I’m convinced that happiness is the result of being born into a wealthy life while being far too stupid to do anything of merit in life. Ignorance is bliss.
I’m not even convinced happiness and fulfillment are the right thing to be actively seeking in life. If you have purpose, these things will come in time. If you chase them as your purpose, you will never truly have either.
I hear that. I work from home and I’ve yet to make friends in a new country. It would be downright monastic if not for my family, instead it’s more of an insane asylum vibe.
The big benefit theism often gives is the sense of community. Atheism should do that more often too, so people are not forced to become religious for the sake of having a community.
It’s a really good point though - if you’re lonely becoming religious is sort of a free ticket to getting a community… but there are other ways to form a community (D&D and boardgames being some of my favorites).
Theist I’d say. Having a defined purpose in life and hope for something beyond it. It does wonders for mental health and “happiness” or at least lack of existental crisis.
Religion often provides a community and sense of belonging (although this varies by religion)
The only problem is that it’s all based on fiction. Once you understand it’s a lie, all the benefits are gone.
As an atheist I agree, but I don’t think it as anything to do with religion.
It’s all about faith, in the sense of a strong belief in something. Be it a god, aliens, a spaghetti monster or just yourself.
Religion does provide that yes, their daily beliefs become auto suggestions that their subconscious brain accepts, making mental health and life easier.
But anyone can achieve the same outside of religions.
Agreed. As long as two lowest parts of Maslows hierarchy are fulfilled, I can see somewhat similar ammount of plusses and minuses in both.
However…
If you live in a shithole where those are not fulfilled and you have very low education level, I can’t see atheism giving you any kind of comfort or framework for life, where as theism will have great importance, but will most likely be used to control masses, you along with them and not always in positive direction.
I’d argue that especially people in bad situations, eg. being poor, in war or that have chronic illnesses, try to believe in something that helps them as a placebo. That just means religion is a consequence of being miserable or brainwashed though, not that the religion (including atheism) changes anything really.
Someone already mentioned the community aspect, but I’d like to add gratitude.
I think there are studies/evidence to show that consciously cultivating a feeling of gratitude is good for our mental health and happiness. Everyone has some things in life that are good, big or small, and it can be so easy to take everyday things for granted. Taking time each day to think about how lucky we are, and be grateful, is part of many religious people’s prayer practice. Obviously anyone could do this without believing in a god, but we don’t tend to as often without that framework.
Living under Christianity means living in constant fear of being watched and judged and living in a world full of supernatural forces. It was a great relief when I realized it’s all bullshit.
It’s a bit of a false dichotomy, there’s a broad spectrum in both.
A lot of the benefit of religion doesn’t come from the beliefs itself, but the community around them. You could just have a community built around other things, or even a religion that doesn’t mandate theism (UU’s and Quakers come to mind, they have fairly large atheist populations. There’s also less “serious” religions, like TST).
I wouldn’t call it ignorance. My bliss is based on considerable reading and contemplation. Way more than ought to be necessary, all things considered. I wish some of the understanding I’ve developed over the years would’ve been explained when I was young. There are things which, once explained, drive the logical mind to an inevitable conclusion.
It can play a role but there are so many other factors. Some people turn to theism to cope with hardships which means they are less unhappy thanks to it. But on the other hand there are people who live a restricted frustrating childhood in a religious family and finally experience freedom with atheism.
It’s more interesting to ask ourselves what precisely religion brings to the table, the negative and the positive, so we can answer difficult political questions in relation to religions
Anyway, in this case, it’s the 39yo, because he grew up in a moderately well off family and landed a decent job after college. The 38 struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability their life, made it through college barely, and the jobs bubble popped as they graduated and the job market dried up.