Every now and then, I'll hear this sort of thing -- "It's impossible to be happy without God." There are two main questions that I would have to ask folks who try telling people this.
First, I get the impression that the folks who say this have never been "without God" in their lives. So how they could make such a claim, I'm not sure. This sort of statement comes very close to committing the greatest "sin" I can imagine -- trying to tell me what is in my mind. There's no way you can tell what my thoughts or moods are, particularly when your "guide" is a book of preposterous myths.
For the information of those who think this sort of thing is true, no one has a corner on the happiness market. My life is filled with as much happiness today as it has ever been, the time I "had God in my life" included. Some may try to say I'm not "truly happy," but since the term is purely subjective, that's literally nonsense.
No, I lead a life of mixed emotions, just the same as any other human being. I have times of happiness and sadness, fear and anger. The way some believers talk, you'd think someone who is a "true Christian" goes through life with a dull-witted smile plastered on their face at all times, regardless of the circumstances in their lives. I would hope that the reader doesn't believe this to be true, but one never really knows.
But the second question I have is whether these people think that "having God" is a guarentee that someone will never be depressed? Somehow, I think that such a belief would be devastating to any Christian who happened to become sad or (Heaven forbid!) clinically depressed. Can you imagine a mother with post-partum depression feeling guilty because she has added the crime of being sad to her emotional problems? That would be just NOT what the doctor ordered.
But all this is perhaps beside the point. Objective reality shouldn't hinge on a person's happiness, should it? That is the central issue, I think. In my view of things, it is more important to be able to face reality and figure out how to be happy with it than to find a way to view the world that makes you happy all the time..