"Study: Religion is Good for Kids"

Remember how Richard Dawkins said religion was child abuse? John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University led a just-released a study showing that "kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children." Not what you generally expect from "abuse," is it?

"The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services—especially when both parents did so frequently—and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents."

The study uncovered a mystery at the same time:

"But as for why religious organizations might provide more of a boost to family life than secular organizations designed to do the same thing, that’s still somewhat of a mystery, said Annette Mahoney, a psychologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, also not involved in the research. Mahoney wondered: 'Is there anything about religion and spirituality that sets it apart?"

The answer is yes. That's just my opinion, of course (supported by millennia of others' beliefs and by God's word, that is).

And it also underscored the importance of parental unity: fighting over religion, it is no surprise to discover, is harmful to children.

I still shake my head in wonder at how Dawkins--the "Professor for the Public Understanding of Science"--can get away with such an incredibly counter-scientific opinion.

Thanks to Family Scholars Blog for the link. If you weren't aware of this blog, I encourage you to check it out--it's excellent.

(Another in the continuing series on spirituality and life outcomes. Please see the note there on proper interpretation of this kind of information.)

Posted: Tue - April 24, 2007 at 02:01 PM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

"Study: Religion is Good for Kids"

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson