Article September 7, 1998 Issue

Pleasure-seeking? Or finding real happiness?

Happiness: a long-term investment with immediate dividends

By Richard C. Bergenheim

An awful lot of people think that religion is anti-happiness in its orientation. They grow up with its "thou shalt nots" and its preaching against all the things that advertisements and movies and friends promote as fun.

At first it may seem that way. After all, a lot of the Bible's teaching comes in the form of prohibitions. But to think of the Bible or of religion solely in terms of restrictions, curbs, or prohibitions is to be blinded to the happiness it is striving to promote. And we are not talking about otherworldly happiness, but that which we can experience here, today.

Think about the change in public attitudes regarding smoking. For decades a majority of people took offense at any attempts to limit smoking. And many people—teenagers especially—rebelliously smoked just because it was forbidden. But today, with the enormous cultural interest in health, the argument registers in a different way. Antismoking messages are not seen as a prohibition, but rather as wise counsel. It is not a matter of giving up happiness. Instead, people argue that pure air, an uncontaminated atmosphere, is needed to stay healthy—and happy.

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