Does faith heal?

Certainly, it is not my intention to go into any theological considerations here. I can also reassure you that it will not be an essay about the links between politics and religion, albeit the issue remains valid and stirs up strong emotions (and guarantees to draw a larger number of readers). Nevertheless, religion and religious service attendance are an important part of social life, and as such are not without influence on the health of the public. A positive correlation between people’s health and their participation in the life of religious communities has been well documented. Not surprisingly, a closer look at the issue reveals a more complex picture.

The reasons for which ‘religiously active people’ are healthier (perhaps the term is not the best one to use, still it is true when it comes to actual activity and not mere declarations of the worshipers), have been generally identified and studied more or less deeply by various research teams. They include among others:

•  observing religious prohibitions and obligations related to various health risks, particularly alcohol and psychoactive substances abuse;
•  social involvement, which reduces risk of depression and psychosomatic diseases, with asthma and migraine, among others;
•  positive impact of meditation on heart rate and metabolism, which (regardless of the type of religious manifestation) has been well researched and proved;
•  approach to diet, although not all fasting brings positive health outcomes;
•  additional dose of physical activity if one does not go to the temple by car (and does not attempt to park as close to the entrance as possible).

Hence, can the social changes with regard to the religiosity of Poles have an impact on health? Did combating the ‘religious cult' have negative influence on health in the past? The state policy in the period of real socialism (in Poland, because the model did not necessarily work in other countries) was counter-effective and froze religious activity of Poles at a high level for many years. Policy has changed over the last 27 years and (despite this fact or perhaps just for this reason?), the process of decrease in the level of religiosity continues, although it has been very slow and with fluctuations. Although, if we consider the ‘social religiosity’ indicators for Poland, they still remain on a high level, however, for reasons being located in the areas I will not be referring to here, the picture has been undoubtedly changing. The pace of changes is expressed not in years in this case but rather in generations. I will not analyse here either, (although the issue is most interesting), if the current state policy, albeit near and dear to the hearts of the hierarchs of the Catholic Church, will cause this process to stop.

One aspect is certainly worth noting. As history shows that the attempts to replace religion with various forms of state cult have been unsuccessful. In a similar vein, it is hard to agree that the state should promote activities for the citizens aimed at replacing the benefits of their involvement in the activities of religious communities. But regardless of the above, creating safe areas for social life in general should be a permanent policy of the local authorities, especially those of the lowest level of municipalities and districts. It is beyond any doubt that such initiatives will turn out beneficial for both body and soul.

Recommendations for further reading:

• Religious service attendance and public health
• Is religion important in people’s lives?
• Religiosity of Poles in the light of social studies (published in Polish)
• Fruits of meditation – advanced reading ;)
• Asthma, migraine and hypertension – as ‘patient spirituality sensitive’ psychosomatic diseases, also for those who enjoy reading challenges.