When God Is Not Enough: Religious States Have Highest Rates of Anti-Depressant Use
Submitted by go213mph on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 22:59They say that religion is the opiate of the masses, but it seems that the opiates of the religious are antidepressants.
A study released yesterday confirmed that Mississippi remains the most religious state in the Union, followed by a handful of its southern belt brothers: Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, as well as the Mormon stronghold of Utah. The Gallup poll showed that 58 percent of all Mississippians identify as “very religious.” The least religious states in the U.S. are the former stomping grounds of the very, very religious Puritans: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.
But life in these highly faithful states doesn’t seem to be all its cracked up to be. The most religious states in the U.S. share another trait: the highest use of anti-depressants.
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http://www.alternet.org/belief/when-god-not-enough-religious...
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"But one thing is needful" St. Luke 10:42
Johann Heinrich Schröder, 1697
One thing’s needful; Lord this treasure
Teach me highly to regard;
All else, though it first give pleasure,
Is a yoke that presses hard.
Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving,
No true, lasting happiness ever deriving.
The gain of this one thing all loss can requite
And teach me in all things to find true delight.
Wilt thou find this one thing needful,
Turn from all created things
Unto Jesus and be heedful
Of the blessèd joy He brings.
For where God and Man both in one are united,
With God’s perfect fulness the heart is delighted;
There, there is the worthiest lot and the best,
My One and my All and my Joy and my Rest.
How were Mary’s thoughts devoted,
Her eternal joy to find
As intent each word she noted,
At her Savior’s feet reclined!
How kindled her heart, how devout was its feeling,
While hearing the lessons that Christ was revealing!
For Jesus all earthly concerns she forgot,
And all was repaid in that one happy lot.
Thus my longings, heav’nward tending,
Jesus, rest alone on Thee.
Help me, thus on Thee depending;
Savior, come and dwell in me.
Although all the world should forsake and forget Thee,
In love I will follow Thee, ne’er will I quit Thee.
Lord Jesus, both spirit and life is Thy Word;
And is there a joy which Thou dost not afford?
Wisdom’s highest, noblest treasure,
Jesus, lies concealed in Thee;
Grant that this may still the measure
Of my will and actions be,
Humility there and simplicity reigning,
In paths of true wisdom my steps ever training.
Oh, if I of Christ have this knowledge divine,
The fulness of heavenly wisdom is mine.
Naught have I, O Christ, to offer
Naught but Thee, my highest Good.
Naught have I, O Lord, to proffer
But Thy crimson-colored blood.
Thy death on the cross hath Death wholly defeated
And thereby my righteousness fully completed;
Salvation’s white raiments I there did obtain,
And in them in glory with Thee I shall reign.
Therefore Thou alone, my Savior,
Shalt be All in all to me;
Search my heart and my behavior,
Root out all hypocrisy.
Restrain me from wandering on pathways unholy
And through all life’s pilgrimage keep my heart lowly.
This one thing is needful, all others are vain;
I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain.
"The founders would be ashamed of us for what we're putting up with." Ron Paul
"For the country to get better, it needs more than just politicians. Politicians aren't enough. It needs a resurgence through churches, through revivals, through a spiritual
Correlation Doesn't Equal Causation
A basic statistical fact is that correlation doesn't equal causation. Any student of basis statistics can tell you that.
So let's assume the survey and study was done without any biases and produced a strong correlation between a State being religious and high use of anti-depressants and medications, still it won't prove anything.
A comprehensive study would have to take consideration of many other factors that separates the "religious" states and "non-religious" states. And as we can imagine, there would be many confounding factors to affect the accuracy of such a study.
So strictly from a statistical point of view, we can't conclude much from the limited information provided in the article. That's just my take on Statistics, being an AP Stat teacher.
I think the inference you can
I think the inference you can make is what are these more religious people willing to put their faith in? God or man-made synthetic poisons or both?
alternet?
Many people come into the Church because they are seeking. Seeking can take many ways, even obligation to family, but fear, remorse, greif, spiritual, mercy, relief, resolve, hope...
I don't think of alternet as anti-religous, pro-big government, agenda.
STAND WITH RAND 2016
maybe
BEecause these peeps are the most trusting, especially with deceiving prescribers.
donvino
When God Is Enough
God is enough when belief is based on sound teaching. The apostle Paul (not Ron or Rand) predicted the coming apostasy (false teaching) in the Christian church. One example is Joel Osteen who suggests that one can expect health and wealth if they practice Biblical principles. This contradicts the experience of Christ and his disciples, who were persecuted, tortured, and often executed for practicing Biblical principles.
The world is no less dangerous today than it was when Christ walked the earth. But unlike Christ, who boldly called corrpt leaders hypocrites and a "generation of vipers", most Western churches teach their members to go along with corrupt gov't leaders. So there is little need to persecute Western Christians, many of whom passively watch the world go to hell while waiting to be raptured. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an exception, and as a result, he was persecuted and murdered just like many of the 1st century Christians. And if not for the tireless work of Christian abolitionists, legal slavery in America would've lasted much longer than it did. I think preachers like Joel Osteen would've been on the side of slave holders, not abolitionists.
In Communist China, Christians are arrested, tortured and imprisoned just for showing up in public to worship. The link below is to a Congressional hearing where Chinese Christian wives testified about the torture and imprisonment of their husbands. Chinese pastor Bob Fu also testified and called on Obama to "stand with the persecuted, not the persecutors." They cited Dr. King and the "faint voices against slavery before the Civil War that eventually led to a full awakening of the forces of justice."
http://www.standupforyourrights.me/?p=115
Most of America's founders believed in a Creator/God and they too felt the full weight of Satanic powers that currently rule the world. The founders understood the dark powers they were up against and ended the Declaration of Independence with these words: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." They understood the price of freedom, and it was the very same price described by Jesus Christ.
God is enough when Christians keep life in perspective, i.e., Christ overcame the world and our time on earth is like a vapor, here one moment and gone the next. So put on the full armour of the Gospel, and like Christ and his disciples, speak out against the Satanic powers that control the world's governments, it's our duty even if it seems hopeless. Taking a stand for God's Kingdom on earth requires the willingness to sacrafice all, and yet, profound joy can be found in the midst of persecution. Praise God!
http://www.standupforyourrights.me
http://www.dailypaul.com/277342 (Rand Paul: One person can make a difference)
http://www.standupforyourrights.me/?p=1264 (Resist gun control)
A big amen to that brother!
Keep telling it like it is no matter what!
Speaking the truth in love!
" In Thee O Lord do I put my trust " ~ Psalm 31:1~
As soon as I clicked on the link, I looked up for the expected
... downvotes.
And there they were.
What seems to be the problem?
There are some very sound arguments
as to why its not healthly to believe in things that are false.
Stefan Molyneux has a couple of excellent podcasts on the subject.
If you have any interest in listening to them...they are posted at:
http://go213mph.wordpress.com/audio-files/
Two links named:
Whats wrong with believing in God? Part 1
Whats wrong with believing in God? Part 2
They are the last two in the list.
DENY CONSENT
Complete BS
You state God is False as your presupposition
So if i state Atheism is false, so it is not healthy to believe in things that are false .. It makes the same amount of sense.
Not the same cheese
I'm making no claim of anything exsisting. Its the requirement of the person making a claim that something exsists to provide SOME proof. Describing an invisible, undectectable something with powers that are completely outside the norm is not for me to disprove...its practically the definition of non-exsistence.
DENY CONSENT
If the idea...
...of 'no God' is correct, then ultimately, fundamentally there is no such thing as 'arguments', sound or otherwise.
If God is shorthand for the idea that Person, Intelligence, Love, etc. is fundamental reality -- more fundamental than the physical universe, the idea of 'no God' is shorthand for the physical universe (or a quantum mechanical system from which it arises) being fundamental reality, with person, intelligence, love, etc. ultimately being illusions generated by mindless cause and effect reactions within that physical system. Human reason (argument) is more than just cause and effect -- it is inference, involving grounds and consequents, which points to something deeper than cause and effect going on.
Professor Haldane: ‘If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true…and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.’ (Possible Worlds, p. 209)
The very foundation of true Love, Person, Beauty, Reason, etc. being real entities rather than illusions collapses if 'no God' is true. I'm with Plato on thinking these things are transcendent, and I don't see that as being an unhealthy view. And I will never take an anti-depressant. :). It would make me depressed just to think that I was relying on them.
I listened to the
podcasts and I get that Mr. Molyneux believes believing in God is unhealthy but he lost me in his argument that my belief in God is an act of aggression against someone else? Mmmm... still trying to wrap my brain around that one.
"When there is a boot on your neck, it matters not whether it is the right boot or the left."
IF you encourage people...especially children
to hold 2 opposing viewpoints at the same time...that's the agressiveness he is talking about. Remember in the podcast when he told the story of the parent saying to their child, eat your food. No don't eat your food. Eat your food. NO. Don't eat your food. The child would look at their parent wondering what he or she was expected to do.
When you promote logic and reason in ALL areas's of your life EXCEPT for religion...it creates an unresolvable conflict for the muscle in our heads we call a brain. This is especially damaging for the very young while they are still learning and their brain is still forming. I figured out Santa Claus was not real around age 7(and this was confirmed to me by my parents when I questioned the logical impossibilities) but then the very next Sunday I was hauled off to church and expected to believe that something even MORE fantastic than Santa Claus (The exsistence of an all knowing all powerful yet invisable being called God) was still a valid proposition?
This confused me for years. FOR ME, letting go of God stopped my mind from fighting to connect with something that just never, ever happened. I spent years essentially brainwashing myself into believing that if I just kept trying eventually I'd be born again or saved. I got tired of faking it. It was a huge relief for me when I accepted the reality of the world I live in.
I don't pretend to know how I got here, why I'm here, or what happens after I die. All I know is its "whats next". My morals and my behaviors come from treating others how I want to be treated and knowing what is right and what is wrong. They never came from the fear of burning in eternal hell.
I honestly treat people with more love and respect now than I did when I attended church regularly. I was never a mean or dishonest person but if I did something I knew I shouldn't I would just "confess and give it to God" and be done with it. I now am much more personally responsible for my actions.
But, again, thats just me. I do understand how difficult it is to let go of God. My wife and I were VERY uncomfortable for 6 months after we became non-believers. We knew if we were wrong the stakes could not be higher...but ultimatly I put my trust in my ability to think and make rational decisons...and at anytime during those first 6 months...God could have made himself known to me if he exsisted. In fact if God ever pops into my car when I'm driving alone on the interstate and shows himself to exsist...I'll spread the message high and low. But considering ALL the evidence against such a being exsisting...I'm not holding my breath. lol.
DENY CONSENT
Thanks for
clearing that up for me. I do remember that part, I was just looking for a concrete argument on how MY belief in God is an aggression on YOU or HIM, not my child or someone over whom I have any real influence, I understand where he was going with the eat this bit and that made sense.
For example:
Suzanimal: "I believe in God."
How have I committed an aggression against you?
I haven't, and his argument on aggression was pretty weak (imo) but I will admit, his mental illness argument was pretty solid logic. :-)
Thanks for sharing your story, I understand what you mean when you say you got tired of faking it, I've been there. A couple of years ago, I came to the conclusion that I don't believe in hell and when I just let go of that baggage, it was very freeing. I'm glad you've found the peace you were looking for, sincerely, and thanks for sharing the links I found them interesting.
"When there is a boot on your neck, it matters not whether it is the right boot or the left."
Then improving one's health
is another good reason for atheistic evolutionists to stop believing that life comes from non-life, and information comes from non-information.
Ron Paul - Honorary Founding Father
people who claim to be 'religious' are often only . . .
that and not particularly spiritual--
they preach but don't practice true theology.
it's hard to be awake; it's easier to dream--
The atheistic state of the USSR
was not known for wealth creation and happy people, just the opposite. The people used vodka instead of antidepressants
The Protestant areas of Europe were the wealthiest place in the world. North America benefited from that because the founding culture here was created by Protestants, and the USA became the biggest wealth producer in the world. The rate of alcoholism in Christian North America was very small compared to the USSR.
That would be fine, except...
One thing, the USSR was not an atheist state.
The people of Russia were still very religious even after the Bolshevik revolution. And, every one of the satellite provinces taken into the USSR, such as Georgia, Belarus, Poland, East Germany, etc... were pretty much the opposite of being atheistic.
And, your statement about alcoholism I venture to guess, has no demonstrable samples. The Russians, Polish, etc... drink vodka like the Italians and French drink wine. It is done with food and is part of their culture. That is like saying all Italians are alcoholics. An alcoholic isn't someone that drinks every night at dinner. An alcoholic will actually alter their life to get a drink and drink during the work day, etc...
But, anectdotally, I would probably drink a lot living in the USSR as well, especially the last couple of decades. Hell, just thinking about our Congress or watching a clip of FOX News makes me go to the sideboard and poor a scotch now.
"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."--Mark Twain
apples and oranges
it's silly to blame atheism for the state the former USSR was in.
Solzenitsyn
did not think it was silly at all.
It is silly
to blame religon for people taking antidepressents
While the title itself conjures a negative connotation
While the title itself conjures a negative connotation
The study is bios and not all inclusive.
At first, you have to know what you're talking about, true or false?
Who is doing the classification and what is their motive?
The most charitable states are also among the poorest states.
That goes with being religious. Utah is #1 in generosity. The stingiest states are among the richest. New Hampshire is the tightest. That makes sense also.
http://247wallst.com/2012/08/22/americas-most-and-least-gene...
this is true--
poor people tend to be more generous--
it's hard to be awake; it's easier to dream--
Depression also is associated with being poor.
In terms of per capita income, these so-called religious states are also the poorest states. Be careful with what you are measuring. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income
Poor People More Likely to Have Experienced Depression
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/poor-people-mor...
I don't know why this got downvoted
but I have to say Rhode Island is making me WANT antidepressants.
Christianity vs. Religion
When people find it too hard to be Christians thaey make up their own Religions to suit their own selfish egos...
Example: The so called 'Children of Israel' couldn't adhere to Gods laws so they elected a King over them.
The King created new laws outside of God / Moses laws, thus making the "STATE" a God Unto itself...Tyranny results when man makes his own Gods...
You would want medication too
if you had to deal with antagonistic atheists like yourself!
Seriously though, I am in one of the top ten states and I can see that too many are on medications. There are lots of reasons I think apply. One is that being a hypocrite is even more stressful than being wicked for a lot of the time. When religion is dominant in a society some people jump on board not because they really believe, but because they want to fit in. That brings on stress.
Another thing is that Christians in particular are going to be very reluctant to break the law, and in the case of Mormons and Southern Baptists they are not even supposed to drink alcohol. I don't need prescription drugs to cope, but a nice glass of wine every once in a while helps. Maybe someone up north would just drink or smoke pot, while in a religious state the only "acceptable" way to do it is prescription drugs.
I also think that poverty adds stress, and most of those states are quite poor, but also to be a Christian means you already have admitted that you "can't cope" with being righteous. So just by the nature of the group you have people that already know they need help. Maybe there is some bledover (ie-they will also be quick to reach to the pills for help)
Localism is for people who can still sleep at night even though somebody they don't know in a city they have never been is doing things differently. ("Localism, A Philosophy of Government" on Amazon for Kindle or Barnes and Noble ebook websites)
Y'know go213, I like you but I'm gonna have to downvote
This blantant religion bashing is unbecoming from one who believes in individual liberty.
How you can not see that the use of anti-depressents is probably more related to economics rather than what one believes is beyond me.
Mississippi is the poorest state, with Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and West Virginia not far behind. I'm not sure Louisiana has recovered from the oil spill yet.
Please, don't bring yourself down by continuing in this really childish and intolerant vein.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
James Madison