A couple of years ago, a psychologist I know made the off-handed comment that there is conclusive evidence that "Atheists are not as happy as the ordinary, average person?"
We tossed that subject around for a few minutes and then moved on to something else. At the time, I didn't think too much about it. Mind you this doctor never revealed his particular religious beliefs (if any) and only briefly mentioned his philosophical inclinations as being largely existential in nature, and in particular informed by Søren Kierkegaard.
In the intervening period, his casual remark has really resonated with me.
In my experience, True Believers tm of every stripe--whether Christian, Muslim, Atheist, ... whatever--tend to be very uptight, unhappy people always going around trying to prove everyone else wrong and themselves right, often in a rude, offensive and annoying manner with total disregard for the beliefs of others.
On the other hand, the thoughtful, introspective people I have known, the ones that have examined a number of different belief systems and concluded they don't know all the answers and they're probably unknowable anyway, these are the ones that seem to best be able to get through life with calmness, dignity, grace and a certain serenity that True Believers tm clearly and curiously lack.
So I'd like to open this up for discussion here on the board. Share what you know about this subject, whether it is simply your own personal experiences and observations or academic and scientific studies of which you are aware that have singular relevance:
Who is the happiest? Believer or Not!