RE: [asa] Re: [asa] RE: [asa] “A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists”: Fri. Feb. 27, 3:30

I have always thought that if knowledge of God and His plan of salvation for every human being is not the true basis of human self-esteem, then anything else that purports to give someone some sort of self-esteem is a partial or total lie.

Moorad
________________________________________
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Randy Isaac [randyisaac@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 11:09 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] Re: [asa] RE: [asa] “A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists”: Fri. Feb. 27, 3:30

I too thought that Myers' book was interesting and I enjoyed reading it. My
only concern was that the data presented all showed "a positive correlation"
as James puts it but don't address the question of causal relationships. I
wish he would have discussed the various possibilities for other causal
factors. For example, the chapter on happiness indicated that church-going
people tended to be happier than non-attendees. It wasn't clear, however,
whether anyone considered that people who were less happy (or at least
uncomfortable in social interactions) would be less likely to attend church
in the first place. I agree, that the correlation may indicate that religion
isn't particularly harmful but whether it is a positive causal factor
doesn't seem to be conclusive from the data presented in this book.

Loren, perhaps you'll get a chance to ask him about that at the talk.

Randy

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Patterson" <james000777@bellsouth.net>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:22 AM
Subject: [asa] RE: [asa] “A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists”: Fri.
Feb. 27, 3:30

> This is interesting from a clinical perspective. If you look at the
> literature on spirituality and faith, and how it relates to health and
> wellness, the vast majority of the publications show a positive
> correlation. It is therefore difficult to understand from an
> evidenced-based perspective how "religion" is bad for you, or for society.
> The data say otherwise.
>

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Received on Sat Feb 21 11:34:12 2009