Several scientific statistical studies show that each of the following is true:
1) Generous people are happier than stingy ones.
2) Forgiveness is healthier than holding grudges.
3) Religious people are happier than the non-religious.
4) Prayer is good for your health.
5) American political conservatives are happier than liberals.
6) Evangelical married people have a higher rate of sexual satisfaction than any other major sociological group.
7) Those living separately before marriage have a much lower divorce rate than those who "shacked up" beforehand.
Most of these findings are quite paradoxical. For example, one would think that people who kept their money would be able to spend it on themselves, and that this would lead to more happiness. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche taught that if we live selfishly, we would evolve--through the survival of the fittest-- into a race of ubbermensch, or supermen. Nietzsche tried to heed his own advice, and he went quite insane in his latter years.
The way to getting any complex thing to work is to look at the owner's manual. The Bible is the owner's manual for human life. Follow it's teachings, and you will be more able to overcome the adversities of life.
P.S. What does #5 have to do with the Bible? Though there are certainly conservatives who violate the other principles, political conservatism is much more in line with the Bible's wisdom than liberalism. I'll write more about that in the future.
