US ambassador killed over a film

[shoju]

Is there actually any evidence that atheists and agnostics deal with adversity one whit less well than religious believers? I hear this argument all the time, but I don't understand what the empirical basis is.

So, ok, here is some info I found --

"Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. Unaffiliated subjects were younger, less often married, less often had children, and had less contact with family members. Furthermore, subjects with no religious affiliation perceived fewer reasons for living, particularly fewer moral objections to suicide. In terms of clinical characteristics, religiously unaffiliated subjects had more lifetime impulsivity, aggression, and past substance use disorder. No differences in the level of subjective and objective depression, hopelessness, or stressful life events were found." - link.

But, again, I would be cautious in equating a link between atheism and suicide without investigating additional factors. For example, other things that might contribute to isolation, such as their profession, IQ, work habit, etcetera. It just might be that a person who is in the high suicide risk population would be there due to their high IQ, and thereby may have fewer friends who understand them. Or, it may be a contributing factor in that their may be few non-religious venues for help. Is the problem then the individuals marginalizing choice, or society's lack of equal access to counseling services?

My response is in relation to the part of the quote that I bolded.

Or, you know... There is the age old thing that most religions (and all forms of Christianity for sure) state that if you kill yourself, you are going to Hell. Do not pass Go. Do not Collect $200.00. Not even if you are dying of some horrid disease, and you want to go on your terms. Not ever, not for any reason.

So, maybe those "aetheists" commit suicide because they don't have help.

OR

Maybe those who are "Religious" don't commit suicide because they believe that in doing so they have condemned themselves to Hell.

Hell is a pretty amazingly scary motivator for things. When I was a kid, it wasn't my belief in god that kept me walking the "straight and narrow" it was Hell, and the Devil, and the eternal suffering that motivated me. It wasn't until I was a teenager, and the repetitive nature of the "Don't do that or you are going to HELL!" began to grate on my nerves that I started to rebel.

I would say that most people who have a religious background would tell you that Suicide isn't something that they would resort to because of the eternal impact that it would have on their soul as opposed to other reasons. Because of this, I just don't know if using Suicide to try and make a point is a good idea.

Similarly to how I bristle at Eppie's posts that have an edge to them suggesting that there is some "dumbing" effect in religion, I bristle at this.