Living in a Beautiful Region and Religion

(Link requires membership at that site so did not read study.)

Not at all surprising but one ought be careful drawing conclusions between the two. Being religious for most people means being part of an organized religion and that requires some commitment in time.

Most beautiful natural regions that are not remote are not where people are easily employed so there is a higher ratio of those who would be wealthy enough to live there without income. With greater wealth one becomes exposed to broader parts of culture and society. I believe there are already studies that show that the more wealthy people are the less likely they are to be actively religious. Generally opportunities for activities and involvement is greater the more wealthy one becomes so in other words those people are more likely to be rather busy in life.  And beyond being wealthy those who are busy with activities are more likely to reduce other activities including religion simply because they have less time.

People who live in those areas of all economic levels are also likely to have better regular choices of outdoor enthusiast activities to participate in versus those distant in urban areas. Hence they may learn to and develop habits of spending more time in outdoors in those beautiful places leaving less time for all other activities including organized religion. So one might also claim those living in such places also watch less television, see fewer movies, and play less video games.   Or that they are less likely to be overweight because their hiking involves less couch to fridge of their urban counterparts.

David
www.davidsenesac.com/2015_Trip_Chronicles/2015_Trip-Chronicles-0.html

Jesus himself said the same, one reason he also said "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven." And, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It's a question of understanding we have need... most of us don't. We're comfortable because of our incredible wealth. Worldly comfort is, indeed, just that.

And the little know intended meaning of Marx's statement was that the masses needed an opiate because of their depravation. Westerners have taken Marx's statement as a condemnation of religion... it wasn't.

Amen to that!

Or, to quote William Sloane Coffin, "It is often said that the Church is a crutch. Of course it's a crutch. What makes you think you don't limp?"

I think it's a pretty interesting piece, but I didn't really need a study to tell me that "the environment can be a spiritual resource."

I tend to agree, and the authors of the article seem to be assuming from the outset that nature can be a spiritual resource. They are not really proving that. They are assuming that and then attempting to find data to demonstrate the validity of their assumptions.