The more religious people are, the less they enjoy sex. And, accordingly, atheists have much better sex than religious people.

That’s according to a new study from Kansas University, which found that religious people are “plagued with guilt” during and after sex. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports, atheists feel much better about themselves, even though both groups carried out the same activities, including masturbation, oral sex, watching porn and having affairs.

“Our data shows that people feel very guilty about their sexual behaviour when they are religious,” Ray told the Daily Mail, “but that does not stop them: it just makes them feel bad.”

From the report:

All of the people who were questioned were found to have sex around the same number of times a week. They also became sexually active at similar ages. But devoutly religious people rated their sex lives far lower than atheists. They also admitted to strong feelings of guilt afterwards. Strict religions such as Mormons ranked highest on the scale of sexual guilt. Their average score was 8.19 out of 10. They were followed closely behind by Jehovah’s Witness, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, and Baptist. Catholics rated their levels of sexual guilt at 6.34 while Lutherans came slightly lower at 5.88. In contrast, atheists and agnostics ranked at 4.71 and 4.81 respectively.

The study, conducted by psychologists Darrel Ray and Amanda Brown, asked 14,5000 people about their sexual habits and feelings. And the differences between people who identified themselves as religious and non-religious were astounding.

For instance, 79.9 percent of people who were raised in very religious households said they felt guilty about specific sexual activities – and even desires. Meanwhile, just 26.3 percent of people raised in secular homes felt guilty.

People who grew up in very religious households also were more likely to learn about sex from pornography, because they didn’t feel they could talk with their parents, the study found. That sure sounds healthy.

But, if you want to improve your sex life, the study found a surefire way: Lose your religion. Ray told the Daily Mail that people who lost their faith reported their sex lives got significantly better.

“Oh God!” then takes on an entirely different meaning in the bedroom.

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