I recently talked with a religious person who said they wouldn’t take medication. They just “let the body do what it needs to.”
I think my head exploded. I was completely flabbergasted but tried my best not to show it.
If something’s broken and you can fix it, why wouldn’t you want to fix it? Leaving it in god’s hands just isn’t enough for me.
My life would be completely different if wasn’t for medication. My job, my family, my goals, all the things that I do — none of it would be possible without medication.
They may put their faith in god but I put my faith in science every morning and night as I take a cocktail of psych meds. I have schizoaffective disorder and can’t function without medication. I am very grateful to science and medicine for giving me a good life and a bright future.
I just can’t imagine being against that.
I often credit atheism as a factor in my success in recovery. I rejected faith soon after my diagnosis. I trust science and my doctor which keeps me med-compliant.
Going to the doctor and accepting medical treatment — not just for my mental illness but for my whole body — is how I choose to stay well.
A while back I wrote a post about atheist vegetarians. There just seem to be a lot of them. Does being a vegetarian make you more health-conscious? I don’t know but a lot of people think so.
If you have just this one life and death is final, do you take better care of yourself? I can’t help but think that trusting science and medicine will keep you well longer. If you’re not counting on an afterlife, wouldn’t you want to be living your best life now?
So, as I learned, not everyone can be vegetarian. Being vegetarian is not at all healthy for a number of people (but a lot of militant vegetarians will swear up and down that it’s the only way to health).
This is just one of the many articles I wish I’d had access to the decade I tried to be vegetarian and nearly killed myself in the process: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/4-reasons-some-do-well-as-veg
In particular, “In all, about 45% of the population carry polymorphisms that make them “low responders” to beta carotene (4Trusted Source). But for those who eschew animal products, the effects of a dysfunctional BCMO1 gene will be obvious — and eventually detrimental. … Even for low-converting vegetarians, the vitamin A content of dairy and eggs (which don’t hold a candle to meat products like liver) might not be enough to stave off deficiency, especially if absorption issues are also at play.
Not surprisingly, the consequences of inadequate vitamin A mirror the problems reported by some vegans and vegetarians.
Thyroid dysfunction, night blindness and other vision issues, impaired immunity (more colds and infections), and problems with tooth enamel can all result from poor vitamin A status (9Trusted Source, 10, 11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).”
“So, if someone’s microbiome is short on vitamin-K2-producing bacteria — whether from genetic factors, environment, or antibiotic usage — and animal foods are removed from the equation, then vitamin K2 levels can sink to tragic levels.
Although research on the topic is scant, this could feasibly rob vegans (and some vegetarians) of the many gifts K2 bestows — potentially contributing to dental problems, a greater risk of bone fractures, and reduced protection against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.”
Also, “So, if someone’s microbiome is short on vitamin-K2-producing bacteria — whether from genetic factors, environment, or antibiotic usage — and animal foods are removed from the equation, then vitamin K2 levels can sink to tragic levels.
Although research on the topic is scant, this could feasibly rob vegans (and some vegetarians) of the many gifts K2 bestows — potentially contributing to dental problems, a greater risk of bone fractures, and reduced protection against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.”
And, “some of the most famous plant-based diets hover around the 80% carb mark (coming mostly from starchy grains, legumes, and tubers), including the Pritikin Program, Dean Ornish Program, McDougall Program, and Caldwell Esselstyn’s diet for heart disease reversal (38, 39Trusted Source, 40Trusted Source, 41Trusted Source). In other words, AMY1 patterns appear linked to the traditional diets of your ancestors. Here’s why this matters: Amylase production strongly influences how you metabolize starchy foods — and whether those foods send your blood sugar on a gravity-defying rollercoaster or more leisurely undulation.”
Finally, choline: “Due to estrogen’s role in boosting PEMT activity, postmenopausal women (who have lower estrogen levels and stymied choline-synthesizing abilities) need to eat more choline than women who are still in their reproductive years (52Trusted Source).
And even more significantly, common mutations in folate pathways or the PEMT gene can make low choline diets downright hazardous (56Trusted Source).
One study found that women carrying a MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism (related to folate) were 15 times more susceptible to developing organ dysfunction on a low choline diet (57Trusted Source).”
That is all fine and well if the sick person is an adult. Problem is these people have children that don’t get needed medical attention and then die.
The question of whether atheists are healthier is a good one. I don’t think anyone’s ever tried to find the answer. I suppose it would depend on whether any particular atheist could afford health care and a healthy lifestyle in addition to whether or not that particular atheist was willing to put in the work to be healthy.
On the other hand, there are many middle-of-the-road religious people who can afford a healthy lifestyle.
In contrast, there’s this story in the Utah Salt Lake Tribune (https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/01/19/utah-plastic-surgeon-gave-kids/) about plastic surgeon who took money from the gov’t, and money from parents who wanted fake Covid vaccine cards. For $50, he injected their children with saline–with the parents’ full approval. This left their children vulnerable to Covid, and also turned them into vectors for disease. Who knows how many people were killed by this? Ironic that a culture that buys endless amounts of essential oils and dubious “juices” to cure cancer, refuses an actual vaccine.
…I am very grateful to science and medicine for giving me a good life and a bright future. I just can’t imagine being against that.
I think it’s a mixture of tribalism and bigotry with a dash of dime-store new-agey eugenics. A lot of anti-vax parents love to brag about how THEIR perfect golden children have natural immunity and don’t need no stinkin’ needles putting chemicals in their bodies — with a noticeable undertone of “…and if someone else’s kids aren’t as naturally healthy as mine, then they’re inferior, weak, and less deserving of life” (and/or “…it’s their parents’ fault for not raising their kids as cleanly and naturally as I raise mine”). And yes, many of that lot include people like you in their category of “inferior, weak, and less deserving of life” because you need science and medicine to have a good life and a bright future (when they’re not blaming science and medicine for causing your condition, that is…and maybe also sometimes when they are). I also suspect there’s a LOT of desire, conscious or not, to see the population culled of “weaker” people so there’ll be more room for their own (allegedly) stronger, superior descendants.