Three Links on Happiness

Happiness and Freedom: http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/8859/2000a-full.pdf. According to this study, though freedom does not always contribute to happiness, there is a net positive correlation between freedom and happiness, with economic freedom having a greater correlation with happiness than do personal and political freedom.

Religion and Happiness: (1) http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-13/news/sns-201204131141usnewsusnwr201204120412religionapr13_1_religious-groups-health-benefits-social-networking, (2) http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/16/jubilant-jews-study-finds-jewish-people-are-the-happiest-religious-group/

According to the last article, which is from last year, Jews are the happiest religious group, followed by atheists and agnostics, then by Catholics, Mormons, and Muslims. Protestants are the unhappiest religious group of them all. It strikes me that of the five happiest religious groupings, all the actually religious ones have ethnic or "ethnic" dimensions to them in America. I'm also reminded of a book by Durkheim I had to read about in college. And, finally, I'm reminded of some stats on divorce rates by religion.