Religiously Logical
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Religion is defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural (Merriam-Webster).” Simply, religion is a persons beliefs and their way of expressing it. While many religions believe in a supreme being, almost all religions will encourage their own forms of worship in buildings, such as a church, synagogue, mosque, or many kinds of temples from other religions. Approximately 85% of the people in the modern world are religious (The World Factbook). Amongst these are 19 major world religions, which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups (David Barrett). Of these religions, if the rituals, celebrations, traditions and other things that define each particular religion are stripped away, the remains will be the fundamental concept that every organized religion emphasizes: goodness. Religion is a guide, much like a parent or a teacher, for people to be good. All people are human, and it is only human to make mistakes. Religion, much like a government, tries to set up fundamental rules to guide people to do the right thing. Based on these concepts, it can be deducted that religion was created as motivation for people to be good and just.
A theory of how the religious concept first began is based on the simple model of human psychology in crowds. During riots, mobs of people commit acts of violence that they would never individually perform. Individuals feel empowered, with a sense of anonymity that drives them to do illogical acts. According to Le Bons Contagion theory, “Ðcrowds exert a hypnotic influence over their members (Mackay).” During early human civilizations, people would often gather in the center of their villages. The psychological power that these people experienced because of the size of the crowd that congregated was felt at every gathering. This feeling was Ð- as best as they could reason – attributed solely to the totem pole nearby; when they gathered around the totem pole, they felt powerful. Thus the totem pole had powers, and thus the totem pole began to gain credibility as a supreme being.
Throughout history, people tend to make up stories when they are confused and unable to explain the mysteries of the world. Examples of these include the belief that one, the sun revolves around the earth, and two, that the earth is flat. Although these ideas are obviously false today, they were created in order to have peace of mind from the unknown. The concept of religion often serves the same purpose. Humans were confused about how life began or what their own purpose was and needed rationalization to explain the unknown. Thus they came up with the idea that people were given life by something greater than life itself. Wives tales, folk tales, and all stories in general have always been a way to tickle the fantasies of the young and entertain the old. Much like the modern day Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, it takes no stretch of the imagination to see how such stories of fairy-tales and legends, given some realism and constant reinforcement, can turn into stories of religious history. Adding incentives such as power, through royalty and pre-destiny, and greed, for money and land, it pays to follow or even create religion. Irregardless whether religion was created by man or God, it serves the same purpose.
It can be psychologically argued, if not proved, that humans have an innate need for a parental figure. When growing up, no matter the cultural differences or the time era, people need structure and love in their lives, usually provided by the father and mother respectively. . People need to have security in the unknown; they need somewhere, or someone, to run to with their fears, their failures, and their problems. Life is uncertain and often brings unfortunate events, from racism and discrimination to car accidents and natural causes of death. People need something they can count on, and for children Ð- it is their parents. After children grow up and develop their own characters, they lose their innocent image that their parents are the strongest, truest and most perfect people in the world. Thus if there is a God, then he can fill these voids; if there isnt a God, then the belief that he does exist serves the same purpose. Santas story is told all over the world, and whether youre “naughty or nice” will determine if youll receive good presents at the end of the year. Santa Claus helps motivate children to behave for their parents, because God and divine punishment is a concept they do not fully understand and thus gives them no incentive to be good. It would seem incredibly silly for adults to believe in Santa Clause because logically sleighs and reindeers do not fly, a fat man cannot shrink himself to fit in a chimney, and he certainly cannot make enough toys and deliver them to every child on the planet. Religion then comes in and offers a more concrete theory for grown-up children to believe. Whether true or not, Santa does indeed give hope to all fortunate and unfortunate children, and true or not, religion does indeed give hope to all fortunate and unfortunate people.
Many religions also fill the void of life after death. Evolution explains, both scientifically with proof and logically with reason, many questions about life and how the world works. With evolution, however, it also means there is no life after death. “The most common reason psychologists cite is that people embrace religion because of a fear of death, as expressed in the saying Ðthere are no atheists in foxholes(Ohio State).” The idea that life is the ultimate and final journey does not settle well with many people. Religion offers an escape from this, whether true or not, to a promised future Ð- be it heaven or reincarnation. Either way, it encourages everyone to be a good person and to act against evil by giving consequences that cannot be equaled on Earth, such as Heaven or eternal suffering.
There are many comforting aspects that people take from religion; aside from it being an answer to how life began,