Quote Originally Posted by lkdhf qkb View Post
Aren't we ourselves the cause of most of our suffering? Belief in God isn't some lazy excuse for not taking responsability for one's own life. There are things that are beyond our control, only a fool would deny that. Death, the social environment in which you're born, and so forth....

This study doesn't really fit in here because it sounds like you're comparing people that go to church with alcoholics(which are sinners ironically) as if they were 'enslaved' by their beliefs. Beliefs they need like a junkie some shot of cocaine. There is definitely a community effect, but reducing religion to that aspect is missing the point of individual faith. Unless we're talking about sects, the point is not to control your mind, but to appease it without loosing your free will.
Who is “we”? I don’t like the way you phrase that, because it implies “we” as individuals have an teleological understanding of our actions.

I think for a significant number of people - probably in the billions - God is at least sometimes a lazy excuse for not taking responsibility for one’s life. Think of all those who say things like “God wills it”, for when both “good” and “bad” things happen. It’s no different to those who believe in astrology - people who superstitiously make the sign of the cross, or who say “Hail Mary” or “Bismillah” or whatever. When unfounded beliefs are a key part of the mentality of so many people, I think the world is greatly deprived. Similarly, when I consider the billions of people throughout history who have believed that it is acceptable to torture a being for eternity, I think about how such dogma has normalized violence and brought great harm.

The Alcoholics Anonymous require members to assert belief in a “higher power”, so they are no different to people who go to church who believe in a higher power. The study showed that it made people feel they had less agency.