The news cycle these days has a fair bit of conflict and stress. Some of this involves religious conflict as well which we have written about a few times (e.g. here, here, and here). So today, let’s look instead at how religion can help adherents dealing with life’s challenges. There’s quite a lot of data showing that being religious is good for you and maybe for your community as well.
Well-Being
This 2019 global study of 24 countries from the Pew Forum found that those who were actively religious (meaning one attends regularly) were more likely to report being “very happy” than either the unaffiliated or the religious-but-inactive folks. The gaps varied by country but were often fairly large as the graph at the link shows.
Photo Credit: Canva.com
This finding has been repeated many times but is also becoming more salient among the young. Youth in the West are experiencing dramatic rises in mental health problems since about 2012, as noted by Jonathan Haidt and others. However, data shows that youth who are religious and conservative are not seeing these rises in mental health issues (see the graph here).
In the article, they highlight the key role of community. The surge in mental health problems since 2012 has been tied to the rise of phones and how they isolate us socially, with the impacts magnified on youth who are in their more formative years. Those who actively attend religious communities, however, get more communal time. They are part of worship services and youth groups, and attend camps and congregational activities.
Giving
In addition, the article highlights that many in religious communities volunteer and perform acts of generosity more often (including helping congregants with groceries or other supportive actions that don’t generally get called “volunteering”). These actions again build community and provide the sense of having support but they also nurture our generosity. Data consistently shows that active religious attenders donate more money and volunteer more (true in both the USA and Canada) and such generosity is also positively correlated with well-being. Helping others makes us feel better, makes them feel better, and creates that sense of community that makes our personal world feel more comforting. And of course, while the article focused on the mental health aspect, charities do immensely important work in our societies and internationally. Supporting them is simply a public good that makes our neighbourhoods and our world better.
Photo Credit: Canva.com
Having Children
One of the biggest issues facing society is the dearth of children. Birth rates are collapsing across the world. While there has been concern about the environmental carrying capacity of earth as the population has surged in the last century, we now face a world where societies will age and shrink. Aging societies are by nature much poorer. There are fewer young people who pay taxes and who contribute to society, including caring for the aging. This issue is going to dominate our news in the coming decades.
Religiously active folks are just more likely to have children. In Canada, regular religious attenders aim to have a full extra child. American data has long shown that the devout have more children but the size of the gap has grown significantly in recent years as the fertility rate for the non-religious has been collapsing.
Religious communities often have very pro-child teachings that see children as a gift and a blessing. In addition, this research suggests that being in a religious community may lessen the burden of parenting as there is more “alloparenting” meaning that the adults in the community play more of a role in parenting each other’s children. The young are likely to receive guidance from multiple parent-like figures.
Photo Credit: Canva.com
Religion and politics makes the news and while sometimes this can be good (religious communities sometimes play leading roles in defending the marginalized), the stories that grab headlines often feature religious nationalism or violence. To some degree, this is merited. But the way religion can help us outside of the news – by providing community, opportunities and encouragement to be generous, and encouraging and supporting families – all of these can change the way our lives feel and foster a more grounded and happier self.
