Why Do We Have Religion Anyway?
The vast majority of the world’s 7 billion people practice some kind of religion, ranging from massive worldwide churches to obscure spiritual traditions and local sects. Nobody really knows how many religions there are on the planet, but whatever the number, there are at least that many theories about why we have religion at all. One idea is that, as humans evolved from small hunter-gatherer tribes into large agrarian cultures, our ancestors needed to encourage cooperation and tolerance among relative strangers. Religion then—along with the belief in a moralizing God—was a cultural adaptation to these challenges.
But that’s just one idea. There are many others—or make up your own. But they are all just theories. None has been empirically tested. A team of psychological scientists at Queen’s University, Ontario, is now offering a novel idea about the origin of religion, and what’s more they’re delivering some preliminary scientific evidence to support their reasoning. Researcher Kevin Rounding and his colleagues are arguing that the primary purpose of religious belief is to enhance the basic cognitive process of self-control, which in turn promotes any number of valuable social behaviors.
They tested this theory in four fairly simple experiments, using classic measures of self-control. In the first study, for example, they used a word game to prime some volunteers’ (but not others’) subconscious thoughts of religion. Then they asked all the volunteers (using a ruse) to drink an unsavory mix of OJ and vinegar, one ounce at a time. They were told they could stop any time, and to take as much time as they liked, and that they would be paid a small amount for each ounce of the brew that they drank.
The amount they drank was a proxy for self-discipline. The more OJ and vinegar they forced down, they greater their self-control. And as predicted, those with religion on their mind endured longer at the unpleasant task. Since society and religion ask us to tolerate many things we don’t particularly like for the common good, the scientists interpret this finding as evidence of a particular kind of self-control.
Another way to think of self-control, perhaps the most familiar, is delayed gratification—resisting immediate temptation to wait for a greater reward later on. In another experiment, the scientists again primed some of the volunteers with hidden religious words, but in this case they were told (falsely) that the experiment was concluded and that they would be paid. They were told, further, that they could either return the next day and be paid $5, or come back in a week and get $6. This is a widely used laboratory paradigm for measuring the exertion of discipline in the face of temptation, and indeed, almost twice as many of those with religion opted for more money later.
Self-control is costly, consuming a lot of mental resources. Recent research has demonstrated that our cognitive power—in the form of glucose, the brain’s fuel—is limited. The mind and brain can become fatigued, just like a muscle, and when depleted, normal self-control is impaired. The third experiment built on an understanding of this process, often called “ego depletion.” The scientists wanted to see if cognitively depleted people are “refueled” with reminders of religion, so they had only half of the volunteers perform a mentally draining task while listening to loud music. Then they primed half of these depleted volunteers, and half the controls, with religious words.
So at this point, there were four groups: Depleted; depleted but religiously primed; undepleted controls; and religiously primed controls. All of these volunteers then attempted a set of geometrical puzzles, which, unknown to them, were impossible to solve. The impossible task was included to test their persistence against great difficulty—another measure of self-control.
The results were unambiguous. Among those who were mentally depleted, the ones with religion on their minds persisted longer at the impossible task—suggesting that the religious priming restored their cognitive powers—and their patience in the process. They performed basically the same as those who were never tired out in the first place. The scientists take this as strong evidence for the replenishing effect of religion on self-discipline.
The fourth and final experiment was the only one with ambiguous results. The first three studies had shown direct causal evidence of religion on self-control—and downstream effects on enduring discomfort, delaying rewards, and exerting patience. But is it possible that the religious priming might have activated something else—moral intuition, or death-related concerns? In order to rule out these possibilities, the scientists used a completely secular self-control task, one with no moral overlay: the so-called Stroop task. This is the task where one must rapidly identify the ink that words are printed in, rather than read the words. It’s very difficult, requiring mental exertion and self-control.
The scientists primed some with religious words as usual, but others were primed with moral words—virtue, righteous—and still others with words related to mortality—deadly, grave, and so forth. Then all the volunteers attempted the Stroop task on a computer, which measured accuracy and reaction time. The results, as reported in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science, showed that religiously primed volunteers had much more self-control than did controls or those primed to think about mortality. But those with religion on their minds were statistically no different than those with morality on their minds. This was an unexpected finding, and it suggests that activating an implicit moral sensibility may have some of the same effects as religion.
It’s not entirely clear what cognitive mechanism is at work in religion’s influence on self-control. One possibility is that religion makes people mindful of an ever watchful God, and thus encourages more self-monitoring. Or religious priming may activate concerns of supernatural punishment. A more secular explanation is that religious priming makes people more concerned about their reputation in the community, leading to more careful self-monitoring. Notably, almost a third of the volunteers in these studies were self-defined atheists or agnostics, suggesting that these robust effects have little or nothing to do with the suggestibility of the most devout.
Wray Herbert’s book, On Second Thought, was recently published in paperback. Excerpts from his two blogs—“We’re Only Human” and “Full Frontal Psychology”—appear regularly in Scientific American and in The Huffington Post.
Comments
Very interesting piece! Religion is always a topic to draw attention and the approach they are taking at Queen’s is quite different view point. I am intrigued. My only question about the experiment is how can they prove that self control is the purpose for creating religion and not just a bi-product? I do indeed think it is plausible when I think of those who are peaceful, calm and conscious of others, but I also see religion being used to control which could be another possible reason for its creation (among others).
I disagree with the authors statement “The Primary purpose of religious belief is to enhance the basic cognitive process of self-control”.
Varied levels of self-control within each Religious Preference is determined by a host of institutional variables, It’s Dogma, Receptive parishioners, Faithful who meticulously follow it’s teaching, along with an arguable host of lesser known rationale. Self-Control is a result, a carryover from the discipline, a “muscle memory” in such an environment, Repetition being the Mother of all learning as it were.
Everything on, in, or above this world has a lifespan, everything. Humans fall into this multitude of millions, and we are the only product that can think, and we can think freely. Not one of us honestly know what will happen when our life span is over, and by far, the concept of death exploding into nothingness is incomprehensible – and it’s Frightening. We have neither the advanced thinking necessary to move forward nor the empirical knowledge to prove anything beyond this point.
So, it’s no coincidence that we can “think” our way towards an answer, to continue a “Presence”, a spiritual “continuance” so as to speak, at a level similar to our past material life, or move further upward towards something better – – – and here religion fills the crucial void. To my knowledge, there is no known Religious Preference that doesn’t support an afterlife in one form or the other, and by default, draws into it’s fold those who believe, or want to believe.
And so, the World Turns, for all of us, at least at the moment.
I know this an old thread, but it caught my attention. I completely agree with your comment Tom. A simpler way of stating it might be: “Religion is a response to fear of the unknown”.
There can be many reasons for beliefs in religion/god. First people are fearful there is nothing beyond life so they convince themselves there is a hear after. Second they got brain washed. Third do not have critical thinking or do not know how to use factual based decision making .Fourth the religious are highly suggestible. So they need to have a religion/god.
I totally agree with you. It also police’s the masses. Also, only the male species has created and written all religions from 7000 BC forward, therefore, suppressing females throughout history. It is very sad!
Religion is a “For Profit” business. Early promoters discovered the profitability, and the respect, that theology demanded. This was the “job” that they could do, without having to produce. Any beliefs that required explanation was easily taken care of with the old standby: “you must have FAITH”. If you don’t think it’s profitable, take a look at the Vatican, or any of the many cathedrals built by the supporters of Catholicism.
Christianity:
1.- God just exists – forever, for no reason.
2.- God decides to create stuff after existing literally forever.
3.- God touches off the Big Bang, does nothing for 10 billion years.
4.- God creates Earth; again does nothing for 4 billion years.
5.- God creates dinosaurs…
6.- God kills dinosaurs.
7.- God creates mankind, in “his image”.
8.- God meddles wildly in the affairs of humans in a small part of the entire Earth for about 1500 years, including giving one tribal society rules to live by and helping them to defeat their enemies.
9.- God later comes back to earth in human form to preach for 33 years before dying a bloody death meant to serve as atonement for the flaws inherent in all humans (which he created).
10.- God ceases all manifestation and direct contact with humanity for the next 2000 years, leaving us with only an arbitrarily cobbled-together collection of metaphorical and contradictory revelations as our instructions for achieving eternal bliss.
SEEMS LEGIT…
hahaha spot on. This is exactly how I feel about god too. It’s just some made up story to satisfy humans.
I completely agree with this. I think that the human mind needs reason, and people believe in God because it gives them the reasons to everything they have wondered – what is the meaning of life? – how did life begin? – etc.
I agree with Safin. Most young people are better educated than seniors so they are less suggestible.
What astonishes me is how otherwise intelligent and rational people can be quite silly when it comes to proclaiming their faith in an obviously imaginary deity. Why this deep desire to believe in magic? Acceptable in children but odd in adults. Then again most adults were subjected to a thorough and insidious brainwashing in childhood. That influence is very hard to shake off particularly so because we are social animals. Most of us find it difficult to resist established authority.
I agree that religions are quite ludicrous but I also am open to the fact that the universes energy is something godly. I also believe we can tap into it. But modern religions are brainwashing money grabs where people feel entitled to a kingdom if they follow a book. I find that hilarious. But spirituality I can fathom.
Safin Guli here’s the problem with your list for Christianity, you’re combining the secular beliefs of the world with the ideas of Christianity, therefore completely changing the timeline of what Christians believe. You should try researching the difference between creationist belief and evolutionist belief before criticizing either one of them.
I was brought up as Church of England. At Sunday School (before I was confirmed) we learnt about Jesus ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild, look upon a little child, pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to Thee.’ I liked Jesus. He was nice and kind. He loved me. Then I was confirmed and was confronted by God. He frightened me; he was portrayed as this vengeful old man. I learnt about hell, sulphur, brimstone – with the prospect of being dropped into eternal flame if I was naughty. It felt like a betrayal. For years, I was scared to be alive and terrified of dying.
I just turned 69 years old and I’m no nearer understanding the necessity of religion, except as a tool to control others’ behaviour and to use fear – amongst other things – to exert this control.
I have ‘tried on’ various religions and philosophies throughout my life and have joined none of them. However, I have learnt that groups of people are drawn to each other and within these groups one can find kindred spirits with whom one can share support, kindness, theories, philosophies, and somehow one emerges from a time spent among these ‘spiritual’ friends feeling comforted by their wisdom and simplicity. Such groups of people, I believe, are important in our lives.
We inhabit this minuscule planet that is hurtling towards the Great Attractor, with no idea why we are here or if there is anything beyond the here and now. I think our species needs the idea that something knows what is going on.
We have some scary dudes in our midst who act out murderous behaviours in the name of their idea of a God, and with the full-throated support and encouragement of their religious leaders. Behaviours such as these are just that: behaviours. Human behaviours. Some humans are drawn to violence and dominance. They find kindred spirits and they form groups; give their groups a name; create a God in their own image. This seems to lead to the idea that they are no longer responsible for what they do. Religion is thus used to satisfy the need to be violent. If people don’t agree with their belief system, they see it as their right to imprison, torture, maim and kill.Not unlike a facet of the scary God I was taught about as an impressionable child.
Maybe there should be another study: one that looks at what might happen if all religions were phased out.
Life is chaos. We would still form groups of like-minded people. There would still be those who want to maim and kill. There would still be people who are gentle and kind.
I’m still drawn to the idea that Jesus was happy for me to sit near him when I was a child in Sunday School. But now I know it is because being close to someone who loves me, is one of the best things about being alive. It brings out the best in me.
nice one Lita. we ve been travelling in the same boat !
I know this is a very old thread, but thank you Lita for your insight! I agree with most of what you said, everything from loving being loved by Jesus to being afraid of God as a child. It makes me wonder if it was created to handle both of those who respond to negative and positive reinforcement. I still believe in a higher power, because I am not capable of letting it go. However, logically- I believe that religion was and is ultimately a way to control the masses.
My thoughts: Groups may have thought up rules, a group/tribe needs to survive etc. Rules are enforced by the agreed leaders. “out of fear, leadership or whatever”. If an obvious explanation for the rule can not be explained and, because, “I said so” is not enough, then a higher entity is created. Many rules are for control, power etc. The only proof was the stake, stones, banishment or shunning.
Educate yourself and stop being educated
THANKS FOR YOUR CLARITY OF THOUGHT, YOUR OHNEST CONCLUSION THAT YOU WERTE INDOCRINATED AT THE MOST IMPRSSIONABLE TIME IN YOUE LIFE. IT YOUR INTELLIGECE THAT LED YOU TO WORK OUT FOR YOURSELF THE REALITY.
MY VIEW IS THAT THIS PLANET AS A LIVING OGANISM GREATES THE LIFE FORMS THAT EXIST ON IT THROUGH AN EVERLUTIONARY PROCESS. ALL HAVE SURVIVAL INSTINCTS.
HUMANS HAVE THE ADDITION OF HIGHLY DEVELOPED COGNITION, IMAGINATION POWERFUL ENOUGH TO TURN IMAGINED CREATIONS INTO PHYSICAL STRUCTURES.
ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY VARIATIONS IN INTELLECT AND PHISICAL ABILITY AND ARE ALL BORN EQUAL MANY ARE PREVENTED FROM SHARING IN THE ABUNDANCE THAT THE PLANET PROVIDES.
HUMANS HAVE A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT HOW TO PROTECT THE FUTURE OF THEIR OWN PECIES.
Fran
WWI? No need to yell.
Actually all sentient beings have a religion. Maybe plants too, but let us keep it simple!
Religion is an extension of a moral code; maybe science will discover the gene responsible. An example is the drone bee, holding tight with his little feet to the entrance to the hive, while his wings fan cooling wind inside. It does this for the greater benefit of the colony, not for personal gain, and it is done because of the “god” gene. Parents (of all species) have an overwhelming urge to look after offspring, again because it is an inbuilt desire. There are countless examples of sentient beings acting not for self interest, but for the greater good and in some cases the survival of the species.
A brief look at the history of religion will show how this moral code, starting with basic “do not kill your fellow man” type advice, has evolved into a complicated code of ethics. It will also show how God has emerged “in the image of man” (not the other way around) to fill our desire for imortality.
The world does need religion, as each family group is usually too small to provide the guidance needed to instill children with a sound moral code. This is especially true when grandparents are no longer part of the communities. However “faiths” which claim to know what God wants are destroying the concept of religion. An omoeba has a far more knowledge of how to land an F16 jet plane on the pitching deck of an aircraft carrier in a force 10 gale, than we can ever have of God.
David, your comment that all sentient beings have religion is hogwash. There is no evidence to support this statement. Religion is a human construct for humans. Various religions compete for the ‘scarce resource’ of adherents to their faith. At present the fastest growing ‘religion’ is ‘None’. Aside from that, I’ll just comment on the alleged growth of the Mormon faith. Much of it is accounted for by post-death conversion of dead people (no matter their religion in life) to Mormonism–which is an insanity glommed on top of an insanity (the faith came out of a con man with a hat!). ‘Nones’ or atheists account for the fastest growing group globally. In the U.S. ‘Nones’ are at 84 million & counting.
Sharon, I’m in agreement with you. I feel privileged to have experienced a life for the last 70 years, and I’m grateful for the experience of this marvelous planet. If I could take the human race, including myself this instant to leave the planet to all the creatures who deserve the natural habitat that humans are destroying, I’ve lost hope in our species
Amen to that! Earth would be great without humans!
Nones are 84 million and growing, that’s spendid. I do not find any atheist around me.
I feel people believe in religion because they are weak. There is lot of unpleasant surprises in life, and when there is no solution for the problems, people need some consolation in the form of faith in god or spiritual leader.May be when the concept of relegion ws started, it was for good cause, but today it has taken a bad shape. Religion today is power show, money, slavery and flattery.
interesting read David. Not quite sure what your analogy involving an amoeba was meant to show ? Can you clarify that for me a little ? Tia.
I am now very old and I have had plenty of time to reflect on the obsession with religion that torments so many people. I had to fashion my own escape from the Catholic faith after many years of indoctrination and it wasn’t easy. The reason behind it is quite simple – people desperately want to believe in magic. Even intelligent and sophisticated people succumb to the infantile wish to control the uncontrollable by mouthing a magical incantation. It’s marvellous how even a pwerful intellect is often a poor defence against sillines. It’s one way of masking the precariousness of our ultimately defenceless and doomed existence.
Had Catholicism beaten into me as a child. Not sure I have gotten over that – totally. But, I have spent many years studying religions and they are all basically the same. If one can consider other life / intelligence then all religions must be false / nonsense. It’s just the shaman who needs your money / influence.
Just a heathen……!
To me it seems that religion is a classic confidence trick. It promises the most wonderful and desirable reward that is impossible to to achieve without making large sacrifices of treasure and time. The prize is so desirable that critical thought is suspended. To further deter critical thought, cruel penalties are periodically inflicted on critics by the believers who claim to be carrying out the demands of the deity, thus demonstrating the that the deity does not exist. So the religion industry grinds on and on. It’s as amazing as when uncle spends the family wealth on a non existent bridge. The commands in Numbers 30 and 31, when entering the broken city to kill all the men, boys and male babies and women that have been with a man but the young virgin women you may keep for yourselves, clearly illustrates the tribal nature of Abrahmic religions as do the laws on homosexuality and marrying outside the tribe.
I believe religion became a creation of man in the early stages of evolving from just another forest animal to a thinking human being. With the growth of deeper emotion which also includes concern ,surely man would have started wondering why where and how. With these mixed emotions going without something solid or evident to answer the questions man then formed ideas to compensate. Even though I’m not religious from a scientific view I’m pretty certain we would not evolved to the point that mankind is today without it. Even though the basis of religion is simple minded ideas it does have its attributes that I see as imperative to evolution itself.
Confidence has to be the # 1 religious attribute on my list. Until man could create some sort of reason to exist there would nothing more than disillusion. There was no inspiration to excel , there would be nothing to enjoy. It would be the everyday survival of the species. Ideas of a creator gave the ability to accomplish, and the hope and faith to pursue. Religion from those very ideas has become what it is today.
excellent. Very succinct
To Safin Guli, You did not mention that Jesus is going to come back and kill all the goats so the meek and mild is backed up by terror. Ref: last book in the Holy Bible. I enjoyed your summary of eternity although the bible starts some thousand years BC.
Lita’s answer is interesting. My view: religion has failed. The secular (moralistic) ideologies which came from them have also not been able to hold their promises (includeing the Comunists who tried replaceing traditional religion with their version of state/economy. Note China and Cuba Vietnam are even abandoning slowly tight state control not just the worship of dictators).
I consider myself scientific, and atheistic so I feel religion must be a symptom of something, some say fear. Perhaps prolonged psychological fear as opposed to the fear of basic animals. Who knows. If religion and astrology were to disappear the structures and general mindsets wouldn’t change for a long time. My dad left the church and slums in old US South, but until he got a decent job he was flawed as anyone had a crazy temper etc. Now the relationship’s good. Other people of his former circle (ironically another one who left their church and working town home) I don’t speak much with now, too judgemental of other people. When I was a child I was treated with more respect by older religious people (grandmother and baby sitter) who were more educated. I’m behind in my own education and experience with work but I can sit and comment on this right now and be very healthy and disabled. I’m not even the most optimistic person either. Whatever we believe or don’t we’re ourselves and human. One has to accept human failings even the cruel side of people but one can’t give too much importance to it. Note to 29 year old self: yes fight for the freebees but give some away yourself.
Also not suprising that they borrow philosophies and ways of life from the founders or from the environment around them to make themselves respectable. My mom and lots of older follow cults (jd, they were all young once) especially where if they don’t promise an afterlife they combine eastern philosophy with modern humanistic psychology, just like the pre- (counsel of Nicia) Christians borrowed Greek philosophy and added on to the various sects their triditional Hebrew religion and later during Romanization borrowed Pagan practices. Lots of talented minds are wasted on it. Even psychology lost the humanistic and behavioral sides with personality tests and “find the right therapist” thinking, the Stroop test is less well-known than MBTI. Brain science today is still primitive. Cults always say their not religions even with huge churches and philosophies and stuff, just because they don’t have lots of ceremonial practice yet.
I think religions are just big groups who believe in the same gods they also start arguments often and yes i am an atheist
Religion and politics are the same. Meaning that it takes participants in either to appreciate. Now the question to the participants is, are you going to take from others to profit or share. All can profit and learn if we share the good things in life and dispel the bad things in life. Hard to get a consensus on this, yet easy if we all do it. God ain’t letting us know all the answers that is why have to keep searching and learning. Yes, I believe in GOD just might not be yours.
I think people created religion to express their ideas about the world and create a group of people to also believe in their idea, too. It creates a social aspect of common interests, like if someone wants to find out how we were created, someone else may feel the same too. Or, it could be about gaining followers to boost one’s power. This is my therory.
I completely disagree with the two theories about origin of religion, that it was ‘invented’
1- by our ancestors to encourage cooperation and tolerance among relative, or strangers.
2- or it developed to “enhance the basic cognitive process of self-control”.(automatically like the atoms of carbon nitrogen oxygen phosphorus sulpher accidentally arranged themselves into DNA & living beings! Wow !!))
I think that there can be no completely acceptable & logical, scientific explanation of religion or belief in ‘god’ or a kind of ‘super being’& scientists have completely & utterly failed to explain why this universe came into being’ what they like to call ‘the uncaused cause or how life originated & ‘developed’ as many still believe.
But i agree with what ‘Robert Jastrow when he wrote in ‘God and the Astronomers’
“For the scientist who has lived by faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries”.
It all went south when this monkey told that monkey that “HE, pointing upward to the sky, said for you to give me your share.”
The most of the comments made above are based on Christianity. I also used to be a born christian. And I married to a Buddhist man since we are from Asia. I started to find more about Buddhism, Christianity and other main religions in the world like Islam and Hinduism. One thing I realized was, people are trying to survive all of their life time. By doing so, they need to have a source to face the uncertainty of their day today activities and also uncertainty of the life and uncertainty of the life after death. Accordingly religion is a by product of fear. (That is why where there are better economic and health conditions, eople tend to be less religious) More over, as almost everyone mentioned, above, to have self control and not to harm others or to your own self.(Coz humans are animals and they have the genes of apes). So basically, no one needs religions if they are mature enough to understand what the purpose of the life.
Just this morning as a woke up i had this thought that man created religion in his own image to have something to depend on as no one around is dependable !!! So the quest of man to have something he can trust he began trusting that which does not physically exist or respond !!! Does man need a symbolism to catch – on , exist , survive ? Early story of the bible also shows how the followers of Moses created their own idols when he had gone to bring the code of conduct !!! Even Moses created a religion with the ten commandments to keep the people quiet , well behaved and put some fear into them !!!
Two words explain why humans are religious and believe in after lifwe: comfort and hope.
Comfort to ease grief and pain, and hope to continue fighting and to always advance.
Philip, I think that’s a superb way to put it. The religions we have created may have led in a direction that isn’t always useful, but that’s a different issue.
Maybe we are just bright enough to wonder “Why?”. but not clever enough to accept the answer?
I read everything everyone wrote…and was hoping someone would bring up Spiritualism as opposed to religion. I’ve always felt Spiritual, but NOT religious. I don’t disect my spiritualism….rather I let it “Be”.
Perhaps one of you have a better handle on my synapses.
First part of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Matt.5: Happy are those Conscious of their spiritual need”. Study the Bible with those who let the Bible interpret the Bible without relying on doctrines of men. JW.or
Religion =Re …. ie.again.
Legion. ie.Unite (Latin word)
In grammatical terms, religion is only a process and not,Isms. Created by humans in their own image. philosophically,it is a process to re unite individual conscious with universal conscious. call it GOD. It is a science(spiritual)of unique journey to explore nature of SOUL energy.(enlightenment)A phenomenon very difficult to express in words but to experience within.
MAN KNOW THY SELF.
I found the comments interesting & insightful into the thoughts of people.What I find intrigueing is that no one seems to have defined what religion is :What is the essence of religion ?,What are the criteria for something being religious or a religion ? There is repetition in these questions but I want to clarify what we are talking about when we use the word religion
I really like your piece thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us and presenting it in a manor which makes everybody who reads it pleasingly happy.
kind regards,
Ronnie Pickering
Leave it a little bit wiser ? … But to what end… wiser / why (?) if there is no after life … for what purpose are you drawing towards this wiser conclusion ???
isn’t this all just vanity … ‘we hope we got it right’..(VAIN)
Maybe we can divide ourselves into those who seek the answer to the eternal questions. Why are we here and where do we go when we die ? and those who don’t seen to give a s**t….Im in the former group. If im honest im scared of the Idea of dying. But also intrigued to an extent. We are born into this strange and beautiful world with out seemingly much choice in the matter. And will leave it hopefully a little bit wiser ?
I think the Religion before was used by the Kings and Queens to sustain order and power. They manufactured the Bible for the ancient people to obey them and fear them until such time it became a tradition.
I hate religion
Now having read all this it leaves me in a limbo as to what to believe.
Cus basically you guys are saying all i ever learnt as a kid was all a lie…cmon#
Its great that you have raised this point about religion but my only problem is this :-
I consider myself to be ‘religious’ that is, i believe in a ‘higher power’ Now to think that we are alone in the universe is pretty low so any other civilisation that exists out there could be millions of years in advance of ours and would seem to us to be ‘gods’ But my point is this… my faith comes from within, i dont go to church, i dont follow any organised faith, i just know from feelings i have that we are all part of something more and that i cant explain but it gives me a lovely calming feeling. So i dont have to do silly experiments, i work hard, i swear, i drink , i do bad things (heaven forbid!!) but i still feel that ‘pull’ of my inner being, the silent voice inside that lets me know that something else is there waiting for me… but i dont let it control my life, i just try to be the best person i can be but at the same time enjoying what little time we have on this tiny planet in our vast cosmos…I hope this makes sense to just one person, feel free to email if you so wish x
Why even bother wanting to know where do you go from here( after death) when you don’t even know where you came from? Let’s just enjoy our lives the best ways we can and forget the rest it probably wasn’t meant for our minds to comprehend.
Most of the western people have their own religious belief, they have many cathedrals and will go to the church every week. On the contrary, most of the Chinese people don’t have the religious belief, because our government oppose religious cult. But just like the saying says: “Every coin has two sides.” It has both advantages and disadvantages. For the positive side, people don’t believe God will help them; they only believe their efforts. So they will work harder and pay more efforts to achieve their dreams. But the downside of this is people lack belief; they won’t have anything to revere thus will lead to the increase of delinquency rate.
It’s all BS. We as human beings have yet to tap into our own physical, mental and spiritual entities. Whenever “religion” steps into the picture it is but a cruel and insignificant attempt to understand, a form of life not yet attained. Let’s write a book about it and call it theology? Simply accept I am and appreciate you are too, maybe share some commonalities along the way. Today its take, take, take and you must remain politically correct? Too may chiefs not enough braves, so let’s turn everyone into slaves. “Book of Dave”
Religion = Re (Latin = again)
Legion. = united (Latin = united)
It is a process to re unite individuals with like minded conscious thinking and philosophy, that bring a sense of acceptance, community, security, comfort and safety that their way of thinking is (normalized.
It is a way of dealing with the unknown, thus arresting our deepest fears…..
It is also the tools of tyrants and thieves: who will have others believe : (“I’m ‘GOD’s messenger … and you should honor, respect and revere me as such…”)
It has also been a tool used to keep people and societies in line and circumspect.
What religions ARE NOT :
Is an absolute answer of the unknown … what, why, how, who, or where.
Religion is what it needs to be for those that need it – like a crutch, if you’re crippled, there’s nothing wrong with help…. and if you’re strong enough, and feel safe enough, and sure enough; Religion won’t help or improve that… in fact, it could hurt.
GOD, life, the perfect order of nature : probably doesn’t care … men worry, and philosophize about the course and meaning of it all……..
In the end… (some soon distant future : WE WILL ALL FIND OUT ) that’s for certain, one way or the other (LOL)
I never had much education, i never passed my 11+.left school at 16.
I realised that the religious books have similarities . They were created to teach the uncivilised how to live.they give structure and support and value for life .they are loosing their value because those lessons
(Written in a culture of love, faith,rich in pure idiology) can also be used by man as a tool to deconstruct and manipulate culture for violence and war,
I acknowledge and value all comments.
The only one that confuses me claimed religions offer “the most wonderful and desirable reward …”, or threaten “cruel penalties”.
This seems to be an extremely limited view of the vast array of religions in existence. I admit some religions use or emphasize these things, but not all.
Also regarding the “desirable reward”, I have to assume is a reference to an eternal afterlife. I propose that is not as universally appealing as presumed! I for one, have lived my life. I have experienced just about every emotion and condition. I do not fear death itself. My worries about my death are how it will affect my loved ones I leave behind. If something follows this life, I see it as either a new beginning or a continuation. I personally see living forever as either boring or just plain miserable!
No shortage of bitterness towards religion on this thread. That’s understandable, religion has been misused and abused for a long time.
It’s important to understand why religion exists. It’s trying to answer “who am I?” and does “life have any meaning?” Atheism seems like giving up on these questions.
Atheism may be growing … now. Future generations may be unsatisfied by the response “don’t worry kids, there’s nothing out there, can’t prove it but just forget about it”
I looked all the way down these comments until I came to yours, which encapsulated all that I think is wrong about this debate, namely that, just because one can ask (or vocalise) a question, it does not mean it is legitimate. I do not accept any legitimacy in the question ‘why am I here?’, for instance, because it pre-supposes that there is a purpose. Likewise, ‘who am I’ is particularly pointless, as is ‘what happens after death?’ – er..you are dead, just in the same way that you were before you were born. I cannot imagine what is going on in the minds of people who believe in supernatural beings, spiritualism, astrology etc. Don’t they have jobs to do, or families to concern themselves about? This refusal to accept personal responsibility and hand it all over to ‘something out there is, well, irresponsible. Enjoy as much of life as you can; it is very short!
I am a high school student trying to find the answer to why religion exists which is not an easy task that being sed I enjoy doing research and would love to contribute to the conversation but I can’t find any of your sources.
To me god is a word/concept that is “life” and how cells reproduce and create us and the world. It just “is” and could be called Mother Nature. It’s a simple view and doesn’t require a formal acknowledgement. We all relate to that god in our own way. I feel it is magnificant in that it created the world and has such powerful controls of enabling life such as air and water.
Religion is far more complex and is closely aligned with politics. It is just a man-made organising tool to manage our time of living on this planet. Like the dinosaurs we humans will cease to exist one day. Meanwhile we’ll try to manage the climate 🙂
Cass
The precepts are wrong.
When I try to understand why religion was created, I look at the behavior of modern “uncontacted tribes” in the few remaining remote areas on this earth. The research shows that when these people were first contacted they will also have their own spiritual beliefs. Unspoiled by modern views of religion. They always seem to believe in some kind of spirit or spirts. When something terrible happens in the tribe they will blame it on a spirit that has been offended in a certain way. Usually because a member of the tribe did something that they were not supposed to according to the rules or codes of the tribe. They have no other answers, so they invent something that will explain what happens in the world they live in. Then after they learn about death, they realize that they too will someday die. And the natural response is to wonder what happens to yourself when you die? And it’s just human nature to hope “you” will continue in some kind of after-life. Surely you don’t just stop existing so…After thousands of years we evolve to all the different religions we have today. If animals had the brain power to reason, they too would surely invent their own religion, perhaps the canine race would have a God in their image as well. The more a person is educated the more complicated the reasons become. Most people today also need the comfort of knowing there is a God that they can count on to get them through their everyday life. Through the tragedies that come and the comfort of being with other people who are like-minded. And on and on.
Interesting premise, but I’m not convinced. I’ve never understood why humans believe in religions, let alone why they seem to actually need them. I detest all religions. I think religion has always done more harm than good. Religion is divisive; it’s inhumane and cruel. There have been Holy Wars since the beginning of recorded history and they persist today all over the world. I’m truly revolted by the acts that are done in the name of whatever god a particular religion chooses to idolize.
Really, as a Muslim and I practise Islam. Religion of Islam is meant to unite people and to live peacefully together irrespective of tribe, race, e.t.c. My religion teaches me to live good life.
No matter how much people try to sound practical, pragmatic, logical, etc. And there is absolutely no evidence, so many holes in their story’s; that religion, God, must be a made up story and I agree, yet when my grandfather died, I had no other thing to do but pray, we talk to our love ones once they leave us. We will never know what happenes to them, all you can do is hope, have faith and pray that they’re ok. And science cannot explain it either and that’s enough for these possibilities. Be humble, we don’t know anything since we will never experience real truth.
Ask me if god exists. I say a maybe, we will get to that day when i face a creator, but for now … lol
My explanation to why religion was created is that man would eventually go into a tailspin and mess up this planet up, so create something that brings order and would be a benefit to mankind on a whole.
For example…
There’s 3 books, story lines and lessons are the same.
The main characters go down a similar path.
Each book has an added piece of the new character.
I say take the 3 major religions, their books.
Highlight all the major calamities, life lessons, basically keep the way of life. Exclude the religion and you should have what these books were initially created for.
So my answer.
Religions are life lessons of man, created by man, to maintain a man.
It is now a world wide marketing gimick and a control structure.
Ive got a ton more logical reasons i can dish out here. This is not the platform to elaborate on it.
All religion is man made, it simply follows a a basic economic theorem, Demand and Supply.
Appreciate the comments here. Agree with others that religion in general can be a big money grab, and that religion can be used to indoctrinate, manipulate, control, and abuse others. This being said, I have met very sincere people who have had a wide variety of unexplained “God” experiences, including myself. Positive and negative, without drug use. What is also interesting is when two or more people experience the same things, together or apart. Above all, I now think that whatever one believes about anything, it is most important to question and to be completely honest with one’s own self. Playing follow-the-leader with religious leaders seems pointless. I read the Urantia Book some and it has filled in the blanks for me concerning what happened early on with Christianity and portrays a much more loving and understanding First Cause. For me, knowing something from personal experience or objective science is far better than “believing” and fearing the unknown. Organized religion may do more damage than good. And tends to be leader-centered. I like the original Quaker reaction to that and more equality for each person. Am convinced humans are not the only “higher” intelligence on this planet. And so in this way, I tend to “believe” in a higher power, and universal intelligence, but if I am wrong about that, it’s okay with me now. When I was younger, it was not okay. There can be something special about music and worship of a Creator, but too often, other unbeneficial or hurtful elements are mixed in. I would rather hear what each person has to say, that one religious leader.
” But they are all just theories.”
In the USUAL way, you misuse the word “theory”.
You meant “hypotheses”.
A theory describes, in a PROVEN way, how some process operates.
I suppose that mankind will NEVER get these two words straight ! ! !
I too am fascinated by people- what we do and why, what we believe about life and ourselves … and the big questions that link up our own individuality with the universe.
I know that I don’t know the answers to the big questions, and never will, but I choose to follow the path of love such as I perceive it. By this I mean that I seek knowledge and understanding to navigate my way through my own journey of life. Happiness and peace are elusive but wonderful, I think we are more than our own individuality – part rather of our family, community, species, world of nature and ultimately of everything. Science and religion are ways of seeing this. Anyway, life is short and mysterious so let’s try to spread the love while we can.
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