God might not be great, but church is awesome

Putnam is absolutely on to something. The implications for American society are that the church is a huge ingredient of our being more socially connected than people in Europe. For all our failings, we are still close to the head of the pack in the developed world for volunteerism and light years in front in church involvement, and it is through the church that so many of our political and social renewal movements have started. It's no accident that Barack Obama, for example, is pretty darned churchy.

The church is a huge enabler of social contact that we would not otherwise have. It has triggered political and social movements; it fills the void left by the decline of other social organizations. On a more ominous note there are also parallels between us and Islamic fundamentalists; the fundie churches in particular seem to fill a social and moral void, but they extract a major price in return, radicalizing their followers and distorting parts of our political agenda.

I see nothing unusual here. The primary defining characteristic of humans is that we're very very social beings. So it seems to me that it follows that any activity that meets our need for social contact (such as the social aspects of church-attendance) makes us happy(er). Eg, if your team wins a major championship, you are quite happy - but you can enhance that feeling very significantly by joining a like-minded group to celebrate.

As for religion as a source of happiness: Will Wilkinson, in a commentary on Arthur Brooks book "Gross National Happiness",

( http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/05/17/arthur-brooks-on-religion-and-happiness/ )

points out:

"What you do not learn in the chapter on religion in Gross National Happiness is that countries with some of the lowest levels of religious participation in the world, such as Denmark, Norway, or Finland show up again and again in international rankings as some of the world’s happiest places, usually ahead of the U.S. Moreover, many of the most religious places on Earth are deeply miserable."

So it looks like there are significant cultural issues that enter into the equation.

Is this correlation or causation — i.e., is happiness causing people to find religion, or vice versa?

That isn't a correct summary of correlation vs. causation.

[...] on why are the the religious happier? The primary driver isn’t religious belief. It’s church attendance. Friends at church [...]

It also shows that the religious will have an advantage over the non-religious in terms of development of social networks. This not only might make people happier in itself, but help people when trying to find new jobs, or business contacts, or otherwise help people find what they want.

The finding regarding young people may not be of much significance for the future because may people become more religious as they grow older. It's something they come back to after they get married and have kids.

One other factor to consider - does the Churches stance on lifestyle play a role? Statistics show that staying married, not having children out of wedlock, finishing school, etc... play a role in not being impoverished. Does church participation (and per the article, the influnce of friends) mean that Church attendees have fewer instances of these items which may create more stress and/or less happiness?

What Putnam is implying—at least according to Dan’s summary—is that churches are like clubs/associations. They are venues where like-minded people can get together to socialize. Two questions coming out of this interpretation:

- Why do Americans choose churches as their "clubs" rather than something else? (I guess I'm assuming "either churches, or other clubs" rather than there being a positive correlation.)

- How do we explain the Generation Y phenomenon? It might very well be that the current generation of youths find their social communities online.

I think there's a tendency for those who are non-religious to have more concern and feel more blame when negative things occur. If this is true then it is not surprising that those who are more religious are happier. The more you believe that terrible things are God's will and thus out of your control, the more at ease you are likely to feel.

I highly recommend Putnam's book "Bowling Alone." He delves into many really interesting statistics regarding social connectivity, participation, etc., including the the steady overall increase in both formal and informal participation through the 1950s-60s, and the erosion in participation since. The Generation Y issue may be a part of the overall trend toward isolation, or it may have its own discrete cause. The book, though, is a fascinating read. As a psychologist, I've discussed his findings in presentations, in therapy sessions, and used it to motivate my own butt into doing more in the community (especially now, since I've got kids watching my every move!). I think there is a definite connection between the decreasing level of social connectivity in this country, and the corresponding rise in depression. On a micro-level, I address poor social skills and connections with depressed clients as a significant part of treatment. On a macro level, well, more important people than me will need to look into that!!!