It would be more enlightening to see more current statistics from the last 3 years. COVID has been a huge disruptor and has taken a larger toll on these stats, but the Restored Gospel is still a most defining “truth serum” for those who choose to internalize its living power in each of our lives individually and collectively. 🤔
Yes, the pandemic has had an impact on everyone, but on a relative basis, I think the Latter-day Saints will still have had many areas where they shine. Here is a link to a recent article, highlighting a number of these in a just released U.S. study covering all 50 states by the Survey Center on American Life looking at various impacts the pandemic has had: www.deseret.com/faith/2021/10/26/22737577/latter-day-saints-maintained-social-connection-friends-during-pandemic-poll-aei-mormon And here is the link to the original study (released in Oct 2021): www.americansurveycenter.org/research/public-places-and-commercial-spaces-how-neighborhood-amenities-foster-trust-and-connection-in-american-communities/ I was also impressed recently listening to a leader from another faith, acknowledging the blessing Latter-day Saints had to continue having communion (sacrament) during the pandemic while at home because of their widely distributed priesthood, as well as their leaders emphasis and curriculum changes to have home church structure even before the pandemic began.
Thank you - this was a fun video to pull together! I left the door open to make some additional content if the need arises - a new criticism that I haven’t already addressed in a video in some way. The video library project that I set out to build has been completed, but I am still actively involved, spending an hour or two a day answering questions and comments (as well as emails sent through my website latterdaysaintsqa.com).
I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many years now, and love it. It is, to me, the only Christian faith that I would ever be a part of. It is fantastic.
These were interesting stats to see! Thanks for sharing them. I have heard that many (youth) are falling away because they don’t know why they should stay. This gives some good reasons to stay if someone is looking for a reason beyond that it (the gospel/ church) is simply true and led by the Savior. By the fruits, ye shall know them. True principles applied yield fruit, as evidenced here.
Thank you for your comment and I wholeheartedly agree! Here are a few interesting recent studies that continue to show these insights. Here is a study just released from Baylor University showing the power of accountability to God and psychological well-being: neurosciencenews.com/religious-accountability-wellbeing-20126/ Here is the summary listed at the beginning of the article: People who consider themselves more accountable to a god report higher levels of three of the four variables of psychological wellbeing. The association was stronger in people who pray more often, suggesting accountability accompanied with prayer enhances psychological wellbeing for believers. Here is an article discussing a study released in Oct 2021 on the impact of the Covid pandemic on social connectedness: www.deseret.com/faith/2021/10/26/22737577/latter-day-saints-maintained-social-connection-friends-during-pandemic-poll-aei-mormon Here is a segment at the start of the article for some quick insights: Latter-day Saints feel more connected to their neighbors and communities than any other religious group in America, according to a new study released by the Survey Center on American Life. That type of social cohesion likely helped many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints weather the coronavirus pandemic better than they would have without friends and support, said Dan Cox, the study’s co-author. The pandemic socially isolated many Americans and accelerated an already growing “friendship recession” particularly affecting men, according to a previous study by the center, which is part of the American Enterprise Institute. “Mormons aren’t experiencing this,” Cox said. “In terms of their social connectedness, they’re doing way better than than your average American. This has a whole host of benefits. We know that loneliness is incredibly damaging to your emotional health, to physical health, so being rooted in these communities, having people they can rely on to weather something like a pandemic, which for many folks was socially isolating, is just an incredibly good position to be in.” Overall, the study showed that “Americans who report higher levels of religious participation feel more attached to their communities and the people in them,” and none more so than Latter-day Saints. “The folks who have those close connections tended to fare a lot better during the pandemic than people with fewer close connections,” Cox said. “Mormons have many more close friends than other Americans. More than a third of Mormons reported they had eight or more close friends.” Lastly, thinking about the pandemic, I was impressed recently listening to a leader from another faith, acknowledging the blessing Latter-day Saints had to continue having communion (sacrament) during the pandemic while at home because of their widely distributed priesthood, as well as their leaders emphasis and curriculum changes to have home church structure even before the pandemic began.
A few years ago, a very religious Christian, but not LDS, Coworker asked me what we studied in Sunday School. I explained to her how we rotated each year between the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. Her reply: wow! No wonder you guys know the scriptures so well.
You can find a number of links to studies under the video description in the resources section. Email me through my website and I will send you the powerpoint file - there aren't any live links in the powerpoint and a handful of slides are even copies of books I own with studies (books listed under the resources section). The website is latterdaysaintsqa.com (it is where I put the transcripts for the videos) and use the contact me button to email me.
Hello. Here is a link to one of the sources cited: repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=mapp_capstone. I would start on page 7.
Elisa - I also got your email on this. Thank you for sending the actual details behind this fascinating study you conducted doing your masters thesis! I am going to include this directly in the resources section as well
Just this week, WalletHub released their latest ranking of the happiest states in America and Utah was at the top of the list, with a decent distance above #2, which was Hawaii. Here is the release of their study (based on 30 factors): wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959 Regarding anti-depressant use, the latest data I found showed Utah was ranked #16 (see here: www.statista.com/statistics/1133632/antidepressant-use-by-state-us/ ) There may be some mitigating factors - such as elevation (see the studies below showing this factor on depression and suicide), as well as many who are not Latter-day Saints will self-medicate for depression with alcohol or drugs, which are against the LDS religion. There are a number of other potential issues to consider as well. Here are a handful of articles and a few podcasts if you are interested: publicsquaremag.org/health/mental-health/are-utahns-more-depressed-than-everyone-else/ www.fox13now.com/2019/04/01/research-shows-high-altitude-increases-depression-and-suicide-especially-for-women www.deseret.com/2006/7/22/19964993/why-high-antidepressant-use-in-utah Y Religion Episode 87 - Mental Health and Latter-day Saints (Justin Dyer) ruclips.net/video/tQh3ZQbjLwI/видео.html Y Religion Episode 7 - Youth Suicidality and the Church (Justin Dyer) ruclips.net/video/b_79OAom7lY/видео.html
What an awesome video showing the fruits of the gospel. Reminds me of an awesome experience Brad Wilcox gave here in Brisbane where a father in his mission said to him "Why should I let my son get baptised into your church"? He started to share the reasons and the father said I don't believe in your church so that doesn't matter to me. Why should "I" let my son...Then he started to share some known facts of the physical/temporal blessings of being in the church (similar to what you have just done)...How awesome, thank you I appreciate your videos and the spirit in which you present them.
What an awesome video! It becomes more and more evident to me as time goes on that Joseph Smith couldn't have made all of this up. It seems that science time and time again is showing how important the commandments that he revealed (Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, and so on) are for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Not to mention the enormous physical and mental benefits we receive from living every other aspect of the Gospel. Keep up the good work, we love it!
I wanted to share a cadre of different studies across a wide spectrum of areas. Some of the studies were in the last year, while others are a little outdated, though I tried to keep them within the last 2 decades for the most part. However, as mentioned at the start of the video, I wanted to clarify that if we had up-to-date numbers on some of these studies, the numbers for everyone would be lower, but the GAP between Latter-day Saints and others would be even larger than the studies in this video (taken as a logical extension from the results of the Pew Research Study released a few weeks ago (shown at the start of the video) which shows a decline in Christianity in the U.S. of 16% the last decade, with Latter-day Saints not dropping at all.
Latter-Day Saints’ Q&A that’s exactly the kind of updated research we need to make a point in nowadays. Hope they update soon, and based more on concrete results comparing to other groups, and less on religious engagement, which for us is good to know, but for the non lds folks are not relevant
@@latterdaysaintsqa Your video reminded of when I was down in Texas. When I was down in Texas I noticed the members have that noticeably much better, broader understanding of the bible than the people in the other churches. Joseph Smith was just prophet, seer, revelator. Jesus would have to be behind the members having that broader understanding of the bible. As what else could explain the differential?
It would be more enlightening to see more current statistics from the last 3 years. COVID has been a huge disruptor and has taken a larger toll on these stats, but the Restored Gospel is still a most defining “truth serum” for those who choose to internalize its living power in each of our lives individually and collectively. 🤔
Yes, the pandemic has had an impact on everyone, but on a relative basis, I think the Latter-day Saints will still have had many areas where they shine. Here is a link to a recent article, highlighting a number of these in a just released U.S. study covering all 50 states by the Survey Center on American Life looking at various impacts the pandemic has had:
www.deseret.com/faith/2021/10/26/22737577/latter-day-saints-maintained-social-connection-friends-during-pandemic-poll-aei-mormon
And here is the link to the original study (released in Oct 2021): www.americansurveycenter.org/research/public-places-and-commercial-spaces-how-neighborhood-amenities-foster-trust-and-connection-in-american-communities/
I was also impressed recently listening to a leader from another faith, acknowledging the blessing Latter-day Saints had to continue having communion (sacrament) during the pandemic while at home because of their widely distributed priesthood, as well as their leaders emphasis and curriculum changes to have home church structure even before the pandemic began.
Mormons.
Problem?
Who would have thought that believing that your works actually matter influences religious behaviour?
Great video! Do you think that you’ll start making videos again?
Thank you - this was a fun video to pull together! I left the door open to make some additional content if the need arises - a new criticism that I haven’t already addressed in a video in some way. The video library project that I set out to build has been completed, but I am still actively involved, spending an hour or two a day answering questions and comments (as well as emails sent through my website latterdaysaintsqa.com).
True principles work. Interesting how the church’s teachings correlate so well with positive outcomes.
Agree!
I really like your buoyancy...
Thank you
I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many years now, and love it. It is, to me, the only Christian faith that I would ever be a part of. It is fantastic.
These were interesting stats to see! Thanks for sharing them. I have heard that many (youth) are falling away because they don’t know why they should stay. This gives some good reasons to stay if someone is looking for a reason beyond that it (the gospel/ church) is simply true and led by the Savior. By the fruits, ye shall know them. True principles applied yield fruit, as evidenced here.
Thank you for your comment and I wholeheartedly agree! Here are a few interesting recent studies that continue to show these insights. Here is a study just released from Baylor University showing the power of accountability to God and psychological well-being: neurosciencenews.com/religious-accountability-wellbeing-20126/
Here is the summary listed at the beginning of the article: People who consider themselves more accountable to a god report higher levels of three of the four variables of psychological wellbeing. The association was stronger in people who pray more often, suggesting accountability accompanied with prayer enhances psychological wellbeing for believers.
Here is an article discussing a study released in Oct 2021 on the impact of the Covid pandemic on social connectedness: www.deseret.com/faith/2021/10/26/22737577/latter-day-saints-maintained-social-connection-friends-during-pandemic-poll-aei-mormon
Here is a segment at the start of the article for some quick insights:
Latter-day Saints feel more connected to their neighbors and communities than any other religious group in America, according to a new study released by the Survey Center on American Life.
That type of social cohesion likely helped many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints weather the coronavirus pandemic better than they would have without friends and support, said Dan Cox, the study’s co-author. The pandemic socially isolated many Americans and accelerated an already growing “friendship recession” particularly affecting men, according to a previous study by the center, which is part of the American Enterprise Institute.
“Mormons aren’t experiencing this,” Cox said. “In terms of their social connectedness, they’re doing way better than than your average American. This has a whole host of benefits. We know that loneliness is incredibly damaging to your emotional health, to physical health, so being rooted in these communities, having people they can rely on to weather something like a pandemic, which for many folks was socially isolating, is just an incredibly good position to be in.”
Overall, the study showed that “Americans who report higher levels of religious participation feel more attached to their communities and the people in them,” and none more so than Latter-day Saints.
“The folks who have those close connections tended to fare a lot better during the pandemic than people with fewer close connections,” Cox said. “Mormons have many more close friends than other Americans. More than a third of Mormons reported they had eight or more close friends.”
Lastly, thinking about the pandemic, I was impressed recently listening to a leader from another faith, acknowledging the blessing Latter-day Saints had to continue having communion (sacrament) during the pandemic while at home because of their widely distributed priesthood, as well as their leaders emphasis and curriculum changes to have home church structure even before the pandemic began.
A few years ago, a very religious Christian, but not LDS, Coworker asked me what we studied in Sunday School. I explained to her how we rotated each year between the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. Her reply: wow! No wonder you guys know the scriptures so well.
Love it!!!
Great video! I'm wondering if you can link me to the powerpoint of this? I want to be able to click on each of the individual studies and surveys.
You can find a number of links to studies under the video description in the resources section. Email me through my website and I will send you the powerpoint file - there aren't any live links in the powerpoint and a handful of slides are even copies of books I own with studies (books listed under the resources section). The website is latterdaysaintsqa.com (it is where I put the transcripts for the videos) and use the contact me button to email me.
Hello. Here is a link to one of the sources cited: repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=mapp_capstone. I would start on page 7.
Elisa - I also got your email on this. Thank you for sending the actual details behind this fascinating study you conducted doing your masters thesis! I am going to include this directly in the resources section as well
Great vid, thank you, sir!
I thought Utah had the highest rate of anti-depressant usage.
Just this week, WalletHub released their latest ranking of the happiest states in America and Utah was at the top of the list, with a decent distance above #2, which was Hawaii. Here is the release of their study (based on 30 factors):
wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959
Regarding anti-depressant use, the latest data I found showed Utah was ranked #16 (see here: www.statista.com/statistics/1133632/antidepressant-use-by-state-us/ )
There may be some mitigating factors - such as elevation (see the studies below showing this factor on depression and suicide), as well as many who are not Latter-day Saints will self-medicate for depression with alcohol or drugs, which are against the LDS religion. There are a number of other potential issues to consider as well. Here are a handful of articles and a few podcasts if you are interested:
publicsquaremag.org/health/mental-health/are-utahns-more-depressed-than-everyone-else/
www.fox13now.com/2019/04/01/research-shows-high-altitude-increases-depression-and-suicide-especially-for-women
www.deseret.com/2006/7/22/19964993/why-high-antidepressant-use-in-utah
Y Religion Episode 87 - Mental Health and Latter-day Saints (Justin Dyer)
ruclips.net/video/tQh3ZQbjLwI/видео.html
Y Religion Episode 7 - Youth Suicidality and the Church (Justin Dyer)
ruclips.net/video/b_79OAom7lY/видео.html
What an awesome video showing the fruits of the gospel. Reminds me of an awesome experience Brad Wilcox gave here in Brisbane where a father in his mission said to him "Why should I let my son get baptised into your church"? He started to share the reasons and the father said I don't believe in your church so that doesn't matter to me. Why should "I" let my son...Then he started to share some known facts of the physical/temporal blessings of being in the church (similar to what you have just done)...How awesome, thank you I appreciate your videos and the spirit in which you present them.
Thank you!
What an awesome video! It becomes more and more evident to me as time goes on that Joseph Smith couldn't have made all of this up. It seems that science time and time again is showing how important the commandments that he revealed (Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, and so on) are for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Not to mention the enormous physical and mental benefits we receive from living every other aspect of the Gospel. Keep up the good work, we love it!
Thanks for the comment!
Unfortunately those numbers are dated. They should do new ones to check the results, not how involved we are with the religion
I wanted to share a cadre of different studies across a wide spectrum of areas. Some of the studies were in the last year, while others are a little outdated, though I tried to keep them within the last 2 decades for the most part. However, as mentioned at the start of the video, I wanted to clarify that if we had up-to-date numbers on some of these studies, the numbers for everyone would be lower, but the GAP between Latter-day Saints and others would be even larger than the studies in this video (taken as a logical extension from the results of the Pew Research Study released a few weeks ago (shown at the start of the video) which shows a decline in Christianity in the U.S. of 16% the last decade, with Latter-day Saints not dropping at all.
Latter-Day Saints’ Q&A that’s exactly the kind of updated research we need to make a point in nowadays. Hope they update soon, and based more on concrete results comparing to other groups, and less on religious engagement, which for us is good to know, but for the non lds folks are not relevant
@@latterdaysaintsqa Your video reminded of when I was down in Texas. When I was down in Texas I noticed the members have that noticeably much better, broader understanding of the bible than the people in the other churches. Joseph Smith was just prophet, seer, revelator. Jesus would have to be behind the members having that broader understanding of the bible. As what else could explain the differential?
@@richardholmes7199 as a convert from the baptist faith down south, I can assure you that the Holy Ghost and temple teachings make a huge difference!