Yes. Many religious people including myself feel happy. That’s one method.

Others find a purpose in their life to drive toward or dedicate themselves to. Be it art, friends, family, work, learning etc.

I would suggest looking at what you want from life, and asking yourself what the first step is to achieving that. I find that I’m at my happiest when I’m keeping on track with my goals.

Christianity made me feel more pain in my life than I choose to remember. Please don’t just assume religion works for everybody.

Where did I say religion works for everyone? I gave it as one example of something that works for me.

Where did I say religion works for everyone? I gave it as one example of something that worked for me and clearly works for billions of others.

Works in deluding them. Unless you have proof that their god and their afterlife are real, they’re being swindled. And you don’t seem to care.

I’ve had awful experiences with the mental health system, but I think getting triggered by someone saying therapy worked for them makes sense.

If you live in the US, your whole health care system is an antechamber of hell. But in most cases, therapy is not based in millenary bullshit, so you are more likely to get results based on reality.

Most people believe in God, so you’re arguing most people are being swindled, implying they are not intelligent enough to come to their own conclusions on the existence of a higher power. That is a very pessimistic view of reality I think, especially when people such as Galileo, Darwin, and Newton were very religious themselves.

Most people believe in God,

The popularity fallacy is not a good argument.

you’re arguing most people are being swindled, implying they are not intelligent enough to come to their own conclusions on the existence of a higher power.

Non sequitur. Being swindled doesn’t denote lack of inteligence, but a lapse in critical thinking (or the lack of it) in the particular topic of the existence of gods. Everybody is vulnerable to lapses of critical thinking, specially for those believers who are part of communities where doubt is portrayed as dangerous and the tools for critical thinking are not only not provided but discouraged.

That is a very pessimistic view of reality I think

It would be if you didn’t misrepresent my position.

people such as Galileo, Darwin, and Newton were very religious themselves.

Galileo lived in a time where not being religious incurred risk to one’s life, so mentioning him is unfair.

Again, being religious and being intelligent are mostly orthogonal propositions. Critical thinking requires exercise, though, and when unused, it can atrophy. Or be totally non-existent if never taught.

If I were to quote intelligent celebrities as “proof” that religions are true (a doubtful procedure in any case, as it’s an authority fallacy), I could mention Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and current science advisor for president Joe Biden. He’s deeply religious. But he’s not using the scientific method to reinforce his belief. And he’s not less intelligent just because he’s probably mistaken about the reality of his god.

This isn’t a a debate. I have someone a suggestion on how to be happier that has scientific basis showing it works in doing that. I even have other suggestions.

I hope you can find peace in life if you’re this hostile to someone bridging in something you dislike. Good day.