Atheism and the meaning of life - what drives you?

[Spongebob]

Except there's no "better with" part to explain in the first place.  It's not even a placebo.  The vast majority of miserable people are believers by brute force of demographics.  Belief in a god doesn't seem to be making life any better for people who believe in gods..and that makes it idiotic to believe that it -could- make life better for people who don't.

What would make life better for people who didn't believe in gods and for people who do..... is if people who did believe stopped being such dicks and blaming it on their gods.  Full stop.

But many believers do think that religion (or just belief in the supernatural) makes their life better in some tangible ways.  Sometimes its a subtle thing, like believing one is happier or more content.  Other times its outrageously direct like belief that believing shields you against disease or bad financial hardships or relationship mishaps and my favorite, their ball team will win.  A more down to earth theist might claim that the ideals and lessons they learn through religion help them make better life decisions and thus make their life better.  Believing these things doesn't make things happen but it can have a very minor effect on one's outlook.