Religion Might Keep Anxiety at Bay

For many, religious activity changes between childhood and adulthood, and a new study finds this could affect one’s mental health.

According to Temple University’s Joanna Maselko, women who had stopped being religiously active were more than three times more likely to have suffered generalized anxiety and alcohol abuse/dependence than women who reported always having been active.

“One’s lifetime pattern of religious service attendance can be related to psychiatric illness,” says Maselko, an assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study, which appears in the January issue of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Conversely, men who stopped being religiously active were less likely to suffer major depression when compared to men who had always been religiously active.

Maselko offers one possible explanation for the gender differences in the relationship between religious activity and mental health.

“Women are simply more integrated into the social networks of their religious communities. When they stop attending religious services, they lose access to that network and all its potential benefits. Men may not be as integrated into the religious community in the first place and so may not suffer the negative consequences of leaving,” Maselko says.

The study expands on previous research in the field by analyzing the relationship between mental health — anxiety, depression and alcohol dependence or abuse — and spirituality using current and past levels, said Maselko, who conducted the research when she was at Harvard University.

In the study sample, comprising 718 adults, a majority of men and women changed their level of religious activity between childhood and adulthood, which was critical information for the researchers.

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Emotional Resonance and Rocket Launchers: A Meditation on 'Lost'

By Scott Nance

It's long been said that religion and science don't mix. Religion and science fiction -- that's another story.

Scifi has been lifting religious themes and symbolism at least as far back as Leonard Nimoy's borrowing of a Jewish blessing to create the Vulcan salute for the original Star Trek series.

Often, science fiction has adapted concepts from Eastern religions, such as Buddhism. Imbuing an alien culture with Eastern, Buddhist-like trappings and whatnot has proven to be a quick and easy way to convey a sense of the exotic upon the fictitious culture.

These Buddhist attributes tend to be things like using meditation practice, incense or some similar embellishment as a story or plot device.

The "ascension" by the Ancients of Stargate SG-1, for instance, sounds a lot like an interpretation of Buddhist Enlightenment. (However, while the recent Stargate Atlantis episode "Tao of Rodney" postulated a technological path to Ascension, Buddhist Enlightment only comes from lifetimes of meditation and dedicated practice.)

But no recent series, anyway, has made such a concerted, albeit murky, connection to Buddhism than the ABC drama, Lost. The very name of the organization that runs the research stations on the mysterious island on which Lost is set -- the Dharma Initiative -- is an unmistakable Buddhist referrence. Among other inrepretations, the word "Dharma" most frequently refers to the teachings of the Buddha, or what is Buddhism itself.

If that wasn't enough, the survivors of Lost spent much of the second season of the series living down a hatch where they had to key a series of numbers into an old computer every 108 minutes to prevent catastrophe. The mumber 108 is a very significant one for Buddhists, as Buddhist rosaries, or malas, are made up of 108 beads which we use to count out our recitations of mantras.

All of these familiarities have gotten more than one Buddhist wondering what the real connection is -- beneath the many mysteries of Lost -- between our Dharma and the Dharma Initiative.

The Buddhist magazine, Tricycle, last year ran a story on the show and its continuing flirtation with Buddhism.

"Certainly at least one of Lost's writers seems to have some real knowledge of Buddhist practice," writer Dean Sluyter says.

I don't think we Buddhists are offended by the producers' use of at least the trappings of our religion on Lost. All of the fans of Lost are left to try to figure out the many questions and mysteries the series puts out there -- these odd references to our faith only present we Buddhists with just one more such puzzle to wonder about.


A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance has been author of the online Emotional Resonance & Rocket Launchers column for more than three years. He's also been a longtime member of the USS Chesapeake, an active Star Trek and science fiction club in the Washington, DC, region, and is the publisher of Life, The Universe Media. Email him with any comments.










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Evangelical, Scientific Leaders Join Up to Protect Life on Earth

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, evangelical and scientific leaders announced today a joint effort to protect the environment. Speaking at a news conference inWashington, DC, a dozen leaders of the coalition shared concerns about "human-caused threats to creation" -- including climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, species extinction, the spread of human infectious diseases, and other dangers to the well-being of societies.

The coalition released an "Urgent Call to Action" statement signed by28 evangelical and scientific leaders. The statement -- sent to President Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, bipartisan congressional leaders, and national evangelical and scientific organizations -- urges "fundamental change in values, lifestyles, and public policies required to address these worsening problems before it is too late. Business as usual cannot continue yet one more day."

The group pledged to "work together toward a responsible care for Creation and call with one voice" to the religious, scientific, business, political and educational arenas to join them in this historic initiative.

"There is no such thing as a Republican or Democrat, a liberal or conservative, a religious or secular environment. We all breathe the same air and drink the same water. Scientists and evangelicals share a deep moral commitment to preserve this precious gift we have all been given," says Dr. Eric Chivian, Nobel laureate and director of the Center for Healthand the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.

"Great scientists are people of imagination. So are people of great faith. We dare to imagine a world in which science and religion cooperate, minimizing our differences about how Creation got started, to work together to reverse its degradation. We will not allow it to be progressively destroyed by human folly," adds Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Stressing that their effort is just beginning, coalition members spoke about some of the immediate next steps they will be taking, including holding meetings with congressional leaders from both parties to inform them of this unprecedented effort and encourage their attention to environmental issues. They also plan to hold a Summit on the Creation and will develop outreach tools, such as a Creation Care Bible study guide and environmental curricula.

"If current deterioration of the environment by human activity continues unabated, best estimates are that half of Earth's surviving species of plants and animals will be extinguished or critically endangered by the end of the century. The price for future generations will be paid ineconomic opportunity, environmental security, and spiritual fulfillment. The saving of the living environment is therefore an issue appropriatelyaddressed jointly by science and religion," said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Wilson.

One of the imperatives of the group will be to advance the dialogue and influence policy in regards to global warming.

"In order to avoid clear and substantial dangers...it will be necessary to substantially reduce CO2 emissions during the next few decades, and perhaps by 80 percent or morebefore the end of the century," says James Hansen, a leading U.S. climate change scientist.


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M.D.: Hugs, Prayer May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Larry Dossey, M.D., bestselling author and expert on the connection between health and spirituality, says there is a lot we can do to stay healthy this holiday season. He's not referring to cold medicines, doctor visits or flu shots. He's talking about ordinary things that are good for your health. In his latest book, The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things, Dossey cites a number of "ordinary things" that are healing, such as music, prayer, nature, optimism, touch, and even risk taking.

Relying on anecdotes, personal history, and scientific data, his research on an emerging image of consciousness addresses how we can meet our inner needs alongside those of our physical bodies.

Consider this:

Recent studies show that people who follow a religious practice -- it does not appear to matter which -- live significantly longer (seven to 13 years) and have a lower incidence of most major diseases.

A survey of more than 1,000 physicians showed 59 percent prayed for their patients, while 42 percent encouraged their patients to pray. (Dossey refutes a recent Harvard study regarding the ability of prayer to heal and cites the JACM- Achterberg study that tracked effects of prayer using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging analysis, showing prayer to have proven effects on health.)

"Spirituality has a legitimate role to play in the future of American healthcare," says Dossey.

A survey of nearly 2 million patients involving 1/3 of the nation's hospitals found that one of the lowest patient satisfaction ratings was in the area of the emotional and spiritual aspects of care that they experienced when they were hospitalized.

"So, this holiday season, as the cold and flu season goes into full swing, a warm hug or a heartfelt prayer might be just what the doctor orders," says Dossey.

On Friday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Larry Dossey will speak at the Washington National Cathedral on the topic "Healing Between Spirit and Medicine."

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Cathedral College of the Washington National Cathedral and the Washington Society for Jungian Psychology.

Dossey is a former internist and chief of staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital, the former co-chair of the Panel on Mind/Body Interventions for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines at the National Institutes of Health, executive editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, and the author of 10 books on the role of consciousness and spirituality in health.



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