religion makes people have happier lives!
 

A belief in God could lead to a more contented life, research suggests.

Religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a job or divorce, claims the study presented to a Royal Economic Society conference.

Data from thousands of Europeans revealed higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers.

However, researcher Professor Andrew Clark said other aspects of a religious upbringing unrelated to belief may influence future happiness.

This is not the first study to draw links between religion and happiness, with a belief among many psychologists that some factor in either belief, or its observance, offering benefits.

BBC NEWS | Health | Religion 'linked to happy life'

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Not if you go through all the rigours of converting, perhaps even including circumcision just to found out a day later that The University Dons have proved conclusively that he doesn't exist!

http://www.3rdgen.org/bb/images/smilies/cheers.gif

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

They might be happier whilst alive, but I bet they're livid when they're dead, and realise it was all one big con, and there is no eternal paradise waiting for them.:D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Well I was brought up a catholic and am still practicing catholic, although I don't go to church now because of my health problems, but I recieve communion every Sunday morning frm church. About the research, it seems a bit flawed to me, I went through two divorces and my religion didn't seem to make things easier, neither did it when both my parents died, well it didn't seem to at the time. A persons religious bliefs are a personal thing, people look at it in different and varying ways. ut at the end of the day religion is in my eyes a very emotive subject

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

think karl marx had it just about right
religion is the opium of the working class :rolleyes:

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

It's "opium of the masses".
Marx knew nothing about religion anyway. Gustavo Gutierrez pretty much diminished every word Marx wrote about religion oppressing the lower classes.

Sorry, back to thread.
I do not have faith. However I do like going to a church/Church occasionally because I get something from it. It helps me think about the things I want to and thus makes me generally happier. You don't have to sign your soul away. :o

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Get comfort from religion if you feel the need
As a non believer I think life is too short to waste any of it on your knees talking to yourself

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

another load of cobblers from people justifying their jobs:rolleyes: religion will make some have happier lives, so will football, and hundereds of things, everyones differant,people are individuals n its whatever suits that person will make em happy.;)

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

My Grandad was an orthodox jew ( over a century ago now) and my grandma was from strict roman catholic family
they married and neither saw any of their families again -so they may have disagreed.

"religion makes people have happier lives!" i think their research may be on people who are contented in their lives and are driven by their religion rather than their religion being a part of their life.
but good for them i say - ignorance is bliss.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

So did I...then they closed down the Commercial.

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I am a non Believer, even though my parents THOUGHT I might like to be christened C/E :rolleyes:

Actually, I got quite annoyed today. My mate wants to be married in a church in October. She went to see a Vicar today, he said cos non of them were baptized, they will have to be baptized before the bishop will give them the go ahead.

It's the same old crap all the time. People just using Religion as their own gain. They do it to get their kids in school's, they do it to get married in a church ( just cos its a nice building ) not because they see it as a religious thing. It's all a farce in todays ways.:rolleyes:

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

dont get annoyed slinks Rules is Rules if they wanna church wedding then they have to play the game, if not a registrar. simple as.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Does she go to Church anyway or does she just want to get married in one because, like you said, it's a nice building? :confused:

I can see why vicars want people to be baptised before marrying them in Church. It shows a bit more commitment to the faith. If you are not religious then you shoudn't be getting married in Church, in my opinion.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

:D LMAO

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Oh yes, I can see it from the vicars point of view.... no she does not go to church, and said " I won't be going to church after I have been married" so yes, it is just because she wants a church wedding.

I know a Registry office may not seem very special.... but thats where I got married, thats because, I aint no 2 bit two faced person, that will pretend to be religious, when I really am not. And I don't like how people can make a mockery out of it. Just my opinion on the whole thing.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

As I have just said, its not the vicar I'm annoyed at cashy, its them for making a mockery out of it. And I feel the same about people that do it with schools.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

now thats a standpoint i applaud, so why ya gettin annoyed cos yer mate aint got your morals?:confused:oops missed yer last post lol

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Yeah probably lol.

Don't get me wrong. As I have said in here many times. I am not against people for believing in GOD or what ever religion they have.
I actually respect people that only get into religion when they are older, and can really identify in it, not a case of " oh well mum/dad said I have to " And I do get annoyed when people just use religion for themselves.

Sorry, rant over :o

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I quite agree, Slinky. People who do what your mate's doing annoy me too and the ones who do it with schools. It's pure hypocrisy. People want the Church to be there for their weddings and Christenings but that's the only time they set foot in the place and then they're up in arms when the Church closes due to poor attendances. They write to the Observer saying things like
'This should not be allowed to happen' and, my personal favourite, 'The council should give money to the Church to keep it open.'

Why the hell should they? If you want your Church to stay open then support it weekly, if not, shut up. :mad:

Oooooh that's better. :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Hehehe I feel quite a lot better for it too :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

i am RC, never went to church till i was 20 then went regular for years, hows that for awkward? then in me early 30s i offered to take me kids to mass n did, after a few weeks they got bored n said stuff it,so i did cos i would never force em, only been back very occasionally since. i think religions fine,for those who want/need it. but would never knock those who don't,but agree with lilly about support yer church or stop bitchin n shut the f*** up.:D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

How does that work then?

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I don't think priests/vicars should baptise people just so they can get married in the Church, in fact it really annoys me.

No other religion would accept me into their faith just so I can use their place of worship for the day, so I don't see why we (the Catholic Church) have to be scape goats for faithless people.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

And since coming to uni I have never been so disgusted in my life at so called 'Christians' who slag off everyone but Evangelicals.

The 'Christian' union here just slags off everyone, in particular Catholics, which obviously annoys me greatly. They also run around ripping down posters of the LGBT society, and to be honest, they must be bitter or else they wouldn't behave in such a way. If that makes them happy then they need to reassess their lives, because I think that is a very sad existence.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

back to the original theme of the thread .......not sure if it leads to a more contented life , but I think taking of a "time-out" from life for a period of prayer could lead to a less stressfull life ........to my mind its just a 'zoning out time ' bit like Buddists and meditation,
I'd like to see the results of a study of hypertension and stress related problems between say muslims who take a 10 minute 'mind clearing time-out' 5 times a day and those who don't ........not sure how you would find the subjects for the control groups in this day and age , but think he results would be interesting :confused:

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

It could be done with students. It could also be done across religions too I guess, comparing different types of prayer and worship.

Religion would have to be their only 'de-stressing' method though otherwise it wouldn't quite be right, and finding students that don't go out drinking isn't that simple. Maybe during exam prep it'd work though

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Well its quite simple Neil, since I had to give up driving I find it very hard to attend church as walking and myself have not been good company for a long time now, 20 years and I'm bushed, infact its just far enough from the taxi to the bar at Ossy Social:D .On the communion front, there are people who after mass on Sunday morning deliver communion to the sick of the perish, years ago it used to be the priest that did these duties during the week, but that was in the days when St Mary's had three priests, now there is only one and has been or many years

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Slightly unfortunate typo there, Jaysay! :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

You got me Wynonie, as soon as I read it again I wet myself:D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

It's what ever floats yer boat!!!

If you need a beer ...well why not.... (thats me sorted then)
If you need a fag ...well why not.... (bad for ya tho', never had em meself)
If you need religion ...well why not.... - though I agree with the others about people just using the church for their own ends

Reminds me of a right rollicking and the cane I got 38 years ago at Holy Family, after weeks of owning up to not having gone to mass the previous sunday, I was dragged before the RI teacher, the head and the priest - I was asked "why don't you go to the church, - you're a catholic" my reply was "nobody asked me if I wanted to be a catholic" .........ouch!!!

Stuck to my belief too - wasn't married in a church (but still married after 33 years) and the children were not baptised/christened - if they want religion they'll find it for themselves

As one very laid back guy once said to me " hey, we're all god's children, under the same but different shades of skin.... - Yea Man........!!!! "

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Can't say i agree with this myself.
People have many different beliefs and things that they turn to in times of crisis.
Being an atheist myself i can't understand how religion helps anybody though i will never criticise anybody who does believe this.
Religion seems to cause more problems than it solves imo but each to their own i guess!

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Whoever gave me rep calling me a silly bitch certainly shouldn't be allowed to get married in a church. You're pathetic and need to wash your filthy mouth out before you go anywhere near a church, and then you need to get yourself baptised, confirmed and receive first holy communion and confession. Maybe then you can marry in a holy place.

I can't believe some people. No wonder why people are being investigated for hate crimes and stuff.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Come on, own up! Who's upset Blazey?

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Not me, I would have followed the recent trend and called her a silly cow :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Going to report you to the standards board, you know how much silly cow upsets the our females Neil and Graham:rolleyes::D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I'm a conservative :p would take more than that to upset me... besides, he PM'd me and called me that a few days ago and I didn't so much as whimper :p

Neil has backbone, he doesn't need to sneak around when it comes to telling people what he thinks :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Getting back on track.

Thinking about it, those people protesting about the cartoons of Mohamed, the people of Israel and Palestine, as well as the population of Bosnia, and Northern Ireland, never look(ed) too happy to me, whilst carrying out their religious work.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Religion makes people hate other people, simple as that really. Maybe we just enjoy hating each other and starting wars. I think causing pain to others does make us feel better sometimes.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

OOOH .... you little sadist :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Well it's true from my perspective. I've tried to embrace being catholic at university and the evangelicals just mock my religion, yet we're all meant to be christians. Not only that but they also run around ripping down LGBT posters, so they upset a whole group of people who have done nothing to them, just for the sake of it.

I obviously have a conflict of interests by taking part in activities of both groups, so I keep relatively quiet on the topic, but yet I am still hated just for being a catholic.

So not only does religion make you unhappy, but it also makes you make others unhappy, whether you intend to or not.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Have you asked Mr Jones if you can use his photo as an avatar?

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I assumed it was her bf! lol

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Me too...I was just thinking to myself, "he looks a real Young Conservative."! :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Lol you're so funny :D


Margaret it isn't anything to do with you so stop bleating like a sheep at me

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I wouldn't like it if I was him --- lack of tact evident :rolleyes:

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Well fortunately I don't have to pass things by you before I speak to other people, so why don't you just keep your opinions to yourself.

Do you think I asked david cameron permission or peter britcliffe? I think I even used Greg Pope at one point. I like politicians, and if their pictures are on the internet then they should expect their fan base to use those pictures.

Furthermore, it's still nothing to do with you.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I hope beer is one of those "hundreds of other things.":thepint:

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Just finished reading Asimov's "Atom: A Journey Through the Sub-Atomic Cosmos" .... and it has pictures too .... As I was grappling with the concept of antimatter, neutrinos, and how everything seems to obey the laws of conservation, even in the absence of a unified field theory, it struck me that there may be some guiding force in the Universe. While these musings are not going to send me scurrying off to the nearest Church, they are making me think in a sort of religious way ... but it's not making me happy, or even content. I think that what makes some people happy is the belief that all the s**t we have to put up with must have some purpose. This, I am not prepared to believe.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!

They obviously never undertook this survey in places like Israel. :rolleyes:

I agree I would have to abide by stricter rules if I wanted to get married in a Mosque or a Synagogue. It's just about respecting other peoples religions. If you don't want to then don't people shouldn't presume you have the right to disrespect/disregard what they believe.

I went to St Wilfrids in Blackburn and to get in there you had to have a letter at the time to say you was a regular C of E church goer, if not you didn't get in unless for other reasons i.e. Your sibling was also at the school etc.

My family took me to church every Sunday without fail till I was old enough to realise I had better things to do on a Sunday morning like stay in bed :D.

I personally think some religion brings a lot more hate to an already messed up world but all people think differently.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

I feel all religious all of a sudden.. Jesus Christ!!

.. it could've been BLUE writing!! :D

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

For her next trick Blazey will be walking on water.

Fingers crossed for the state of the ice.

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

Since she has started the G Jones fan club, red is more apt

suspect it is a smokescreen to cover her admiration for a young tory of whom she has said 'he can kiss me anytime'

Re: religion makes people have happier lives!
 

GJ will always to me be a true Blue (Rovers fan that is) :D