Comfort

[Tabby]

Religion gives us comfort. It tells us why this and that happens, and how. It pull shtick out of thin air, hoping to ease your mind and then you can drone on without thinking about what you just agreed to.

Scientists--or, so I've read in Psychology Today Mag--have studied the affects of 'religious vs. non-religious' individuals. The religious individuals showed signs of less stress, lower blood pressure, decreased symptoms of depression and a whole slew of other mental-physical health stuff.
Now, if this is so, perhaps it's not RELIGION, per se, that is makeing us more comfortable, but something else? Something deeply psychological that gives us health--but what is it?

What is a good healthy psychological replacement of religion? That is, the healthy things that religion does for you--because religion does more harm than good--they can be using that money to help the poor, the weak, put it with better research, and here they are, building up statures, and haveing religious wars and conflict all the time (poor little pascifist me!)...
So terrible.

But anyways,
what is a good replacment of this "comfort"?

[Tiberius]

I find a good chat with people who share my views is a good comfort, or just doing all the things that people usually do without religion (walks in parks, etc).

The Universalist Unitarian churches seem to be a good other comforting thing that non-religious people can go to.

[lrh9]

I'd just like to point out that non-religious people might be less stressed out if they weren't getting a lot of static from vocal religious groups. However, I've heard that the three necessary ingredients for a happy life are sex, exercise, and at least one hobby a person genuinely enjoys.

[Tabby]

I find a good chat with people who share my views is a good comfort, or just doing all the things that people usually do without religion (walks in parks, etc).

The Universalist Unitarian churches seem to be a good other comforting thing that non-religious people can go to.

Meh. I find the Universalist Unitarian churches quite a scam. It's a big jumbled mess--there's nothing atheistic about it at all, just a whole bunch of other religions getting together and deciding that they, for once, have to agree about everything being the right answer. >_> Not very grounding, I think, much less rational.

[g-mark]

That there is a truth. Natural world. Yourself. But this only helps to a cetain degree as we are social animals. Talking with others that believe the same as you.

But as we all have our differences, it dosen't really make sense. Maybe.