The Origins of Religion

I always found it ironic that people only remember that God exists only when they need something through the means of divine intervention. Where did religion come from? Is religion really necessary in our daily lives?

Since time immemorial, humans have always feared the unknown- we fear the unpredictable, we fear what lies after death. As a result, we created a divine figure that we believe has power over the unknown. As hunters, we worshipped animals whose powers we would like to emulate, such as the antelope and cheetah for speed; lion and bear for power; panther and leopard for stalking. As gatherers, we worshipped mother earth as a symbol of fertility and life. As farmers, we worshipped the elements- the sun, the mood, the river god, and good old mother earth.

As you can see, we always worshipped a divine entity that we associate with being a source of control over unpredictable elements that affect our lives. Ancient religion used to consist of a Parthenon of Gods and Goddesses, each worshipped for a different reason.

E.g. for the Wisdom and Knowledge, the Ancient Egyptians has Thoth, the Ancient Greeks had Athena, the Romans had Minerva, the Hindus have Ganesha, the Norse had Odin and the Babylonians have Nabu. (I invoke their names ritually before every exam out of desperation. That’s probably how I got to university. Hah.)

Towards the 200-800 CE all that changed there was a sudden push towards spreading the 4 main religions that we have today- Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Personally, I wouldn’t call Buddhism a religion, it’s a belief. But let’s get back to the topic. During the 16-18th century, most indigenous religions have been wiped out by overzealous Christian colonialists. Ancient traditions died along with the old way of life and made way for globalization and industrialization, which brought along its own set of problem.

Industrialization and globalization created a culture of material greed. It seems as man progresses towards science, he seems to be losing a part of his soul. I don’t mean it in a religious sense; I meant it in the material sense. Suddenly, man can’t decide where his satisfaction point is. We are literally aiming for a glass ceiling! We can’t see it and at the speed we’re hurling ourselves towards reaching it, we end up dead by the time we hit it. I guess that’s the point where people contemplate their achievements in life (flashbacks?) before they finally kick the bucket- e.g. having brought up children as strong healthy citizens, being faithful to one’s spouse, achieving all the goals that he set as a young man (buying a house, car, etc). The main difference between men now and then is technology- we no longer obey nature’s laws.

The world is severely overpopulated by people; ideally, we should have a population count of less than two hundred million individuals globally. We are the most destructive species around, we are truly on top the food chain, and we consume resources at a phenomenal rate whilst giving nothing but shit back. Evolution predicted the survival of the fittest- mankind has emerged the victor; we have conquered every predator nature placed above us in the food chain through the use of technology. With technology, we overharvest fish from the sea, hunt animals to extinction, etc. Deforestation is occurring at a phenomenal rate, we generate more rubbish than the landfills and incinerator can clear, we are polluting what’s left of our dwindling supply of clean air, water and land. Because of us, the animals are suffering from accidents created by humans- oil spills, forest fires, global warming, etc. If God exists, mankind is probably his biggest mistake.

Humans are innately aggressive, that may be nature’s way of ensuring that our population stays constant- we kill each other off. That sounds brutal, but it’s true. Whole villages and tribes were terminated through massacres of human sacrifices. However, the major religions of today forbid human sacrifices. Now we have a potential nuclear war upcoming and plenty of terrorist movements worldwide. Will that be the final solution towards resolving the issues of human overpopulation? Perhaps.

If we fail to kill each other off, nature is trying other ways to restore homeostasis- disease. And look at us wretched humans; we develop antibiotics and antigens to counter new disease. Are we defying nature? If we are going against nature’s will of achieving homeostasis, than yes we are. If we are merely following the rules of the survival of fitness, than no we are not. Ultimately, the path of the latter would only spell the end of the world when we completely run out of consumable resources.

We even use science and technology to postpone death! Improved healthcare, medical treatment and the mass production of medicine has extended the human lifespan from an average of 30years to approximately 80 years.

Given the role of reason, logic, science and technology in our daily lives, is there still room for God? After all, we no longer need them as much as we used to. Food supply is assured thanks to genetic manipulation- more resistant crops and harvests. We all logically understand that peace is better than war. Some people argue that science and technology cannot answer man’s emotional needs. Humans are all insecure people, beliefs helps to get over the daily hassles in life. I disagree.

As a person who hates religion, I think people can live without religion as long as they are in control of themselves. I have friends who tell me that Gods answer their prayers by imprinting an answer in their minds. Rationally, I believe that the answer is there, you just have to search for it. If anything, meditation helps. I’m not talking about sitting in the lotus position going “oooohhhmmm”. No, I’m talking about taking a step back and examining the problem slowly and rationally. The answers are there waiting for you to pick them up. The inner voice you hear is your own.

One of the things that science cannot explain is- what happens after death? No one know. Does that make me fear the unknown? Nope, I believe in taking each day as it comes, no point worrying about what happens after death. WK did ask me to be more optimistic, well, I will admit that people do know how to tell right from wrong. I don’t think we need God to guide us, we just need our conscience. So, do we need God? In my opinion, no, we don’t need God; we just need to trust ourselves.

In summary, people suffer from a disenchantment of the world, because science can offer alternative explanations, God becomes irrelevant. Most people practice religion today out of tradition, peer pressure or for the sake of achieving inner peace.