Yesterday, I wrote about a scientific study showing that being the subject of other’s prayers does not help you, especially if you know that you are being prayed for.
In the interest of "balance", here’s another study which shows that regular church attendance can extend your life an additional 1.8 to 3.1 years.
Two points:
(1) By comparison, regular physical exercise can extend your life 3 to 5 years. So it is for more effective. (And cheaper — the study states that maintaining regular physical exercise costs $4,000 for each year of additional life; compared to $7,000 for regular church attendance).
(2) But if you want to go the religion route, just be aware that a good portion of the additional 1.8 to 3.1 year benefit will be spent, you know, in church.