Q&A – The Societal Benefit of a Belief in God
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station page in the iHeart app.
Today’s entry: Submitted via talkback: Hello everybody, this is Chris from Northeast Florida. Democrats' ultimate goal was to remove God from our society. This is what a godless society will turn into complete chaos when nobody believes or respects life.
Bottom Line: Today’s talkback was in response to the Minneapolis shooting of school children at mass prior to the start of their school day. This message resonated with me as I’ve previously shared Harvard’s extensive research on the benefit of faith to those who are believers. However, as I’ve also suggested, even non-believers benefit from our society’s Judeo-Christian founding. What this message led me to consider was a way to demonstrate the extent of the benefit of the faithful to society, and the view of the possible, if more were to become believers.
In 2018, Harvard produced the most compelling study to date on the factors that relate to youth depression, violence, substance abuse and suicide. The study entitled: Religious upbringing linked to better health and well-being during early adulthood was never broadly covered by news media or for that matter even widely publicized by Harvard. That remains unfortunate but the information is as relevant as ever.
There is a common thread that runs through well intended people across the ideological spectrum today. Mental health issues are a top concern. Brought into focus through numerous mass shootings in recent years, across every age group, gender, ethnic background and ideological tendency, we’re concerned about identifying, treating and restricting access to weapons. Clearly the best of all solutions would be to reduce mental illness in our society generally.
For over 20 years I’ve voiced a belief that plays directly into this story. The further removed God is from our society, the worse the outcomes are and regardless of one’s religious views, society benefits from the tenants of faith – even atheists. Harvard’s study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, demonstrated powerful results. Here’s your headline. Children raised with religious activity have better physical and mental health as they age. Here were a few highlights:
By the age of 20 those raised with religious practices average being...
- 18% happier
- 30% more likely to help others
- 33% less likely to engage in substance abuse
What’s more is that those who fared best were those who prayed daily. In other words, having faith in one’s life in any capacity provided benefit, the more involved with one’s faith one was, the greater the benefit. This isn’t to say that if all children were raised in religious upbringings, we’d end all mental health issues but it’s evident it would have the potential to be an enormous catalyst.
Entering 1980, the first full year of operations for Department of Education, the average education outcome for Americans was 2nd in the world (with only Australians ahead of us). Religious holidays, references and prayers were acceptable. Over the next twenty years, entering the 2000’s, we experienced a 300% increase in diagnosed depression. This while the United States slid to 17th from 2nd in education outcomes. Coincidence?
Maybe. Next up those who identity with any religion/faith. According to the Pew Research Center only 6% of Americans didn’t identify with any religion or faith in 1980. Today that’s up to 17%, but even that increase doesn’t tell the whole story.
- 26% of Millennials don’t identify with any faith or God
Millennials were born in 1981 or later. The first generation raised completely in the era of the Department of Education. Then consider an accredited study from Bensinger, Dupont & Associates demonstrating Millennials are 25% more likely to be diagnosed with depression than any other generation. Is that a coincidence too? You get the point. Harvard’s research shows the connection directly.
A recent study from the National Insitute's of Health called: Associations between religiosity, aggression and crime found the following:
Those who were identified as regularly religiously involved were:
- 17% less likely to commit any crime
- 30% less likely to commit a violent crime
So, to the point of today’s note, you’re exactly right. When faith in God is removed from the equation there’s far more crime and sustainably higher rates of violent crime. This is consistent with what I’ve long said about faith and society. Even atheists benefit from the tenants of faith in society. Thus, the further our society attempts to distance us from faith and God, the worse the results are going to be.
Thankfully there are encouraging signs that Gen Z is starting to turn back towards God. There have been higher levels of especially young men attending Church and pursing their faith than the prior generation. Also, that trend appears to be happening globally. Here’s to hoping this is the beginning of a trend that eventually puts an end to the 40+ year growth in mental health issues and violence in society associated with a lack of faith in one’s life.