Would even Atheist doctors point people to Religion if it meant their greater mental stability? IT seems that's just the case... the American Psychiatric Association along with others, have proven that religious conviction is of great benefit...
"Religious affiliation is associated with less suicidal behavior in depressed inpatients... Further study about the influence of religious affiliation on aggressive behavior and how moral objections can reduce the probability of acting on suicidal thoughts may offer new therapeutic strategies in suicide prevention."
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/cont...Having the worlds highest suicide rate, Japan is in need on every hand. Suffering the worst devastation environmentally, economically and emotionally... Japan today needs help on all sides, now more than ever. But will the economic help provided by supporting countries be enough to help long-term, many who may never recover from a seeming never ending barrage of tragedy? Given Japan's history, it may not be too long before we see similar problems there in the near future. But what help can Christianity offer for such anguish and depression? The evidence is that mental health can be directly related to spiritual health... and there is a direct correlation between the lack of religion and the increase in suicides.
"Christianity is a minority religion in Japan, with less than one percent and possibly less than half percent of the Japanese population claiming Christian belief or affiliation. Nearly all known traditional denominations of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Christianity are represented in Japan today, with no restrictions on evangelism."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianit..."After Asia's financial crisis in 1997, suicide rates in Japan soared, reaching an annual rate of 30,000 for 13 consecutive years. March, the end of Japan's fiscal year, is typically the month with highest suicide rates."
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/30...http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...http://www.infographicsinsights.com/2011...Here we find it is not simply the rantings of the religious, but rather the results of mental sciences that have come to the same conclusion... there is hope in Christ! I may suffer the disdain of my Atheist contemporaries for that statement, but it would seem the proof really is in the proverbs. On every-hand it seems the obvious is clear, we were meant for a relationship with God... not for God's good necessarily, but ours! To some they are called "religious kooks" ...but science is proving were the mental instability really is...
and how God offers real solutions to our problems.
IF you could prove mental stability, health and hope are a direct result of a healthy religion, wouldn't you let someone know? This is just the case in Biblical Christianity...
it is more interested in someone coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ than church attendance; and has a greater interest in the well-being of humanity than a particular number of converts. God is love... and it is apparent.
"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." (Romans 15:1-4)
On a personal note I read the above scripture this morning, and I was convicted as to how I should be more supportive of the "weak" and less judgmental. I have always found hope in Jesus Christ, and hope for me has never been farther than just a prayer away. If you find yourself hopeless today and are in the need of some hope and prayer,
I would love to help... e-mail me (confidentially) truthbrary@yahoo.com
And may God's richest blessings be yours!