I've got to post this to counter the thumbnail for this story

That doesn't have to do with faith so much as it is about control.

It's actually to do with what people believe in and the way that religion causes more problems, wars, terrorism and violence in the world than any other factor.

I'm not talking about individual beliefs but organized religion and organized religion is at the root of most of the worlds major conflicts.

They don't cite how they come to this conclusion, i.e. how the test was done but it's not wholly unbelievable in that most religions teach an afterlife, and promise a better one for those who believe. Interesting that believers are less apt to look for a job if out of work and that in religious countries unemployment is less.

Of the few religious people that I do know in RL, I am far more content than they are.

ofc they are happier, they get to not end when they die and someone else can forgive them for EVERYTHING.

whats the saying? ignorance is bliss? (/giggle. sorry couldn't resist ;p)

Hey, I was just about to say that. :) I agree. I'd be happier, too, if I thought there was some giant man in the sky just waiting to provide me with streets paved with gold and a passel of virgins with my name on them.
No personal responsibility = happy

They aren't happy though because they are either worried they're going to hell or worried they pissed God off or worried about dying in Armageddon or some other kind of bulls**t.

I'm an atheist and I'm happy. Especially on Sunday mornings :-D.

Pretty much like alcoholics.

Oh, but they are, they are shiny happy people, they live in a delusion and not reality, this is why they are so happy.

They don't realize what more and more people are opening their eyes to, that religion is the cause of, and not the cure for, most of our suffering. The guilt it places on people, the conviction of their teachings, and the rejection of all that oppose their particular beliefs.

They think that they are going to heaven when they die, this makes them happy, they don't realize that when they die that is it, there is nothing promised to us, this is why they are deluded.

They are using the church and god as a crutch. "God is on my side" "The Lord will make a way"

Faith is an interesting concept, but I just don't believe in it.

The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
-- George Bernard Shaw, Preface to Androcles and the Lion

Beat you to it.

:D

"and the way that religion causes more problems, wars, terrorism and violence in the world than any other factor."
I've always wondered why this statement is accepted as fact. It could be true for all I know- BUT- Those that tend to use that statement usually have a distinct bias against organized religion.
When it is said religion causes these things, they ignore the basics of human nature. Religion at this level is merely a means to an end. Those who use it in this manner want to establish a dynasty, create security for themselves and those of a like mind.
The violence mentioned above isn't about religion. It's about control, about power and influence. Religion is a great tool for this, but so is money, and just as often, a political belief is used. Do we have numbers on how many were killed because of religion as opposed to Stalin's millions or Hitler and his final solution? The opium wars? The war on terror, which is really a war about oil and resources? Food? Territory?

You blame the followers of a mythical invisible super jesus, but give politics and greed a free pass. It's done in the NAME of religion, not because of it.
Eliminate religion. Fine. The root cause has not been removed, just the simplest means to an end.In its place will be a political system, like, say communism, which just replaced the church with the state. People have to put their faith and hopes in something greater than themselves, but it doesn't have to be a dead jew. In communism's case, the symbolism of the church and saints was replaced, almost in an identical fashion, heroes of the revolution. Just as many atrocities have been committed for crimes against the state, crimes against the people, and so on. The crime "against" has to be something held in reverence, whether that be a leader, a god, a group, or a system.
/end rant.

*edit* By the way, I'm not picking on Doggylives- It's just that sentence started a train of thought.

Yeah, but he said it better. ; )

I hear what you're saying and I'll put it this way, I believe a lot of conflict, hatred and problems are caused in part if not entirely by religion. The most modern, identifiable example of this is the current threat of terrorism which is driven by beliefs and religion. Suicide bombers willing to give their life's for Allah and the "greater good".

Look also into history and the church and religion and the belief in god has been at the root of many conflicts.

I'm not saying that a belief in God is extrinsically linked to violence, wars ect but rather that where these things occur organized religion has always reared it's ugly head.