ASK FR BITAJU | KAIROS GLOBAL | DECEMBER 2021

Author: Fr Bitaju Mathew

Q. There are atheist communities around the world who seem to have a pretty good lifestyle. Isn't that proof we can live without religion?

Most people want to live meaningful and fulfilling lives. But it is hard to imagine this without a sense of purpose. Religion provides such a purpose or end for most people. Religion is man’s response to God who reveals himself. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, religion relates us to God because of two things: he is the source of our existence, and he is our life’s ultimate goal. Religion helps us know how to intelligently live our lives, since knowing the purpose or end of something is the first principle of the intelligent use of anything. For religion, worshipping God is the ultimate purpose in life. 

It may be possible to have a meaningful life without religion too. But time and again scientists have found that those with a spiritual practice or who follow religious beliefs tend to be happier than those who do not. Several studies clearly indicate that religious people tend to be less depressed and less anxious than non-believers. They are able to handle the vicissitudes of life better than non-believers. The special edition of TIME magazine (June 2016) reported that researchers at the London School of Economics and the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, in a survey conducted in 2015, found that participating in a religious organisation was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness. It was more than volunteering for a charity, taking educational courses or participating in political or community organisations. This would mean that an effective vaccine against the virus of unhappiness is a sense of spirituality and an active, social religious practice. 

Experts affirm that believing in a religion gives one a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life than a secular viewpoint alone does. This certainly can help carry one through the ups and downs of life.  Moreover, belief in an afterlife, which most mainstream religions have in common, can make one happier in this life, knowing that s/he is marching towards something better. Jesus’s promise to his followers that their reward is great in heaven (Mathew 5:12), seems to pay off in the here and now as well.

A survey conducted during 2012-2014 by Pew Research Center in 26 countries revealed that actively religious people are more likely than others to describe themselves as ‘very happy’ in about half of the countries surveyed.  Sometimes remarkable gaps are noted: in America for instance, 36% of the actively religious describe themselves as ‘very happy,’ compared with 25% of the inactively religious and 25% of the unaffiliated. Significant gaps among these groups also exist in Germany, Australia and Japan.

Though it is possible that one can live a pretty good life without religion, yet as we have seen, researches and surveys clearly indicate that actively religious people are more likely to live a more meaningful and happy life than those not affiliated to any religion. 

YOU CAT 5 

Why do people deny that God exists, if they can know him by reason? 

To know the invisible God is a great challenge for the human mind. Many are scared off by it. Another reason why some do not want to know God is because they would then have to change their life. Anyone who says that the question about God is meaningless because it cannot be answered is making things too easy for himself. [37-38]