sábado, 14 de fevereiro de 2009

Os crentes são mais felizes... por que haviam de preocupar-se?

Lembrando-me daquele frase dos autocarros, borrados com o escarro dos ateus, econtrei algures na Internet isto, que a seguir partilho.

Afinal, os ateus falam daquilo que os preocupa: como são ateus, vivem muito preocupados e são uns infelizes.

Esta demonstrado que os crentes são muito mais felizes do que os ateus, vivem mais tempo, em um sistema de valores que regula os seus comportamentos com vista ao bem-sestar geral... porque se haviam de preocupar.

No entando, os ateus, vitimas das mais crueis preocupações, imaginam que se passa o mesmo com os crentes. Como eles estão enganados.

Acordai tristes. Deixai de vos preocupar! Vede o exemplo dos crentes!!!


Are Religious People Happier?

Scientists search to explain why people believe in Gods

Researchers accidentally discovered that people with religious beliefs tend to be more content in life while studying an unrelated topic. While not the original objective, the recent European study found that religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a loved one or getting laid off of a job.

Professor Andrew Clark, from the Paris School of Economics, and co-author Dr Orsolya Lelkes, from the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, analyzed the a variety of factors among Catholic and Protestant Christians and found that life satisfaction seems to be higher among the religious population. The authors concluded that religion in general, might act as a "buffer" that protects people from life's disappointments.

"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,” noted Professor Clark. "They had higher levels of life satisfaction".

Data from thousands of European households revealed higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers. Professor Clark suspects that a variety of aspects are at play, and that perhaps a “religious upbringing” could be responsible for the effect, rather than any particular religious beliefs.

The researchers say they found that the religious crowd tended to experience more “current day rewards”, rather than storing them up for the future. Previous studies have also found strong correlations between religion and happiness. The idea that religion may offer substantial psychological benefits in life, is in sharp contrast with another common viewpoint that religion is repressive and has a negative influence on human development.

Professor Leslie Francis, from the University of Warwick believes that the benefit might involve the increased "purpose of life" experienced by many believers that may not be as strongly felt among nonbelievers.

Previous studies have concluded that humans are biologically predisposed to believe in God. Historically, most cultures have developed some sort of religious belief that included at least some form of a “higher power”. From an evolutionary and psychological perspective, these questions have intrigued scientists for decades, but the physiological and cognitive study of religion is still relatively young.

“One element of the current project is to develop philosophical and theological treatments of what the findings from cognitive science of religion means for various theological positions,” states the Cognition, Religion and Theology Project outline. “