California Voters Approve Gay-Marriage Ban

I won't hold much credence in either set of claims until I see some trustworthy census analysis.

jumps a bandwagons, not even questioning their beliefs

A large number of studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes such as coping skills, and fewer anxiety, and greater longevity.

Claims, blames. I don't give a crap. I'm just saying not everyone thinks the same way. There'll always be diversity.

I've talked to some atheists, and they can't even argue why they choose atheism. They are lazy bums who jumps a bandwagons, not even questioning their beliefs, and they simply don't care. So don't get high and mighty that atheist are "smarter" and more morally upholding than people who belong to a religion.

Religious Involvement, Spirituality, and Medicine: Implications for Clinical Practice

List by the United Nations (2005–2010)

Life expectancy at birth (years)[4]
Rank Country (State/territory) Overall Male Female
1 Japan 82.6 79.0 86.1
2 Hong Kong 82.2 79.4 85.1
3 Switzerland 82.1 80.0 84.2
4 Israel 82.0 80.0 84.0
5 Iceland 81.8 80.2 83.3
6 Australia 81.2 78.9 83.6
7 Singapore 81.0 79.0 83.0
8 Spain 80.9 77.7 84.2
8 Sweden 80.9 78.7 83.0
10 Macau 80.7 78.5 82.8

World Happiness Report 2012: Scandinavian Countries Are Happiest On Earth (SLIDESHOW)
Posted: 04/ 6/2012 4:10 pm Updated: 04/ 6/2012 6:49 pm

FOLLOW: Columbia, Earth Institute, Denmark, Finland, Global Economy, Netherlands, Norway, Scandinavia, World Happiness Report, World's Happiest Country, World News

Denmark has taken the top spot on the United Nation's first ever World Happiness Report, followed by Finland, Norway and the Netherlands.

The 158-page report, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute, was commissioned for the United Nations Conference on Happiness on Monday in order to "review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness."

The rankings in the report were based on a number called the "life evaluation score," a measurement which takes into account a variety of factors including people's health, family and job security as well as social factors like political freedom and government corruption. It also looks at measurements from previous reports on happiness from the Gallup World Poll (GWP), the World Values Survey (WVS), the European Values Survey (EVS), and the European Social Survey (ESS).

I see what I see from understanding universal truths that can be supported by universal studies - not limited to one religion.

You bodhisattva you. Who else among us (on A2K) can comprehend universal truths?

Not all people of religion have the same genes or environment; how does one measure "faith?"

According to human history, past and present, religions have been responsible for the worst of atrocities perpetrated against others. That's a fact.

Really? Apparently you have ignored in your calculations the atrocities and murders carried out by utterly anti-religion fellows like Mao, Lenin, Stalin and Pol Pot...to name but a few.

Happiness and longevity are not based on religious beliefs; that's supported by the fact that as a country, Japan has the longest life span, and it's not based on their religion.

And you know that the "fact" is that Japan's longevity has nothing to do with religion? How, may I ask?

In any case you have conviently dismissed "happiness" in your assertion. Japanese may (pr may not) live linger than the rest of us (no matter what the reason) but do they live log lives of greater happines than the rest of us?

Denmark has been shown to be the happiest, and theirs is a sectarian country. The article I posted above shows how they measure "happiness."
Religion is not even on the list.

Religion may be a soporhistic but you have ignored the many recent American studies that show that the "religious" are more happy than non-religious.

I've no problem with an argument that religion may be the equivalent of opium, but at least such an argument acknowledges that religion makes people happy.

You, for entirely childish reasons, have determined that religion is bad, and so you are compelled to offer false evidence that religion, despite what the majority of experts contend, doesn't promote happiness.