search of a miracle; we go to Mecca to show our devotion; we eat hallucinogenic mushrooms to attain transcendent vision and gather in church basements to achieve its sober opposite. But there is nothing we pray — or chant or meditate — for more than health.

Health, by definition, is the sine qua non of everything else. If you're dead, serenity is academic. So we convince ourselves that while our medicine is strong and our doctors are wise, our prayers may heal us too.

Here's what's surprising: a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that faith may indeed bring us health. People who attend religious services do have a lower risk of dying in any one year than people who don't attend. People who believe in a loving God fare better after a diagnosis of illness than people who believe in a punitive God. No less a killer than AIDS will back off at least a bit when it's hit with a double-barreled blast of belief. "Even accounting for medications," says Dr. Gail Ironson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami who studies HIV and religious belief, "spirituality predicts for better disease control." (Read "Finding God on YouTube.")

It's hard not to be impressed by findings like that, but a skeptic will say there's nothing remarkable — much less spiritual — about them. You live longer if you go to church because you're there for the cholesterol-screening drive and the visiting-nurse service. Your viral load goes down when you include spirituality in your fight against HIV because your levels of cortisol — a stress hormone — go down first. "Science doesn't deal in supernatural explanations," says Richard Sloan, professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and author of Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine. "Religion and science address different concerns."

That's undeniably true — up to a point. But it's also true that our brains and bodies contain an awful lot of spiritual wiring. Even if there's a scientific explanation for every strand of it, that doesn't mean we can't put it to powerful use. And if one of those uses can make us well, shouldn't we take advantage of it? "A large body of science shows a positive impact of religion on health," says Dr. Andrew Newberg, a professor of radiology, psychology and religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of Penn's Center for Spirituality and the Mind. "The way the brain works is so compatible with religion and spirituality that we're going to be enmeshed in both for a long time."

It's All in Your Head
"enmeshed in the brain" is as good a way as any to describe Newberg's work of the past 15 years. The author of four books, including the soon-to-be-released How God Changes Your Brain, he has looked more closely than most at how our spiritual data-processing center works, conducting various types of brain scans on more than 100 people, all of them in different kinds of worshipful or contemplative states. Over time, Newberg and his team have come to recognize just which parts of the brain light up during just which experiences.

When people engage in prayer, it's the frontal lobes that take the lead, since they govern focus and concentration. During very deep prayer, the parietal lobe powers down, which is what allows us to experience that sense of having loosed our earthly moorings. The frontal lobes go quieter when worshippers are involved in the singular activity of speaking in tongues — which jibes nicely with the speakers' subjective experience that they are not in control of what they're saying.

Labels: Andrew Newberg, brain, faith, health, Jeffrey Kluger, medicine, parietal lobe, prayer, religion, science, spirituality

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Friday, January 23, 2009

Inauguration prayers and sermons

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The fact that religion played an important role in today’s inauguration received a lot of notice in the news. See here a Los Angeles Times article on how “Obama’s religion-studded inauguration joins a long history” of inaugurations. However, how much of that was coverage of substance with regard to the faith-issues?

Rachael Zoll of the Associated Press noted about a week ago that a Muslim woman and rabbis would be offering a prayer at the inauguration’s National Prayer Service. The article is a preview of sorts that announced that The Rev. Sharon Watkins would be delivering the service’s sermon. Watkins happens to be the first woman president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is based in Indianapolis.

Fortunately for religion readers in my neck of the woods, The Indianapolis Star’s Robert King picked up on this story, and my front page this morning had a nice religion-oriented feature tied nicely into the inauguration:

Watkins made history in 2005 when the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), whose general offices are in Indianapolis, made her the first woman to lead a mainline denomination. But this latest achievement is prompting a renewed round of congratulations from women who now look at her with the pride she felt that day at Yale.

“It seems to give a moment of hope and opening that the aspirations of girls and young women can be wide open,” she said.

Watkins, 54, met Obama last summer in Chicago when his campaign called together a diverse group of faith leaders to offer the candidate lessons about their concerns and pet issues.

“He was not reticent to come back with his own opinions,” she said. “There was some pretty good give and take.”

So much, in fact, that the meeting bordered on contentious. But Watkins offered a closing prayer that, she was told later, seemed to have a calming effect. She doesn’t know whether that landed her the sermon Wednesday. But she will take it.

Unfortunately, the article is not long enough to give the reporter the necessary room to expound upon any of the larger issues such as how this selection reflects Obama’s own faith and worldview and a deeper look into Walkins’s own religious views, but it is a start.

The key will be to see whether the media follows up on any of these prayers and sermons to give its readership an in-depth view of what was said and what those words meant.

As a quick but incomplete survey of what is out there, see Zoll’s report on the prayers here and Newsweek’s Lisa Miller here.

Labels: inauguration, prayer, President Obama

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Prayers for the president-elect

January 18, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama is one of a long line of leaders who has invited God to the inaugural ceremonies. Yet never in recent history has there been such a fuss. Setting the issue of public prayers aside, shouldn’t we all be ushering in a new era with a prayer or at least keep our fingers crossed—whether we’re religious or not?

Before public prayers during the inauguration became an issue, nearly 300 faithful organized to pray for Obama.

Members of the Obama Prayer Team have been gathering online, asking God to protect the president-elect and guide him through the next four years. On Sunday, some traveled to Washington on Sunday to attend a prayer service. Others set their clocks to pray at the same time, so God would hear their voices in one accord.

But the prayers didn’t stop with Obama’s victory on Election Day. Overman recalls standing in Grant Park that night, thanking God and shedding tears as the crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Even after the inauguration, members of the team will continue to keep the First Family and the Oval Office in their conversations with God.

"Oh, the battle has just begun," said Jordan, "We can’t just leave him stranded ... He needs all of us to help hold him up."

Labels: Barack Obama, God, inauguration, prayer

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What do we pray for?

BY DANA MASSING
dana.massing@timesnews.com [more details]

Published: January 17. 2009 12:01AM

Christians are praying for unity this week, but that's not the number one thing people ask God for.

Help is what most people pray for, said Carol Zaleski, co-author of "Prayer: A History."

"A request is often involved -- for divine protection, healing or special favors for oneself or for others," Zaleski said.

She said that prayer is, essentially, communication with God, or with spiritual beings.

More than half of Americans do it daily, according to survey results released in 2008.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that 58 percent of the national population prays once a day or more.

Percentages ranged from 5 percent of atheists to 89 percent of Jehovah's Witnesses and included 26 percent of Jews, 45 percent of Buddhists, 62 percent of Hindus, 71 percent of Muslims and 78 percent of evangelical Protestants, results showed.

"All religions involve prayer; and prayer goes on outside the boundaries of religion as well," said Zaleski, professor of world religions at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. "Prayer is the primary means of relationship to the divine. Without prayer there is no religion."

Prayer can be spoken or silent. It can include music, dance or visual expression, said Zaleski.

"There are many differences and distinctive notes between and among religions," she said. "Prayer may be addressed to an intercessor -- such as a saint, angel or deified ancestor; or it may be addressed directly to God without intermediary. Prayer includes forms of meditation, for instance, in Buddhism, that are not overtly theistic."

One distinctive practice is the Sufi dhikr, which can involve whirling in imitation of the heavenly spheres while remembering the name of God, she said. Sufism is an Islamic mystic tradition.

Mecca is the center of Islam, Zaleski said, and Muslims face it to pray for that reason.

Muslims are expected, if they are physically and financially able, to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.

"When Muslims turn to face Mecca, they are, in a sense, virtual pilgrims, united in prayer," Zaleski said.

Some Christians, particularly Catholics, Orthodox and Eastern, make a cross sign when praying. Zaleski said it's "a way of identifying one's whole self with Christ."

And within Christianity, many people bow their heads and fold their hands while praying to express humility, gratitude and assent to God's will, she said.

"It is a joyful posture, not a groveling one; humans need to feel that they are in the presence of something truly higher," Zaleski said.

Labels: Americans, Carol Zaleski, Dana Massing, prayer, religion

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Monday, December 08, 2008

Americans’ Views of Faith, Prayer and Miracles

Tuesday, 9 December 2008,
Press Release: HCD Research

Science or Miracle?

-- Survey Reveals Americans’ Views of Faith, Prayer and Miracles--

Flemington, NJ, December 8, 2008 - A new national survey of 854 Americans conducted by HCD Research December 6-8, found that an overwhelming majority (75%) believe that religion is a reliable and necessary guide to life. Similarly, 86% of Americans believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 85% believe that they can occur today. Most responders (56%) also claimed to have seen situations and circumstances with themselves, friends and/or family members which they consider to be “miraculous” or “unexplainable by science.”

The study was conducted to obtain Americans’ perceptions of faith, prayer and miracles in both the medical world as well as their everyday lives. To view detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.

Those surveyed represent American consumers from Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Christian and other), Jewish (Orthodox Jewish, Conservative Jewish, Reform Jewish and Culturally Jewish), Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Scientologist, Islamic, Shinto, Sikh, and other religious traditions as well as those with no religious traditions.

Among the findings:

Views of Religious Texts

The results of this study reveal how divided Americans are on the subject of literal interpretation of religion versus metaphoric interpretation of religion. Of respondents who claimed to practice a specific religion, 48% considered themselves to be a literal believer while 52% considered themselves to be a liberal member. Likewise, 48% of responders said that the miracle stories presented in religious texts, such as the bible, should be taken as literally true while 44% said they should be taken as metaphorically true (8% said they were Pious imaginings). Although the vast majority of Americans claim to be religious, there seems to be a divergence in opinions regarding how literal religious writings are.

Perceptions of prayer and its significance

While there is a wide split regarding the literal interpretation of religious texts, most responders consider prayer to be an important part of their everyday lives. 77% responded that prayer is either somewhat important in their everyday life or very important. 71% encourage family and friends to pray and 76% responded that they pray for individual friends and family members. This demonstrates that the difference in perceptions of responders concerning accuracy of religious texts does not significantly influence “religious” people from incorporating prayer into their everyday lives.

Religion and the practice of medicine

Religion and medicine also present some conflicting opinions and beliefs. Most responders feel that medical practices and religion should be kept separate. While 75% believe that religion is a reliable and necessary guide to life, only 41% responded that medical practices should be guided by religious and moral teachings. When asked how much of the outcome of medical or surgical treatment they believe is related to forces totally outside of human control (referring here to the "supernatural" or an "Act of God"), 55% of responders said either very little or none of the outcome should be attributed to non-human forces and 45% said either all or most of medical outcomes are influenced by non-human forces.

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

Labels: Americans, faith, HCD Research, medicine, miracles, prayer

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Trying to measure faith, health link

Some scientific studies show religion and spirituality offers benefits

By JANUARY W. PAYNE
THE WASHINGTON POST

Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008

An integral part of many people's lives, religion defines patterns of worship and socialization, but its impact, if any, on health is unclear. Some studies show a benefit to religious practice, while others -- including much of the research into prayer -- fail to prove its health value.

The question of the role something as unquantifiable as religious belief might play in health troubles some scientists in an age when mainstream medicine is turning ever more toward epidemiological science to define research protocols and to determine the validity of treatments.

That said, it's not hard to understand why being religious might be good for the body, experts say. Religious people often attend regular services; this puts them in a socially supportive environment, which has widely acknowledged health advantages. And some religions promote healthful diets and discourage unhealthy behaviors such as drinking alcohol and smoking

Among that research is some evidence that religion and spirituality offer health benefits and even longer life spans. A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...found that people who did not attend religious services were 1.87 times more likely to have died during an eight-year period than those who attended services more than weekly.

The life expectancy for infrequent attendees was age 75, and it was 83 for those who attended frequently.

A 1996 study looked at the association of Jewish religious observance with mortality by comparing secular and religious kibbutzim in Israel. Belonging to a religious group appeared to prolong life, and the lower mortality rates seen in the religious group were consistent for all causes of death, the authors wrote. And a 2003 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine found that meditation might alter brain and immune function in positive ways, an effect similarly seen in research involving Buddhist monks.

It's hard to show conclusively whether or how a belief system affects one's health; other life experiences might provide benefits to health so similar to religion and spirituality that it's hard to differentiate.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, some common religious practices are widely thought to enhance health.

Power of prayer

It's not unusual for people to pray for their own health and for that of others. In a 2004 survey of more than 31,000 people, 45 percent said they'd prayed for health reasons, 43 percent prayed for their own health, and 25 percent reported that others had prayed for them. About 10 percent said they'd participated in a prayer group for their health, according to the results, released by the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

But science says that prayer might not help a person who is ill. A 2003 update to an earlier systemic review of clinical trials on distant healing found that intercessory prayer, which involves someone praying for the healing of a person located elsewhere, with or without that person's knowledge, probably doesn't offer specific therapeutic healing effects.

Any benefit seen from prayer might come from the fact that "knowing that your friends and family are praying for you is part of social support, ... and (that is) probably really helpful to people, independent of if there is a higher being that answers those prayers," said David Schlundt, an associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, who has researched the connection between faith and health.

Although religion might provide social support, purpose, a belief system, a moral code -- and even happiness -- these benefits can also come from other sources, notes a 2007 study by Eckersley published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Future examination of the health benefits of religion and spirituality should be done in a broader context, he said, especially with regard to how cultural influences affect faith and health.

Cultural context

That cultural context could be key to understanding how people's beliefs factor into their health outcomes, experts note, because religion and spirituality don't seem to produce a uniform effect on everyone. Differences are apparent between groups of varying socioeconomic and racial and ethnic backgrounds.

A dangerous aspect of the purported faith-health connection is fatalism, the belief that health is predetermined and is not within a person's control. Research shows that people who hold such beliefs are less likely than others to participate in health promotion programs and to seek health care.

Research shows that African Americans are more likely to endorse fatalism than whites. A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Health Behavior reported that such beliefs could be a reaction to chronic illness or poor health rather than something that inhibits beneficial health behavior from the outset.

FAITH HEALING

Research suggests that religion offers health benefits, including longer life spans. Is that because of the healing benefits of prayer or because people of faith enjoy supportive, healthful lifestyles? Some statistics:

83: The life expectancy of people who frequently attended religious services; for infrequent attendees, the estimate was 75.

70 percent: The percentage of churches that provide health-care services to their communities, according to a survey of 6,000 congregations.

40 to 60 percent: The percentage of hospital patients who want their doctors to pray with them. But fewer than 5 percent of doctors say they do so.

2,500: Number of Maryland kindergartners exempted from vaccine mandates on religious grounds, up from 1,300 in 2004.

Labels: belief, Buddhists, culture, faith healing, health, January W. Payne, Jewish, prayer, religion, spirituality

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Religous survey looks at prayer, heaven, hell, hollywood, etc

Posted on July 8th, 2008 by Tracy Simmons

On USA Today’s web site there is an interactive in-depth look at Pew’s recent religious survey. Check it out here. Here are some highlights:

Question 1: Do Hollywood and the entertainment industry threaten your values? Mormons, yes, 67 percent.

Question 2: Which statement comes closer to your own views? The choices: a) society should accept homosexuality b) society should discourage homosexuality c) other. Other faiths, a, 84 percent.

Question 3: What factors most influence your thinking about government and public affairs? Sixty percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses said religious beliefs.

Question 4: Do you believe there are clear and absolute standards for what is right and wrong? Jehovah Witness, completely agree, 55 percent.

Question 5: When it comes to questions of right and wrong, which do you most look to for guidance? Jehovah Witness, religion, 73 percent.

Question 6: Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services? Unaffiliated, seldom or never, 72 percent.

Question 7: Do you believe there is a heaven, where people have led good lives are eternally rewarded? Mormons, yes, 95 percent.

Question 8: Do you think there is a hell, where people who have led bad lives and die without being sorry are eternally punished? Jehovah Witness, no, 88 percent.

Question 9: Only one religion, or many religions lead to eternal life? Hindu, many religions lead to eternal life, 89 percent.

Question 10: Is there only one true way to interpret the teachings of your religion? Buddhist, no, 90 percent.

Question 11: Should your church preserve traditional beliefs, adapt them, or adopt modern ones? Mormon, preserve traditional beliefs, 68 percent.

Question 12: Outside of attending a religious service, how often do you pray? Jehovah Witness, every day, 89 percent.

Question 13: How often do you receive a definite answer to a specific prayer request? Jehovah Witness, at least once a week, 37 percent.

What religion are you and how would you answer these questions?

Labels: church, eternal life, heaven, hell, Hollywood, prayer, Tracy Simmons

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

God, Up Close And Personal

by Steve Lipman

The idea that God is a “person with whom people can have a relationship” seems right out of Evangelical Christianity.

Yet a new study of religion in America finds that a full quarter of Jews believe in such a personal relationship.

Is that figure high or low, and is it good for the Jews?

It’s lower than the percentage of such believers in the country’s other major faith groups, according to a major survey of religious beliefs released this week. But it’s probably on the rise, and it’s good if Jews with such a personal belief become active in synagogues and other Jewish organizations, says a spokesman for a prominent outreach organization.

It may be bad, however, if personal piety comes at the expense of connections with the wider Jewish community, says a representative for another national Jewish organization.

The release of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life holds few surprises about American Jewry, showing the American Jewish community on the liberal — nearly secular — end of the spectrum on such issues as the importance of religion in one’s life, frequency of attending religious services and divine authorship of Scripture. (Pew interviewed some 36,000 people nationwide during the spring and summer of 2007. The Jewish sample was 682.)

Twenty-five percent of Jews in the Pew study said they believe in a personal God; 50 percent said God is “an impersonal force.” The Protestant figure for a personal God was 72 percent; Catholic, 60; Muslim, 41.

People who develop a sense of personal spirituality, in any faith, often tend to disassociate from communal life ...

Rabbi Yitzchak Rosenbaum, associate director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, says he does not share those fears. “I don’t think the broader Jewish community will suffer if Jews develop a personal relationship with God. It brings them closer — they need a community.”

And, the rabbi says, the concept of a personal relationship with God has roots in the Torah. “It was a Jewish idea before it was a Christian idea. We believe that every Jew prays directly to God.”

Labels: Christianity, God, Jewish, Jews, personality, prayer, Steve Lipman

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Americans believe in miracles, heaven, power of prayer: report

Americans believe in miracles, heaven, power of prayer: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Around three-quarters of Americans believe in miracles, more Americans believe in heaven than in hell, and nearly six in 10 pray every day, a report based on a survey of 35,000 US adults showed Monday.

Of those who pray regularly, around a third -- 31 percent -- say God answers their prayers at least once a month, and one in five Americans said they receive direct answers to prayer requests at least once a week, the report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said.

Seventy-four percent of those surveyed for the report, called the US Religious Landscape Survey, said they believed in heaven as a place where people who have led good lives are rewarded, while only around six in 10 believed in hell, where unrepentant evil-doers languish in eternal punishment.

Nearly eight in 10 American adults (79 percent) believe that miracles occur, the survey, conducted between May and August last year, showed.

But perhaps most striking in the report was the near unanimous belief in God, held by more than nine out of 10 Americans.

"While this survey finds that more than nine in 10 Americans believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit, it also shows that there are considerable differences in the nature of this belief," Pew research fellow Greg Smith said.

"Six in 10 adults believe God is a person with whom people can have a relationship, but one in four, including about half of Jews and Hindus, see God as an impersonal force," he said.

Oddly, one in five of those who identified themselves as atheists in the survey said they believe in God.

"But this also shows us the complicated way that people think about their faith. Many people who identify as atheists may not be telling us they don't believe in God, but that they don't like organized religion," he said.

"There is a lot of complexity in American religion," Greene summarized.

The survey also showed that religious affiliation tends to translate into social and political leanings.

"Mormons and members of evangelical churches tend to be more conservative in their political ideology, while Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists tend to be more politically liberal than the population overall," the report says.

As the United States gears up to elect a new president in November, that translates to the simple fact that "there are votes to be had by the Democratic and Republican candidates by making appeals to religious groups," said Greene.

Labels: God, heaven, miracles, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, prayer

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Monday, June 23, 2008

Part II of U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

WASHINGTON, June 23

Part II of U.S. Religious Landscape Survey details Americans' religious
beliefs and behaviors as well as their social and political attitudes

WASHINGTON, June 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life today released its second report on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which finds that while many Americans are highly religious, most are not dogmatic in their approach to faith. This new analysis examines the diversity of Americans' religious beliefs and practices as well as their social and political attitudes. It follows the first report of the Landscape Survey, which was published in February 2008 and detailed the size, internal changes and demographic characteristics of major religions in the United States.

"The fact that most Americans are not exclusive or dogmatic about their religion is a fascinating finding," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. "Most people will be surprised that a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including a majority of evangelical Protestants, say that there isn't just one way to salvation or to interpret the teachings of their own faith."

Based on interviews conducted in English and Spanish with a nationally representative sample of more than 35,000 adults, part two of the Landscape Survey includes a wealth of information on the religious beliefs and practices of the American public. It also explores the social and political attitudes of religious groups, including members of many small religious traditions - such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and agnostics - not typically analyzed in public opinion surveys.

"This report illustrates, chapter and verse, the amazing diversity and dynamism both between and within religious traditions in America," noted John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum. "And this diversity of affiliation, belief and practice matters when it comes to social and political questions."

The second report of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds:

* Although many Americans are highly religious, they are not dogmatic in their faith. Seventy percent of Americans with a religious affiliation say that many religions - not just their own - can lead to eternal life. Most also think there is more than one correct way to interpret the teachings of their own faith.

* This does not mean, however, that Americans take religious matters lightly. Most, in fact, say they rank the importance of religion very highly in their lives, and a plurality wants to preserve the traditional beliefs and practices of their faith, while only a small minority wants to accommodate their religion to modern culture.

* There is tremendous diversity of religious beliefs and practices in the U.S. Important religious differences exist between the major religious traditions, but there are also important differences within religious traditions.

* While more than nine-in-ten Americans (92%) believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit, there are considerable differences in the nature of this belief. Six-in-ten adults believe that God is a person with whom people can have a relationship; but one-in-four - including about half of Jews and Hindus - see God as an impersonal force. Similarly, seven-in-ten Americans say that they are absolutely certain of God's existence, while roughly one-in-five (22%) are less certain in their belief.

* Three-quarters of Americans report praying at least once a week, with large majorities among most religious traditions saying they pray on at least a weekly basis. Even among the unaffiliated, roughly one-in-three pray on a weekly basis. At the same time, however, there are those among all faith groups who pray much less frequently; overall, one quarter of the public says they pray a few times a month or less often.

* Almost two-fifths of Americans report meditating at least once a week. This practice is particularly common among Buddhists, but nearly half of evangelical Protestants and Muslims say they meditate at least weekly. About one-quarter of the unaffiliated report weekly meditation. These patterns may incorporate elements of both Christian and non-Christian traditions.

* Politics and religion in the United States are intertwined, and religion is highly relevant to understanding politics in the U.S. Yet while the diversity of religious affiliation, belief and practice translates into important differences on many social and political issues, differences on other issues are less pronounced.

* Religion is closely linked to political ideology. The survey shows that Mormons are among the most politically conservative groups in the population. Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, by contrast, are among the most likely to describe their ideology as liberal.

* People who regularly attend worship services and say religion is important in their lives are much more likely to identify as conservative, and this pattern extends to many religious traditions. For example, within the evangelical, mainline Protestant, historically black Protestant, Catholic, Mormon and Orthodox Christian traditions, those who attend church weekly are significantly more likely than those who attend less often to describe themselves as political conservatives. And among Jews, those who say religion is very important to them or pray every day are more likely than others to be politically conservative.

* The connection between religious engagement and political attitudes appears to be especially strong when it comes to hot button social issues such as abortion or homosexuality. For instance, about six-in-ten Americans who attend religious services at least once a week say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while only three-in-ten who attend less often share this view. This pattern holds across several religious traditions.

* On other topics covered in the survey, such as views on the role and size of government and foreign policy attitudes, the role of religion is less clear and there appears to be greater consensus across and within religious traditions. For instance, a majority of nearly every religious group supports stricter environmental regulations and believes the government should do more to help Americans in need. Similarly, most Americans, including majorities of most faiths, say it is more important to focus on problems here at home than to be active in world affairs.

In conjunction with the release of this report, the Pew Forum is updating its online presentation of the findings at religions.pewforum.org. Updated features include interactive mapping by state, dynamic charts and a variety of other tools that allow users to explore the beliefs and practices as well as social and political views of major religions in the United States.

Subsequent releases will include a re-contact survey that delves deeper into the relationship between religious and political identity, issues related to conversion and attitudes toward religious pluralism in America.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Forum is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

SOURCE Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

Labels: beliefs. practices, God, meditation, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, politics, prayer, religion, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

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Friday, June 20, 2008

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life to Release Part II of U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

Posted : Thu, 19 Jun 2008
Author : Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

Study details Americans' religious beliefs and behaviors as well as their social and political attitudes

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a noon EDT conference call for journalists on Monday, June 23, 2008, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life will release the second report of a landmark survey that examines the tremendous diversity of Americans' religious beliefs and practices as well as their social and political views. This new analysis follows the first report of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which was published in February 2008 and detailed the size and demographic characteristics of religious groups in the U.S.

Based on interviews conducted in English and Spanish with a representative sample of more than 35,000 adults, part two of the Landscape Survey includes a wealth of information on the religious beliefs and practices of the American public. It also explores the social and political attitudes of religious groups, including groups that are as small as three-tenths of 1 percent of the adult population.

Topics explored in the report include the importance of religion in people's lives; belief in God and the afterlife; attitudes toward the authority of sacred writings; frequency of worship attendance, prayer and meditation; and views of religion and morality, among others. The report also examines ideological and partisan orientation; attitudes on abortion, homosexuality, evolution and other social issues; views on helping the needy, the environment, and the size and proper role of government; and opinions on foreign affairs.

Subsequent releases will include a re-contact survey that delves deeper into religious-political identity, issues related to conversion and attitudes towards religious pluralism in America.

Labels: afterlife, Americans, God, morality, Part 2, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, prayer, religion, social issues

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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A Matter Of Belief or Evidence

By January W. Payne
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Page one of two: Please click on external source for complete article

An integral part of many people's lives, religion defines patterns of worship and socialization, but its impact, if any, on health is unclear. Some studies show a benefit to religious practice, while others -- including much of the research into prayer -- fail to prove its health value.

The question of the role something as unquantifiable as religious belief might play in health troubles some scientists in an age when mainstream medicine is turning ever more toward epidemiological science to define research protocols and to determine the validity of treatments.

That said, it's not hard to understand why being religious might be good for the body, experts say. Religious people often attend regular services; this puts them in a socially supportive environment, which has widely acknowledged health advantages. And some religions promote healthful diets and discourage unhealthy behaviors such as drinking alcohol and smoking.
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"Religions package many of the ingredients of well-being to make them accessible to people," said Richard Eckersley, a visiting fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University in Canberra. And the "psychological well-being" that religion can promote is "linked to physical health through direct physiological effects, such as on neuroendocrine and immune function, and indirect effects on health behaviors, such as diet, smoking, exercise and sexual activity."

Interest in researching the impact of religion and spirituality on how we live seems to be surging. David Myers, author of "A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists" (to be published in August) and a professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Mich., did a database search to compare recent and past interest in the topic. Between 1965 and 1999, 1,950 study abstracts mentioned religion or spirituality, he found. Myers's search for the same terms in abstracts published between 2000 and 2007 came up with 8,719 hits, he said.

Among that research is some evidence that religion and spirituality offer health benefits and even longer life spans. A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and mentioned in Myers's book found that people who did not attend religious services were 1.87 times more likely to have died during an eight-year period than those who attended services more than weekly. The life expectancy for infrequent attendees was age 75, and it was 83 for those who attended frequently.

A 1996 study looked at the association of Jewish religious observance with mortality by comparing secular and religious kibbutzim in Israel. Belonging to a religious group appeared to prolong life, and the lower mortality rates seen in the religious group were consistent for all causes of death, the authors wrote. And a 2003 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine found that meditation might alter brain and immune function in positive ways, an effect similarly seen in research involving Buddhist monks.

But researchers have had trouble replicating such statistics in the randomized studies that are the gold standard for medical research. It's hard to show conclusively whether or how a belief system affects one's health; other life experiences might provide benefits to health so similar to religion and spirituality that it's hard to differentiate.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, some common religious practices are widely thought to enhance health.

It's not unusual for people to pray for their own health and for that of others. In a 2004 survey of more than 31,000 people, 45 percent said they'd prayed for health reasons, 43 percent prayed for their own health, and 25 percent reported that others had prayed for them. About 10 percent said they'd participated in a prayer group for their health, according to the results, released by the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

But science says that prayer might not help a person who is ill. A 2003 update to an earlier systemic review of clinical trials on distant healing found that intercessory prayer, which involves someone praying for the healing of a person located elsewhere, with or without that person's knowledge, probably doesn't offer specific therapeutic healing effects.

Any benefit seen from prayer might come from the fact that "knowing that your friends and family are praying for you is part of social support, . . . and [that is] probably really helpful to people, independent of if there is a higher being that answers those prayers," said David G. Schlundt, an associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, who has researched the connection between faith and health.

Labels: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, David G. Schlundt, David Myers, faith, health, January W. Payne, prayer, religion, science

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

More doctors recommending dose of God for their patients

Tribune staff report
May 2, 2008

You might think a hospital sounds like an odd place to launch a spiritual quest. But for some patients, that's precisely where they find religion.

In fact, some doctors even rely on divine intervention to assist them in the healing process.

Tribune reporter Joel Hood's story this week about a continuous prayer week held in Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital illustrated how some hospitals recognize and embrace their role as a spiritual destination.

Dr. Yong Kim was one of the staff recruited to pray. An elder at his Korean Methodist church, Kim spent several hours praying for his patients' recovery. He told Joel that prayer is vital to a patient's recovery.

Kim is one of a burgeoning number of doctors who factor prayer into treatment, said Dr. Robert Klitzman, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. In interviews with 50 doctors, Klitzman learned that many are oblivious to patients' spiritual needs until they become patients themselves.

Has the threat of a serious illness prompted you to reassess your relationship with God? Do your doctors tend to your spiritual well-being too?

Labels: doctors, God, health, hospital, Joel Hood, prayer, spirituality

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

African-rooted churches flourish in Houston

April 14, 2008

By Leslie Casimir

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Since the 1980s, more than 25 churches with African roots have sprouted in southwest Houston and the surrounding suburbs, said Elias Bongmba, professor of religious studies at Rice University.

Through word-of-mouth and the Internet, the churches have spread to places like Missouri City and Sugar Land.

The parishes have caught the eye of religious scholars who believe that Houston now has the nation's most active hub of African-initiated churches.

The parishes, primarily charismatic and Pentecostal in style, are an extension of the city's African population — namely the Nigerians, who comprise a large share of Africa's local demographics. The 2006 census population survey estimated more than 62,000 Africans and West Indians live in the city, a marked increase from 49,000 in 2000, according to research by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.

Spiritual healing

Known as African-initiated churches, the institutions grew out of the rejection of Western missionaries who began setting up congregations on the continent in the 1800s. But white pastors devalued African converts' culture, viewing their strong beliefs in spiritual healing as superstitious, said Harvey Sindima, professor of religion at Colgate University.

...some Africans embraced Jesus Christ but rejected the white missionaries' colonial doctrine. And so they created their own churches that spoke to their cultural, spiritual and linguistic heritage.

"After Africans would go to church, they still would feel that something was missing," said Aidonmiyi, who lives in Missouri City.

The growth of these churches intensified during the independence movements of the 1900s. African immigration in the 1970s added a new twist: They brought their churches with them.

Some of the major religious groups in Nigeria that have a large Houston following are the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, which was founded in 1925. Also, there is the Redeemed Christian Church of God, formed in 1952. On its Web site, the Redeemed church lists 13 places to worship in Houston.

Their charismatic brand of Pentecostalism, rooted in the belief that prayer and fasting go hand-in-hand with physical healing, can be intense to a newcomer. Believers at Mount of Christ Healing, for example, can spend hours prostrating, standing, singing and dancing.

During the Lent season, members — who are part of the Lagos-based Cherubim and Seraphim order — took part in a fast that lasted 40 days. Some members refrained from eating food for the entire day, breaking fast in the evenings with fruit and juice.

Barefoot congregants, resplendent in white robes and headdresses, held daily prayer services at the church, with some members opting to sleep overnight for more reflection.

Value of visions

With the aid of modern medical care, members believe that any physical ailment can be cured with prayer and fasting. They also revere dreams and visions.

In 2005, for example, when Houstonians were urged to flee from Hurricane Rita, a church member told the congregation that he had a vision that Houston would be spared, Iseyemi said. So instead of evacuating, the congregation spent the day praying and eating at church, he said.

"People thought we all were all crazy that day," Iseyemi said. "But it was God directing us — we were blessed."

Labels: Africans, charismatics, Houston, Leslie Casimir, Pentecostal, prayer, religion, visionary

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Deep faith may lead to puzzling choices

Posted March 30, 2008

Community of like-minded people reinforces beliefs

By Keith Uhlig
Gannett Wisconsin Media

WAUSAU — Dale and Leilani Neumann of Weston relied on prayer to heal their sick child, 11-year-old Madeline Kara Neumann, police say. After she died from an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes, that decision seemed incomprehensible and even criminal to many.

Religious scholars say a potent mix of deep faith and a reinforcing community of like-minded people can lead believers to make choices that seem unfathomable.

Rita Swan, 64, of Sioux City, Iowa, said she and her husband, Douglas, prayed for the recovery of their son, Matthew, along with a Christian Science practitioner, or faith healer.

"We thought Christian Science worked, and we felt superior to the general public. We thought we were closer to God, and we had the kind of secret knowledge in keeping yourself well," Swan said.

After Matthew died of meningitis in 1977, the Swans broke from Christian Science, a religion in which they both grew up. In 1983, they formed Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, an advocacy group that lobbies for laws requiring parents to provide medical help for seriously ill children.

Intense faith is a powerful force, said Rob Howard, an assistant professor of communication and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It can give the devout the "ability to reinforce certain beliefs that some people can view as extreme."

For many, this kind of faith starts with a powerful feeling they can't explain.

Often people use religion to "understand these experiences, because they're sensed mind and body. It's an intense kind of certainty, an intense kind of conviction, and it might be attached to different beliefs," Howard said.

Leilani Neumann described her strong spiritual feelings in posts on a religious Web site operated by Unleavened Bread Ministries of Pensacola, Fla., led by David Eells. The site doesn't condemn the use of doctors or medicine, but it shares stories of miracle cures and bolsters the notion of faith healing.

The Neumanns told police they weren't members of any specific church, but they found a religious community of sorts through the online ministry that reinforced their faith-healing beliefs.

Labels: Christian Science, community, faith, faith healing, Keith Uhlig, prayer, religion

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Russians believe in God and in the Church’s role in support of social mores

03/18/2008

by Maria Anikina

A survey shows that 42 per cent of those interviewed considers themselves religious and that 16 per cent prays one or more times a day. For 45 percent the degree of influence the Church exerts on politics is satisfactory.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – Most Russians believe in God, consider themselves religious and Orthodox, view faith as the first source of meaning for life and eternity and that the Church’s main role is to support social mores, this according to a survey conducted in February by the Levada Analytical Center.

According to the findings, 42 per cent of the Russian population is religious; 33 per cent is not very religious and only 20 per cent says they are not religious at all.

Religious beliefs are stronger among people at the lower end of the socio-economic scale but also for those with high social status; among women (51 per cent vs 30 percent among men) and the elderly (29 per cent among in the 18-24 year age group; 38 per cent in the 25-39; 44 per cent in the 40-54, and 49 per cent for those 55 and over).

As for membership in the Russian Orthodox Church, 71 per cent of respondents say they feel a part of the Church (compared to 60 per cent in 2004 and 69 per cent in 2007). Muslims constitute 5 per cent; Catholics are 1 per cent; Atheists 5 per cent and 15 per cent do not follow any religion.

When it comes to specific beliefs, a third say that “God exists’ and had “no doubts” about his existence; 21 per cent “believe that God exists but sometimes have doubts” about it; another 14 per cent believe from time to time. One tenth does not believe in God’s existence; 9 per cent is not sure and does not believe one can prove his existence; 11 per cent believes in some higher power (but not in God.)

Answering the question “What do people find in religion?”, 31 per cent said “moral norms of everyday life;” 12 per cent of them gain “consolation and relief from pain;” 11 per cent of Russians find in religion “salvation, a way to eternal life;” the same number of believers chose “purification of soul. “

For 36 per cent of respondents, religion gives meaning to life; 29 per cent believe it helps people to be more tolerant and support hardships; 18 per cent believe that it is necessary for them as believers. However, for 22 per cent religion means nothing in their lives.

As for prayers, 34 per cent said they never do, compared to 7 per cent who do it several times a day and 9 per cent who do it once a day. For another 10 per cent weekly prayers are compulsory, whilst another 16 per cent prays few times a month. The remaining 24 per cent prays but rarely.

As for the Church’s social role 46 per cent believe that is has a role to play in supporting social mores; 37 per cent for spiritual needs; 31 per cent for charity and ideas of mercy; 30 per cent for help to the poor; and 29 per cent to help maintain cultural traditions.

By contrast, 15 per cent believe that religious organisations should not interfere in social life at all (compared to 11 per cent in a 1998 survey). Fewer people (22 per cent vs 27 per cent in 1998) believe the Church should support social, national and political consensus.

Overall 45 per cent of Russians view positively the Church’s influence on politics; 18 per cent believe it is excessive; another 18 per cent believe it should be greater, whilst 19 per cent could not answer.

Labels: God, Levada Analytical Center, Maria Anikina, prayer, religion, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

The power of prayer, in good times and bad

Friday, February 22, 2008

Christian Scientists rely on spiritual healing throughout their lives.

By BILL CUNNINGHAM
The Orange County Register

At Fullerton's First Church of Christ, Scientist, two speakers stood together at a wide podium. One read a passage from the Bible; the other read related words from Mary Baker Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." The Sunday morning congregation listened quietly in the plain sanctuary. No crosses, no statues, no elaborate ornaments. Words and thoughts were emphasized, rather than symbols and rituals.

The two books, the Bible and "Science and Health," are considered to be the spiritual leader of the church. There is no ordained clergy.

Mrs. Eddy, who wrote about suffering with ill health since childhood before studying the Bible and discovering a method of curing herself and others, founded Christian Science in 1879. It was designed "to commemorate the word and works of our Master (Jesus Christ), which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing," states a church manual.

An estimated 1,600 congregations now exist in America, with hundreds more worldwide. Beyond the use of the word "science" in the name, it has nothing to do with Scientology.

Spiritual healing is an important part of the Christian Science religion. When practitioners are sick or injured they pray first, rather than head to a medical doctor.

"Spiritual healing probably has as many different faces as there are individuals that are applying it," said Donald W. Ingwerson, spokesman for Christian Science in Southern California and a church member for over 50 years. "Basically it's the power of prayer that heals. And that prayer is based upon inspiration from the Bible and from 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.' "

But if a church member with a broken bone or a severe illness feels the need for medical treatment, there's no stigma attached. "All Christian Scientists are free to go to a doctor any time they feel the need for it," said Ingwerson. "However, generally speaking, a Christian Scientist would pray first and see where that leads their thought and their need. And if they felt after that prayer, they needed to see a doctor, they should feel free to go see a doctor. But many find that they don't need to go to a doctor after they pray."

Although Mrs. Eddy was founder of the church and the author of one of its most important texts, she is not looked upon a saint or a prophet. "But she certainly has the deep respect of the world for the religion she created," said Ingwerson. "Mrs. Eddy herself said 'look for me in my works' and that's where she wants to be of value to us."

Each church reaches out to the community in several ways. There are practitioners, considered full-time professional healers, who can be called by anyone seeking treatment through prayer. And there are Reading Rooms open to the public throughout the county. These rooms have Bibles and Christian Science literature available for reading, borrowing or purchasing.

On Wednesday evenings, one-hour Testimony Meetings are held, at which individuals tell of personal experiences involving healing. At a recent meeting, several spoke of ailments that were resolved without medical assistance. One woman told of many healings, "physical, emotional and relational" over the years.

Unlike some individuals who live in fear or hope of an afterlife, Christian Scientists "don't believe in a literal sense of heaven and hell," said Ingwerson. "We don't think it's a place. We think it's a state of thought and it's right here. You're living in your own hell or heaven right now. It's not a place you go to later."

Labels: Bill Cunningham, Christian Science, Christianity, health, Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy, prayer, spiritual healing

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Friday, February 08, 2008

Renewable energy, renewed planet

from the February 7, 2008 edition

Problems, personal or worldwide, present an opportunity to turn to prayer. How to slow down global warming and still supply the world's increasing energy needs is one of those challenges. Not only is the problem baffling, but the solutions offered so far have had only a mixed reception.

It's heartening to realize that existing technologies could provide energy that won't pour so much carbon into the atmosphere. And we can expect further developments in this area as well as some form of international agreement on their use. Finding energy sources beside nonrenewable oil and coal is also a promised solution. Yet none of these technologies is without some kind of drawback. So the question remains: how to make good decisions about such complex issues?

There's value in turning to God, Spirit, for solutions. In fact, the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," speaks of energy in spiritual terms. Its author, Mary Baker Eddy, who was very much abreast of the news during her lifetime, declared, "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy" (p. 249).

To shift our thoughts from limited resources that are either quickly being depleted, or that have ecological drawbacks, to looking deeply into God's infinite care for His creation can be quite transforming. For one thing, divine Spirit doesn't include matter – and neither does its creation. The "divine energy of Spirit" might be defined as Love, which supplies direction and strength to fulfill the obligations of a busy life. This divine energy is eternally renewable and includes no element of destruction. It promises that not only can we personally expect a wonderful feeling of newness but that Spirit can inspire humanity to discover new methods for generating energy and reveal new ways to help save our planet.

Many thinkers today are recognizing that the universe, including man, is more than a material creation and actually has a spiritual origin. In their eyes, the universe is governed by spiritual law and powered by unlimited and renewable divine energy. This energy naturally finds expression in new and better ways of living.

In reality, we are dwellers in a spiritual universe where all energy is divine. The more we recognize and yield to this divine energy, the more we'll feel not only newness of life individually but also find more ways of conserving and renewing all the elements that make up daily living. Each of us has our part in working together to accept the divine energy that God is providing and to let God guide us to steps we can take to renew our planet.

Labels: energy, global warming, God, Mary Baker Eddy, prayer, spirituality

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Mind-body connection

A study published in the January issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine explores the connection between the mind and body.

The study found that 45 percent of Chicago internists surveyed have prescribed a placebo at some time during their clinical practice. The authors surveyed 466 internists at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and University of Illinois-Chicago, 50 percent responded.

The authors also noted that a growing number of physicians believe in the mind-body connection, which means what a person thinks can impact the health and well-being of the body.

The survey also inquired about whether there might be psychological or physiological benefits to meditation, yoga or relaxation techniques, and prayer or spirituality among other questions.

The concept of prayer as part of the healing process for a physical illness is something that doctors in Tuscaloosa as well as elsewhere have been exploring for some time. In the Chicago survey, the authors reported that the majority of physicians believed in both psychological and physiological benefits.

Labels: health, mind-body connection, prayer, Sarah Jones, spirituality

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Study: Most Americans Support School Prayers, Religious Displays

By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Jan. 11 2008

A majority of Americans believe religious displays, prayers at school and the Ten Commandments display in a court building should be legal in the United States, a new study showed.

While religious Americans were more likely to agree, a majority of those who are not religious also believe such religious expressions and practices should be allowed, according to Ellison Research which conducted the research on a sample of 1,007 adults. The study was released Thursday.

Survey results revealed that 98 percent of born-again Americans compared to 81 percent of those not born again believe voluntary student-led prayer at public school events, such as football games or graduation ceremonies, should be legal. Also, 97 percent of born agains believe the law should support religious groups renting public property for meetings if non-religious groups are allowed to do so while 86 percent of not born again Americans agree. And 94 percent of born agains say a teacher wearing a religious symbol, such as a Star of David or a cross, during class should be legal compared to 85 percent of not born people.

Although conservatives were more likely than liberals to believe in allowing the specific religious expressions and practices, majorities from both the groups agree with many of the issues such as allowing a nativity scene on city property, allowing a teacher to wear a religious symbol during class, and letting religious groups rent public property.

There were larger discrepancies between the two groups on other issues such as voluntary student-led prayer at public school events. While 95 percent of conservatives say that should be legal, only 73 percent of liberals agree. Moreover, 87 percent of conservatives believe it should be legal to display the Ten Commandments in a court building but only 60 percent of liberals agree.

Comparing the religious and non-religious Americans, 94 percent of born agains believe the Ten Commandments in a court building should be allowed but only 70 percent of those not born again agree.

Still overall, the survey found an overwhelming majority of Americans united on many of the issues. Ninety percent agree that religious groups renting public property if other groups are allowed to do so should be legal and 89 percent also say it should be legal for a public school teacher to permit a "moment of silence" for prayer or contemplation for all students during class time.

Although most Americans (83 percent) believe nativity displays should be allowed, 67 percent of born-again Christians say an Islam display on city property, such as a city hall, during Ramadan (a Muslim holiday) should be allowed and only 56 percent of those not born again agree.

Other findings showed that 52 percent of Americans overall believe it should be legal for a religious club in a high school or university to determine for itself who can be in their membership, even if certain types of people are excluded, and 33 percent say it should be legal for a landlord to refuse to rent an apartment to a homosexual couple.

Labels: Americans, Audrey Barrick, Ellison Research, prayer, religion

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Science taking hard look at healing power of faith

By Rebecca Rosen Lum, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 12/18/2007

Science is taking a hard look at the value of faith as an instrument in healing — including the intercessory or healing prayers said on behalf of others.

Numerous studies show a link between faith and outlook, faith and well-being, faith and healing times.

Such prestigious institutions as California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Duke University in North Carolina, and the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health in the nations capitol are exploring the relationship of prayer and faith to healing.

More than half of physicians in an April survey by a group at the University of Chicago said religion and spirituality significantly influence patients health.

But the exact mechanism by which it works remains elusive.

Religion can help those with chronic conditions, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and arthritis, say the authors of a study at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Religion is infrequently discussed in rehabilitation settings and is rarely investigated in rehabilitation research, said Missouri health psychologist Brick Johnstone. To better meet the needs of persons with disabilities, this needs to change.

Yoga, reading of religious texts, meditation or the laying on of hands have value in a clinical setting, the researchers concluded.

Hospitals have long left patients spiritual needs in the hands of chaplains, but increasingly are reaching out to faith communities.

Parish, or faith community nursing, which combines spiritual and health service, has exploded since the American Nursing Association recognized the specialty in 2005.

Today, an estimated 10,000 faith community nurses work in American congregations.

In San Francisco, a leading researcher in mind-body medicine found a positive link between intercessory prayer and the well-being of people with AIDS.

Prayed-for patients in a study by the late UCSF professor Elizabeth Targ had fewer setbacks and lived longer than a comparison group. A follow-up study found the same results. Targ later found a link between spirituality and well-being among women with breast cancer.

Some academics recoil at the blurring of the line between faith and health care, saying prayer, meditation, and other faith practices resist definition or measurement.

Labels: faith, health, prayer, religion, science

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Sunday, November 25, 2007

Will neurotheology cause faith to wane?

Not likely, experts say
By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NEW YORK (ABP)—If science asserts that prayer is more neurological than metaphysical, will it cause the believers to abandon their faith? It’s highly unlikely, experts in the field of neurotheology agree.

Neurotheology is the study of the correlation between neurological and spiritual activity. Its aim is to find a neurological basis for belief-based experiences like trances, perceived oneness with the universe and altered states of consciousness. Proponents say it can also help explain the daily habits of religious life, namely prayer, meditation and senses of the presence of God.

“The ordinary person who attends church will dismiss this as a minor blip on the screen,” said Paul Simmons, a clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. “It will make them angry at the world of science in a way that they should not be, but it’s understandable.”

Despite the disapproval of some, neurotheology pioneer Brian Alston said he is hopeful for the future of the discipline he has devoted himself to forming. Neurotheology will help scientists and theologians alike navigate through a world that is increasingly becoming a single community, “a backyard,” he said.

A large component of the field is the impact it can have on ideas, and when Christians study their ideas, they can better understand other religions, he said. Eastern psychologists and religions traditionally have encouraged the study of meditation and mind-body wholeness, Alston continued, citing the success of a book by the Dali Lama about Buddhism and the brain.

Among intellectuals, some scientists will give up what they call “infantile” beliefs in favor of believing that religion is fabricated by chemicals in the brain, but other scientists will continue “an emotional attachment” to religion, Simmons said.

That’s fine by him. Good theology always stays in touch with the insights of science, but it never simply accepts the conclusions some scientists reach in religious matters, Simmons said. And it never tells people what to think or believe.

Neurotheology, for instance, can help determine the difference between someone who is mentally unstable and someone who is a visionary, Simmons said. Joan of Arc heard God, or at least she thought she did. But there are too many bizarre things in her life to think she had a direct line to God, he added.

“We cannot just say, ‘Now you’ve got the answer, sure.’ No. The same activity that gives one person a religious experience gives someone else a breakdown,” he said.

On the other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. never claimed to have a vision from God, Simmons pointed out. He never claimed “direct insight into God. He had a strong God-consciousness but never made claims to the bizarre or the unusual, as you get with some people who claim to be prophets,” Simmons said.

Simmons, who wrote Freedom of Conscience: A Baptist/Humanist Dialogue in 2000, said his first reaction to someone who says they have “a direct word from God” is “extreme skepticism and maybe cynicism.”

He noted that Jesus warned that some people would make claims about being the savior, so “someone has to stand up and say, ‘Wait a minute, we know too much about the brain’s chemistry to be taken in by charlatans.’”

“Those are dangerous people,” he added. “Sincere? Well, yes. But sincerity is no test for truth.”

Labels: Brian Alston, Hannah Elliott, neurotheology, Paul Simmons, prayer, religion, spirituality

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Scots Put Their Faith In Prayer

Nov 12 2007

ONE in three Scots still believes in the power of prayer despite a big decline in church attendance, according to a survey.

More than 1.4million adults in Scotland - 32 per cent - pray. But that figure is below the UK average of 42 per cent.

The survey, by Christian relief agency Tearfund, found just under half of those who pray do so at least once a day.

Family and friends are the most popular topic, accounting for 68 per cent of prayers.

Of the 20million adults who pray in the UK, nine million pray every day.

One in three says praying makes them feel better and happier, while one in five believes their prayers will be answered.

However, the popularity of prayer appears to be at odds with church attendance in Scotland, which has dropped to just 11 per cent of the population.

If the current rate of decline continues, only 8.7 per cent will attend church on Sundays by 2010 and 6.8 per cent by 2020.

But experts believe the gap between the numbers of churchgoers and those who pray reflects a greater sense of spirituality outside official faiths.

Psychologist Dr Stephen Kelly, of Strathclyde University, said: "A lot of people don't agree with those institutions but still believe there is a spirituality out there."

Labels: church, prayer, Scots, spirituality, Tearfund

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Monday, November 12, 2007

A third of adults believe God watches over them

Denis Campbell
Sunday November 11, 2007
The Observer

Two in five adults say prayers and one in three believes that God is watching over them, a new poll reveals. Of the 20 million Britons aged over 18 who say they pray, 13 million do so at least once a month, 12 million every week and 9 million every day. Most people (68 per cent) pray for family and friends, 41 per cent to thank God and 25 per cent over world issues.

But just 22 per cent go to church at least once a year.

A third of adults questioned think that God will answer their prayers, while 12 million believe that prayer can change their own lives or those of their nearest and dearest. London is the UK's least secular area, with 73 per cent of adults praying and one in five attending church at least once a month.

Tearfund, the Christian aid charity that commissioned the survey, says: 'The results fly in the face of the view that faith is increasingly irrelevant in today's secular society.' Matthew Frost, its chief executive, said the report 'demonstrates the prevalence and potential of prayer' and he hoped that more people would pray about issues such as world poverty and climate change.

Labels: church, Denis Campbell, God, prayer, Tearfund

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Friday, November 02, 2007

ASU students amid 21-day prayer marathon

No agenda, just 'people hungry for God'

John Faherty
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 1, 2007

In the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the Arizona State University campus, it is easy to miss the students sitting with their heads down and their hands together.

They are part of a group of Christian students on the Tempe campus who are praying 24 hours a day for 21 days.

All through the day and night, they pray outside the Danforth Meditation Chapel, their stillness and quiet in marked contrast to the nearly constant rush of the 51,000 students on the campus.

Many students on campuses nationwide are speaking to God, or, at the very least, hope to.

A survey of more than 112,000 incoming college students in 2004, today's seniors, by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA revealed that a significant number of them describe themselves as spiritual.

• 80 percent have an interest in spirituality.

• 76 percent are searching for meaning/purpose in life.

• 80 percent attended a religious service in the past year.

Jennifer Lindholm is the project director for the study and knows that college students are often portrayed as being focused entirely on getting a job or having a good time.

Lindholm's study further indicated that students have no intention of putting issues of faith or spirituality aside during their college years.

Reasons to pray

The patch of lawn next to the Danforth Meditation Chapel has informal stations where poster board and pens allow students to write down what they are praying for, or who they are forgiving, or Bible verses that have resonance for them.

There is no particular agenda. It is, instead, prayer for the sake of prayer.

The people who come are absolutely college students. They sometimes stop in midprayer and text-message or shout a hello to a passing friend.

Some arrive on skateboards, others have tattoos and piercings.

They know their public act of faith may result in people looking at them as different, but they are fine with that.

Mostly they sit quietly with their heads down and their hands together. Others pray out loud in groups of two or three or more.

They ask for peace and wisdom and forgiveness.

When students on the busy campus notice the praying, most walk past, looking surprised or confused.

An important value

They started praying on Oct. 8, and will continue to do so through Monday.

So far, more than 200 students have signed up to cover shifts, and countless others have simply stopped by to join them.

The UCLA study indicated that more than two-thirds of college students pray and four in 10 consider it "very important" that they follow their religious teachings.

So far, there has been no controversy regarding prayer at a public university.

Yuhchang Hwang, faculty adviser for a Christian Students club on campus, said the rights of students to express themselves are paramount.

"The campus promotes free speech," Hwang said. "All voices should be heard, including believers."

One night on campus, Jacqi Nicholson did not stop to pray, but she was glad students have the option.

Labels: Arizona State University, Christian, college, Higher Education Research Institute, John Faherty, prayer, spirituality, students

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

What Teenagers Look for in a Church

Teens' Spiritual Expectations

by Barna Group

(Ventura, CA) – Teenagers are some of the most religiously active Americans. What does their spiritual experience look like, and what do teens look for in a church? What do they learn in church settings? A new study from The Barna Group explores the spiritual lives and expectations of today’s teenagers.

The most common teen spiritual activity – like that of adults – is prayer. Overall, three-quarters of teenagers (72%) say they pray in a typical week. The next most common activity is attending a worship service at a church – a form of engagement embraced by half (48%) of today’s teenagers. Roughly one-third of teenagers said they attend Sunday school (35%), attend youth group (33%), participate in a small group (32%), and read the Bible (31%).

Compared to American adults, teenagers are more likely to report engagement in corporate forms of worship and spiritual expression – such as attending church, as well as participating in small groups, youth groups, and Sunday school. However, young people are less likely than their parents to pray (72% of teens, 83% of adults) or read the Bible in a typical week (31% of teens, 41% of adults).

However, the research raises caution that teenagers’ prodigious appetites for spiritual activity may be waning. Since a decade ago, teenagers are less likely to pray (down from 81% in the mid-nineties), to attend worship services (down from 53%), and to read from the Bible on their own time (down from 37%).

As some of the nation’s first digital pilgrims, the research shows that one out of every four teenagers (26%) had learned something about their faith or spirituality online in the last six months. This was true of two-fifths of born again Christian teenagers (39%). Furthermore, one-sixth of teenagers (16%) and one-quarter of born again teens (25%) said they had “a spiritual experience” online where they worshipped or connected with God.

Spiritual Expectations

The study also explored teenagers’ expectations related to church. The most common elements sought by young people were “to worship or make a connection with God” (45% described this as very important) and “to better understand what I believe” (42%). About one-third of teens said they wanted “to spend time with close friends” (34%), “to get encouraged or inspired” (34%), or “to volunteer to help others” (30%).

Other expectations of teenagers were less important, including learning about prayer (26%), listening to religious teaching (26%), participating in discussions regarding religion and faith (23%), being mentored or coached in spiritual development (21%), discovering the traditions of their faith (20%), participating in a study class about faith (19%), or studying the Bible (18%).

When asked to choose between a church that teaches the traditions and background of their faith or a church that teaches how their faith should influence everyday decisions and lifestyle, most teenagers preferred the latter (39% versus 16%). However, underscoring the fact that spirituality is only skin-deep for many teens, a plurality of teenagers (45%) admitted they would not care for either type of church.

Spiritual Learning

What do teenagers learn from their experiences in church? The churchgoing teenagers in the sample were asked to identify the teaching or information they received from their church in the last 12 months that had shaped their views. The most common areas of content recalled by teens revolved around moral and ethical standards (65%) and relationships (62%), followed by faith traditions (55%) and personal evangelism (50%).

Just one-third or fewer churched teenagers said they remember any helpful content related to the following topics: media, movies and television (35%); money and finances (30%); the supernatural world (28%); leisure activities (27%); government and law (26%); art and music (22%); health issues (21%); and technology (9%).

Research Details

This report is based upon nationwide telephone and online surveys conducted by The Barna Group with random samples of teenagers, ages 13 to 18. The most recent surveys were conducted in April 2005 and July 2006. The 2005 study involved interviews with 2,409 teenagers (±2.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level); the 2006 survey included 617 teens (±4.1 percentage points). Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.

“Born again Christians” are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org).

Labels: Barna Group, church, prayer, spirituality, survey, teenagers, worship

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

Survey: U.S. to be 'Christian nation'

USNewswire

A recent survey found that 65 percent of Americans believe that the nation's founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation and 55 percent believe that the Constitution establishes a Christian nation, according to the "State of the First Amendment 2007" national survey released this month by the First Amendment Center.

The 11th annual survey also found:

Ninety-seven percent deemed the right to practice one's own religion essential or important.

Ninety-eight percent deemed the right "to speak freely about whatever you want" essential or important.

Seventy-four percent of Republicans endorse the notion of a constitutional provision for a Christian nation; 50 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of independent voters agree.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents support teacher-led prayers.

Fifty percent would allow schools to teach the Bible as a factual text in a history class.

The telephone survey of 1,003 respondents was conducted between Aug. 16 and 26. Sampling error is plus-or-minus 3.2 percent.

Labels: Bible, Christian, First Amendment Center, prayer, religion, survey

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

For the Next 7 Generations: The Grandmothers Speak

Thirteen elder women, representing 13 tribes of earth, join to share their wisdom with the world.

Labels: grandmothers, prayer, religion, video, wisdom, women

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Sunday, September 09, 2007

Where do all the prayer notes go?

By Ari Rabinovitch
Sun Sep 2, 8:19 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - People from around the world place their prayers in Jerusalem's Western Wall or mail them to "God, Jerusalem." It's Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz who clears them up.

Millions of people a year visit the Western Wall -- one of Judaism's holiest sites -- and leave a written prayer on pieces of paper wedged into the cracks of the ancient stones.

The tradition has been adopted by members of many faiths around the world. It is very common for Christian pilgrims traveling through the Old City of Jerusalem to stop by the Western Wall and leave a note, the rabbi says.

As Rabbi of the Western Wall, it is up to Rabinowitz to make sure there's room for future paper wishes. Twice a year his team collects hundreds of thousands of notes and buries them on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives.

At most hours of the day the Western Wall is lined with people deep in prayer. Many lean forward and touch their foreheads to the stones. With eyes closed, they whisper their wishes and kiss the wall when they have finished praying.

Rabinowitz and a dozen workers sweep the wall with wooden sticks in order to reach up high to snare the notes closest to the heavens.

They never read them and have never counted the number of scripted prayers, but in each collection there are enough to fill about 100 shopping bags, each with thousands of notes, Rabinowitz said.

The rabbi's office, which manages the site, estimates that more than 5 million people visited the Western Wall in 2006. Israel's Tourism Ministry said that about 1.5 million of them were foreign tourists.

Because the notes are never read by those who collect them it is impossible to know the religion of the people who sent them, the rabbi said.

"You can ask for anything. You spill your heart and then you leave strengthened," said Moshe Azolai, 29, who visited the site with relatives from the United States.

REMNANT

The Western Wall is a remnant of the compound of the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. It stands today beneath a religious plaza known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The entire wall stretches about 500 meters (1,650 feet), although much of it is concealed underground. The exposed part where people gather to pray is about 50 meters (165 feet) long and about 15 meters (50 feet) high.

Israel captured the Western Wall together with Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.

The tradition of leaving notes started nearly 300 years ago when a rabbi sent his students with a prayer in writing because he was unable to make the journey, Rabinowitz said.

BURN OR BURY

An entire chapter in one of Rabinowitz's books deals with the issue of discarding the Western Wall notes.

"There is an old argument about whether to burn the notes or bury them," Rabinowitz said.

According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to destroy holy texts. Instead, prayer books and scriptures are "reposited" in containers and often buried in Jewish cemeteries.

But long before notes were stuck in the Western Wall, it was custom for religious Jews to place prayer notes at the graves of rabbis considered holy. Traditionally, these notes are burned.

Rabinowitz said burning is a pure way to deal with the notes, but burying them according to Jewish tradition is more honorable.

Even with the rabbi's twice-a-year cleaning -- the next one will take place before the Jewish New Year in mid-September -- finding a snug spot in the wall for a note can be a challenge.

Yaniv Singer, 28, who led a tour group that visited the Western Wall, had trouble placing his prayer.

"It fell out of about three places before I managed to stick it in a crack way up high," he said.

Labels: Ari Rabinovitch, Judaism, prayer, Western Wall

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Holistic medicine adds tools to cancer fight

Holistic medicine adds tools to cancer fight

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the Institute of Health has issued some facts on complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. These facts might bring up more questions than they will provide answers, but I hope we all think holistically.

Some familiar tools for the treatment of cancer are chemotherapy, radiation and surgery provided by physicians. Holistic medicine expands the tools with which to work and adds mental, social and spiritual aspects to physical needs.

Conventional medicine includes medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy, plus physical therapists, physiologists and registered nurses. Integrative medicine offers diverse medical and health-care systems, practices and products that are not yet considered to be a part of conventional medicine.

Integrative medicine combines both conventional medicine and CAM without distinguishing which is primary.

CAM is used by 36 percent of adult Americans. But when megavitamin therapy and prayer for health reasons are included when defining CAM, that figure grows to 62 percent. The use of integrative medicine was especially high among those who had a serious illness like cancer.

These statistics are from a 2002 National Health Interview Survey, supported by NCAM and the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 88 percent of the 102 people with cancer who participated in research at the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center had included at least one CAM therapy. This research showed that of these who used CAM, 93 percent used supplements such as vitamins and minerals, 53 percent used prayer/spiritual practices or chiropractic care and almost 47 percent used both.

Some CAM therapies are now used as cancer treatments, not so much as a cure, but as a therapy which can help one feel better or recover faster. Acupuncture can help with the side effects of chemotherapy and to relieve the pain which follows surgery.

"I used to believe that we must choose between science and reason on one hand, and spirituality on the other, in how we lead our lives. Now I consider this a false choice. We can recover the sense of sacredness, not just in science, but in perhaps every area of life." Dr. Larry Dossey wrote in Reinventing Medicine. Dossey's research, intended to dispute the power of prayer, revealed that prayer has power. Both he and his wife, Dr. Barbara Dossey, are authors and pioneers in the field of holistic healing and provide a broader view and better understanding through their books.

People of all ages, from all walks of life and every culture, do healing work. Many live here in Acadiana. Holistic practitioners are nurses, traiteurs, massage therapists, acupuncturists, nuns, refloxologists, priests, counselors, lay people, iridologists, psychologists, trained in Reiki and healing touch.

Tell your doctor if you are working with a CAM practitioner. Ask the same questions you would of a physician when looking for one. Ask for what you want. It might be within you.

Becca Begneaud is a traiteur and two-time cancer survivor and regularly coordinates this column.

Labels: Becca Begneaud, health, holistic, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, prayer, religion, spirituality

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Saturday, August 11, 2007

A non-believer - say it isn't so

A non-believer - say it isn't so
August 11, 2007

You can be gay, black or even a woman, but America will not tolerate a president who has no religion.
Anne Davies

Pete Stark found himself in a unique and slightly uncomfortable position earlier this year. The longtime Democrat congressman for the Oakland district near San Francisco had responded to a survey from the Secular Coalition for America which offered a $1000 prize to the person who could identify the "highest-level atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other kind of 'nontheist' currently holding elected public office in the United States".

To his surprise, that was him. Stark was the only one of 535 federal politicians prepared to admit he had no religion. For a few brief weeks he was the poster-boy for the humanists in a nation where, according to Pew Foundation research, eight out of 10 people say they have "no doubt God exists" and that "prayer is an important part of their daily lives".

In the immediate aftermath, Stark's staff worried about the backlash. Would his office be targeted by fire-and-brimstone Christians, prophesying his imminent damnation? One or two callers promised to pray for Stark's soul, but for the most part, the callers felt Stark was championing a position held by a significant but silent minority.

Fortunately, at 75, Stark is not planning to seek higher office. If he had been, he had just committed political suicide.

Being an atheist is the biggest handicap a person could have to being elected US president - worse than being gay or a woman, according to a Gallup poll in February.

More than 53 per cent of people surveyed said they would not vote for an atheist. They would prefer a homosexual president - 43 per cent said they would not vote for a homosexual - or a woman president (11 per cent said they would not vote for a woman).

And it seems that these days being black or Catholic or Jewish is hardly a barrier at all, with each of these factors being named as a bar by fewer than 7 per cent of voters.

That the US remains so concerned that its leaders be people of faith is surprising.

In most industrial societies, the level of religiosity declines as the society becomes wealthier and more sophisticated, according to John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which regularly surveys attitudes towards religion in the US.

Yet the US remains a highly religious place. Not the most religious place on the planet, but certainly more religious than Europe and Australia.

Labels: Anne Davies, atheism, God, Pew survey, politics, prayer, Unites States

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Friday, August 10, 2007

New field of neurotheology opens door for scientific study of belief

By Hannah Elliott
Published August 8, 2007

NEW YORK (ABP) -- If scientists could chart physical changes that happen in the brain during prayer, would it mean that prayer is something that happens only in the mind? And if brain scans show unique molecular activity during meditation, does that mean all religious belief is imaginary?

Scientists -- and some theologians -- are studying those questions using neurotheology, an emerging discipline that addresses the correlation between neurological and spiritual activity.

Some say neurotheology proves that God created the brain. Others believe "the brain created the god." At the root of the debate, some say, is the threat that faith could be reduced to nothing more than chemical reactions in the brain.

The coupling of science and belief has become increasingly prominent in popular media. Time and Newsweek magazines have both recently run long stories exploring the newly recognized discipline. And current studies at Wheaton College, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania are using neuroimaging to locate brain regions activated during emotional or spiritual events.

The quest is to find a neurological basis for out-of-body or enlightenment experiences, including trances, time perception, oneness with the universe and altered states of consciousness. But neurotheology can also help explain the more mundane habits of a religious life: prayer, beliefs, meditation and senses of the presence of the supernatural.

Paul Simmons, a clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said the brain is intimately related to relationships with and perceptions of God -- so neurotheology is a good way to help theologians use all of their capacities to study God. The underlying question, the former pastor and ethics professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said, is whether that experience is "just a mental state or have you gotten in touch with a transcendence?"

"Our brain is basic to all that we are, all that we understand, all that we perceive," Simmons said. "We can't avoid that in theology any longer. At least, we must be aware of the fact that many of our claims made about religion are actually based on science."

Theories about correlations between the brain and beliefs are nothing new. Historians have speculated that figures like Joan of Arc, Saint Teresa of Avila, Fedor Dostoevsky and Marcel Proust had aliments like epilepsy, which in turn led to their obsessions with the spiritual world.

Modern scientists differentiate between the brain and mind by defining the brain as physical and chemical, while the mind has to do with thoughts and ideas.

Plato's ideas focused on both the brain and the mind. Aristotle argued that God is pure mind, and since people have a brain they can think "God thoughts," Simmons said. "Aristotle thought you could think pure thoughts and thus get right in touch with God."

Beginning in the 1950s, scientists used electroencephalograms, or EEGs, to record electrical activity in the brain. By placing electrodes on the scalp, they could study brain waves concurring with elevated states of consciousness. In the 1980s, they stimulated different areas of the brain with a magnetic field, causing subjects to claim senses of ethereal presences in the room.

The first modern book published on the subject came in 1994. Called Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the 21st Century, it was promoted in a theological journal called Zygon. And Newsweek recently citied a 1998 book -- published by MIT Press, no less -- called Zen and the Brain. Since then, scholarly journals have devoted issues to religion and the mind, including studies using data from meditating Buddhist monks and praying Franciscan nuns.

The reason for the renewed interest, according to neurotheology pioneer Brian Alston, is that the people writing about it have changed the terms of the field. This popular type of neurotheology focuses on beliefs, he said.

Studies since the 1960s have consistently reported that between 30 percent and 40 percent of people have felt "very close to a powerful, spiritual force that seemed to lift you out of yourself," Newsweek reported. According to the Gallup Poll, 53 percent of Americans say they have experienced a "sudden religious awakening or insight" at least once.

But has the fascination with the brain and belief come from an oversimplified version of neurotheology? Some have criticized Time's article as equating science with Darwinism and religion with God -- over-generalized definitions for such complex subjects.

"It's oversimplified, but at the same time, there's a large kernel of truth in there," Simmons said. "The issue is whether a religious experience is a matter of brain circuits or God. Religiously inclined people will say, 'Well, that's God using our brain manifesting [itself] in brain activity.'"

Alston, who wrote What is Neurotheology?, said popular writing has certainly oversimplified the dialogue between science and theology. Theology does not just deal with the religious and the spiritual -- it has much broader implications, he said.

The word "neurobelief" -- instead of "neurotheology" -- is a better way to characterize the discipline, Alston said. Neurotheology should represent beliefs that are broader than just religious and spiritual, he added. It should represent beliefs that are cultural and political as well.

"What neurotheology tries to do is say, 'Look, here are ways that all this works together. Instead of seeing these things as enemies, let's look at these as things that can relate,'" he said. Part of the issue, he said, is that, "in the Western world, we have created a dichotomy between what we consider to be physical and what we consider to be spiritual."

That divide has been implicated in some of the criticisms of neurotheology. The key problem with neurotheology is its attempt to unify two strikingly different perspectives on human beings within one discipline, Alston wrote in a paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association last year.

Some critics believe that even if neuroscience and theology are brought together within the discipline of neurotheology, the differences will inevitably lead to one discipline -- namely theology -- dominating the other, Alston wrote.

David Wulf, a psychologist at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, has written that religious experience is actually normal brain functions happening under duress -- not communication with God.

Another prominent thinker, Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of ecology and evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has published essays questioning the discipline itself. In an essay titled "Neurotheology: A Rather Skeptical Perspective," Pigliucci wrote that he had two problems with neurotheology: "First, it is no theology at all. Theology is the study of the attributes of God.... [T]he neurological study of what happens to the brain during mystical experiences cannot tell us anything about God because all we can do is to measure neural patterns...."

The other problem, Pigliucci wrote, is that it violates Occam's razor, the rule of logic that what "can be done with fewer...is done in vain with more. That is, when faced with multiple hypotheses capable of explaining a given set of data, it is wise to start by considering the simplest ones, those that make the least unnecessary assumptions."

That logic would leave God out of the equation.

For scientists to conclude that "the self and the world at large are in fact contained within and possibly created by the reality of [an] Absolute Unitary Being" leaves the "boundaries of both science and philosophy to plunge into pure metaphysical speculation," Pigliucci wrote.

If "we realize that mystical experiences originate from the same neurological mechanisms that underlie hallucinations ... I bet dollar to donut that the reality experienced by meditating Buddhists and praying nuns is entirely contained in their mind and is not a glimpse of a 'higher' realm, as tantalizing as that idea may be," he concluded.

Simmons called that criticism "on target." Neurotheology doesn't deal with theology as it is traditionally done -- trying to get religion and experience together with reasonable consistency, he said. Progress in the field will come mostly in mental health, he said.

Alston, who studied ethics and philosophy at Yale Divinity School, says criticism of neurotheology depends on who is receiving the information. Much of it has to do with the difference between the physical brain and the metaphysical mind. Some experts believe that ideas in the mind cause action, while others say chemicals in the brain cause action -- and if chemicals are altered in the brain, behaviors will change, Alston said.

Either way of thinking is okay, since neurotheologists aren't interested in changing firmly held beliefs, he said.

"What I'm trying to do with neurotheology is to explain that each of these has a way with relating to the subject matter," he said. "It once again depends on the standing point of a person in terms of if they're a biologist and what their tools are and if they are a psychologist and what their tools are."

And with the stakes so high in this new and complex discipline, there's likely to be no shortage of opinions from either camp.

Labels: brain, Brian Alston, Gallup Poll, God, Hannah Elliott, neurotheology, prayer, science, spirituality

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Sunday, August 05, 2007

How do you pray?

Aug 02, 2007
By Terry Lee Goodrich/McClatchy Newspapers
FORT WORTH, Texas

Prayer is getting a lot of attention these days: in polls, in labyrinths, in conferences to fine-tune prayer skills. Bloggers muse about such matters as their favorite postures for praying. Some Web sites post prayer requests.

No matter how often people pray or to whom, when it comes to private prayer, "people say that the most recent time they prayed, it was about family," said Christopher Bader, a researcher in a random survey about religion in America.

The survey of 1,721 people, released by Baylor University and the Gallup Organization, showed that three-fourths of Americans pray at least once a week. More than one-fourth prayed several times a day. Of those who prayed regularly, 77 percent prayed for relatives.

"We couldn't get too specific about what people pray about, like, 'I need to get rid of this bunion on my foot' or 'I need to get this job,'" Bader said. "But we found that the least likely thing they were to pray about is what is listed as a prayer concern in a church program or newsletter. People are thinking about their issues."

He said researchers got a surprise when they asked to whom people prayed.

"Given the evangelical focus on Jesus and the rhetoric about having a personal relationship with him, only 5 percent said they prayed to Jesus," Bader said. "Most prayed to God and sometimes to Jesus. But when they pray, they are thinking more broadly, about the big boss, so to speak."

Fourteen respondents noted that God and Jesus are, according to the New Testament's explanation of the Trinity, the same, along with the Holy Spirit.

Depending on religious affiliation or the lack of it, people also prayed to the Virgin Mary, Buddha, Allah, angels, saints, spirits and "a higher power."

"Nine percent said, 'No one special,'" Bader said.

Here is a look at the prayer lives of some in the United States.

Religion survey

The Baylor Institute for Studies on Religion asked about 400 questions in the survey. They included whether respondents think God takes sides in politics, what God's personality is like, whether they watch TV shows like "Touched by an Angel," even whether they believe in the paranormal and such creatures as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.

On the matter of prayer, the survey found:

Women are more likely than men to pray several times a day.

People with high incomes are less likely to pray several times a day than those with low incomes.

About 45 percent of respondents say a table grace on certain occasions; 19 percent do so at all meals.

Senior citizens are more likely than younger people to pray often.

About 53 percent of respondents pray about world affairs.

About 28 percent pray for financial security.

When it came to prayer by religious affiliation and tradition, black Protestants outdid any other group: 74 percent of those surveyed said they pray once or more a day.

Labels: Baylor University, Christopher Bader, Gallup Poll, God, prayer, religion, Terry Lee

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Friday, June 29, 2007

When Prayer Reaches the Locker Room

The pre-game moment of silence and post-game prayer circle are familiar traditions to many college athletes. Coaches pointing to the heavens after a victory; players crediting a higher being for their performances — those sights and sound bites have become cliché. Faith and sports have a long history of intersecting, and every so often a case arises that revives the discussion of where to draw the line at public institutions.

Which brings us to Iowa State University, currently embroiled in a controversy over whether its football team — at the request of its head coach — should be allowed a spiritual adviser. Some faculty members are upset at the idea, and more than 130 have signed a petition saying that such a position creates a serious violation of the separation between religion and government.
A panel that advises the university on athletics issues has voted, 7-1, in favor of the proposal.

That recommendation now goes to Gregory Geoffroy, the university’s president, for consideration.

According to the job description, the “life skills assistant” would likely report to the athletics director. The person would serve those who seek counsel on “a variety of practical, moral, spiritual and personal issues,” and would not “pressure, coerce or proselytize team members.”

The adviser would have access to practices, games and other events, but any prayer led during mandatory team functions would have to be initiated and led by team members.

Iowa State says the adviser would not be supported by any state, university, athletic or foundation funds, but rather from donations made by private individuals.

Still, some faculty members remain upset. Hector Avalos, a professor of religious studies and co-author of the petition, said the title of “life skills assistant” isn’t fooling the faculty. He said it doesn’t matter who funds the position or whether it’s a volunteer gig or not.

“It’s a clear effort to Christianize the athletics department,” he said. “There’s a determination to prefer one religious group over another in hiring a chaplain. Once you start applying religious counseling, you can’t use a multi-faith approach.”

In an e-mail response to the petition (provided by Avalos), Jamie Pollard, athletics director at Iowa State, defended the position. “Much like we have offered our student-athletes access to drug and alcohol counselors, sports psychologists, nutritionists, hypnotists, physical therapists, learning specialists, chiropractors, physicians, etc., we are now going to also provide access to a spiritual advisor.”

Avalos said that as college teams become more diverse, the issue of bringing religion into the mix at public institutions will become all the more problematic.

Added Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, where he was just named athletics director: “In my opinion it is a dangerous precedent because it can lead to some athletes feeling isolated and discriminated against ... I would let the athletes know what religious and spiritual resources are available on campus or in the community and let them access them as they see fit.”

At New Mexico State University, a confidential settlement has been reached in a case involving former football players who claimed they were discriminated against because they are Muslims. The suit alleges the players were dismissed because of their religious beliefs, and that while on the team they were asked to recite the Lord’s Prayer during team functions. (The settlement stipulated that the university denies wrongdoing or bias. As a result of the suit, the prayer has been replaced by a moment of silence.)

But coaches often say that prayers are directed at the safety of the players, and are not religiously based. Reports have documented coaches at the some universities taking athletes to churches before the football season in an effort to build team unity. The coaches say the trips are never mandatory, and that they cannot remember players complaining.

Pollard, in the letter to Iowa State faculty, indicated that for more than a decade, a local pastor has traveled with its football team and attended home games as his schedule permitted. Avalos said the “business-as-usual” defense doesn’t fly.

“At a public institution, it’s always a Constitutionally risky thing to do.”

— Elia Powers

Labels: Elia Powers, faith, Iowa State University, prayer, religion, spiritual advisor, sports

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Back of the Book

Back of the Book
by Dr. George Barna

Barna's Annual Tracking Study Shows Americans Stay Spiritually Active, But Biblical Views Wane

It is hard to miss Americans’ comfort with and interest in spirituality. Most adults say that their religious faith is very important in their life. Two-thirds of the nation’s adult population firmly embraces the idea that their most important purpose is to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. However, a deeper look at people’s full array of spiritual beliefs and behavior calls into question the sincerity of their commitment.

Every year, The Barna Group explores the state of America’s faith, examining various facets of people’s spiritual activity, faith identity, commitment and religious perspective. According to the 2007 survey, while their spiritual activities and religious identity have changed little compared to recent years, the area undergoing the most change is what Americans believe.

How Beliefs Have Changed

The 2007 study of the nation’s core beliefs found that five out of six theological perspectives have shifted in recent years away from traditional biblical views. This includes perspectives about three spiritual figures: God, Jesus, and Satan.

Most Americans still embrace a traditional view of God. Currently two-thirds of Americans believe that God is best described as the all-powerful, all-knowing perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today (66 percent). However, this proportion is lower than it was a year ago (71 percent) and represents the lowest percentage in more than twenty years of similar surveys.

Few adults possess orthodox views about Jesus and the Devil. Currently, just one-third of Americans strongly disagree that Jesus sinned (37 percent) and just one-quarter strongly reject the idea that Satan is not a real spiritual being (24 percent). Each of these beliefs is lower than last year and among the lowest points in nearly two decades of tracking these views.

The other changes in beliefs include greater reluctance to explain their faith to other people (just 29 percent strongly endorse this view) and the willingness to reject good works as a means to personal salvation (down to 27 percent from 31 percent).

Given these shifts, it is ironic that the only religious belief that was unchanged from previous years was the belief that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches. Not quite half of Americans (45 percent) strongly assert this perspective.

The 2007 study showed that among the ten activities studied, Americans are most likely to pray. More than four out of every five Americans (83 percent) said they had prayed in the last week. This was followed by attending a church service (43 percent) and reading the Bible outside of church worship services (41 percent). Notably, just one-quarter of adults possess an active faith, meaning they engage in all three of these activities (pray, attend church, and read the Bible) in a typical week.

Perspectives on the Research

David Kinnaman, who directed the study, indicated that "most Americans do not have strong and clear beliefs, largely because they do not possess a coherent biblical worldview."

This report is based upon telephone interviews with a nationwide survey by The Barna Group with a random sample of 1006 adults, age 18 and older, conducted in January 2007. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±3.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.

George Barna is an author, pastor and the founder of The Barna Group in Ventura, Calif., a firm specializing in conducting research for Christian ministries and non-profits

Labels: Americans, Barna Group, belief, Bible, faith, God, Jesus, prayer, religion, Satan

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Thursday, May 31, 2007

The State of Schools in American Perception: From Dissatisfaction to Religious Necessity

Daniel Downs
May 26, 2007

When it comes to education, over 82% of Americans still send their kids to public school. So why are Americans not happy with public education? As will be shown, secularism, an offshoot of American socialism and humanism, is the problem.

According to the most recent Gallup Polls, 52% say they are very dissatisfied with America’s education, and only 37% are only somewhat satisfied. The educational reform No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not the reason for the negativity about public schooling. If most Americans really understood NCLB, they would probably feel something is finally being done about our educational problems. The dissatisfaction is not about school safety either. For only about a third voiced any concern about school security. More emphasis on academics does not appear to be a major problem. Only between 30% and 40% of Americans believe there is not enough emphasis on the 3Rs, History, Science, Health, Arts, and Foreign Languages. Although a significant number of people think better teachers are needed.

So why then are so many Americans dissatisfied with American schools? The answer may surprise you, but the real problem with America’s public schools is the lack of religion. Sixty percent (60%) said they believed America has too little religion in its public schools. The survey does not give us any clear idea of what Americans mean by it. However, over 92% think prayer should be allowed and over 76% would support a constitutional amendment allowing voluntary prayer in state-run schools. It gets even better. Most Americans think creationism and intelligent design should be taught along with evolution in science class. Fifty-four percent (54%) were for creationism, 22% were opposed, and 23% were unsure. Concerning intelligent design, 43% favored it, 21% were opposed, and 35% were uncertain. The relative large number of people who were uncertain indicates insufficient knowledge about the issue.

It is encouraging to see that most Americans hold to at least some of the core views and values held by our predecessors at our nation’s founding. Early Americans debated not about whether religion should be taught but rather who should be responsible for teaching it to America’s school children. The issue was not a conflict of church versus state. It was one between federal and state governments, which also extended to state versus local jurisdiction. The outcome of the debate was defined by Congress in the Northwest Ordinance. This legislation regulated the creation of territories, states and local communities. The Ordinance specified land to be set aside for community schools in which religion would be taught among other subjects. Notice, the same Congress that established our nation and constitutional form of governments also authorized public schools--not Sunday Schools--to teach religion. Why? Because a free self-governing people require the moral understanding and discipline only religion adequately provides.

What kind of religion did early Americans propose? Most believed biblical religion was the best of all possible religions. When early Americans spoke of religions they usually meant Christian denominations such as Congregationalist, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Catholics, and the like. However, they often included in their discussions discussed the religions of Buddhists, Mohammedans or Muslims and Jews. Complementing a pluralist view, many early American leaders held to a type of religious universalism. They believed all world religions taught the same basic morality. The only real difference was the extent each religion comprehended the moral laws of human nature. Most, if not all, early Americans thought Christianity had obtained the fullest understanding both by revelation and by reason of the divinely created moral law in human nature and human society. (For more on early American views concerning education and religion read Thoughts upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic written in 1786 by Benjamin Rush.)

Why do modern Americans think more religion is needed in public education and what kind of religion do they propose? Again, a clear answer is not found in the Gallup Polls. It is reasonable to assume most Americans still agree with the founders and their views. For example, nearly 70% say America is a Christian nation, according to a Pew survey. Most Americans (59%) see religion is losing its influence in society. They regard it as a bad trend. Only 34% of Americans think the public influence of religion is increasing, and the majority (62%) says it is a good thing.

The importance of religion’s public influence goes back to the historical necessity of moral discipline. It is a prerequisite to living in a free self-governing society. While 71% of Americans want more religion in the public square, 51% want more religious influence in political or law-making affairs. When we consider the fact that early America was dominated by Puritan ideals and that Puritans were called evangelicals, it should be less difficult to understand why 60% of evangelicals still believe the Bible should be the most important influence in shaping laws. The same is generally true for most Protestants but oddly enough not for Catholics and certainly not for liberal Protestants. Put in perspective, the majority of Americans (63%) say the ‘will of the people’ (law of consensus) should be the most important influence in law, while only 32% say it should be biblical precepts and biblical law.

Now, we have a paradox. Americans say they want more religious freedom. They want more religious influence in schools and in society including government, but Americans also say they do not want social law to be shaped by that influence. If by religious influence Americans mean its affects on people in schools and government some of whom make legal decisions, they still hold to the founding ideals. However, early American law reflected biblical precedents. Why? Because they applied the moral ideals and laws derived from the Bible to laws governing human behavior in society. It is likely, therefore, that what most Americans mean when they say they want more religion in society, government, and education is more of religion’s moral influence in all aspect of life. (For more on biblical precedents of American law read Biblical Law in America by John W. Welch.)

If so, the hope for America’s future is much brighter than imagined, one in which life, liberty, equity, equality, prosperity, and happiness may remain supreme. The one obstruction to fully realizing this hope is like minded leaders. If Americans will only insist on having moral leaders of this kind, leaders who genuinely support religion and morality will arise to the demand, but Americans will also have vote them into office at local, state, and national levels of government. When America do, restoring religion to public education will then be possible.

Labels: Christianity, education, intelligent design, morality, Northwest Ordinance, prayer, public school, religion, religious freedom

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Poll: Nearly two-thirds favor some kind of prayer at public meetings

The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area -
9:23 AM EDT Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Nearly half of those responding to The Business Journal's most recent online opinion survey say they favor prayer at public meetings, and the group should be free to choose whomever it wants to say the invocation.

Forty-seven percent of the 347 people responding to the question, "Should public bodies in the Triad have prayers before open meetings?," picked the answer, "Yes, and the group should be free to pick whomever they want to lead the prayer."

Another 17 percent went with the answer, "Yes, but the group should rotate between leaders of different religious groups."

The remaining 34 percent went with the answer, "No, prayer at such public meetings is always inappropriate."

The poll ran between May 16-22. Here's a sampling of voter comments, which were made anonymously.

"Prayer and hard work (were) used by our founding fathers, and that is what has protected and made this a great country that everyone is fleeing to."

"When I chaired the state board of education, we opened each meeting with a prayer by a member of the board. One person complained, and I suggested that she stand in the hall until after the prayer because we would have one as long as I chaired the state board of education."

"The United States was founded and became a great nation because of its belief and relationship with God, and soon the United States will cease to exist because it finally has expelled God."

"Our world and our society need more prayer."

"The nation was built on faith. Let it continue to be faithful."

Labels: prayer

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Survey: Most Doctors Believe Religion, Spirituality Have Positive Effects on Illness

Doug Huntington
Correspondent

Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2007 Posted: 10:00:AM PST

Nearly 6 out of 10 physicians believe religion and spirituality have much or very much influence on health, according to a study featured in the Apr. 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a bi-monthly international peer-reviewed professional medical journal.

Over half of physicians believe that religion and spirituality has a major impact on patient wellness, according to a new study. It also revealed that 2 out of every 5 doctors feel that it also helps prevent bad outcomes.

From a random sample of 2,000 doctors around the United States, the University of Chicago also found that 2 out of every 5 respondents felt that religion and spirituality (R/S) can help prevent bad outcomes such as heart attacks, infections and even death. The results comes one year after another study had disputed the positive effect of therapeutic prayer.

Last year, a $2.4-million study conducted by the Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School and other scientists found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery and that patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications. Although some scientists had hoped the long-awaited and rigorously investigated prayer study would close the book on the debated effects of therapeutic prayer, for much of America’s faithful majority it had not.

In the latest report, Dr. Wayne Detmer, an internist at Lawndale Christian Health Center, noted that all doctors have experienced patient recoveries "that don't make sense based on our current understanding of physiology or medicine."

And although only 6 percent of doctors in the survey believed that R/S often changed "hard" medical outcomes, most doctors believe that R/S helps patients cope with their illness (76 percent), gives the patients a positive state of mind (75 percent), and provides emotional support from their religious community (55 percent).

Also, while several doctors expressed drawbacks to R/S, saying that patients will be more likely to prematurely leave medical therapy as well as have negative emotions such as guilt that will increase suffering, still 85 percent responded that it is overall a positive aspect.

The research also concluded that those health professionals with religious backgrounds were more likely to report significant impacts of R/S on health than non-religious ones (82 percent vs. 16 percent) as well as positive aspects for it.

As Detmer explained, since Jesus miraculously cured people in the Bible, "[i]t's not so much of a stretch to believe He can still do it."

Labels: Doug Huntington, health, Jesus, physicians, prayer, religion, spirituality

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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Religious faith may help stroke victims: study

By Ed Stoddard Thu Feb 15, 4:24 PM ET

DALLAS (Reuters) - People of faith have long contended that the power of prayer can help heal the sick. Now a study conducted in Rome suggests that religious faith may help people recover from a stroke.

Researchers at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center in the Italian capital of Rome interviewed 132 stroke survivors about their religious beliefs and spirituality. The median age of the study participants was 72.

The responses were compared with their scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a self-assessment tool.

"The analysis showed higher scores on the anxiety and depression scale correlated significantly with lower scores on the religious and spirituality questionnaire," said the American Heart Association, which publishes Stroke.

"The association remained significant after adjusting for other factors that could influence a stroke patient's degree of emotional distress (such as mental and physical functioning, living conditions and marital status)," it said in a statement.

The reasons for this possible link between faith and post-stroke emotional distress are hard to pin down, though the researchers gave tentative explanations.

"Religious people who are active in their communities are more likely to receive external aid that can be provided by volunteers," said Dr. Salvatore Giaquinto, chairman of the department of rehabilitation at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center.

"Social support lets them experience feelings of care, love and esteem. The new experience of support and the background of faith tell the patients that they are not alone."

The research chimes to some extent with other studies that have suggested that spiritual pursuits such as reciting the rosary and yoga chanting may be beneficial for heart rate variability and stress relief.

But some researchers say the possible links uncovered in the Rome study should not be mistaken for direct causality.

"The study does not establish that religious beliefs will definitely reduce emotional distress but shows that people who are religious have better coping abilities," Dr. Lalit Kalra, a stroke professor at King's College London School of Medicine in Britain, wrote in an accompanying commentary.

"Hence, both these variables may define personal attributes of the patient, in other words religious beliefs do not make a person cope better but identify patients who have better abilities to cope with chronic illness," Kalra wrote.

The researchers did note that most of Rome's residents are Catholic. But they said their findings might extend to other religions as well.

Labels: anxiety, depression, Ed Stoddard, faith, prayer, religion, spirituality, stroke

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Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Everyone counts

We can depend on divine support when life turns a corner we didn't expect.

Everyone is worth counting. That's the underlying premise of the second national survey of homeless Americans.

Recently completed, the survey holds no specific answers to the challenge of homelessness, but it does illustrate that each individual has value (The Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 21).

As the article points out, people find themselves without permanent dwellings for numerous reasons, so a one-size-fits-all response doesn't always work. That's not to discount the efforts of those providing help. Emergency shelters, food programs, and subsidized housing give needed help, but it's only in seeing and meeting each individual's needs that progress is really made.

That's a tall order, given the potential number of homeless people worldwide. Take Dane Blythe, who explains in the article that his personal issues and his longing for freedom keep him from remaining in a more permanent home. Still, he looks to God for help and manages to be grateful for what comes his way. "I just pray to God every morning to give me what I need, if not what I want. And every night I thank God for what I do have."

God's love is both broad enough to encompass each of His children and specific enough to meet individual needs. He doesn't leave anyone out. We can depend on divine support when life turns a corner we didn't expect and even when our basic necessities appear to be threatened. Whether we're on the streets or living in a home, God is there to help.

As children of God, dignity is an inherent part of each of us. This spiritual quality isn't something that comes and goes, depending on human circumstances. It's a God-given, permanent part of our identity. We have dignity because God loves us, and that doesn't change.

As we gain a deeper understanding of this for ourselves, we can be aware of it for others, too. And as divine grace reaches us, we can, in turn, reach out to one another.

Prayer opens the door to a better grasp of what home really means. Home, as a spiritual idea, is something that promises fulfillment. At the core, it's a closer relationship with God and a more satisfying awareness of being loved by our eternal Parent.

Home and the sense of belonging and safety that go with it are present wherever God is. Since God is everywhere, no one is beyond this place of comfort. The ideas we need to make progress, even to thrive, are spiritual and are given by God. We are at home with our Father-Mother 24/7.

God's power isn't limited to comfort. He strengthens and emboldens us. Our prayers lead us to a better state of existence, whether that's a new home or a clearer mental focus. Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science, wrote, "The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God" ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. 258).

That's why this recent survey matters. It reminds us that everyone is valuable, and that no one is left out of God's love. There's plenty of work to be done in resolving the many facets of homelessness, but acknowledging the individual worth of each of God's children is a valid and inspired place to start.

Labels: dignity, divine support, God, home, homelessness, prayer