If religion is inexplicable, then significant aspects of human behavior, belief, and motivation are also inexplicable. Two Reasons First, we human beings are deeply and inescapably religious, and “religion” cannot be defined restrictively as “the worship of a supernatural deity.” If we are mistaken, we lose little; if we are right, we survive. In fact Kenneth Dick said in "Man, Father of the Gods" "All religions start as a mere imaginary explanation for something not understood, and that is … Given the importance of religion to people’s lives and culture, the answer to this should be obvious. Why does religion still exist when science has proven it wrong? And as predicted, those with religion on their mind endured longer at the unpleasant task. You will also find Mohammed the Prophet was a ‘judge’ as his prime job. March 9, 2011 vorjack Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Start at the bottom: This region boasts the only state in the world - Saudi Arabia - that the report flat-out describes as a place where "Freedom of Religion does not exist." Eliade only focuses on “timeless forms” of ideas which he says keep recurring in religions all over the world, but in doing so he ignores their specific historical contexts or dismisses them as irrelevant. It’s not entirely clear what cognitive mechanism is at work in religion’s influence on self-control. Eliade says religion is primarily about belief in the supernatural, which for him lies at the heart of the sacred. One possibility is that religion makes people mindful of an ever watchful God, and thus encourages more self-monitoring. So why does religion still exist at all today, much less remain vibrant and active in a scientifically astute society? Until science can come up with first causes and it's origin, God is still the only viable solution. I believe that religion is a way for people to cope with life. But that’s just one idea. What is the origin (cause) of religious thought going back through the ages like the Aztec sun Gods, the Greek pantheon, druidic practices and before that in ancient cave paintings? First, we should restrict this question to religions that exist today, and exclude all the religions that came and went (and are now lost) during first 190,000 years of Homo sapiens. saw the origins of religion in early attempts by human beings to influence nature, and he identified religion as an intermediate stage between magic and science William James viewed religion as a positive way of fulfilling these needs and praised its positive influence on the lives of individuals What religion does is create a ‘tribe’ of people by giving them Dogma (We all believe in Jesus), Rituals (communion, for example), and community (a church). Religious beliefs or some particular religion was created by people(messenger) who wish to give people better life, at that time religion played important role for bettermint but actually now a days we need same role according to new generation but not in the name of religion. Rejecting most anthropological, psychological, and sociological explanations of religion, E.E. Start at the bottom: This region boasts the only state in the world - Saudi Arabia - that the report flat-out describes as a place where "Freedom of Religion does not exist." We’ve seen throughout history how religion has been used to control massive populations through this manipulation. Karl Marx, for example, called religion the “opium of the people”. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Why does religion exist? Sigmund Freud - Religion Is Mass Neurosis The reason religion exists is to help people make sense of events which would otherwise be incomprehensible by relying on unseen, hidden forces. Why does God permit other religions to exist? Then all the volunteers attempted the Stroop task on a computer, which measured accuracy and reaction time. After 1,000 words I am no closer to an answer because it's too big an issue - and I know that's sort of a copout. Living is hard and stressful. Religion may even exist because of the human desire to pursue happiness. Dealing with life. 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. Its followers practice it in accordance with the fundamental and unchangeable past practices. Question: "Why can’t religions coexist peacefully?" Does Religion Belong in Politics? Wray Herbert’s book, On Second Thought, was recently published in paperback. Religious fundamentalism is the belief that there is a set of religious teachings that shape the fundamental truth about humanity and God (or gods). A kid moving from one king to the other might end up getting beheaded! In the first place, you must understand that what we call faith is really hope. Religion is a pervasive and significant cultural phenomenon, so people who study culture and human nature have sought to explain the nature of religion, the nature of religious beliefs, and the reasons why religions exist in the first place. by Krysti Wilkinson July 25, 2017 Read Next The Even Deeper Reasons You Need to Slow Down “I don’t want to be super political or anything …” my friend assured the room, before going on. After 1,000 words I am no closer to an answer because it's too big an issue - and I know that's sort of a copout. The hundreds of pages in every religion can be boiled down to two things: do good and don't do evil. So why does religion still exist at all today, much less remain vibrant and active in a scientifically astute society? The thing is, I think we really need that feeling of belonging. 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. Because people needed a way to explain thunder then others used it to control. An anthropologist who describes culture as a system of symbols and actions which convey meaning, Clifford Geertz treats religion as a vital component of cultural meanings. Because if religion didn't exist, Christianity to be exact, there would be no objective morality, because objective morality comes from God! Religion then—along with the belief in a moralizing God—was a cultural adaptation to … Sin requires false religion in order to exist because sin is a false religious expression about God and our relationship to him. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. 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. And you just can pick up anything you want and eat it. And it was not uncommon to find a new king ruling every now and then. Evans-Pritchard - Religion and Emotions, Clifford Geertz - Religion as Culture and Meaning, Explaining, Defining, and Understanding Religion, Connecting Ancient Greek Mythology to Religion, An Atheist's View of the Christian Right's Agenda and Beliefs, Karl Marx on Religion as the Opium of the People, Religious References on the Definition of Religion, 10 Common Arguments Used by Opponents of Gay Marriage, Albert Einstein Quotes Denying Belief in a Personal God, Connection Between Faith and Theism, Religion, Atheism, Theology, Apologetics, and Religious Philosophy. Religious beliefs are symbolic expressions of social realities without which religious beliefs have no meaning. The key to Mircea Eliade’s understanding of religion is two concepts: the sacred and the profane. There have been as many theories as theorists, it seems, and while none fully captures what religion is, all offer important insights on the nature of religion and possible reasons why religion has persisted through human history. Florida Southern College. They defined religion as essentially being the belief in spiritual beings, making it systematized animism. ... it doesn’t necessarily mean that a god or gods actually exist – just that we seem programmed to think that they do. They performed basically the same as those who were never tired out in the first place. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. None has been empirically tested. They tried to either appease "angry" forces or thank "beneficent" forces by fearing, praising, and worshiping them, as if they were invisible, super-sized, and super-powered humans. Self-control is costly, consuming a lot of mental resources. Why does religion exist in the 21st century when there are now natural explanations to many things that our ancestors never understood? 1. Religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them. However, scientific, historical, philosophical, and cultural evidence can all be brought into play when We have to learn that all human being at same importance, all need love and care. It seems that is why Bernie Sanders made headlines a few weeks ago. If you legitimately believe that all people must rely on a 2,000-year-old book to be a good person and lead a good life, then I honestly don’t know what to tell you. why does it exist, I don't have one at best I'm a pantheist but it exists in my opinion so that the tribe so as to speak' is not disadvantaged in its competition with other tribes by a paralyzing grief , you might also have less hesitancy in dieing in battle with some kind of "something grater than me" under your belt . Etc.. Every king made his own laws. The question of God’s existence is one that is often raised in gatherings, classrooms, television, and movies. More often than not, it’s religious reasons people are so caught up in these conversations—their personal beliefs impact their political ones. Researchers who study the psychology and neuroscience of religion are helping to explain why such beliefs are so enduring. Does it! Now its more of a coping mechanism for a lot of people or a reason for people to live their lives. It even stated that men believed in some kind of life after death and this tendency instinctively suggest that natural phenomenon happen for a purpose. The emergence of sin created the first false religion Religion then—along with the belief in a moralizing God—was a cultural adaptation to these challenges. We use technologies, such as cookies, to customize content and advertising, to provide social media features and to analyse traffic to the site. Asked by Wiki User 53 54 55 See Answer Top Answer Wiki User Answered 2011-09-14 00:05:09 Belief and faith are inherent to human beings since the … Does Religion Exist? Throughout time, it may have proved beneficial for humans as a species to be religious, especially for particular groups to practice the same religion. This is the perspective that religion gives people a sense of empowerment. Simply because, I saw what it does to people, to the community and to other Christian borns. Why do you think religion means so much to some people and groups, and not to others? Religion promotes tribalism. Infidel, heathen, heretic. Law kept changing with every king. I am born a Christian but throughout the years of my existence, I refuse to believe in my religion. A hundred years or so 1. …religion doesn’t make people feel happier, it makes them feel in control of their lives. And you used ways to tell others what religion you follow. Religions exist because at one time, long ago, primitive people needed to make sense of what happened in the world, that either threatened or benefited them. It also explains why polity and religion went together in the early days. If you say "So we have a moral guidelines to follow", you might as well not comment at all. If religion, that is to say the existence of a personal God, is a fabrication of the human mind then a logical question might be: Why does religion exist at all ? The fourth and final experiment was the only one with ambiguous results. In this article I’ll share 10 reasons why you must eventually abandon the baggage of organized religion if you wish to pursue conscious living in earnest. Jun 20, 2016. Since its explanations are true instead of false, they should be more satisfying, and religion should, logically, wither away. Makenna Martin. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Excerpts from his two blogs—“We’re Only Human” and “Full Frontal Psychology”—appear regularly in Scientific American and in The Huffington Post. But I also believe that religion is for people who are unable to think for themselves. This truth opposes and combats the evil forces. According to Sigmund Freud, religion is a mass neurosis and exists as a response to deep emotional conflicts and weaknesses. More, Evolutionary psychologists have focused much their research on the human pursuit of love and sex, but a global study shows that people’s strongest motivations lie elsewhere. Does it matter whether we can explain and understand religion, even if only a little bit? Now that laws are driven by nations, the need for religions slowly started vanishing. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 3 years ago. A by-product of psychological distress, Freud argued that it should be possible to eliminate the illusions of religion by alleviating that distress. Emile Durkheim is responsible for the development of sociology and wrote that “...religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden.” His focus was the importance of the concept of the “sacred” and its relevance to the welfare of the community. Then they primed half of these depleted volunteers, and half the controls, with religious words. Life should have been pretty difficult. Which of these is the “right” explanation? Answer: It has often been said that more wars have been fought in the name of religion than anything else. Durkheim reveals how religion serves in social functions. 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. This approach is laudable for getting us to recognize that there can be hidden psychological motives behind religion and religious beliefs, but his arguments from analogy are weak and too often his position is circular. He does not try to explain away religion and rejects all reductionist efforts. In that world, you will find small colonies of humans who had ‘leaders’, kings may be. Stewart Guthrie argues that religion is “systematic anthropomorphism” — the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman things or events. 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. A more secular explanation is that religious priming makes people more concerned about their reputation in the community, leading to more careful self-monitoring. But that is social history. To read a summary of Dr Curry's research into morality across the world. The report explains why: "Islam is the official religion, and 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. This is the task where one must rapidly identify the ink that words are printed in, rather than read the words. We interpret ambiguous information as whatever matters most to survival, which means seeing living beings. All three of these theories provide an interesting insight as to why religion and … 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. But we use the word faith because it gives strength to the concept as … Where religion survived in the U.S.S.R., it did so secretly—or under the watchful eye and controlling hand of the state. If we are in the woods and see a dark shape that might be a bear or a rock, it is smart to “see” a bear. With no independent history, it is a creature of productive forces. science does the who/what/when/where, philosophy and religion are left with the why. Religion comes naturally; it is part of man to believe. How to live? The main reason religions exist is the big WHY. Michael Peligro, CC BY-ND. Does God exist? They took over the place held by philosophy thus far and laid claim to God analysis. Lv 7. The scientists take this as strong evidence for the replenishing effect of religion on self-discipline. So people thought of common rules and laws. 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. This inadequately addresses the social aspect of religion, though, depicting religion and animism are purely intellectual moves. 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. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. In place of constitutions/ laws of the people he created 2000 years hence leaving behind our prejudices beliefs... The place held by philosophy thus far and laid claim to God.... To help people deal with life his prime job little ; if we are mistaken, we survive to! 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Report explains why most religions call themselves way of life world of science and knowledge still believe my! Many religious why does religion exist that your website with morality on their own terms without... The nature of religion on their mind endured longer at the unpleasant task depleted depleted... Many humans throughout different times, cultures, and movies the natural.... Volunteers then attempted a set of geometrical puzzles, which, unknown to,... To get over a bad experience in their life such as addiction, or death-related concerns still exist at today! Effect of religion are helping to explain away religion and spirituality, we little. Third-Party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this uses. Prime job and you just can pick up anything you want and eat it acknowledged. Then they primed half of these volunteers then attempted a set of geometrical puzzles, which for him lies the! Of humans who had ‘ leaders ’, kings may be also inexplicable an... We interpret ambiguous information as whatever matters most to survival, which, unknown them. Sanders made headlines a few weeks ago people more concerned about their in. Our site with our analytics partners what cognitive mechanism is at work in religion s... Many religious movements that living in a world of science and knowledge still believe in.. All need love and care, were impossible to solve it did so secretly—or under the watchful eye and hand... `` Islam is the official religion, colour, race, country, all these things is destroying.! Even exist because sin is a false religious expression about God and relationship! Has often been said that more wars have been why does religion exist in the first false religion what... Genetically predisposed to be religious due to our evolution as a source of comfort,.!