Religion doesn't make people happier, having a supportive community does. I can get the same thing at my UU church as any Catholic can get out of their religion and I don't have to believe in god or teach my children any of the things you mentioned, yet I still get the benefits of "religion". You don't have to force yourself into a cycle of trying to believe the unbelievable and then feeling guilty because you can't seem to believe it. It's also kind of a coping mechanism for your cognitive dissonance to try to tell yourself you need religion to be a happy person and that religion is somehow beneficial, when in reality religion has caused a lot of suffering, trauma, chronic guilt, and unhappiness. Keep in mind that religious people have a vested interest in trying to convince others how happy they are since they are in the business of converting others. Atheists have no such agendas, so what you see is what you get with them.
I actually think you are right about more intelligent people being more unhappy, and perhaps atheists are even more unhappy, but there is really no way around that. If I were still a Jehovah's Witness I wouldn't be worried about global warming, or saving for retirement, or saving for my children's college funds, because Jehovah's Witnesses think armageddon is coming very soon and all the non-JW's will die and all the JW's will live forever in paradise. But you know what, there is something to be said for living in reality. I may be more stressed out by things, some of which I personally have no control over. But knowing what it is like to live in both places, and knowing how hard it was to get to this place, I would not trade reality for anything.
I feel like I'm watching your deconversion and I feel for you because you've been stuck in this in-between place for a long time now. I call this "the worst of both worlds". At least for me it was. I felt like I couldn't fully participate in my religion and feel safe there anymore. Everything they said upset me and I didn't think I could ever teach my son what they were teaching me, and then I spent weeks feeling anxiety and guilt and wishing I could believe it because life would be so much easier. But I couldn't fully live in the real world either because I felt like I was doing something wrong, and that the people there didn't understand me, and that life on the outside was big and scary and cruel. I think once you can land on one side or the other you will be happier. Though probably not immediately so depending on how those decisions affect your life.
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Date: 2013-04-01 08:18 pm (UTC)I actually think you are right about more intelligent people being more unhappy, and perhaps atheists are even more unhappy, but there is really no way around that. If I were still a Jehovah's Witness I wouldn't be worried about global warming, or saving for retirement, or saving for my children's college funds, because Jehovah's Witnesses think armageddon is coming very soon and all the non-JW's will die and all the JW's will live forever in paradise. But you know what, there is something to be said for living in reality. I may be more stressed out by things, some of which I personally have no control over. But knowing what it is like to live in both places, and knowing how hard it was to get to this place, I would not trade reality for anything.
I feel like I'm watching your deconversion and I feel for you because you've been stuck in this in-between place for a long time now. I call this "the worst of both worlds". At least for me it was. I felt like I couldn't fully participate in my religion and feel safe there anymore. Everything they said upset me and I didn't think I could ever teach my son what they were teaching me, and then I spent weeks feeling anxiety and guilt and wishing I could believe it because life would be so much easier. But I couldn't fully live in the real world either because I felt like I was doing something wrong, and that the people there didn't understand me, and that life on the outside was big and scary and cruel. I think once you can land on one side or the other you will be happier. Though probably not immediately so depending on how those decisions affect your life.