I just read a fascinating article in The Economist about the correlation between religion and happiness. While most religions do seem to preach a kind of emotional maturity and commitment to moral life, it’s not clear why such an existence, or even efforts towards such an existence would make someone happy. Nevertheless, according to the article, researchers have found that being religious can have a huge effect on one’s satisfaction with life:
Dalia Mogahed, who oversees Gallup's research on Muslim opinion, has made some stark observations about [a global investigation of well-being]. There are, she notes, many Muslim countries where men and women alike are fed up with life. But of the ten places with the highest correlation between being female and (relatively) satisfied, nine are mainly Muslim: Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Palestine, Jordan and Morocco.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I was shocked to see places like Bangladesh and Palestine on that list, considering the way I generally assume women live in those countries. There are undoubtedly thousands of women who are overjoyed to live under a burka, just as there are thousands of Jewish women who think sheytls are just one way of respecting and demonstrating love for God. It’s a strange idea to me, but one I consciously remind myself to consider. I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways that God can make us happy and miserable since I spent some time at Footsteps on Sunday. Here’s the Footsteps mission statement:
Footsteps provides educational, vocational and social support to those seeking to enter or explore the world beyond the insular ultra-religious communities in which they were raised. People from the ultra-orthodox and Chasidic communities who choose to enter mainstream America currently do so as new immigrants in every sense. They face cultural disorientation and isolation coupled with a lack of practical and marketable skills. Founded in December 2003, Footsteps aims to assist individuals who choose to make this difficult transition.
On Sunday I was able to talk to some Footsteppers about religion, God and tradition, and it was clear that though they were raised in heavily religious atmospheres, God, Judaism and tradition made them miserable. It’s hard not to wonder how anyone could be happy in the situations they described, childhoods of poverty, with strict rules and ordinances governing every moment, and little time for levity, if at all. But then, the Footsteppers are the minority—most of their friends and family members seem perfectly content to live in the ultra-Orthodox world. And that, too, must be a legitimate point. People ask me all the time why I maintain an observant lifestyle when no one is looking over my shoulder, and no one cares whether I keep Shabbat or don’t. And for me the answer is simply because being observant makes me happy. I like Shabbat, and I like davening, and I like hanging out with other Jewish people. I recognize that that’s a fairly shallow way of looking at and maintaining a religious life, but I’m not interested in reading Kant or Heidegger to understand my own theology. For me, it’s enough to be happy. I wish I could say that even when God doesn’t make me happy I’ll be on board with the Torah and mitzvoth a hundred percent, but I honestly don’t know. Part of me is embarrassed never to have hated or seriously doubted God, but mostly, I am just relieved.
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