People delaying religion due to longer lifespan: study

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An old man and his wife

An old man and his wifeA new survey has linked decline in religious participation to longer life expectancies, saying people feel less rushed to make peace with God.

The research says decline in religious participation in developed countries could be related high life expectancies in the nations.

Elissaios Papyrakis, an economist at the University of East Anglia and one of the study’s authors, said: “Many religions and societies link to some degree the cumulative amount of religious effort to benefits in the afterlife. We show that higher life expectancy discounts expected benefits in the afterlife and is therefore likely to lead to postponement of religiosity, without necessarily jeopardizing benefits in the afterlife.”

For instance in Canada, the percentage of people aged 15 or older reporting no religious affiliation whatsoever had grown to 16 percent by 2001 compared to four percent in 1971, according to Statistics Canada.

Data also shows the proportion of people attending religious activities weekly had shrunk to 21 percent by 2005 from 30 percent in 1985.

Statistics Canada said the average life expectancy in Canada is 80.7 years of age, up from 78.4 a decade earlier, based on data from between 2005 and 2007.

The study, published in the online edition of International Journal of Social Economics, noted that religious participation is high in less developed countries where life expectancies are low. Ninety-five percent of people in Nigeria attend church at least monthly, and that rate is 91 percent in Pakistan. It said this kind of religious participation is at just 15 percent in Britain.

Based on its findings the research ‘advised’ religious organizations to focus less on benefits in the afterlife, and more on what can be offered in one’s worldly life from the church. Such things could include expanding one’s social circle, participation in various activities, spiritual fulfillment and guidance, it added.

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