Myth Busted: Religious People are Not Happier

Are religious people happier than atheists? It turns out that this statistic, while strictly true in America, is quite misleading. The deeper truth is far more interesting ... and it's a perfect case study in meme theory.

Tom Rees over at Epiphenom posted a fascinating new bit of data that just calls out for an explanation:

"Much is made of the apparent fact that religious people are happier and better adjusted than the non-religious. However, as regular readers of this blog will know, this is to a large extent an illusion. ... [If you dig deeper] you'll find that religion is only linked to happiness in countries where a lot of people are religious.

... Although non-religious people feel uncomfortable in religious countries, religious people have no problems living in non-religious countries.

In other words, religious societies reject and shun atheists, so naturally non-religious people are unhappy in these societies. But Dr. Rees makes an even deeper point: secular societies make religious people feel welcome, so there is no converse effect. In secular societies, everyone is equally happy.

The conclusion is inescapable: atheists and agnostics are unhappy in religious countries because of the religious people, whereas religious people do well in secular countries because they're made welcome. You can be an evangelical Christian in Sweden or Denmark, but it's hard to be an atheist in Turkey, Iran or even America.

It's very satisfying to deflate this myth. Religious bloggers and ministers love to crow about the fact that atheists and agnostics are unhappier than "the faithful." Now we can turn and point to them as the cause.

But while this solves one mystery, it presents us with a challenge: why is religion so hostile to atheism? A cultural factor like this that spans so many countries and cultures begs for a deeper analysis.

It's easy to find some superficial reasons for the hostility that atheists and agnostics feel. Maybe Christians aren't "hostile" but rather are doing atheists a favor by saving their souls from eternal damnation. Or maybe atheists are unhappy because humans naturally yearn for God's love, and the atheists won't accept that love. Or maybe atheists actually know God exists, and their unhappiness comes from the stress of having to deny the truth (I've been accused of this by readers).

I think we can dismiss these reasons out of hand. They're false and insulting.

The real reason for religion's anti-atheist hostility is because it's good for religion. Religions that foster hatred and hostility toward atheists are, simply put, better than religions that don't. And we use "better" here in the Darwinian sense.

One of the most fascinating facts about biology is that 99.99% of all species that ever existed are extinct today. If we merely look at the successes (for example, homo sapiens) without considering the failures (such as neanderthals), we're not being very good scientists. It's competition and death that drive evolution forward. In order for the more fit species to survive, the less fit species has to die. And in order to understand the survivors, we have to study the failures.

The same thing applies to the evolution of religions. We have to look at the ones that died along with the ones we know today. In the cultural-evolution or "memetic" way of thinking (the study of how ideas evolve and spread across society and down through history), religion isn't a set of distinct faiths, but rather is a great mass of competing ideas fighting for "survival of the fittest." At any point in history, there have been many thousands of religions around the world. Within each religion there are often hundreds of differing opinions and interpretations of the main ideas.

In order to survive, a particular idea has to spread across society and down through history. But that's no trivial task: there are plenty of others competing. At each generation, only the "fittest" ideas survive to be passed along. This is the primary driving force that shapes any one religion's beliefs as time passes. And it's also true between religions: eventually, the "fitter" religions steal away all the believers from the "weaker" religions, which die out and pass into the history books.

What makes one religion more "fit" than another? There are many factors indeed (that's why I wrote The Religion Virus), but it brings us back to today's topic.

Children are born atheists and must be indoctrinated early and thoroughly in order for their faith to stick. Atheism is a huge threat to that process. If a culture allows atheists in their midst, the children will be exposed to powerful and persuasive ideas (logic, science, rational thinking). These atheistic ideas challenge the faith-based dogma that the children have to learn. Children are much more likely to have weak faith or no faith if they are exposed to atheism. (See Teach the Children for more on this topic.)

Thus, hostility to atheism is a "good" trait for religions to have. A religion that persecutes atheists will be more successful than one that doesn't. As generations and centuries go by, it's almost inevitable that religion will become more and more hostile to atheism.

Atheists aren't really such a sorry, unhappy lot. It's religion's fault, and now we know why: it's good for religion to be hostile to atheism. Religions with a live-and-let-live attitude died out a long time ago. They're extinct, and we're left with the survivors, the "fittest" religions ... the ones that don't like atheists.

Christian Apologist: Skepticism Caused by Hurt from Church

Christian apologists just can't stand the idea that we skeptics actually have good reasons to not believe their mythology. To them, Christian theology is so obviously true that anyone who doesn't believe must have some other reason. If someone is a non-believer, then they must have been beaten by a nun, molested by a priest, shunned for homosexuality, or hurt in some other dastardly fashion by a Christian or by the church.

It just can't be, they say, that someone actually rejects Christianity itself.

The latest salvo of this nature comes from Christian apologist and author Dr. Alex McFarland, whose new book, 10 Answers for Skeptics, purports to have statistics showing that most skeptics were driven away from their faith by bad experiences. In an interview with the Christian Post, McFarland said,

"Through nearly a year of research and numerous personal interviews, my goal was to really get 'inside the mind of the skeptic.' The most common type of skeptics I meet are wounded skeptics. They have been hurt by church, religion, or by another Christian."

The problem with Dr. McFarland's statement is that like so much of Christian apologetics, it uses flawed logic. McFarland makes the reader think that bad experiences caused the skepticism. More importantly, McFarland seems to think that if you can cure the hurt and heal the damage, the ex-Christian skeptics will all come flooding back to their former faith.

McFarland is implying that skeptics are really Christians in their hearts, and it's only the hurt and their pride that have separated them from God.

This is completely wrong.

These ex-Christian skeptics have had their eyes opened. The hurt they suffered

"Ministerial Exception" - A Solution to Legalized Discrimination

The Christian Science Monitor has cast its vote on whether churches are allowed to discriminate on the basis of faith. Their answer, not surprisingly, is "yes":

"On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears the case of a Christian schoolteacher fired in a dispute over a disability and church doctrine. The justices should be careful about allowing government to judge a faith's teachings when it is charged with discrimination."

(The fourth-grade teacher was fired because she took a disability leave, was asked to resign, and then filed a discrimination lawsuit rather that using the employer's Christ-based dispute-resolution process.)

The Monitor goes on to explain that some religions are so bizarre

Is Christianity Dying? ... and Ninety-Nine Other Best Blogs

I have a new book available on Kindle!

Only 99 cents!

How can you go wrong? From the preface:

"Who would have guessed back in June of 2008 that I'd be writing my five hundredth blog with no end in sight? And I never expected The Religion Virus to be in the top ten religion books on Amazon.com's Kindle bestsellers list, as well as bouncing around between first and fifth in agnosticism and religious history. (Religious history? That's unexpected!)

"So why should you buy a collection of ninety-nine blogs that you can get for free on my web site? Because it's just a penny per blog, and we sorted the wheat from the chaff for you. You get to read the good stuff without having to wade through the blogs that should have been used to wrap fish. How can you beat that? (And there is actually one original never-before-published blog in here!)

"Like most bloggers, I don't hit one out of the park every day. But every now and then I write something pretty good. Some of these became very popular and pegged my traffic meter. Those were fun. But the ones I like best are the ones that evoked thoughtful responses, rebuttals and questions from my readers. When someone takes the time to argue with me, I know I'm making a difference."

New readers will find this a handy way to read the best of these blogs. Or if you're one of my faithful loyalists,

So Long, It's Been Good to Know You!

Well, it's time to say goodbye. Tomorrow is the rapture, and I'm so scared of being left behind that I decided to abandon my sinful ways and give up my atheism.

I'm going to convert! I'm going to leave all my rational thinking behind and embrace faith. I'm going to be saved!

I finally realized that faith is better than science! Why have I been worshipping logical thought all these years? Just think ... if I'd waited another day the Rapture would have come and I'd be sitting here crying. Now I've seen the light, and I'm headed for Heaven!

You can do it too if you try! Just repeat after me...

I believe that there's a magical guy in the sky who created the whole universe in seven days, just a few thousand years ago. All those dinosaur bones and stuff are just there to confuse me! Who created God? I have no idea, but hey, I have faith so it doesn't matter!

I believe that in spite of being a pretty good guy all my life, working hard, raising

Christians Call Overpopulation a Myth

For at least a century thoughtful people have supported the movement to slow the world's population growth to sustainable levels. It doesn't take a PhD in demographics or mathematics to realize that the population explosion, if left unchecked, will be the worst catastrophe to ever hit the Earth.

If we keep having babies at the current rate, we'll be shoulder-to-shoulder covering the entire Earth, oceans and all, in well under 800 years!

So what do you say to this? It's a reader's comment to this article: The Myth of Overpopulation.

"If you [are an atheist], then you think that humans really need to control their fertility and population growth. ... But if you know that there is a God, who knows what He’s doing when He sends babies into the world, then you know not to worry about overpopulation. Those atheists live in a scary world. Without God, the scary stories of overpopulation make perfect sense. Only a knowledge of God can help us see that we don’t need to worry about it, just trust God.

This is lunacy. What this writer is saying is that logic and science prove

An Honest Christian: Faith in Jesus Christ is not at all logical

Here is a great quote from a Christian schoolteacher who is the advisor for her school's Christian club. When asked whether her club and the student atheist club should get together to discuss their beliefs, Mrs. Karen Harrell had this to say:

"My reaction is faith in Jesus Christ is not at all logical. When your beliefs are based on faith, you're believing something you can't see. Being able to prove that scientifically in a debate – it could be hard to win."

I have to confess that Mrs. Harrell may be the most honest Christian I've heard in a long time. I have a great deal of respect for her straight-ahead assertion of faith. Seriously.

I don't share Mrs. Harrell's beliefs, and I think she might find it enlightening to participate in that discussion with the student atheist group. But Mrs. Harrell is an honest Christian, one who has a strong faith. She doesn't pretend

Faith is better than Reason? You Bet!

I love it when some religious nut attacks, makes strong and unambiguous claims, and I can show them to be plainly and obviously wrong. It would be even more satisfying if these people would feel humbled by their mistakes, but they rarely are. It seems that their religious convictions preclude the possibility of error.

Today's topic is the one thing I object to the most about religion. No, it's not terrorist martyrs, creationism or even young men wearing black ties who knock on my door and are so nice I can't bear to argue with them. The thing that gets me the most is the idea that when faith and reason collide, faith should be trusted over reason.

Recently several readers have argued with me that Christians don't believe this. They flat-out deny that faith-over-reason meme is at the core of their beliefs. (I call this the Anti-Rationalism Meme in my book.)

So here is a collection of quotes that

Environmentalism: Bad for your Soul, God Will Fix Everything

I'm often asked, "Why do you care about religion so much? Why not live and let live?" Even my own sister asked me this once. The answer is simple: I care because religion fosters ignorance, and ignorance can destroy the world.

Today I stumbled on a perfect illustration: Resisting the Green Dragon.

"A Biblical Response to One of the Greatest Deceptions of our Day

Without a doubt one of the greatest threats to society and the church today is the multifaceted environmentalist movement. ... Environmentalism has become a new religion ... devastating to the world's poor ... threatens the sanctity of life ... Resisting the Green Dragon takes its cue from James 4:7 ... Learn how the Bible powerfully confronts environmental fears and how – in God's wise design – people and nature can thrive together.

The reality is that atmospheric scientists, the ones who actually do the science, have almost nothing to gain personally from their discoveries. They're just doing science because they love it and it's a living.

But greendragon.com's introductory video claims environmentalism is trying to put the entire world under its "destructive control." They believe global warming is a massive conspiracy of fear mongering designed to put scientists in charge of the world and to replace God with a new pagan Earth-worship. They seriously claim that there is no global warming, the environment is fine, and that overpopulation isn't a problem.

Worst of all, they believe God has a plan and won't let us destroy the Earth.

It's almost like they think we're little kids learning to ride a bike, with God running alongside to catch us if we lose our balance. We can use and abuse the Earth as we please, and God will take care of us.

This is why religion is dangerous. It teaches people to be irrational, to ignore scientific evidence, and to hope for miracles that will never come. If these people were in charge, we really would destroy the Earth's environment. Luckily they're not in charge.

But they aren't powerless. Their well-crafted propaganda is available on DVDs, and the influence of groups like greendragon.com is a serious impediment to solving the world's problems. These guys are the enemy of civilization.

"But wait," you say, "those guys are a bunch of nutjobs. You're painting all religions with a single brush! Most Christians, Jews and Muslims are more sensible. Don't lump us all in with these extremists!"

And it's true. I shouldn't paint all religious people with one brush. I know that some

The End of the World is Here! Again!!

Egads, the end of the world is here again! A group of Christians led by Oakland, California radio preacher Harold Camping has calculated that May 21st will be the end of the world!

I'm reminded of that Mickey Mantle quote:

If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

If I'd know the world was going to end, I might have ... well, I don't know what I would do differently.

That's the great thing about atheist philosophy. We only have one life, so we know it counts. You have to live a good life, one that matters and is moral and productive. The only thing you get to leave behind is whether you made the world a better place or a worse place. There is no forgiveness, no second chance, no "Oops, sorry about that, can you forgive me God?"

Harold Camping and his followers are running around telling everyone it's time to repent, that there is very little time left to get it right. A better philosophy is to get it right in the first place. Have good morals and you'll never have to ask for forgiveness. Live this life as though it matters, because it does.

Actually, even sadder than all that "repent" business is that some of Camping's followers

Why Islamic Extremists Kill Their Critics

The other day I was seriously wondering how Taliban leaders including Osama bin Laden have been able to hide in Pakistan for so long. The Taliban are waging war on Pakistan, trying to overthrow the legitimate government, so why do the Pakistanis support and hide them?

Well, today I got my answer. This is the same country that imposes the death penalty for blasphemy. The Taliban supporters put Islam first, and their country second.

Any country that has a law imposing the death penalty for blasphemy is still in the dark ages. Their Muslim fundamentalism is so extreme that they are blinded to what's happening. They'd rather foster terrorism than make their country a civilized place. They'd rather have war and murder than let some random nobody say something bad about their religion.

I really don't understand how anyone can care about blasphemy. If some random guy I've never met before stopped me on the street and told me "You're ugly!", I'd just walk on by. Why do I care what he thinks? The guy is nobody.

If instead I took his insult seriously, I'd be doing two stupid things. First, I would be showing him that I cared about his opinion. And second, I'd be lending credibility to his authority to make such a claim.

Ft. Worth Pastor: First Amendment is not for Atheists

It seems that at least one prominent Christian pastor in Fort Worth, Texas doesn't believe the First Amendment applies to atheists. It came to light because Fort Worth banned all ads with religious or atheist content.

We've all been having fun watching the back-and-forth "battle of the ads" on Fort Worth buses. For years, various Christian organizations bought ad space with no controversy. Then those darned atheists messed it all up. They decided to show their "Good Without God" and similar atheist ads, sponsored by the Coalition of Reason, on those same buses.

Well, those ads upset the deeply religious people of Texas – we're talkin' about Baptist country! So they started chasing the buses around with their own god-mobile. It was a truck with a big billboard on it saying "I still love you – God," and "2.1 Billion People are Good With God." A couple of bus drivers even refused to drive the atheist-ad buses and took sick days.

Up to that point, it was all good fun.

The Fake-Christians Easy Out Clause: Another Ray Comfort Gem

I've never written about Ray Comfort before because he's such a goofball. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. But the other day he wrote an essay that parroted one of my favorite arguments from Christian apologetics: the Fake Christians Argument. In a nutshell, it says that anyone who abandons Christianity wasn't a "real" Christian to start with! Here's Ray's version of Fake Christians:

After seven seasons as host of Canada's "most listened to spiritual talk show," Drew Marshall announced to his listeners that he is no longer convinced there's a God. ... We have millions of people within the contemporary Church who have been convinced intellectually of the existence of God, but they've never been converted experientially by the power of God. So when someone comes along with what they perceive to be a more convincing argument, they begin to doubt their salvation. And so they should--because they are not saved. They are false converts...

In other words, Christianity never loses membership because anyone who abandons it was a fake. Only real Christians count. How do you know they are real Christians?

1001 Inventions: The Once-Great Islam's Great Decline

Nations and cultures in decline seem to revel in their past greatness. In fact, if you find a culture that's loudly proclaiming its past accomplishments, it's a sure bet that the culture is in decline. Young people look forward, old folks look backwards, and so it is with cultures and nations. Just go to the British Museum and you'll see what I mean: the country that once stretched around the world now rules an island, but loves to bask in its history.

Look at any culture that lauds its past, and you'll find a culture that's been defeated, beaten back, or overrun. You'll see a culture that's lost its greatness, and now can only remember its past.

Apparently this is true of religion too, and Islam is giving us a wonderful illustration. A new exhibit, 1001 Inventions: Science in Muslim Lands, is glorifying the "Golden Age" of Muslim scholars. During this period, from the mid-8th to mid-13th century, Islamic scholars led the world in

Christianity is Dying - The Story Behind Anne Rice's Defection

The recent flurry of news reports and blogs about Anne Rice's defection from Christianity has been fun, but most writers missed the story behind it. Anne Rice isn't just an oddity or an exception. She's not one of those rugged individualist authors (though she certainly is unique) trying to hack a new path through the jungles of religion.

No, the real story is how utterly common these defections are becoming.

According to a new LA Times story, defection from organized religion is becoming so frequent among young people that a high-profile case like Anne Rice is barely news any more. "Rice is merely one of millions of Americans who have opted out of organized religion in recent years," according to the Times.

The Times goes on to cite the now-famous 2008 Pew study that showed 1 in 6 people in America are not part of any specific religion, a number that jumps to 1 in 4 for young adults 20-30 years old. "American Christianity is not well, and there's evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical than most realize – or at least want to admit."

This is particularly bad news for religion, and Christianity in particular,

Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Religion or Not?

Monday's blog about Alcoholics Anonymous brought quite a vigorous response from AA's defenders. The blog discussed scientific studies that show that attending AA makes people less likely to recover than if they got no treatment at all, and many readers were apparently offended by this.

The discussion reminded me yet again why I think religion is bad for society as a whole. It teaches that faith trumps reality, and convinces people that if they want something to be true, it must be true.

On the one hand, you have people trained in the sciences who work hard to remove their biases so that they can find the truth even if it is disagreeable. They've developed techniques that make it hard to fool themselves, such as randomly assigning people to one treatment or another, "double blind" studies where those evaluating the outcome don't know which person was assigned to which treatment, and many other tricks that help eliminate our wants, prior beliefs, and desires from biasing the results.

"A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, a mere heart of stone."
– Charles Darwin

On the other hand, you have a large group of people brought up with religion.

Christian Shocker: God-Based AA Program Harms Alcoholics

Did you know that the Alcoholics Anonymous twelve-step program, which has God as the foundation of its program, doesn't work? Not only doesn't it work, but many scientific studies have shown pretty clearly that it does more harm than good! What's more, it appears that the religious component of the AA program is the culprit.

I was quite frankly shocked when I heard this. While I'm not religious, I have always admired AA members for their dedication and selfless efforts to help one another. I've had close friends and family members who were alcoholics, and wished they could find the strength to acknowledge their disease and go to AA for help.

But no more. After reading this damning article, which refers to dozens of scientific studies including several sponsored by AA board members and advocates, I now see AA for what it is: another faith-based folly that continues because of faith, not reason. In study after study, scientists, sociologists and doctors find that AA is worse that getting no help at all.

And it's pretty clear why.

The Science of Luck - Really!

When I saw the headline, "Be Lucky – It's an Easy Skill to Learn," I thought, "Oh boy, here's another unscientific bit that might be fun to deconstruct!" Imagine my surprise and pleasure to instead find that this article about good luck was actually scientific, well researched, and fun to read!

Prof Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire (UK), according to his own web page, "has gained an international reputation for research into quirky areas of psychology, including deception, humour, luck and the paranormal." He has a REALLY cool blog with some great illusions and puzzles.

Many people, perhaps most, think their luck is a metaphysical phenomenon, controlled by beneficent or malevolent forces of good and evil, or maybe god, fairies, devils, what have you. When bad things happen, they are victims; when good things happen, they don't take credit.

Wiseman took the approach of a true man of science. He studied it, and discovered that the people themselves caused their own fortune and misfortune. After interviewing hundreds of self-described lucky and unlucky people, he discovered the underlying reasons:

• Lucky people were able to spot opportunities quickly and take them. Unlucky people overlooked opportunities, even obvious ones.
• Lucky people were optimistic and relaxed, unlucky people were anxious and worried.
• Lucky people listen to their intuition, unlucky people do not.
• Lucky people had positive expectations, unlucky people expect the worst.

If that were the end of it, you might imagine that unlucky people were pessimistic and shunned their intuition because bad luck had taught them bitter lessons. But Professor Wiseman went a step further: he offered lessons in how to improve luck, and it worked!

This is real science, and it's refreshing. All too often in this blog, I find myself criticizing yet another silly quasi-religious pseudo-scientific theory, whether it is homeopathy, scientology, or faith healing. It's too bad there aren't more men and women like Professor Wiseman, showing world that our fates are really in our own hands, not some mythical, mystical world of demons, fairies and gods. Life is much better when we live in the real world.

Faith Based Medicine: A Tragic Story

My previous blog poked fun at faith-based medicine. Little did I know when I posted that light-hearted satire that today's blog would be a true-life tragedy.

An Australian couple let their baby die because of their "faith" in homeopathy. And worse, this wasn't some quick death due to fever, it was a terrible, lingering, painful death. Judge Johnson, who presided over the case, called it what it was: cruelty.

I believe it was the philosopher William James (no relation) who said that the strength of a person's beliefs is proportional to their investment in those beliefs. In this case, the father was Thomas Sam, a lecturer in homeopathy at a homeopathic college. "Professor" Sam's entire career and academic reputation rested on the foundation of his beliefs in the efficacy of homeopathic remedies. If he'd sent his baby to physicians who use proper, science-based medicine, he would have been admitting that his entire career was a sham.

Well, his career was a sham. The "professor" just didn't know it, and now his baby is dead, and he and his wife are in prison.

Homeopathy is a religion, nothing more, nothing less. It's based on a theory that is plainly wrong. Anyone with even a modest grasp of the basics of how the universe works can instantly see that homeopathy can't possibly work. There are only two ways one can accept homeopathy: Either through sheer ignorance, or through a deliberate rejection of logical thinking.

In Thomas Sam's case, we can't even give him credit for ignorance. He was a well-educated man who deliberately, callously, and selfishly put his career and reputation ahead of the life of his child. Six years in prison will never erase that baby's suffering nor bring it back to life.

Faith-Based Medicine: A bit of Humor

A little bit of fun today. What if you went to the Emergency Room, and all of the medicine was based on faith instead of science?