"Ed Hulett -> Ross Sauer"  wrote in
news:10600$HOLYSMOKE{at}JamNNTPd:

 RS>> Looks like those who don't have to rely on invisible imaginary
 EH>   beings are RS> happier.


 RS>> A new study (pdf) into the correlation between religious belief
 EH>   and RS> contentment and security shows that the less religious a
 EH>   society is the RS> happier and more secure it becomes.

 RS>> The study, by Gregory Paul, published in Evolutionary Psychology
 EH>   Journal RS> puts paid to the widely touted notion that without
 EH>   religion society would RS> collapse. According to Mr Paul, the
 EH>   reverse is true. Religion flourishes RS> where a society is
 EH>   dysfunctional and poor. When affluence is present and RS> people
 EH>   feel secure through the provision of health care and social RS>
 EH>   services, religion quickly loses its hold. In other words, those
 EH>   societies RS> that have moved furthest away from religion have
 EH>   higher levels of RS> contentment, stability and affluence.

 RS>> Unlike many others in his field, Paul does not think that
 EH>   humanity is RS> hardwired for religion, nor that belief in a higher
 EH>   being is necessary for RS> a society to achieve a high level of
 EH>   functionality.

 RS>> "Popular religion," Paul says, "is a coping
mechanism for the
 EH>   anxieties of RS> a dysfunctional social and economic environment."
 EH>   Simply put, it
 EH> means that
 RS>> without safety nets such as universal healthcare (which more
 EH>   prosperous RS> democracies have), people depend on the
"supernatural
 EH>   entities that could RS> be petitioned for aid and protection."

 RS>> http://www.secularism.org.uk/116203.html

 EH> That is pure, unadulterated, psychobabble and has no connection to
 EH> reality.

And just how do you know this?
Your church inform you of it, the same way Scientology teaches that
psychiatry is false?

The fact is, this study is goring your particular sacred cow, Ed, namely
your own belief that those without religion are unhappy.

--- Xnews/5.04.25