Why do Catholics Live Longer than Protestants?

  • Thread starter Thread starter distracted
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
distracted said:
Give one or two reasons why you think Catholics live longer than Protestants (proven by statistics)?

I tend to think it is primarily the Eucharist… We eat Jesus…

If that sounds ghoulish, it is in total conformity with St. John 6:27-54…
Click to expand...
Becasue we are sooooo much cooler. LOL. In all seriousness though, when I was in college I took a sociology class (from a very liberal atheistic professor) who taught us that Catholics have a lower suicide rate than do protestants. She said that suicide is often the result of not feeling like part of a bigger whole, of being isolated. Her conclusion was that the Catholic Church makes people feel like part of a worldwide whole, a big family. Protestant Churches tend to be more about “just me and Jesus” whereas Catholics really hold to the idea of being the family of God.
 
East_and_West said:
Becasue we are sooooo much cooler. LOL. In all seriousness though, when I was in college I took a sociology class (from a very liberal atheistic professor) who taught us that Catholics have a lower suicide rate than do protestants. She said that suicide is often the result of not feeling like part of a bigger whole, of being isolated. Her conclusion was that the Catholic Church makes people feel like part of a worldwide whole, a big family. Protestant Churches tend to be more about “just me and Jesus” whereas Catholics really hold to the idea of being the family of God.
Click to expand...
I also have heard something similar to this. That Catholics as a group tend to be more “well adjusted”, as in less need for mental health therapy than the population as a whole. One reason advanced for this is the sacrament of reconciliation. Those who utilize reconciliation, have the opportunity to confess their sins, and receive forgiveness.

I do like the idea of feeling a worldwide connection as being another factor. We are part of a Huge and highly visible Whole.

Perhaps these factors DO play a part in longer life span (lower stress levels).
I know my Grandma (who lived to 91) use to say God didn’t take her because she was not good enough for heaven and too good for hell.🙂

Peace
James
 
allischalmers said:
Because it takes longer for catholics to repent or maybe God would rather have more protestant in heaven than catholics
Click to expand...
I doubt it since he established the Catholic Church and protestantism was founded by mere men.
 
East_and_West said:
God joined a man made religion? What? He didn’t like the religion he created?
Click to expand...
By your thinking then God didn’t like the Jewish religion which he started first, then changed his mind and started another catholkic
 
blessedjulian said:
Actually, I beg to differ. Two recent studies:

A 2002 article
healingcancernaturally.com/vegetarians-live-longer.html
(original German source:
dkfz-heidelberg.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pm03-12.htm)

A 4/18/2008 article
Bewiesen: Vegetarier leben länger (Trans: Proven: Vegetarians live longer)
welt.de/wissenschaft/medizin/article1915664/Bewiesen_Vegetarier_leben_laenger.html

Julian
Click to expand...
if you are saying being vegetarian is healthy… I beg to differ…

I have never heard of a strict vegetarian living beyond the age of 60… All the people i have known or studied who lived to be over 100 ate meat…
 
Psalter said:
I have trouble believing that Catholics live longer than Protestants and either way it doesn’t matter since religion has nothing to do with longevity. ?"
Click to expand...
that’s nonsense… it has been tested & proved that those w ho pray often and attend Church often live longer… Maybe, now that i think about it… that is why Catholics live longer… the Cathlic Curch has Mass every day… (except Monday, usually)
 
I have never heard of a strict vegetarian living beyond the age of 60… All the people i have known or studied who lived to be over 100 ate meat…
Click to expand...
One simply cannot base an entire argument on anecdotal evidence. Do some research; forget what you think you know. You may be surprised.
 
cathopologist said:
I have met many elderly people and seen how they struggle just to reach a cup in the cupboard or make an effort just for getting up from their chair.
Click to expand...
just because people struggle physically… doesn’t mean they are worthless human beings… or that they suffer “too much”… Older people (the ones i know) tend to pray more… Young people are too busy to pray much, it seems… What is that saying… about how more things are wrought through prayer than the world will ever know? You make it sound like … frankly, like Hitler and his “useless eater” nonsense… We should live longer for one primary reason: to thoroughly work out our salvation w/ fear & trembling so tht we spend less time in Purgatory… (assuming we make it there) :eek: .
Asians generally do have healthier diets. Its nothing to do with being Catholic. Its about staying away from junk food.
Click to expand...
Okinawans (to be exact) live longer than anyone on the planet… At least they have more super-centenarians there than anywhere else… & one probable reason is that they have a less stressful lifestyle. Being Catholic, also, is less stressful… (the rosary, the mass… being able to utilize our sufferings for the good of ourselves & others)… spending time @ the Blessed Sacrament…
all these things relieve stress… which is probably why Catholics live longer…
 
Pong said:
One simply cannot base an entire argument on anecdotal evidence. Do some research; forget what you think you know. You may be surprised.
Click to expand...
you presume facts not in evidence…

i HAVE done research… and plenty of it…

(Why is there a general trend on these forums to assume nearly all posters are uneducated &/or ignorant… ?) :confused:
 
Cinette said:
Hey! I have just come accross this thread and have not had time to read the responses to the first post. I have to dash but am posting my :twocents: so that I can be alerted how this is developing and catch up!

Maybe, maybe that old adage “the good die young” applies and we Catholics need more time to get our “house in order”:extrahappy:
Click to expand...
i have definitely considered such a thing… Being Catholic is difficult & the more one knows… the more one is held accountable… in this life & in the next… I have found this to be true, over & over in my life…

But also… God wants us all to do our Purgatory here on Earth… wehther Protestant or Catholic or whatever… so long life is a good thing, usually…

The saints say it is better to do Purg here because in the next life, it is more painful… & also because, in offering up our sufferings, we can help others… There are so many sinners we should offer our sufferings up for (to convert them…) and it gives us a chance to a “little Jesus”… endure a “little” cross (which doesn’t always SEEM so darn little, for sure!!! :eek: )
 
allischalmers said:
Because it takes longer for catholics to repent or maybe God would rather have more protestant in heaven than catholics
Click to expand...
& just saying you dont’ believe in Purgatory (because you are protestant)… doesn’t make Purgatory go away… any more than believing 1 + 1 = 5 makes it so…
 
East_and_West said:
Becasue we are sooooo much cooler. LOL. In all seriousness though, when I was in college I took a sociology class (from a very liberal atheistic professor) who taught us that Catholics have a lower suicide rate than do protestants. She said that suicide is often the result of not feeling like part of a bigger whole, of being isolated. Her conclusion was that the Catholic Church makes people feel like part of a worldwide whole, a big family. Protestant Churches tend to be more about “just me and Jesus” whereas Catholics really hold to the idea of being the family of God.
Click to expand...
i had forgotten about that statistic concerning suicide… but i don’t think the statistics i read/learned of took suicide into account…

If they didnt then that would make the orignal point (Catholics live longer) even stronger…
 
(Why is there a general trend on these forums to assume nearly all posters are uneducated &/or ignorant… ?)
Click to expand...
I didn’t have to assume. I needed only to read your thread to make an educated guess (pardon the pun). Posters who start threads which assert some point that has no concrete evidence to support it look ignornat and and/or uneducated. Fortunately, the solution is simple enough. 😉
 
JRKH said:
Perhaps these factors DO play a part in longer life span (lower stress levels).
I know my Grandma (who lived to 91) use to say God didn’t take her because she was not good enough for heaven and too good for hell.🙂

Peace
James
Click to expand...
also… all the people i know who lived to be over 90… LIVED more or less like Catholics do… (no smoking, gluttony, believe in prayer… etc…)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top