BlogIssues

I’ve always wondered where real, vivid church goers get their determination and strong faith from, especially when a tragedy happens. Despite all bad stuff that happens, enough to convert lots of people to atheism, they hang onto their beliefs. To each their own I guess.

So in a way, it makes sense: Religion is linked to happy life – according to a study by Professor Andrew Clark. Apparently religious people are even better at copying with incidents such as divorce or losing a job. Hmm, now there’s news… God will sort things out right?

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

Their findings, they said, suggested that religion could offer a “buffer” which protected from life’s disappointments.

Professor Clark said: “We originally started the research to work out why some European countries had more generous unemployment benefits than others, but our analysis suggested that religious people suffered less psychological harm from unemployment than the non-religious.

“They had higher levels of life satisfaction”.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, which represents the interests of atheists and agnostics, said that studies purporting to show a link between happiness and religion were “all meaningless”.

“Non-believers can’t just turn on a faith in order to be happy. If you find religious claims incredible, then you won’t believe them, whatever the supposed rewards in terms of personal fulfilment.

“Happiness is an elusive concept, anyway – I find listening to classical music blissful and watching football repulsive.