Faith and Health

"For people who are going through great suffering and for whom life is very very difficult, I deal with these people every day. I'm a clinician- I take care of older adults, younger adults with chronic pain syndromes, with horrible depression, with very difficult life circumstances, and religion is probably the most powerful coping behaviour that I have ever seen. More powerful than the drugs that I prescribe, more powerful than the psychotherapy that I do. I think that religious faith and the consequences of that, the tools that it gives you to cope with suffering, to give meaning to suffering, we just have no competition from anything that science, medicine or psychiatry or psychology have. I really think there's nothing that's even close. So those beliefs are very powerful and we shouldn't underestimate them". 

- Dr Harold G. Koenig, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, and Associate Professor of Medicine, Duke University.

Koenig has published over 280 articles in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as numerous books and book chapters, and has been studying for intersection between religious faith and health for decades.

Keep the Bastards Honest

Keep the Bastards Honest. 

It's the reformation way.

It's the enlightenment way. 

It's the Aussie way. 

And doing it consistently is the way that keeps the moral arc of the universe intact. 

Always check the Facts

When reading or watching any news report, opinion piece or someone's comments about an event, issue or topic, always consider the facts. 

Ask:

- What facts are relevant to this discussion?

- Which facts might support the proposition or argument being put forward?

- Which facts might contradict the proposition or argument being put forward?

- Are there any other angles to this discussion that haven't been considered here, and could there be any facts relevant to those angles?

- What assumptions and foundational presuppositions are underlying the arguments being made, and are there any facts relevant to those assumptions and presuppositions?

- Could there be any facts that aren't widely known, for whatever reason? If it's likely that there are, how do I find out what those facts are?

- Are there likely to be any relevant facts uncovered in the future by research and study? (Things that aren't facts yet but could become facts)


(1)A fact is something that is proven, demonstrated or verified and known to be true.