Are religious people less angry?

I've been working on my summer homework, reading Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner. In chapter 2 (on Buddhism) Weiner states that the religious people he's been meeting all say that they're less angry and more peaceful since beginning religious practice.* That got me wondering. Clearly it's an anecdote, not a statistic, but the people Weiner discusses in the first two chapters are Sufi Mystics and Buddhists. Both traditions focus on meditation, circling, repetition, and communion with a greater power (Allah for Sufis and everything for Buddhists.) It stands to reason that spending time each day working on becoming calm, or working on focusing the body in motion (as Whirling Dervishes do) might help to reduce stress. And I wonder how much the surrender also helps. Recognizing a higher power is Step 2 in Alcoholics Anonymous, after all.

So the question is, is this one of the things religion does well that Humanists could adopt and adapt, or is it really god entering into the equation? The Humanist Community Project at Harvard has developed a meditation group (I'll have to cite that later, because their website doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but take my word for it for now) and I found this version of the twelve steps by Googling "Atheist Twelve Step Program."

I'm wondering how many Humanists out there are practicing some kind of meditation. Buddhists don't believe in god per se, but the whole interconnectedness of all beings thing is more or less beyond our ability to prove scientifically, and reincarnation is definitely beyond belief. On the other hand, Weiner tries out (also in chapter 2) imagining that everyone he sees was his mother in a past life, and finds that he is less judgmental and more forgiving to the people around him, and this relaxes him a bit. Is that useful as an exercise, even if we don't actually believe it, or does one have to accept reincarnation to practice that particular exercise? Is being less judgmental and more forgiving a good goal for Humanism? What about being less angry? It seems to me that a particular group of Humanists could set goals like this and work toward them as a group, and that might form a good community for those who wanted it. Good without God, and all that...

Opinions?


*I think I remember this is on Page 76, but I might be wrong. Anyway, Weiner said it, and it's in Chapter 2 of his book, and this isn't a scholarly article, so I'm deciding that's attribution enough. If Eric Weiner wants to leave a complaint in the comments, I'll be happy to add a proper citation at a later date.

Readers Respond

I have to say that one of my goals in starting this blog was to find out things I didn't already know. On the one hand, it helps because knowing I have to blog keeps me on my journey, at least somewhat. When I start feeling shy about checking out a new congregation or interviewing someone, I think of the need to keep going with this project, and that gets me out of the house.

But more than that, I was hoping to find some people out there who know what I don't. And yesterday, two readers posted really thoughtful comments that are contributing to my education.

If you didn't see it in the comments, you should read this article from Ha'aretz that Suzanne told me about. I'd discuss it, but there's nothing much to say: it states my frustrations very clearly and makes me wish I could find more people who agree with it. Unfortunately, Suzanne lives in New Zealand and the article is written by an Israeli. Neither is around the corner. But I love that I'm hearing inspiring news from readers around the world. I'd love to hear more!

On the flip side, a reader named Ethan argues that I should consider becoming more observant. I want to give his comments the thoughtful response it deserves, and I don't have time now, so I'll make that another post tomorrow.

Keep on educating me, world!