Catholic and protestant tragedies

[Luke77]

I have a question in regards to Catholic and Protestant social diffrences. I am not looking for doctrine diffrences although they may or may not help to explain this trend that I have noticed. Now I do not mean to offend anyone and want the responses to be cordial and respectfull to all parties.

As an Catholic I have noticed a local trend that Protestants especially Lutherans tend to have alot of tragedies among their numbers. Mabey it is a geographic thing because I live in the midwest with a large protestant population. However per capita catholics are still larger vs each protestant sect. For example car accidents, military deaths, cancer ect. While I have noticed this occuring I am not shure what to make of it if anything. As far as their seeming to be alot of military deaths from lutheran churches mabey it could be becasue they are more willing to serve their country and take a risk?

What do other people think a this. Mabey a Priest can weigh in. From a Catholic view mabey it could be explained becasue we belive in the intercession of saints and Mary in times of need. However this is just one possibility and may not complety explain it. I would like to hear views on this question and mabey some personal stories one way or the other. This subject would of course be personal opinion but has the Catholic Church noticed this or have something to say about it. I rember from a history class the the widow of martin luther an excommunicated nun died several days after almost being chrushed to death under a wagon and had alot of hardships after accepting lutheran teaching.

 

[Luke77]

Also I think it is important to note that the Catholic Church views scism as an sin for all involved. Hoever that may or may not be important to this.

 

[Valke2]

do you have statistics or are you going by whay you see on the news.

 

[Luke77]

The news however I would love to know if their are any stats on this so I could prove it either way. Really it was just a thought without any solid proof that I would like find out.

 

[palmas85]

I have a question in regards to Catholic and Protestant social diffrences. I am not looking for doctrine diffrences although they may or may not help to explain this trend that I have noticed. Now I do not mean to offend anyone and want the responses to be cordial and respectfull to all parties.

As an Catholic I have noticed a local trend that Protestants especially Lutherans tend to have alot of tragedies among their numbers. Mabey it is a geographic thing because I live in the midwest with a large protestant population. However per capita catholics are still larger vs each protestant sect. For example car accidents, military deaths, cancer ect. While I have noticed this occuring I am not shure what to make of it if anything. As far as their seeming to be alot of military deaths from lutheran churches mabey it could be becasue they are more willing to serve their country and take a risk?

What do other people think a this. Mabey a Priest can weigh in. From a Catholic view mabey it could be explained becasue we belive in the intercession of saints and Mary in times of need. However this is just one possibility and may not complety explain it. I would like to hear views on this question and mabey some personal stories one way or the other. This subject would of course be personal opinion but has the Catholic Church noticed this or have something to say about it. I rember from a history class the the widow of martin luther an excommunicated nun died several days after almost being chrushed to death under a wagon and had alot of hardships after accepting lutheran teaching.

This line of thinking, not you in particular mind you, but in general was used by many to explain away the horrors of the Holocaust by essentially saying that the Jews didn’t accept Christ so they got whacked. Not a few people still adhere to that particular line of reasoning.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Hi,
Im trying to understand your train of thought here. Are you tring to see if protestants are killed more then catholics and ifso why. Are you thinking that maybe protestants die more because they are not catholic and are being punished?

Ive never ever thought of this before, so Im trying to wrap my mind around your question.

 

[mrs_abbott]

I have a question in regards to Catholic and Protestant social diffrences. I am not looking for doctrine diffrences although they may or may not help to explain this trend that I have noticed. Now I do not mean to offend anyone and want the responses to be cordial and respectfull to all parties.

As an Catholic I have noticed a local trend that Protestants especially Lutherans tend to have alot of tragedies among their numbers. Mabey it is a geographic thing because I live in the midwest with a large protestant population. However per capita catholics are still larger vs each protestant sect. For example car accidents, military deaths, cancer ect. While I have noticed this occuring I am not shure what to make of it if anything. As far as their seeming to be alot of military deaths from lutheran churches mabey it could be becasue they are more willing to serve their country and take a risk?

What do other people think a this. Mabey a Priest can weigh in. From a Catholic view mabey it could be explained becasue we belive in the intercession of saints and Mary in times of need. However this is just one possibility and may not complety explain it. I would like to hear views on this question and mabey some personal stories one way or the other. This subject would of course be personal opinion but has the Catholic Church noticed this or have something to say about it. I rember from a history class the the widow of martin luther an excommunicated nun died several days after almost being chrushed to death under a wagon and had alot of hardships after accepting lutheran teaching.

It’s just the luck of the draw. Religion has nothing to do with it. God is just calling these people home to Him in Heaven. Maybe next month it’ll be a bunch of Catholics’ turns.

 

[Valke2]

Jarvis and Northcott (1986) observed that Latter-day Saints have longer life expectancy than non-LDS because of lower than average rates of cancer, heart disease, and infant deaths. Self-reported health of NORC respondents shows 85 percent of Latter-day Saints report that their health is good or excellent, which is higher than any other religious group. Only 3 percent of LDS rate their health as poor.
lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/social_eom.htm

Other than that, I wasn’t able to find much. But looking for a divine reason for why one religion is suffering at a particular time is probably going to be a bit fuzzy. Jews did much better in surviving the black death than Christians. But I wouldn’t attribute that to Divine interventation. (Others might).

Japan has one of the highest life expectancy of any country. I don’t think that is because of its burgeoning Catholic population .

 

[Luke77]

please dont misunderstand I am not trying to say that a certian group in being punished ect. I have seemed to see more stories with a certain out come lately and was trying to see why it happened. I agree with the sugesstion that mabey it is luck of the draw. To really answer this question I would have to sample every thing and then compare. I shurely did not mean to put such an empasis on the idea that a certian group may die more than another. So I will reask. It is all so a really good point to mention that the argument of who and who is not part of the Christian church ect but that is not even close to my question given it is not about the theology but about social interection and percived luck.

Has anyone noticed a trend one way or the other that may suggest that Catholics and Protestants seem to have diffrent luck of the draw? Is this important?

 

[Luke77]

Could it be a cultural trend instead of anything divine to explain why some groups are more tough and less likely to suffer bad outcomes. This may be a more interesting question. Could behavior be the cause of our perceptions as an society on how well people survive. The fact that these trends follow religious one could be just happenstance?

 

[pigtown]

Are you saying that God is punishing people because they aren’t Catholic? It’s always possible that God loves those people so much that He wants them to return home to Him. Surely, you can’t really believe that God loves people of one religion more than those of another religion! The Bible tells us that Christ was a Jew. Christians are also referred to in the Bible. Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists or any of the other Christian religions are not mentioned by name. We are all God’s children. He loves each and every one of us, whether we are Catholic or not.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Are you saying that God is punishing people because they aren’t Catholic? It’s always possible that God loves those people so much that He wants them to return home to Him. Surely, you can’t really believe that God loves people of one religion more than those of another religion! The Bible tells us that Christ was a Jew. Christians are also referred to in the Bible. Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists or any of the other Christian religions are not mentioned by name. We are all God’s children. He loves each and every one of us, whether we are Catholic or not.

Hi,
I dont think this is what the OP means but it does come across that way. Isnt it silly that we cant just refer to ourselves as christians who go to the--------------------church.

 

[water]

Are you saying that God is punishing people because they aren’t Catholic? It’s always possible that God loves those people so much that He wants them to return home to Him. Surely, you can’t really believe that God loves people of one religion more than those of another religion! The Bible tells us that Christ was a Jew. Christians are also referred to in the Bible. Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists or any of the other Christian religions are not mentioned by name. We are all God’s children. He loves each and every one of us, whether we are Catholic or not.

Of course God loves us all. He also loves to see all of us in unity. In general, the unity of an organization helps it survive. In Christianity, our unity help us fight against Satan - we’ve spent too much time fighting among ourselves at this point.

 

[KarenNC]

The news however I would love to know if their are any stats on this so I could prove it either way. Really it was just a thought without any solid proof that I would like find out.

See if this article is helpful: God, Faith and Death The Impact of Biological and Religious Correlates on Mortality from the journal Human Biology, 2003. It compared Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Calvinist information over several centuries in adjoining parishes in Germany

findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3659/is_200312/ai_n9310281
(You will have to scroll down to see the actual article, because of the annoying ads, but this was the best link to the article I could find)

Concluding remarks (found on p. 9 of the article):
The current study demonstrates distinct denominational mortality differentials between Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed Calvinist individuals that persisted well into the 20th century. This observation is in accord with previous studies (Zschunke 1984; Kedelski 1990; Heller-Karneth 1996; Sponholz et al. 1996; Horning 1998; McQuillan 1999). To the uncritical eye, these differentials could indicate a society with a horizontal stratigraphy along religious and cultural lines. But instead the data at hand point towards denominational reproductive strategies as a causative factor. Early life conditions affect health and adult morbidity and mortality. In this context, timing of first pregnancy, subsequent spacing and stopping of births, and targeted family size not only influenced offspring well-being but also maternal health. The greater survival prospects in Protestants are thought to be the result of a greater reliance on family planning devices as well as better obstetric care. In contrast, Catholic childbearing was geared towards maximizing reproductive output. This, however, proved to be an ineffective strategy, since relative reproductive success was markedly lower than in any other denomination. Reformed Calvinist family building, which was also targeted at high sibship size, was able successfully to combat child mortality due to a greater reliability on midwifery, hygiene, and greater maternal education. Next to a hereditary component, the observed family resemblance in mortality may be a function of shared environmental effects associated with common rearing, socioeconomic status, or nutrition. Mortality differentials and religious affiliation may thus independently share a nontrivial familial component.

Studies looking at modern rates are harder to come by. Most of the ones I found do not differentiate by specific religion or by sect within a specific religion, but rather simply religious affiliation at all vs. none.

a study between Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran middle aged men in Finland from the International Journal of Epidemiology
ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/co…ract/25/6/1244

 

[puzzleannie]

As an Catholic I have noticed a local trend that Protestants especially Lutherans tend to have alot of tragedies among their numbers. Mabey it is a geographic thing .

I think such a generalization from a limited observation from the standpoint of one individual observer is absolutely worthless for making such a judgement, or drawing any inferences from that judgement that apply to those groups as a whole.

yes there have been scientific studies, as sample articles above attest, but their results are generaly localized in time and place, and do not lend themselves to general observation that could be extended to all Catholics and Lutherans for example.

frankly I don’t think this discussion has any value or chance of shedding any light on the topic proposed.