Increase Sales of Anti-Depressives -- Promote Secular Humanism

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The latest Pew Research polling

http://pewresearch.org/social/chart.php?ChartID=37

suggests that conservatives are significantly happier than liberals, and that regular church-goers are happier than those who skip.

While I recognize that there are always limitations to interpreting such data, this trend has persisted for years in Pew research.

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

If anything this suggests that the wholly secularized, democratic-socialist society that serves as an archetypal model for the political left's utopia would be a society desperately in need of Paxil and Prozac just to get by.


...just a thought

[Fragony]

Human contact makes people happy, I think people that attend church just have more of it. You feel better when you are part of something bigger.

[Kralizec]

I think most atheists would acknowledge that a belief in a benign deity can be a source of optimism and inspiration.
That's not a reason to convert, though. The balance of benefits/disadvantages a religion offers on Earth are not a rational reason to convert. If I were to convert to christianity or budhism, I'd do it because their doctrines seem rational and their teachings the spiritual truth. Not because it works like prozac (wich, by the way, is what Marx really meant when he said "religion is the opium of the masses").
If you convert to judaism, you do it because you're convinced of the existence of Yaweh and despite the fact that judaism places some firm ristrictions and hardships on your lifestyle.
(that's how it should be. I have no doubt that more then a few mormons have adopted their faith simply because it allows polygamy. Many ex mormons admit it, anyway.)

And about liberals...the fact that the republicans have held the presidency and congress for quite a time now would have something to do with them not being happy, wouldn't it?

[Banquo's Ghost]

"Religion is the opiate of the masses."

Just a choice of drug therapies

If I could spare the time, I would find you the endless surveys that show that the more intelligent one is, the more one appears to be unhappy. And those that show that the more economically advanced a society is, the higher the index of unhappiness. So I could 'prove' that being stupid, poor and unthinkingly religious was the sure way to happiness. And the Christian gospels would support this conclusion unhesitatingly as well.

However, sure as eggs is eggs, you could find a superior number of surveys to disprove my position to your advantage and so we would go round and round until dizzy.

Selecting surveys tends only to support the selector's existing prejudices.

[rory_20_uk]

A Labrador is a very happy animal. It has very simple needs, and doesn't bother with difficult conundrums... But I'd rather be me than a Labrador.

Happiness has also been shown to be inversely linked with intelligence.

So yeah, thick churchgoers are happy. The very few questions their brain is able to cope with have been answered for them. They know where they came from and where they are going.

I envy them and pity them at the same time.

[Crazed Rabbit]

(wich, by the way, is what Marx really meant when he said "religion is the opium of the masses")

No, he meant it as the opium that the government used to keep the people happy and occupied so they wouldn't rebel. He was wrong, of course.

I also find it funny that the people responding here have to resort to broad-based slander against an entire group of people. They have no real argument, so they propose the rediculus notion that leftists and democrats are, as a whole, smarter than conservatives and Christians. It's similar to a form of racism.

Crazed Rabbit

[SwordsMaster]

I don't think that study proves much. And I'm pretty sure you could find equivalent studies that would place atheists on top in some other category. Besides, maybe it is the other way around: the people go to church because they don't take anti-depressives, not they don't take anti-depressives because they go to church.

[kataphraktoi]

So yeah, thick churchgoers are happy. The very few questions their brain is able to cope with have been answered for them. They know where they came from and where they are going.

I envy them and pity them at the same time.

So I'm a thick church-goer am I?

That implies my mind is devoid of logical and rational thought processes?

Perhaps I only see the world in black and white?

Hahahaha, your comments are funny anyway because some of it is true...but not applicable to me, but Labradors are indeed very contented.

Take my dog for instance, he's no Labrador but he enjoys the following:

- pancakes :laugh4
- chips
- chocolate
- beef
- lamb
- pork
- peanuts

[Kagemusha]

So basicly you find the most unhappy people in the planet from Scandinavia.Since in here the societys are mainly based on Social- Democracy and also the population is very secular.You sure about this Seamus?

[rory_20_uk]

As I stated both intelligence and religion are causes of increased happiness, those that have both are more likely to be happy.

I did not say that because one goes to the church one has to be thick, nor that those wich don't go to church are clever.

[master of the puppets]

i'm smart, i worry to much, i worry about the world, about my freinds, about money and my future, i worry abot the economy and polotics, i worry about WMDs and global dictatorship, i worry about the starving people 200000 miles away and i worry about how god can exist, i worry about evolution and the church, i worry about how to cure my insomnia and other ailments,i worry about my grades and my love-life, i worry about my sanity.

my freind takes another hit of the doobie and says chill out man, everything is gonna be all right.

moral of the story; ignorance is bliss... and i'm freakin miserable.

[BigTex]

While intelligence (or a firm understanding of the unaswerables in life and no acceptance of the simple answers out there) more then likely has something to do with happiness. I would say that the suroundings also play into that, you notice that large metropolises are more bland uniform and grey. I'm betting a highly intelligent person with a house in the middle of the forest up in the northern west coast would be happier then a highly intelligent person stuck in the middle of New York. As for socialist being less happy, i'd point you towards the citizens of China and the citizens of the former USSR.

ignorance is bliss... and i'm freakin miserable.

So true, but nothing a good book can't take your mind away from, ahh "A Brief History of Time" my bible.

[Vladimir]

i'm smart, i worry to much, i worry about the world, about my freinds, about money and my future, i worry abot the economy and polotics, i worry about WMDs and global dictatorship, i worry about the starving people 200000 miles away and i worry about how god can exist, i worry about evolution and the church, i worry about how to cure my insomnia and other ailments,i worry about my grades and my love-life, i worry about my sanity.

my freind takes another hit of the doobie and says chill out man, everything is gonna be all right.

moral of the story; ignorance is bliss... and i'm freakin miserable.

A pity you don't worry about grammar, punctuation or spelling. Worrying doesn’t mean you’re intelligent. Women worry all the time and that doesn’t mean they’re smart. Intelligent, educated people look for solutions to problems and take actions to solve them, not worry about them.

[Kralizec]

No, he meant it as the opium that the government used to keep the people happy and occupied so they wouldn't rebel. He was wrong, of course.

"Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the masses."

Puts the whole quote into an entirely different context, doesn't it? Strangely enough, you rarely see people quote anything but the last part. Gee, I wonder why that is?
Just like somepeople always selectively quote George Orwell to give the impression that his works are anti-marxist and that he endorsed capitalism.
You are partially right though, Marx considered the government and the spiritual leaders to be bedfellows and condemned both for trying to uphold the status quo.

(for the record, I don't endorse communism, or socialism in the way Marx intended)

[rory_20_uk]

Vladimir, you don't pull your punches, do you?

Merely being intelligent or educated does not mean one is going to be focused on solutions. That is more a factor in the personality of the individual, rather on the raw intelligence.

[yesdachi]

moral of the story; ignorance is bliss... and i'm freakin miserable.

Thats why the Labrador is so happy. give that dog a 20% IQ boost, a handful of puppies, a dozen predators, no more free meals and lets see how happy it is. ignorance is bliss but there is a lot to be said for having all your needs taken care of and being oblivious to possible troubles. The last thing that dog is thinking of is a terrorist attack, loosing its job, putting the kids thru school or hundreds of other things we have to worry about.

Really believing that there is a god that has your back would ease ones worries. The lab has a good "keeper" to keep it worry free, it would be comforting (allowing for less need of an anti-depressant) to know we had a good "keeper" or should i say "shepard" also.

[Hurin_Rules]

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

The downside is, religious beliefs correlate inversely with intelligence, scientific awareness and education: in short, the more religious you are, the less educated and intelligent you are likely to be:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:...a&ct=clnk&cd=1

This is just me, but I'd rather be smart and troubled by what I see in the world than stupid and happy. And I'd MUCH rather prefer my neighbours to be the same, especially if they own guns.

[Fragony]

Really believing that there is a god that has your back would ease ones worries. The lab has a good "keeper" to keep it worry free, it would be comforting (allowing for less need of an anti-depressant) to know we had a good "keeper" or should i say "shepard" also.

Laugh about it if you must, but if there is a god it will one day be scientifically proven. Untill that day, scientists should acknowledge the fact that they don't know everything(why would they want to do science if they did?). The greatest part of knowledge is the one we don't have yet, untill we do a little modesty might be suitable. Maybe you think all of this just happened, I don't. I am not that religious, but systematic enough to keep all options open. There has to be something, it is all too much to just happen.

[Reverend Joe]

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

Nope.

[doc_bean]

There has to be something, it is all too much to just happen.

Sure, but this thread is more about religion than about believing in a Creator.
It's quite possible to believe there is a God, Creator of all, and not believe he cares very much about those humans walking around on a little planet somewhere in His little universe. For all we know, He could have created the universe to suit the labrador, and the real First Commandment has something to do with regular feedings...

[Paul Peru]

So basicly you find the most unhappy people in the planet from Scandinavia.Since in here the societys are mainly based on Social- Democracy and also the population is very secular.You sure about this Seamus?

Yup, we're miserable.

Or: We have it so good, we don't have to turn to religion.

Religion, or at least religious/mystic/spiritual experiences in people who are not otherwise psychotic or on drugs, is due to a mutation causing an anomaly in the brain.

It's probably quite useful during periods of crisis, because it keeps people from loosing all hope when the going gets tough. It sure helps to have heaven waiting, and knowing beyond doubt what is right and wrong without having to think for yourself. On the other hand there are reports of side effects. (Jonestown, Masada etc.)

[master of the puppets]

i was actually trying to say that with a person with more intelligence is more prone to see the bigger picture of the world, while the average idiot can't see nor does he care about his own little globe of conciousness.

[yesdachi]

Laugh about it if you must, but if there is a god it will one day be scientifically proven. Untill that day, scientists should acknowledge the fact that they don't know everything(why would they want to do science if they did?). The greatest part of knowledge is the one we don't have yet, untill we do a little modesty might be suitable. Maybe you think all of this just happened, I don't. I am not that religious, but systematic enough to keep all options open. There has to be something, it is all too much to just happen.

Of course i must laugh, its MY religion.

Actually i do believe in a higher power, i just don't think it is one of the ones written about. Perhaps a topic for another thread but the point i was trying to make is that (to me at least) it is reasonable to accept that someone that believes in a god that is there to give you the support you need when times are tough or that there is a heaven waiting for you if times get really tough would be less likely to suffer from depression than someone that doesent believe.

My mother-in-law is always facing some kind of trouble (cancer, finances, family deaths, etc.) and she always says that god will help her thru it and she gets thru it, IMO with far less stress than if she didn't believe.

The research Seamus has pointed out is reasonable enough for me to accept. Additionally i think liberals probably do suffer from more depression issues but i’ll bet conservatives have higher blood pressure.

[Reenk Roink]

The downside is, religious beliefs correlate inversely with intelligence, scientific awareness and education: in short, the more religious you are, the less educated and intelligent you are likely to be:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:...a&ct=clnk&cd=1

Hmmm...my Harvard study (Interesting Find... thread) found the opposite trend than that of the Skeptic study...

I'm a bit skeptic of Skeptic now.

*yes...earlier a punch on religious fanatics, now on militant atheists*

[Seamus Fermanagh]

So basicly you find the most unhappy people in the planet from Scandinavia.Since in here the societys are mainly based on Social- Democracy and also the population is very secular.You sure about this Seamus?

I'm sure of a few things, think a few more are pretty likely, and pretty well know hang-all about the rest (which is most of everything).

Scandinavia currently is the most secularized region of the Western World, with the lowest church attendence, lowest level of self-identification with a religion, and arguably the most heavily federalized socialist democracies on the planet. Are they unhappy? I havent read much on that aspect of these societies.

In part, my post #1 was a "hanging curve ball" that is being hit in predictable directions (for the most part).

Big Tex:

I said socialist democracies so as to specifically exclude the dictatorships enacted in the Soviet Union and its satelites. Even the majority of the socialist European left thought they were out of it, and the collapse in 1989 confirmed it for all but a really whacked out few.

[Soulforged]

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

If anything this suggests that the wholly secularized, democratic-socialist society that serves as an archetypal model for the political left's utopia would be a society desperately in need of Paxil and Prozac just to get by.

Religion has the same effect of those drugs. The drugs act chemically while religion acts by the power of suggestion. This poll, I think, demostrates that. Notice that I'm not taking sides here, it could be good to be totally secular or totally religious, but personally I think that the middle is the right spot (without centralized, dogmatized and organized religion of course).

[Soulforged]

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

If anything this suggests that the wholly secularized, democratic-socialist society that serves as an archetypal model for the political left's utopia would be a society desperately in need of Paxil and Prozac just to get by.

Religion has the same effect of those drugs. The drugs act chemically while religion acts by the power of suggestion. This poll, I think, demostrates that. Notice that I'm not taking sides here, it could be good to be totally secular or totally religious, but personally I think that the middle is the right spot (without centralized, dogmatized and organized religion of course).

[Slyspy]

From this, is it not reasonable to extrapolate that those of you who decry organized religion or who attack conservative values are, in all likelihood, contributing to your own unhappiness?

Perhaps it is not the "religion" that makes people happy but the "organized"?

[Papewaio]

- It's a fool's paradise methinks.

If you can't understand there is a danger, you can't worry about it.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Samurai Waki]

I would rather live my entire life in truth and agony then live my entire life in Ignorance and Bliss.

I hated anti-depressants and I refuse to take them... and I'm not even a scientologist.