Religion and Intelligence?
After witch doctors and shamans had established the illusion that gods had control over life and death, it required only a brief leap of the imagination to extend their power to the ability to grant a life beyond physical death. An afterlife seemed plausible and appeared highly desirable. After all, nobody wants to face death; nobody likes to face a state of nonexistence after his physical death. It is much more palatable to think of death as the beginning of a new life in which the essential part of our organism will continue on to a new and improved phase of existence.
Since there is no evidence whatsoever that anyone has ever returned from an existence after death, it was easy and natural to construct the belief of a more pleasant life after the short and miserable existence that humans had to endure. The concept of a wondrous life after death, a heaven, became very popular.
The idea of a life after death hard-wired itself into human emotional behavior patterns because it actually entailed hidden benefits for physical survival. Religion became synonymous with a sense of awe and fear of the gods. Gods had become omnipotent, not only with regard to normal human existence, but also with regard to a continued existence after death.
A rational examination of the origins and sources of religion, as well as the benefits and disadvantages of religion, is unlikely to change the mind of anyone who is afraid to examine these concepts objectively.
People who approach the subject of religion with trepidation or who cannot distinguish between reality and superstition, find it difficult to apply logic to their thought processes. It is much easier to belief in miracles and pseudo-science than to acquire facts and engage in incisive, rational thought.
We can observe many members of society who appear to be intelligent and rational in the pursuit of their daily life. However, on Sundays they go to their church or temple. There they participate in incomprehensible and irrational rituals involving magic, prayer and other activities demeaning to their rational minds. Their rational mind tells them that a god does not exist and yet, there they sit and pray to him.
It has been suggested that religious people compartmentalize their thought processes in order to avoid otherwise inevitable and destructive conflicts. In this manner, rational and irrational thought processes can coexist in separate, locked compartments of the brain without connectivity. Yet, one wonders if there is some inevitable leakage from the irrational to the rational compartment, surreptitiously contaminating rationality.
Even some bright people may feel too frightened to face life without the consolations of a religion, cult or sect. Their upbringing has imbued in them the belief that it is safer not to subject the teachings of one鈥檚 church or temple or mosque to close scrutiny. Furthermore, becoming an agnostic or atheist can cut one off from the comfort and companionship of co-believers in a religion. This potentially damaging consequence of doubting one鈥檚 belief system is a strong deterrent to questioning deeply imbedded religious beliefs.
Religion may also satisfy an irrational human need for cosmic significance. Some persons yearn to be more than the grain of sand in the vastness of the universe that man really is. As long as men and women feel week and insignificant in the face of awe-inspiring natural forces, logic will not be as important as religion and man will prefer the sanctuary of imaginary, all-powerful beings.
Thus, people tend to associate in communities of like-minded people. Believers restrict their circle of friend and family to other believers. They surround themselves with mirror images of themselves.
If people wear blinders successfully, then the young and na茂ve among them hear nothing but the desired belief. No reputable person in his or her sphere of life ever disagrees with or objects to the tenets of their common belief system. As time goes on, people in a mentally incestuous society consider it normal that all seemingly intelligent people believe as the community believes.
When a believer encounters non-believers, the shock may be great. The believer asks, %26quot;How can they not believe? Doesn鈥檛 everyone believe?%26quot; The believing community usually provides a convenient answer to that question: The non-believers are evil or they are possessed by an evil power. If you hang around them enough it might be contagious.
As a result, the believer becomes paranoid and afraid of non-believers, because he fails to understand that non-believers do not need to believe in anything. Non-believers rely on reason, logic and the factual evidence of the real world.Instead, the believer sees non-believers as abnormal and undesirable. Thus, religious belief maintains itself through self-affirmation, insulation and demonization of non-believers.
It is interesting to note that the degree of involv|||Truth be told, they do say that those that work science rarely care about religion. Given they%26#039;re intelligent...but off that very shallow remark:
In my own observations, I%26#039;ve come to see that religion primarily is utilized by people as a means of hope when they themselves seek to lack it, and %26#039;need%26#039; it to continue on.
Its also been my understanding that it is human nature to blame stuff on those other than themselves. They believe that they can sin, and attempt to apologize to a higher being knowing fully well they will accept it regardless. There is no doubt in their minds that this would never not come to pass, because to do so would undermine their very foundation of hope.
Oftentimes, people also fear the unknown, particularly death, and use the idea of a higher being and a %26quot;haven%26quot; in the afterlife, to stop this fear.
I%26#039;m a man who believes in logic, reason and factual evidence. I%26#039;ve also seen how the horrors of close-mindedness that is reminiscent in %26#039;most%26#039; but not %26#039;all%26#039; religious idealism that can take root in people, can lead to the worst in human nature. A.k.a. Salem Witch Hunting%26#039;s (Read The Crucible) and other such items, like the Crusade in Europe.
But any sensible person will know that religion offers hope to many, which then strengthens the foundation of our society. To take away religion is to hurt ourselves as well.|||According to Google, it%26#039;s somewhat of a gray area, but I%26#039;d be happy to do more research if you want to message me. I spent about 10 minutes looking around but it%26#039;s not an easy answer. Again, feel free to message me and I hope you are successful in what you are looking for.
