So it turns out that those with strong religious beliefs worry less than those without. According to New Scientist, researchers in Toronto ran test on college students and found that
“The students with strong religious beliefs…exhibited less ACC activation [anxiety] than students with less fervent beliefs.” and that “Even after accounting for self-esteem, intelligence and other personality traits, Inzlicht’s team found that religious devotion predicted volunteers’ ACC activity [anxiety levels on the tests administered].” The article also notes that ” A previous study that used similar methods found that politically conservative Americans exhibit less ACC activation than liberals.”
None of that comes as any real surprise to me. I bet if you tested my 5-year-old cousin, she’d have incredibly low anxiety levels as well - because she doesn’t know any better. She has a limited understanding of the world around her, and she is incapable of really grasping the concepts that would lead to real concern on her part. To her, the world is a small, simple place where things either go her way or she pouts.
I know it sounds like I just described Rush Limbaugh and his army of ditto-heads, but that’s only because the parallels are so obvious. I’ve long maintained that religion is a mental crutch - people use it to stand when the strength of their ideas or beliefs aren’t strong enough to stand on their own - and contrary to what you might think, I don’t hate religious people.
I’ve always understood why people choose to be religious, because I’ve often wished that I could be. I would love to just “know” that everything is going to be alright in the end. I would love the sense of security that comes with “knowing” that some higher power was watching and caring about the outcome of my life. Unfortunately, I can’t lie to myself like that.
No one is watching over us, and no one cares, and it’s a terrifying thought. If you don’t know that, then you’re deluding yourself. I guess that’s why they say ignorance is bliss.
