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I was thinking about this on the way home from work this evening. “What makes Religion so popular? So behavior directing?”
When I reflect on what I’ve done in my life so far in the name of religious influence, I married someone within my faith, have given a small fortune of my income away for no tangible benefit, two years of my life as a missionary, a few years prior to saving for it, many, many months of service, etcetera….and I did it without being forced (although there are times when the culture of the Church does provide ‘strong influence’). I will probably be working an extra 10 years into my golden years as a result.
I have a couple answers, although I’m sure you have more:
1. The possibility there is an after-life.
2. Mankind’s yearning for purpose and meaning in this life.
Can you think of any more reasons religion is so darn popular?
Fear and guilt “It feels good.” I do think there’s something to the point in the invention of lying. Religion is comfort when faced with the uncertainties of life: death, suffering, and trials. As the saying goes: “There are no atheists in foxholes.” I don’t think it’s all fear and guilt. Hope and love have a lot to with it too. But I think a lot of people go along with religion simply because it’s there. Most people are not original, and just do what other people do.
Some people also have to believe they’re being watched to behave, which is not entirely a bad thing.
SamBee wrote:I don’t think it’s all fear and guilt. Hope and love have a lot to with it too.
You are probably correct as far as the popularity part is concerned. But what makes us modify our behavior in some cases drastically I am not sure. Maybe some will devote a good portion of their lives to the church in fulfilling callings and sending a big chunk of their income to Salt Lake because of genuine love. But their is definitely a guilt factor in this for many members also. Maybe it would be good for us to attend services at other denominations once in awhile to get some perspective on why they do what they do.
Very few adult converts join the LDS Church out of fear and guilt. Most of them join because something about the teachings resonates with them – and the LDS approach to “preaching the Gospel” is FAR less fear and guilt infused than that of most other denominations. There is a big difference between why people JOIN a religion and why multiple-generation members stay– and it points to the need for those generational members to experience an individual conversion of some sort to overcome the natural reason to stay without such experiences. My own take is that religion is so popular because people really are spiritual beings having a mortal experience. There just is something inside most people that makes them want to believe in a God of some kind. It’s the need to work out the details that creates religions.
The reason I joined the Church as a young adult had to do with the spiritual experiences I had as a teenager. They filled me with self-worth and self-esteem. But they left me afterwards. I thought in joining the Church I would get them back again – provided those same spiritual experiences I felt as a teenager returned when I prayed about the truthfulness of the Church. So ultimately, it was my desire for greater inner peace and self-esteem that turned me to religion.
SilentDawning wrote:What makes Religion so popular? So behavior directing?
Unhealthy issues:
Validation and identification of the the individual ego with a collective ego
- Fears based on traditions of controlling lies
- Laziness based on fear
Healthy issues:
Validation and exploration of universal and pervasive mystic experiences (transcendentalism, near death experiences)
- Core truths (awake! love! stop! let go. trust.)
Your question was about religion. I have a related question about church. What is the relevance of church in the 21st century world? With meetup.com, facebook.com, youtube.com and other people assemblers and culture movers newly available, does church become overdone and vestigial? Does it provide too much for the 21st century? Is the LDS leadership right that church needs to scale wayyy back in its dominance of the family calendar? What does church provide that you can’t get elsewhere in a better way (I mean that as a sincere request for lists)?
Tom
Basically religion helps people explain the world and give a reason for why things are the way they are. In the form of churches it enables people to join together for support and the common good. For me I always just wanted to be a believer. No luck yet.
SilentDawning wrote:Can you think of any more reasons religion is so darn popular?
Because it works.
It does what we want it to do. It is the science of creating meaning. It is the tool to manipulate that part of us the desperately needs to make sense of the unknowable. I mean manipulate in a positive way, like a wrench manipulates a bolt or an exercise strengthens muscles and reflexes. Religion is the most powerful tool for forming and maintaining human communities — keeping them cohesive and focused (especially on long-term survival).
“Fingerprints of God” by Barbara Bradley Hagarty has some very good insights on this. It’s interesting to think that in our DNA there may very well be the tendency and ability to tap into what is divine and why we all seem to yearn for it in some way or another. I love this thread, it really makes me reflect on good things. SilentDawning wrote:The reason I joined the Church as a young adult had to do with the spiritual experiences I had as a teenager. They filled me with self-worth and self-esteem. But they left me afterwards.
Yes…we just had the missionaries in our home teaching my daughter’s school friend who is investigating the church…and listening to the basics of the gospel as taught by the missionaries, and seeing that young girl yearn to want to have spiritual fulfillment, helped me realize that I am grateful to have the church in my life…so I have some spiritual foundation. However, now that I’m older, the issues I have with the doctrine and the church – it seems there is a different “need” I have to sustain the spirituality then I was able to experience when I was younger. That doesn’t frustrate me, it actually is a blessing that the needs change to constantly push me for growth.
I think because it involves faith, and paradoxical answers, and good feelings, and motivation to have love for others…then it works for me, because I want those things. It is like my son’s video games…the games that are easy to beat are exciting at first, but then my son beats the final level and never plays it again…it is boring after that. The games he has that you can’t win are the ones that keep him challenged to play it endlessly, no matter how good he gets at it…there is still more to do and it keeps him engaged in playing it.
It is kinda like that with me and religion. Because I can never fully “know” it all or figure it out (or understand what Joseph Smith was thinking???)…it is more about the “doing” than the “knowing” which enriches my life and adapts to my changing needs. It gives me meaning despite lack of control of my environment.
Or said in a better way…
Brian Johnston wrote:Because it works.
It does what we want it to do. It is the science of creating meaning. It is the tool to manipulate that part of us the desperately needs to make sense of the unknowable.
>GBSmith wrote:Basically religion helps people explain the world and give a reason for why things are the way they are. In the form of churches it enables people to join together for support and the common good.
Yup…that about says it all! I would only add that it doesn’t need to be “true,” just believable.
Rix wrote:I would only add that it doesn’t need to be “true,” just believable.
QFT !
It works when believed. It does not work when we don’t connect to it in that way, when we use our left brain thinking to deconstruct it to pieces and reduce it all to labels. The experience is in the doing and being.
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