Will Going to Church Bring you Happiness


In the writing that appears regularly these days lamenting the decline in church membership and religious identity is a theme about what goes on in people's heads. The theme is that there is a "longing" in peoples' minds that causes a "search" for meaning and purpose in their lives. I interpret this to mean the level of "happiness" is lower than people believe it should be or that there is "unhappiness" they think should not be there.

It would be refreshing to hear a preacher or religious author repeat what the 100 year old billionaire Charlie Munger said recently. Paraphrasing, he said, "To be happy, lower your expectations." This is not, of course, the message of pundits in religion. Their message, such as that in the million seller, The Purpose Driven Life, is that anyone can raise her level of happiness by imagining there is a god and then living a life of devotion to that imaginary god. To achieve happiness with this latter model, one has to overcome two big obstacles. First that there is an imaginary god. Second, that that god is so good it deserves our devotion, time and money. Speaking just for myself, this seems impossible. 

Religious pundits such as the link claim church going offers another separate and, it is claimed, sure fire route to happiness. Happiness will come from being surrounded by the love of other church members. Perhaps the happiness of a social life combined with the religious life is widespread. It is anything but guaranteed, however. There is a lot of "church shopping" where, I suppose, people are searching for a preacher they like and potential friends. I think it reasonable to assume if happiness were always found in churches this church shopping would not happen. 

Economics in the form of rewards to ourselves are a big motivator of humans. Money is spoken of in the Bible more than any other topic. What demographic slice on the U.S. might benefit economically from attending church? Those whose careers are helped by knowing the right people and circulating in the right crowd. The only group with growing church attendance are college educated professionals. I doubt this group is finding its "purpose" or "happiness" in attending church. It attends for other reasons.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more