“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” – Proverbs 9:10.

For all of history, religion has played a major role, and understandably so. It’s pretty hard to ignore the questions that religion attempts to answer: Why are we here? What is the meaning? What happens when we die? And so on. To answer these questions is basically one unknowingly creating their own religion, which then leads to different religions, which leads to different civilizations. Now, I want to point out, that I am not devoted to any particular religion, so there are no biases coming from my part, although I am a theist so perhaps I do have some biases, but I’ll try my best to stay neutral.

As the last century has shown, religion has played a less significant role in people’s lives, at least in the Western world. As civilization has gotten better, religion isn’t needed as much, our food productivity is at an all-time high, diseases are not as deadly, and the mortality rate has declined. If you look at the most religious countries in the world, you’ll see it is in some of the most dangerous places to live, because religion is necessary to keep a person’s will to survive.

“There are no atheists in foxholes” – Unknown

Jared Diamond wrote a book titled The World Until Yesterday (2017) in which he described a situation where Israelis were taking refuge in a bomb shelter during the 2006 Lebanon war. Richard Sosis and W. Penn Handwerker, interviewed the women in the bomb shelter, some of whom recited psalms in hopes that their houses wouldn’t get destroyed by the incoming rockets. What Sosis and Handwerker noticed is that the women who recited psalms as opposed to the ones who did not had “less difficulty falling asleep, had less difficulty concentrating, were less inclined to bursts of anger, and felt less anxious, nervous, tense, and depressed.” A common rebuttal against the existence of god is “Why would God allow so much suffering in the world, while others are born privileged” which is a very good question, but the people who are born in a life of unchosen suffering, are usually the one’s who believe in God the most. Richard Dawkins is probably the most famous outspoken atheist in the world, he is under the impression that the world would be a better place if everyone were an atheist, however, if a starving kid in Africa or a child soldier being prepared for battle believed in no god, it would do more harm than good as they would lack hope, optimism and a reason to survive.

“I wanted to ask God why he allows hunger, war, and poverty in the world, but I’m afraid he’ll ask me the same thing.”

As the decline of religion continues, the decline of mental health has risen, now there is no direct evidence that mental health has declined because religion hasn’t been relevant in people’s lives as much, but there is no denying that religion does have a positive impact on mental health. Reports have shown that having a deep faith can make one happier – this may come from the optimism that it brings, the humbleness in believing that there is something greater than you or perhaps the notion that there is something or someone who loves you unconditionally. While all these are qualified reasons, a large one in particular is the sense of community. There have been numerous of studies to support this:

• A study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion in 2015 found a positive correlation between religiosity (the level of religious involvement and commitment) and social integration. The study showed that individuals who attended religious services regularly tended to have larger social networks and stronger community ties.

• Research published in the American Sociological Review in 2016 examined the relationship between religious participation and social support. The study found that individuals who were actively involved in religious communities reported higher levels of social support from fellow members. This social support included emotional, practical, and social assistance during times of need.

• A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2009 found that religious congregations often serve as hubs for community involvement. The research revealed that members of religious congregations were more likely to be engaged in volunteer work and charitable activities in their communities.

• Some studies have suggested that religious communities can have positive effects on health outcomes. For example, research published in PLOS ONE in 2016 found that religious involvement was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and greater perceived social support among individuals with chronic illnesses.

There are many more studies to support this notion, but I think you get the point.

While we may not know if a lack of religion is the purpose behind the decline of young people’s mental health (social media is the largest suspect), one thing we do know is that it is the most helpful tool for the ones who suffer from the lowest form of mental health decline. This mental health isn’t “Oh, I just feel a little down today” this is the “I’m a straight man and I suck dick for coke” disorder (I apologize for being vulgar). Drug addicts, homeless people, prisoners, etc, are the lowest groups of people in society, most of them have burnt bridges with their families and closest friends, they have no support and often looked down upon by the world with very little sympathy. How can someone in this position get themselves back on their feet and make a permanent change? Well, the method that is most commonly used and most effective is religion. And the best part is: It’s free! However, another common point from most atheists is the belief that one has to believe in fairytales in order to receive these benefits, but to me that shouldn’t even matter, if believing the moon is a cookie made out of cottage cheese makes my life even a tiny bit better, I’d take that any day of the week. When I was younger, I was very critical of the 1st rule (and the most important rule) of the 12-step program, the rule was to admit that alcoholism was a disease that you are powerless to. Most people know alcoholism isn’t a disease that infects people like the plague, not once did the world quarantine for two weeks under the suspicion that they may catch the deadly disease of alcoholism. In saying this, if my brother was an alcoholic who can’t change his ways if his believing that he is just a victim of a disease makes him stop drinking, then I should believe in it too. Telling someone that their religion is “wrong” or “doesn’t make sense”, is almost like telling your 5-year-old that Santa doesn’t exist, you’ll never disclose that to a child because you don’t want to take away any joy and excitement from their life, so why would you do the same to someone else.