Christians odds-on favourites to beat pain in University "torture" experiment
Christianity has emerged as the bookies' 5/2 favourites to withstand torture most effectively in a remarkable experiment being conducted by Oxford scientists this Easter.
The newly opened 'Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind' will subject volunteers from different faiths, as well as their atheist counterparts to various pain tests.
In one test a chilli gel will be applied to the skin, in another a heat pad which causes 60 degree Celsius burns in under a second will be used.
The experiments form part of an attempt to discover whether theistic belief really can help humans withstand suffering.
The team conducting the experiment insist it will be carried out under strictly controlled conditions. People will undergo brain scans whilst being subjected to pain.
Neurologists will then obtain and analyse the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) printouts and compare the extent of a subject's brain activity to the extent of their stated religious faith.
Volunteers may also be exposed to religious artefacts such as a crucifix, to see if symbolic images and objects can affect a human's biological response to pain.
Odds obtained by The Oxford Student from bookmaker Paddy Power put Christianity just ahead of Buddhism as the faith best equipped to cope with severe pain.
Judaism and Islam lag behind at 4/1, whilst atheists will be alarmed to find themselves at the bottom of the mainstream pecking order, with Paddy Power rating their chances at just 7/1.
Punters looking for a more risky bet could be tempted by odds of 33/1 for the controversial religion Kabbalah which counts Madonna amongst its followers. Alternatively, devotees of Voodoo represent the outsiders choice, weighing in at 66/1.
Followers of all religions will be eagerly awaiting the publication of the scientists' findings. There has already been extensive research into whether any form of faith, religious or otherwise, has a biological basis in the brain.
Dr Toby Collins, director of the new study, told The Oxford Student that the experiment would not only try and establish whether religion can have a 'placebo' effect on those experiencing physical suffering.
It could also help scientists better understand the physiological basis of powerful influences on our mind, such as the desire to kill another human in the name of religion.
Recruitment of volunteers is currently underway but the Department of Pharmacology refused to comment on who would be approached or how students could be persuaded to become willing victims.
The department dismissed suggestions that the experiment could be perceived as offensive. Dr Collins said: "We are not looking for a 'Godspot', nor are we hoping to test if one religion has better healing properties than others."
But after thousands of years of religious persecution in its many different forms, it is inevitable that any attempt to explore the link between religious belief in the mind and physical changes to the body will spark intense interest.
Claims have been made throughout history that martyrs were able to draw on their religion to cope with the incredible agony of being tortured on the rack or burnt at the stake.
Speculation as to which religion's followers will be shown to be most capable of withstanding torture has been rife, with student religious leaders expressing confidence that belief in their faith would help sufferers in the experiment.
John Aldis, president of the Oxford Christian Union, said any strongly held belief, religious or otherwise, could help a person to withstand pain if by doing so they were protecting the things they believed in.
"There is historical evidence that persecuted Christians in particular have not only been able to withstand enormous pain without denying their faith, but have done so with joy and love," he said.
The bookies clearly agree, having placed four major religions ahead of atheism.
However their assessment of other religions' odds has caused some consternation.
New College student and JSoc committee candidate Gabriel Doctor expressed surprise at the the estimation of the Jewish faith's chances.
"We'll win", he confidently told The Oxford Student, "if you can survive a Jewish mother you can survive anything."
20th Jan 2005