Snippet: Christianity is Not as Bad as You Might Think (Part 2)

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Don’t miss the important caveat from my last post. But here’s one from the article called “No, Christianity Is Not as Bad as You Think.”

“Cultural narrative #3: Christianity is emotionally repressive and bad for your mental health. …to the contrary, the data shows church attendance correlated with

• less depression;

• less suicide;

• less emotional-pain medicators, such as smoking and substance abuse;

• greater social support;

• greater meaning in life;

• greater life satisfaction;

• more volunteering;

• greater civic engagement; and

• children more likely to grow up happy.”

There’s a chart in that article from Christianity Today (link above) that shows just how much better regular church attenders score on these.

Another caveat, though. They didn’t have enough data to show if this is true for people who practice other faiths. So, at the very least it shows the impact of connecting with a faith community.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash