https://www.deseret.com/faith/2023/5/16/23725827/surgeon-general-report-loneliness-church-religion

“ Loneliness has become a “profound threat” to public health in part because many Americans have stopped going to church, according to a report on the healing effects of social connection released by the United States surgeon general earlier this month.

Vivek Murthy and his team noted that religious services, like other types of community events, have long been an important source of social connection. Without them, many Americans struggle to form meaningful bonds.

“Religious or faith-based groups can be a source for regular social contact, serve as a community of support, provide meaning and purpose, create a sense of belonging around shared values and beliefs, and are associated with reduced risk-taking behaviors. As a consequence of this decline in participation, individuals’ health may be undermined in different ways,” the report says.

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So do sheep herds, but we are not sheep!

It's the "your life is shit without religion" argument.

That's quite the misrepresentation.

The article is about "social connection" and "community, not religion. In fact, the word "religion appears on only seven of its 71 pages, and the word"church" only once.

Clearly the church is looking for taller people to reach the bottom of the barrel.

Yep. The statement from the Surgeon General mentions religion as a form of social connection along with several other thngs including riding public transit.

So the DN would have been just as accurate stating
"Loneliness has become a “profound threat” to public health in part because many Americans have stopped riding the bus."

It's pathetic, isn't it.

Humans are pathologically lonely because they don't trick-or-treat as much as they once did.

We can always depend on the DN for accurate reportage

/s

Loneliness is a real, significant serious problem today, 'we bowl alone'

The church teaches that exaltation is an individual thing.

Anyhow, my loneliest days were serving a church mission. Started in the MTC with an assigned companion who didn't like me and led to many other missionaries who wouldn't say anything all day.

And the church forced Ministering program is meaningless. You can't force people to be friendly.

Visitors are unwelcomed.

I've said it before on a number of occasions but church was never my community. It was not my source of friends nor connection.

People here often post about the social activities and the road shows and such but I always hated those too. Those were not community and connection for me. They don't serve all kinds of people. Those events only worked if you fit within the particular cookie cutter the church used.

I made friends in all of those activities when I was young, but those friendships did not endure.

So I would tend to agree that the church doesn’t foster true friendships.

One problem is that the Mormon church has downplayed social connection in recent years. It has starved the wards of funds needed for social activities. It has nixed anything that doesn't have "a gospel purpose." So there is no more chance for social connection in a Mormon ward house than there would be at, say, your job. And a job at least pays you to be there.

Good.
My kids are waaaaay better off w/o MORmONism.
They’re way too cool for that contrived nonsense anyways.
I do have one son who stayed in the church when I left, mainly to support his need for some spiritual tradition. MORmONism had been it for my family for most of its written history.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2023 10:22PM by schrodingerscat.

And I brought hum bao, salad and grapes for lunch today.

I much prefer being alone compared to being in bad company (present company excluded).

I saw a Bad Company concert back in the 70's. It was better than being alone.

When I'm in a large gathering, all I can think about is, where's the nearest men's room and, how long will I have to wait for a stall to open, and will some big guy cut in front of me and kick sand in my face... This leads me to wonder what happened to Charles Atlas!

For a while, he was supporting the world on his shoulders, but then, on December 23, 1972, Charles Atlas died in a Long Island hospital of a heart attack. He was 79 years old. It was the beginning of the fitness boom.

So he ended up with sand shoveled in his face!!!

And then some! Turn about is fair play.