I'd rather be unhappy than live my whole life in a delusional fairy tale shaped around infinity. Nothing lasts forever, neither do we. Just because we have an articulate way of communicating with each other and have shaped this planet by our sole liking doesn't mean we last forever.
If believing in and or living their life by the rules of a religion then who am I to judge or complain about their choices? The atmosphere of the church that I went to seemed to be that of happiness but then again many people turn to religion in times of crisis so while on the whole it might make people happier there are instances where it is not the case. As I've said before I think it's a case of whatever works for people.
According to many current news reports, they must be happier. Happier provided they get to have illicit sexual encounters preferably with under age females - location doesn't matter as they favor back seats of cars, in the child's home, or anyplace that one can "do it" and get away with doing it. They often have jobs directly linked to their Christian religion: youth pastors is a popular job for sex offenders. Being a member of a prominent religious family is a popular condition. The happiness maybe last until they get caught and hopefully got to trial and then jail/prison and lose the chance to be the perpetrator and become the victim. Sad.
I don't for sure if religious people like me are happier. It's difficult to say that we are happier or that atheists are happier. the truth is, happiness doesn't really depend on religion. Yes, it might be one aspect of it but I'm sure atheists have some things in their life that they are happy for too. And of course, religious people go through times of sadness, frustration and loss of faith too. That's the reality of it. So I'd say it's subjective and varies from people to people.
They might be happier but not from everybody. I believe they look happy and they are happy because they found a purpose in their life. Usually, most people seek for that. Whether it is a profession or family. Some like solitude or constant moving and some try to get nearer to god. We perceive them as happy because without any exception they found their inner self and they live the life they wanted. the rest of us sometimes live lives against everything we wanted even though we have money, good job and families.
Let me just add that religion is a state of mind and a lifestyle. Since the so called faithfuls are focused on their religion so I guess they are happier than people who are not religious. Particulary those devotees of a religion, they have the tenacity to face the challenges in life with the belief that God will be helping them in any way. Today is the feast of the Nazarene in Quiapo, Maniila and you can see the devotees participating in the procession which takes more than 12 hours. And despite the hardship, you can see the happy faces of those who participated in the procession.
Hmm… Because "happy" is relative, I really don't think any of us has the answer to that. Based on experience, I think humility is the key to happiness. Some of the religious debates I've had with Atheists or other non-believers, have left me with the overwhelming feeling they're not very happy people; unless they're attacking others, humiliating them, or otherwise, in their words, "crushing their illusions." It just seems to me that if your happiness is dependent on somebody's misery, that's a false sense of happiness, to say the least. On the other hand, some religious minded people take the same besieging approach to defending their faith. So in my mind, I would say true happiness is a matter of humility vs pride. There's many Bible verses to support humility, stating God blesses the humble; and several which denounce pride; even stating God hates it. God bless us all! We shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. ✌❤†
Without fail, the religious people that I have seen happier are the ones who feel that they are truly a part of a community. If you think you are in a community of believers who love you unconditionally and you are under the will of G-d, then that is a recipe for happiness there. It all boils down to the fact that humans are social beings and benefit from being in social groups. The psychological benefits of religion from that perspective make a lot of sense to me. The drawback to this is that, if the religion doesn't have a foundation, the whole community can come crashing down. I've seen people lose their minds when their pastor or priest is involved in a scandal and turns out not to be who they thought he was. Or people who think they are in a religion, but it turns out to really be a cult. That's the downside of depending on religion. In short, I think that if people are part of communities that they believe in and have a group of "friends" they think care about them, they will feel happier.
For me, secret of happiness is in 2 words 'Samahita' (stay same in good and bad) and 'Nishkam Karma' ( help others but expect nothing in return). these words are related to Yoga, not related to any religion or atheism. so, Religious people or atheists, happiness of both depends on their nature and choices which they made. happiness can't be a property of religious people as well as atheists.
I don't believe that religious people are happier. Even if they are religious, if they are not righteous, they will still live a miserable life. Even if they know all the teachings of God, if they don't apply it in their lives, they won't be happy. Righteous, not religious people, are happier.
