Many times I have heard individuals claim that the church makes them happy. Many other times I’ve heard individuals claim the church makes people depressed. But proving causality on either of these is pretty difficult. Where do these ideas come from?

The claims that the church makes individuals happy can be found throughout church literature (Example 1, Example 2).

The claims of depression come from one or more of the following articles:

Depression in Utah

Utah is number 9 for suicide

Suicide rates among children are far higher in Utah, and people avoid the problem rather than confront it.

Utah consumes far higher amounts of anti-depressants

So it might be said that, “The Church (Utah having more members per capita than any other state) makes people depressed.” But proving causality is a difficult thing.

For example, FAIR points out that Utah leads the country not only in anti-depressants prescribed, but also in antibiotics. “Does the church also cause people to get strep throat?” Interestingly enough, with the focus on Nursery and having people meet together, there may actually be some reason to say “yes” to that question, but I digress.

The apologists then point to any number of studies that show that religious people tend to self-report as being more happy. In my statistics classes, we talked to no end about how much garbage self-reported “happy” surveys were, how easy it was for people to lie, and how important it was to move past such a survey into real data. Even the man considering suicide can say he is “happy” to a survey taker. I find it fascinating that they immediately turn to such a tactic.

And so I think that the exmormon’s comment should be changed. Showing that the church makes one depressed is very difficult, and as FAIR points out, causation vs. correlation is a tricky wicket. But we can revise the statement to make it more accurate:

“The church puts forward the claim that the plan, as they state it, makes people happy; there is credible evidence and research to suggest against this.”

See how it places the burden of proof of the church’s claims onto the church making the claims? It’s not enough for an apologist to state, “We cannot prove the church makes people depressed,” but indeed the church is making the claim “Join us and you will be happy.” This has no more backing than that Coke products will make you attractive to the opposite sex, that beer will make you good at water sports, or that smoking will make one sophisticated. It is a marketing tactic, and the apologist and member need to admit that there is credible evidence against this claim.

About all they can say is that altitude correlates heavily with depression, which is true. Utah is an elevated state, ergo, it could be that Utah would have higher suicide rates without the church and even more anti-depressant use. But this would be almost as difficult to prove as the church causing depression.

But perhaps we should all admit that “Does the church make people happy?” is as relevant to the point as “Does alcohol make an alcoholic man happy?” Clearly, just because the man feels happier does not mean it is better for him, nor that it is not a destructive practice. Indeed, what makes one “feel good” is preached against heavily in the church. So, perhaps we should boil it down to: “Why does the LDS church feel the need to include ‘Happiness’ in its sales pitch?”… but that’s a topic for another day.