Faith Is Real, And So Is Science

Those who work in the mental health field have long known of the mind/body connection. The mind can certainly effect the body for better or worse. The converse is certainly well known, that the body can effect the mind--or brain if you prefer. If religion or faith or belonging to a supportive group are helpful to bodily and mental health, who's to cry "Fraud"?

The Jewish concept of shalom--commonly translated as "peace"--is as broad as the sea and includes well-being, peace, contentment, etc. Whatever adds shalom to one's life is welcome in my world.

Mr. Mark:

If possible, read Hirschfield's definitions, and proceed carefully from the concrete to the general. His point is that there is a mind-body connection, however you label it: That is all.

The man is not a Christian, does not "believe" in personal salvation, "an old man in the sky" or a young one, for that matter. Yikes.

My youngest child was born with a terrible disability that was very likey to cause his death at a very young age. Many people stepped up to tell me that if I believed God would heal him. Some told me that they had prayed to God for healing for my son and they knew he would get well. I appreciated their efforts and understood their beliefs or desire to believe. However, I knew that my son would not be healed. I also had faith. I cannot explain this but it is some deep understanding within myself. I have gotten tired sometimes but I have never lost faith. I don't think it is something that a person can lose.

My son is still living but every day if a gift. Boy do we appreciate him. And God. And the universe itself.

Mr. Hirschfield,

I read your post three times and I'm still not sure you actually said anything. If you were actually claiming that faith has a healing effect, please know that there is zero scientific evidence supporting that claim. Every study on the "power of prayer" or on patients' attitudes has found no effect of either on survival or recovery rates. The myth that attitude affects outcomes is a product of confirmation bias.

Faith is belief beyond evidence, and thus a waste of time and mental faculty. I don't have faith that I won't get cancer from smoking, and I don't have faith that I can eat whatever I want and stay healthy, and I don't have faith that a magical sky wizard is going to fix anything for me in this life before I go on to some next life. Faith in divine providence doesn't have an effect on the incidence of car crash fatalities in the USA(40,000/yr), but maybe that is because the people forgot to pray not to be killed in a car today?

It is a myth, unprofessionally repeated and advanced by doctors, that there is scientific evidence that faith, prayer or spirituality leads to better health. Period. You can cite a poorly done study here or a weak study there, but none stand the test of depth or rigor. Period.

It is a myth, unprofessionally repeated and advanced by doctors, that there is scientific evidence that faith, prayer or spirituality leads to better health. Period. You can cite a poorly done study here or a weak study there, but none stand the test of depth or rigor. Period.

interesting article... please correct me if i'm wrong but i believe in my readings i have several times seen that albert eiestein saw no disconnection between God and science that is physics just as the spirit their is and underlying orderlyness and interconnection when the absolute truthe is know.... whether scientifically or spiritually, it is these basic usually small but in alberts case large that are the framework to where all other theorectical, or undiscovered principles of fact must reside or the scientist or the theologian must .... must conteplate the possibility they are mistaken... science now adays is based on not direct observastions but upon generalizations extrapalations and computer generated generalities, scientist are kept apart from each other by greedy often stupid bookeepers or power mad veture pirates mascerading as honest businessmen. there is very little real math or proof.that they are most of the time true. case in point the test for leptosirosis is not correct they assume they are and do stupid things like use virus know pathogens to split dna and rna in a process that if they true understood they would not need the bacteria to do thier work. it is possible they are merely creating ever more virulent and survivable hybrids. butting animal genes in food would seem imprudent in fact stupid unless allyou cared about was money at the detriment of the safety of the human race. take lab work we all get done by our doctors i had to research to find out where the mistakes in my case were being made there is rarely a difinitive test that one has or doesnot have the infection only probabilities. my father was a research scientist and worked with SPF disiese free pigs which were delivered by caesarian section and raised germ and microbe free,. when my father SpF big became sick they flew in a vet from out of state to investigate and to actually look for the microbe which turned out to be leptosiropis... to tell you about the sad state of science and medicine in our world later i was was able to more difinitively prove i had leprosirosis and finally get intoveineious vancomyacin to knock it out. leptosirosis which in some people can be chronic and cause asceptic menigitis. the fact that an unhappy little farmer boy who wanted to be an artist urinating on his fathers prize pigs heads ears eyes and nose is a more difinitive test as leptosirosis in this case thabn alab exam.. it is transfered buy infected urine contactin mucous membranes (eys ears, noses of pigs) or abrasions in the skin. my belief is God created everything and probably creted the evolution of species which is actually documented why else would we be worried about bird flu mutating into a modern day plaugue. god maybe create evolution maybe because he was bored with a static tableu.. i am not God so i can only speculate but i know a lot of preachers and scientist that don't know this simple helpful fact of truth.. i am not God i don't know for sure what is best for another human being or this world.. i am intitled to opinions and have the ability to actually prove facts eventually in the real world..but please check 4 truth i'm just a dyslexic artist and a recoving unhapper pigfarmer little boy..

"...contemporary science has demonstrated what traditional faiths have long believed, i.e. that there is no gap between what we call our physical selves and what we have called at different moments in human evolution, our spiritual, psychological, or emotional selves."

In fact, recent scientific studies have shown that prayer runs the gamut of being ineffectual to being a negative in helping people recover from illnesses.

"Prayer Does Not Help Heart Bypass Patients
By Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press
posted: 30 March 2006 03:52 pm ET

NEW YORK (AP)—In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery. In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications."

That is hardly "what traditional faiths have long believed." (Sources: ...http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/ap_060330_prayer.htm... and ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4681771.stm...)