Wealth, faith and well-being

A fraudulent myth has infected our society - that money and happiness go together. Wealth is like health: its absence breeds misery, but having it does not guarantee happiness. In terms of well being there is considerable research that suggests having a sense of meaning and purpose in life is a big plus in the well-being stakes and this is strongly associated with taking ones faith seriously and engaging in religious practice. This is strongly at variance with the wisdom of our increasingly secular culture.

The evidence comes from a variety of sources. In the daily Telegraph (11 August 1998)  a report on the research at Duke University that showed a significant difference in blood pressure amongst church attenders, to the benefit of those who went to church. Or that the prime ministers strategy units report "Life Satisfaction" (2002) acknowledged that there was evidence from the USA that going to church twice a week improves peoples well-being equivalent to their salary being doubled. 

In the research "Religion and Ageing" by Blazer and Palmore (1976) the most significant positive impact on the experience of growing older was the extent to which people were living out a life of faith. High levels of spirituality are linked with slower progress of Alzheimer's and other dementia. Those who take their faith seriously are less likely to be involved in self destructive activities such as drug taking and alcohol abuse and are less likely to divorce, which is a high source of stress and unhappiness.

Research has also shown that if you adopt religion for the benefits that you think you will get out of it then you are likely to see no benefit at all.  Like happiness, which if pursued for its own sake degenerates into hedonism, Christian faith stands in its own right and is not a means to an end, however much desired that end may be. 

NOTES FROM CHAPTER 5 OF "BOTHERED AND BEWILDERED " BY ANN MORISY