Religion and Happiness

[OldHippie]

Researchers analyzed data from the Gallup World Poll covering 2005 to 2009. They looked at religious affiliation, life satisfaction, social support and positive versus negative states of mind in 150 countries around the world.

In societies that lack proper food, jobs, or health care, religious people are indeed happier than those who are not religious. Believers in those countries also said they felt more publicly supported than did their non-religious peers.
But things get more complicated in countries with adequate social support. For one thing, both the religious and the non-religious in wealthier countries are happier than people in places without proper support. But, here's the interesting thing: In richer nations, those who are religious are actually less happy than their non-religious neighbors. The study is in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The researchers found the same discrepancies within the U.S. In poorer states, more people are religious. And the believers in those states tend to be happier than the non-religious residents.

So the answer to the question, does religion bring happiness, would appear to be: it depends.

—Christie Nicholson Link

 

[Longhorny630]

Jack Donaghy: That's not how it works, Tracy. Even though there is the whole confession thing, that's no free pass, because there is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt.

 

[Coelacanth]

Longhorny630,

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[Longhorny630]

Different religions have different 'points'. It's my understanding that my particular religion has a point that you did not list.

 

[Dionysus]

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[Coelacanth]

Longhorn630,

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[Longhorny630]

Well, you listed two options, one which indicates some sort of 'free pass' where you can live however you wish and you get a free pass in reconciliation. The other is recognizing you'll never live up to the standards the Church or Bible wants you to and incurring a large amount of guilt as a result. Now, the quote I posted is not my particular beliefs, since, after all, it is a joke as it was from 30 Rock, spoken by a character who, despite being raised Catholic lives his life more or less, outside of the Church, causing him to have guilt for his lifestyle choices. Now, the Church does not really try to incur guilt on people in my opinion, they offer avenues to reconcile your sins, so that you can get the guilt off your conscience, but, as Donaghy said, it's not a free pass. You don't sin, reconcile it, and then go right back and sin some more, you have to honestly try to stop for it to do any good, otherwise it is just a free pass.

Personally, my thoughts on the subject would be, that if you want a 'free pass', give up religion. Otherwise, if you want to change something about you, a little guilt can be good motivation.

 

[Coelacanth]

Very good.

 

[OldHippie]

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[Dionysus]

That makes sense.

 

[Perham1]

Do narcotics and opiates make people "happier"?

 

[OldHippie]

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[Perham1]

I was referencing Nietzsche and Marx with that.

Also, narcotics and opiates may make one happier in the short term, but probably not the long term. The same may be said for religion, or at the least to say that religion makes no difference in the long term. We have no evidence one way or the other on that, so it's equally valid to argue both sides.