Daily Philosophy - Philosophy for life

Happy in God

Life with religion

Does God make people happy? Are religious people more satisfied with their lives than those who don't believe in God? And are religious countries happier than more secular ones?

Out of 7 people on Earth today, 6 belong to some kind of religious community. Earth's population currently is about 7 billion, of which (according to Wikipedia) 2.2 billion are Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, 1 billion Hindus, 400 million Chinese traditional religion adherents, 375 million Buddhists, and another 500 million are distributed among various smaller religions. This leaves only about 1 billion people who don't believe in some kind of God. So when we talk about happiness, we cannot ignore religion, since it is an important part of the lives of the majority of humans on Earth.

For our purposes here, it doesn't matter what religion we are talking about. The effects of religion on happiness are clear enough and similar for most world religions. For examples, I will use Christianity, since this is the religion the readers of this page will probably be most familiar with; but similar principles apply to other religions.

But what distinguishes a religious life from a secular one in practice? How is the life and the world-view of a practising Christian different from that of a non-believer? A few obvious points come to mind:

Believers are expected to follow God's commands.After death, 'good' believers will enjoy a desirable afterlife, while 'bad' people (or unbelievers) will be punished.Believers attend church on Sundays.The Bible provides a basic framework of morality (Ten Commandments, Sermon of the Mount).One important part of this framework, particularly for Christians, is to love one's enemies, and to be nice and helpful to everyone, especially those who need help.

Although we use examples from Christian practices, it is important to see that these points can be made in similar ways about other religions. Most religions provide ethical frameworks that command or discourage particular behaviours (points 1 and 4 above). Most religions include belief in an afterlife that, in some form, will reward 'good' and punish 'bad' behaviour (2). All religions provide some kind of visible ritual, be it daily prayers, visiting temples, attending rites for the dead, observing religious holidays, or going regularly to church (3). And most religions prescribe a benevolent attitude (5) towards others (at least those of the same community): in Islam, for example, charity (zakat) is a central 'pillar' of the faith, and charity is not only recommended but required of every Muslim who is able to afford it. Giving and sharing are also central to Buddhism, which encourages 'accomplishment in generosity.'

Some Christian sources

Let's look at a few classic sources for more advice on how to behave well as a Christian.

In the Sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5), Jesus says:

(6) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek [those showing humility, the gentle people], for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. ..."

The Regula Benedicti (~500 AD) has been one of the most influential rules that are followed by monks in Christian monasteries. Even monasteries that don't follow it, usually follow other rules that are similar in spirit:

(7) "The first degree of humility is obedience without delay. (...) As soon as anything has been ordered by the Superior, receive it as a divine command and cannot suffer any delay in executing it. Such as these, therefore, immediately leaving their own affairs and forsaking their own will, dropping the work they were engaged on and leaving it unfinished, with the ready step of obedience follow up with their deeds the voice of him who commands."