Can Religion Make You Happy



I suppose since the first imaginary god was invented someone advised another person, "I believe in a god. See how happy I am. If you believed in a god, no make that my god, you would be happy too." That advice never stops and I suppose never will. The link provides us with the most recent of a gazillion surveys which show religious people are happier than those without religion. We have to ask about the old correlation versus causation question: If two things happen at the same time, does this mean one caused the other."

Maybe happy people are prone to like religion. Or maybe religious people learn they are supposed to say they are happy. I've heard it said, not true so far as I know, that the less one knows the happier he is.

Old people like me tend to get a little cranky. One thing I have less and less tolerance for is advice that our country would be better off if more people were Christians. A person cannot be a Christian, Hindu or Jew unless the person believes the religious tenets that go with being in the faith. Our country cannot be more Christian unless more people believe in walking on water, dead people coming back to life and talking snakes. Not gonna happen. 

My observation is there are different ways to feel happy. I read once about a young person in an Amish community who was happy to stay in the sect for the rest of her life. She says her life is happier knowing she does not have to think about making choices such as what kind of occupation to enter, where to live or her economic security. The sect took care of all that. Nevertheless, lots of Amish do leave.

Anytime I have sat with a roomful of atheists, the room was filled with friendly chatter and good will. There often is a shared experience of unhappy family members still in the faith and the problems that go with that. Certainly, when someone is different than his/her group there is a level of stress which is the opposite of "happy." Among Christians there is lots of disagreement, so some unhappiness is present there as well.  

For myself, I don't see how anyone can go from unhappy to happy with a set of ideas and beliefs that seem bonkers.

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