50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison Page B

percentage of organic atheism of any nation in the world at 46
to 85 percent. Bhutan's per capita income is less than a thousand dollars per year and most of its people are Buddhists with no belief in
Yahweh, Jesus, or Allah. Nonetheless, the people of this small
Himalayan nation rank in the top ten of the world when it comes to
happiness.
    Officially Islamic Brunei ranks ninth in happiness on White's
scale, leaving Christians to ponder how they can be so happy without
having Jesus in their lives. Maybe it is Allah, or maybe it's Brunei's
oil-rich economy that makes them so happy, but it certainly is not
Jesus or any of the Hindu gods. Number ten on the global happiness
ranking is Canada, yet another nation with a relatively high percentage
of nonbelievers. According to Zuckerman, cheery Canada ranks twentieth in the world for percentage of nonbelieving citizens, with 15 to
37 percent of its population unconvinced that gods are real.
    What about the bottom of White's list? What are the least-happy
nations on earth? Believers might be surprised to learn that the three
countries occupying the bottom of White's happiness ranking are
highly religious societies with virtually no atheists. They are: Democratic Republic of the Congo (ranked 176 in happiness), Zimbabwe
(177), and Burundi (178). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
nonbelievers are virtually nonexistent. The population is loyal to
Christianity and traditional African beliefs. The people of Zimbabwe
also are believers with very few exceptions. Most of them believe in
both traditional African religions and Christianity. Burundi's citizens
are mostly Christian but also include Muslims and those who follow indigenous African beliefs. All that belief, however, isn't enough to
keep them from ranking last in global happiness.

    I am not suggesting that atheism guarantees happiness. Of course
it doesn't. But one can look around at the world today and see that
belief in gods does not guarantee it either. There are many factors that
determine happiness. Belief may indeed bring joy in many cases, but
there is no reason to think that nonbelievers cannot find just as much
happiness in their own way. For some, having a free mind that is
unburdened by ancient beliefs is the best road to a happy and satisfying life. I suspect that security, health, food, shelter, family, romantic
love, and friendships all weigh far more heavily than one's belief or
nonbelief in influencing happiness. The important point here is that
people can be happy without believing in gods and people can be sad
even if they believe in gods.
    Those who believe in a god and attempt to defend the reality of
that god by claiming it is the source of their happiness are overreaching. Deriving joy from belief is not evidence that a god is real. It
only means believing can bring joy for some people. Of course it can;
no one disputes that. Those who go even further and claim that belief
in a god is necessary for happiness need to consider the millions of
Danes, Swedes, Swiss, Austrians, Icelanders, Finns, and Canadians
who don't believe but are happier than most nonetheless.
    Anyone who fears losing a bit of joy from life by daring to question his or her belief might consider that losing imaginary gods does
not mean losing religion necessarily. There is no law that says one must
believe Jesus is a god to enjoy singing "Silent Night" at Christmastime.
One does not have to believe Allah exists to enjoy friendship and conversation at a Mosque. One does not have to believe that Kurma is real
in order to enjoy participating in the beautiful rituals of Hinduism. Find
your happiness where you can, but never cling to it at the expense of
thinking freely and vigorously about everything-even gods.

CHAPTER 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
RECOMMENDED READING
    "Buddhists `Really Are Happier."' BBC, May 21, 2003. http://news.bbc.co
.uk/2/hi/bealth/3047291.stm.
    Kurtz, Paul. Living without Religion: