Great article and interesting stats. I especially appreciated the comments from some of the readers that some of the defining characteristics of liberals are: excessive whining and victimization, attempts to blame others for their unhappiness and shortcomings and a desire to impose their own world view on those who disagree with them. What’s most striking to me about these observations is they that seem to directly mirror some of the very same observations liberals purport to make of conservatives: I’m sure you guys have heard it ad nauseum, but the typical liberal lament is that wealthy white male Christian conservatives generally have it great (or at least relatively great) in this country (as compared — proportionately so — to poor minorities) and so engage in excessive whining when they complain about tax rates (which are historically low) or immigration policy (which has been more stringently enforced recently than in the past) or gun rights (as to which no significant gun control has been passed) or some other social policy which affects them not at all (see gay marriage, for example). Liberals are also quick to assume that conservate — especially religious conservatives — are relentless in their attempts to impose their own religious views on non-believers (see, e.g., views on abortion and gay rights). Without in any way trying to characterize who is correct and who is not, I cannot help but note that the disconnects between the two sides could not be more profound than in this discussion right here, where we are accusing each other of exactly the same kinds of unhealthy, intolerant world views.

Of course, to be honest, and as my comment title reflects, I am a self-described liberal. Unlike the author of this post, I am not overly religious, I am not a conservative and never have been, and I am not likely to switch my political views to conservatism anytime soon. On the other hand, like the author of this post, I seek happiness, I care about people in my community, I have been married for almost 25 years, I have two beautiful daughters and I would like others to be happy as well.

Where does that leave me. I guess I am in the minority of people who can achieve some amount of happiness without a strong commitment to organized religion, but with a healthy respect for those who do, and a recognition that there must be a moral compass for those who do not adopt a particular religious view. My anecdotal view of my most conservative friends is that they tend to be about as happy (or unhappy) as my liberal friends, they tend to be divorced or single about as often as my liberal friends, and they are not necessarily as religious as my liberal friends. So, just anecdotally I wonder if religion and marriage = happiness as often as the author.

I know this. My best guess is that those of us who live lives where we are and need to be concerned with the well being of others around us (our children, our friends, our fellow church goers, even – dare I say it — those of our friends with whom we vigorously disagree politically and religiously), tend to have fuller lives. We feel then pain of others, and we revel in the achievements of others and we recognize that we are not alone in the world and that sometimes, when we act in a way that helps others (even if it takes a little sacrifice), something happens that bestows a level of grace that might lead to more happiness.

I’ve never been a Christian — I simply do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. I do not mean by that to insult anyone who has that faith, and I do not think it any way that my decision means I am morally or spiritually smarter or better than anyone who believes in Christ. I know that it does not make me that way. Even though I do not believe, what I do feel is that the fundamental teaching of Christianity — that people are most godly and act most like Jesus when they sacrifice, because their god engaged in the ultimate sacrifice for mankind — is perhaps the greatest and most powerfully good philosophical statement that the world has ever seen. Needless to say, the usual gods were all-powerful beings, sometimes gold, often wrathful, and certainly didn’t and wouldn’t sacrifice themselves for anyone else let alone anyone as minor or meaningless as a human being. So the respect I have for the fundamental teachings of Christianity is boundless.

And I do think that, therefore, that people who adopt that fundamental teaching can, should be and are more happy than many others. Because they probably bring greater happiness to the world than those who live without that moral directive.

But I don’t think that that religious direction is wholly owned by conservatives, at all. My in-laws, whom I love very much, are devout Christians. They are also liberals. And, I think, pretty happy.

My biggest gripe with conservatism is not the kind of moral upright conservatism of religiously inclined folks (thought I do not subscribe to a religion which believes in the sin of gay behavior or which compels non-believing women of different faiths to carry pregnancies to term against their will). My biggest grip with conservatives is the Ayn Rand-styled folks who seem to abdicate a moral compass which says that happiness (and maybe even spiritual obligation) comes most from helping those around you and instead embrace the amoral compass which says, hey, look out for No. 1 every time, all the time, and that’s how the world will end up best. I don’t buy that for a second. I find it to be sophomoric, and a thinly veiled rationalization for greed and self-interest. (I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Ayn Rand HATED religion, especially Christianity).

So, my view, taken as a whole, is that modern day conservatives often embrace a strange brew of philosophies — the “freedom” of Ayn Rand/Milton Friedman economics with an often fundamental view of religion. And these two things don’t really mesh all the time.

Anyway, I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I don’t mean to preach or to point out what I am sure are issues you all struggle with daily. I guess I mean to say that, as a liberal, I find that the path to happiness (which I admit is not easy and I often stray from) is not as easy as the recipe laid out above, even if I completely agree with some of the ingredients. What I’d like to see is more folks acknowledging that we can all benefit from this kind of a discussion amongst the dislike minded, as well as the like minded, on the best recipe out there.