What is it about relegion that makes people more optimistic?
Religion is primarily designed to help people cope with life. Thus, religious people are more optimistic because they can cope with life better than the average non-religious person. Those that insist that a religion’s beliefs be true before joining (like me) have to find other ways to cope with life. Personally, I’ve studied psychology (especially management science) to develop good coping skills, but it is hard for me to find an organization that I can attend regularly for mass acceptance. I think business people love their private clubs for the mass acceptance. College and clubs appeal to young people for similar reasons.
