[quote=“jdsmith”]Hitchens is writing a lot of things that resonate with me, like gods/religion were invented a long time by things that scared the shit out of protohumans (not to be confused with proto_tw who is not an ape man…not really) like thunder and lighting, eclipses etc…all these things that can now be explained and understood by a majority of the human population.
So isn’t it fair to say that, given a modern education, humanity has evolved past the boundaries of religion and god?[/quote]
The problem is that religion is not solely based on, nor even primarily based on, a need to understand natural phenomenon. Most people now accept scientific explanations for the natural world, but still practice religion to at least some degree. I’m surprised Hitchens would latch on to that old chestnut, as anthropologists who study the origins of religion give it very little weight.
Of all the proposed origins of religion, I think the most persuasive are those that focus on biological rather than cultural impacts. For example, there is something about the way our brains work (and this is not well understood) that compel us to perceive ourselves and each other with a mind/body duality. It’s simply intuitive for us to think of our consciousness as merely co-existing with our physical bodies, capable of moving on to some kind of afterlife after our bodies die. All religions attempt to explain in some form or fashion the existence and purpose of the soul and its place in the next life.
Our minds also intuitively understand complexity to arise out of more complexity. Paley’s famous watchmaker argument sums it up nicely: If a man is walking along the beach and finds a watch, he instantly assumes it was made, rather than coming together by random chance. Well it takes serious study and reflection for we humans to understand that complexity can arise out of simplicity, and that even the most complex phenomena in nature are better understood as a product of blind evolutionary forces than the product of a divine creator. But again, that has to be learned. Intuitively, we believe there is some kind of complex explanation for the cosmos, whether it be direct creation from a single intelligence or some other supernatural forces.
I think religions probably confer some kind of evolutionary benefit as well. Perhaps directly, as religion often plays a major part in group identity, and tends to encompass and promote the community’s values. Or indirectly, as a by-product of some other advantageous trait. For instance, humans seem to be programmed to believe their parents unwaveringly during childhood. Religious people seem to use the same mechanism of blind trust and suspension of disbelief to accept otherwise unbelievable and irrational doctrine.
Finally, religious experience is very common and very difficult for science to explain away. I myself had a profound religious experience that resulted in me converting to a fundamentalist form of Christianity several years ago (which I have since renounced, obviously). It was the single most profound experience of my life, and I doubt I will ever really know what happened. There have been neurological studies done on people having religious experiences, but they don’t refute the reality of religious experience any more than describing what part of the brain is active while looking at a chair disproves a person is looking at a chair.
Religious experience is significant for two reasons. First, it lends credibility to doctrinal aspects of the religion. If someone perceives his religious experience as part of a particular religion, then other aspects of that religion tend to seem more plausible. That’s how it worked with me anyways. Second, religious experience is not something easily matched in the secular world. Perhaps Hitchens can achieve it through reading literature, but most of us can’t. Religion, be it organized religion or some loose form of spiritualism, offers experiences that otherwise can’t be found.
I haven’t read Hitchens’ book yet, but I suspect it is about as devoid of understanding as Harris’ “End of Faith”. I think I’ll put it near the bottom of my “to buy” list.
