# Do christians live longer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742 "2007-04-12T01:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/21 "2007-04-12T11:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] No, it just seems that way because you have to listen to so much of their self righteous yammering. [/QUOTE] Amen to that 🙂 I presume the OP realises that the majority of Muslims pray several times a day, i.e. a lot more frequently than most Christians. Or does that not count, because they’re doing it wrong? ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/22 "2007-04-12T11:40:09Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] > [@](#): > > Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found. > > And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications Source: [NY Times - 31 March 2007](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?ex=1301461200&en=4acf338be4900000&ei=5088) [/QUOTE] > [@God](#): > > Stop noodging me! \_\_ ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/23 "2007-04-12T16:01:06Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] Interesting studies thanks. I guess there is evidence on both sides. The fact that church going blacks (in one of the studies) live 10 years longer is not too surprising sg given the large amount of crime/drugs/alcohol that would be less in a church going community (possibly blatant racial stereotyping sorry) [/QUOTE] I’m not sure how much more drug use there is among whites than blacks and latinos, but whites definitley attend church [less often](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week908/Wilcox_Data.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/24 "2007-04-12T16:18:10Z")
I can’t cite (which I hate), so take this as probably apocryphal. When I was in college, a lecture in a religious studies class I took mentioned a study that showed that in the US: - religious folks lived longer than non-religious ones, by a statistically significant but small margin - That margin was almost entirely explained by Muslims and Mormans, both groups with generally healthy lifestyle requirements. - Remove the Muslims and Mormans, and religious folks live slightly less long than non-religious ones, by an even smaller margin (don’t remember significance). - That margin is explained entirely by Christian Scientists and various cult religions that don’t believe in using modern medicine at all, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who won’t accept blood transfusions. - Take those out, correct for mostly economic factors, and the effects all disappear. If anyone can actually find a cite for this, or even a hint as to whether it’s real or crackpot, I’d love to have it. ---
**Author:** ![zyzzyva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@zyzzyva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zyzzyva)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/25 "2007-04-12T16:40:29Z")
But, if you’re a Christian and you die, you go to Heaven (or at least you believe you do). As Heaven is a glorious place infinitely better than life on Earth, why would you want to prolong that trip? ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/26 "2007-04-12T18:43:12Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] Interesting studies thanks. I guess there is evidence on both sides. The fact that church going blacks (in one of the studies) live 10 years longer is not too surprising sg given the large amount of crime/drugs/alcohol that would be less in a church going community (possibly blatant racial stereotyping sorry) [/QUOTE] Lifestyle choices and economic stability seem to be the biggest indicators in long life. Not taking into account poverty and lack of social programs, if dangerous behavior was actually tied to how religious people were, this could be possible, but there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between “good” lifestyle choices and Christianity. [cite](http://www.straight.com/article-76688/in-sin-we-trust-nastiness-is-next-to-godliness-study-says) On a personal level, I think many of us has met a church going religious person (who may even try witnessing to you) who’s choices in life not match their faith, as if they almost consider their faith to be a “Get out of Jail/Hell free card”. I think if unbiased studies were done, it would be found there is no difference between the lifespans of anyone regardless of faith or lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742/27 "2007-04-12T19:04:05Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Yep. People who attend church [do](http://washingtontimes.com/world/20041226-104514-3168r.htm) [live](http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060403_church_good.html)[longer](http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19990602003724data_trunc_sys.shtml) . [/QUOTE] Were the studies limited to christians though? Perhaps it would be that anybody attending church lives longer (muslims, jews - I personally am an atheist that goes every Sunday to a Unitarian Church) - not just christians. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-live-longer/399742.md?page=1)