Chapter 44
Religion
Belief in God(s) or the belief in no
God(s) is an aspect of Human Nature that has likely been around since the
emergence of consciousness. A quote attributed (falsely) to Nietzsche is “Even if God didn’t exist, Man would invent him.”
Why? In “An Atheist’s History of Belief,” Matthew Kneale (a
self-declared non-believer) describes how human beings invented, reshaped, and
transmitted religious ideas from prehistory to the modern world. His central
thesis is that religion is not a divine revelation but a profoundly human
creation - born from our attempts to understand a mysterious world, manage
fear, promote cooperation, and give meaning to our lives. On the other side of
belief, those who have had profound religious experiences “know” otherwise.
Rather than taking sides here (the author is ambivalent), let’s examine what
religion is and what it means to our nature as humans.
Of the many definitions of the word, I
favor “Religion is a human-made system of supernatural beliefs, sacred stories,
rituals, and moral rules that gives people meaning, identity, and a sense of
connection to something greater than themselves.”
Affiliation
How do people come to join religious
communities and accept religious beliefs? It is primarily by the sheer chance
of their birthplace and the family that raised them. Large
studies show that 80–90% of people worldwide remain in the religion they were
raised in. In other words, religion is overwhelmingly a function of birthplace,
culture, and family – not a theological choice.
Religion is transmitted by social mechanisms, not hard reasoning or
adult deliberation. Children form deep beliefs about supernatural agents,
morality, and who their “people” are before age seven. Once imprinted, these
beliefs feel like facts rather than teachings. Religion is family identity, tribal
identity, cultural membership, and a source of norms and expectations. Leaving
it can mean social exile.
Conversion is relatively rare and
usually tied to migration, marriage or partnership (the most common reason in
the U.S.), trauma or major life transitions, divorce, illness, loss, military
service, and intellectual dissatisfaction (seen most often in highly educated
populations). Even so, most conversions remain within the same broad religious family
(e.g., Protestant ↔ Catholic, or Sunni ↔ Shia).
What does
it mean when a person claims “I’m not Religious. I am Spiritual!”?
Although religion and spirituality overlap, they represent different ways humans seek meaning, connection, and moral grounding. Religion is typically external, structured, and communal, while spirituality is internal, individual, and flexible. Both arise from deep human psychological needs.
Source of Authority
Religion: Authority is external, derived from scriptures, clergy, tradition, leaders, and institutions.
Spirituality: Authority is internal - via intuition, conscience, and personal experience.
Structure and Rules
Religion: Formal rituals, doctrines, commandments, and membership requirements.
Spirituality: Individual practices (meditation, reflection, and connection with nature) with few fixed rules.
Community vs. Individual
Religion: Emphasizes
belonging, group identity, and shared worship.
Spirituality:
Emphasizes individual growth, inner exploration, and personal transformation.
Beliefs About the Supernatural
Religion: Often
includes gods, prophets, miracles, and afterlife doctrines.
Spirituality: May
involve a higher power but often focuses on universal energy,
interconnectedness, or humanistic meaning.
Rituals and Practices
Religion: Prayer,
ceremony, festivals, sacraments, and moral laws.
Spirituality:
Meditation, mindfulness, journaling, gratitude, nature walks, and
introspection.
Purpose
Religion: Provides a
framework for community life, ethical rules, identity, tradition, and shared
narratives.
Spirituality: Provides personal peace, purpose, self-understanding, and a sense of connection.
In summary, religion is the shared, institutional side of human meaning-making; spirituality is the personal, experiential side. One builds community, the other builds inner life.
The Impact of Religion on the World
Organized religion has been one of the
greatest influencers the world has ever known. It has brought much good to
humankind and, sadly, much suffering. Let’s first consider the blessed legacy
of religion.
Community, Identity, and Social Cohesion: Religion created strong group bonds, shared traditions and holidays, mutual aid networks, and intergenerational continuity. For most of human history, religion has been the primary organizer of community life.
Moral Frameworks and Ethical Codes: Religions provided early versions of honesty, charity, compassion, justice, hospitality, and responsibilities to the weak. These weren’t always applied universally, but they shaped moral development across civilizations.
Comfort, Hope, and Psychological Resilience: Religion helps people cope with grief, suffering, fear, uncertainty, and death. Studies show that religious belief can reduce anxiety and increase resilience, especially in hardship.
Social Services Long Before Governments Existed: Religion built hospitals, orphanages, schools, soup kitchens, disaster relief networks, and community welfare systems. Religious institutions often cared for vulnerable people when no one else did.
Art, Architecture, Literature, and Culture: Some of humanity’s greatest works arose from religious inspiration. This included cathedrals, temples, mosques, religious music, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, and world literature. Religion has been a major driver of artistic creativity.
Meaning, Purpose, and Existential Structure: Religion answers questions science cannot: Why are we here? What is a good life? How should we treat each other? What happens when we die? These help humans form coherent life narratives.
Large-Scale Cooperation:
Religions - especially ones with moralizing gods - helped early large societies
build trust, cooperation among strangers and social order. This “prosocial
glue” was essential for the formation of civilizations.
Now
the bad stuff. Religion has brought into the
world…
Violence, Conflict, and Holy Wars: Religion has inspired crusades, Jihads, persecutions, sectarian violence, forced conversions, and religious terrorism. While war is rarely only religious, religion has often intensified conflicts.
Oppression and Control: Religion has been used to justify slavery, caste systems, patriarchy, homophobia, persecution of minorities, authoritarian rule, and denial of human rights. Sacred authority can silence challenge and prevent progress.
Dogmatism and Resistance to Science: Many religions historically opposed astronomy, biology, evolution, medicine, women’s rights, reproductive rights, and scientific curiosity. Rigid doctrines can shut down inquiry and innovation.
Guilt, Fear, and Psychological Harm: Some religious traditions impose fear of hell, shame around sexuality, obsessive moral perfectionism, fear of divine punishment, and emotional trauma from strict doctrines. This can harm mental health, especially in children.
In-Group vs. Out-Group Hostility: Religions often define “true believers” vs “infidels” and “chosen people” vs “others”. This can create tribalism, prejudice, and moral double standards.
Suppression of Individual Freedom: Throughout history, religion has been used to censor ideas, silence dissent, enforce conformity, and suppress personal autonomy. Religious authority can be resistant to any change that threatens its power.
Exploitation by Leaders:
Religion’s emotional power makes it vulnerable to manipulation by charismatic
leaders, cult founders, political rulers, and corrupt clergy. This has led to
scandals, abuse, and exploitation across all traditions.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Religion is neither wholly
good nor wholly bad. It is a human invention, shaped by the best and worst
parts of our nature. The good comes from our capacity for connection,
meaning-making, cooperation, creativity, and compassion. The bad comes from our
tendencies toward tribalism, fear, obedience, dominance, and cognitive
rigidity. Religion amplifies whatever is already in us.
In the end, and despite the influences
of others to affect our decisions, the choice of religion (at the very least,
the spirit of religion we hold in our hearts) is our own. Choosing our religion
is discussed in Chapter 65.