Why do people need religion? Is this a necessity in life? Will it bring happiness?

Question

Thanks to all your answers. Have a great day!

Answer 1

My personal opinion is that there is godlike intelligences at play in the universe, and prayer and related visualisation techniques can have miraculouse results.

I also believe that if gods do exist they are most likely being misrepresented, and establiched churches seem more interested social conformity than seeking truth.

Why? Evolutionary advantage to justify laws and wars.
Necessary? Not needed but usefull and unavoidable.
Happiness? Yes and No. Blind faith can be comforting, but parachutes are safer.

Why?

Monkeys in a jungle will tend to band together in groups with allies similar to them. E.g. short tails V long tails. Once the enemies are defeated, membership rules can be made stricter expelling longer tailed members.

Humans evolved to be clever violent pack animals able to form alliances when needed and break into waring factions when resources are seen to be scarce. Religion and racism form justify membership selection and persecution of non-members. Thus the "chosen people" can invade a territory to take possession of their "promised land". Also the belief that God is on your side enboldens courage and diminishes moral sensitivity,

Through our ingenuity (e.g. tools and weapons) and ability to form hierachical alliances (self, family, community, race, nation etc.) we have become the dominant lifeform on Earth.

The evolution of our biological responsiveness to religion, and the ingraining of religion in our social structures, naturally inclines us towards religion, and gives us a mechanism for internal and external social controls.

Religion is like alcohol. It allows people to get together who otherwise couldn't stand each other. It has been argued that without such social lubrication, we would not have been able to cooperate sufficiently civilisations would never have occured.

Different people people or races have different tollerences or appresiation of alchohol. Similarly, humans have different brain makeups making them more or less succeptible to spirituality. Modern cognitive science has developed to the stage that we can artificially produce electromatic emmitters which can cause people to have religious or haunting experiences, by stimulating religious centres of brains.

If we have such centres they probhably have an evolutionary advantage, E.g. the cohesive power to form power groups that can wipe out their enemies in the name of their god, or avoiding complex arguments for hygene practices by saying God said to wash your hands before eating.

Human biological and social evolution has led to religion as we know it. Like alcohol religion can dull the mind, make people mellow and encourage social bonding.

Too much alcohol can encourage vioence or depression. Likewise religion is often used as a reason for all sorts of insanities including waging war on other nations or groups.

Many religions cater to our fear of death and our egos by saying that group members have been chosen by God for a special reward, which they will receive if they tow the party line.

Human beings are primarily pack animals. Neaderthals were apparentlty red haired freckle faced artsy tree huggers, who were more individualistic and had smaller social groupings. Our ancesters formed large war parties and wiping out the nice guys. When groups get too large they tend to split and war on each other until the group is the ideal size. I.e. (As small as possible to gain and secure maximum wealth.

Needed? Happiness?

Many of the social functions traditionally catered for by organised religion, have been taken over by government, or secular bodies.

People who have a faith in a higher power looking, or social support of church groups are sometimes less worried than people who face their problems alone.

Answer 2

During 1800s, Anthropologists had a problem as to
how to classify human beings. One researcher
proposed the expression "intelligent animal".
After advanced studies on monkeys, it was dropped.
Another researcher proposed "tool using animal".
After observing some animals making wooden tools
and sharpening them with knife like stones, it was
dropped. Another researcher proposed "weapon using
animal". A decade ago, a rare film was shot by an
amateur in an African forest. One short monkey was
hit very badly by a big monkey. The short monkey
prepared a wooden knife using stones and hid it on
the top of a tree. After some days, when the big
monkey came to attack the short monkey, it ran up
to the tree for the weapon it has hid and killed
the big monkey. The one thing that the
anthropologists found with any group of human
beings, even if they did not have contacts with
the out side world for thousands of years, has
spirituality with some form of religion. So, man
is a "spiritual animal" if you want to call him
that way.

The Upanishads say that "Manush" (human) was so
named because he has "Manas" a mind higher than
that of the animals which realizes the divinity in
creation. It was present since the creation of
human beings. Religion is the characteristic
feature of most of the human beings. It was not
attained through reasoning using mind. Illiterate
tribes located in inaccessible forests also have
religion. It is as eternal and and as unchanging
as the Almighty. Disbelief by a few will not
affect it.

"The percentage of atheists in the world is less
than 5%"

http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990c48a.htm

"Atheists are all scientists" ?

http://www.non-religious.com/statistics.html

Religion is not a blind following. It is a sub-consciously driven
group ritual. It calms the 'collective unconscious' mind. The
religious culture brings unity and belongedness among the followers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious

" Are Atheists More Depressed than Religious People?

In recent years, the view that religious belief and
participation in religious acts of worship has a positive
effect upon the well-being of man..."

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php

"Is a Belief in God Beneficial? Or, What's an Atheist to Do?

1) Religious attendance is correlated with longevity.
2) Religious belief has been associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms.
3) Religious beliefs may help with addiction.
4) Religious attendance is correlated with lower blood pressure.

http://jewishatheist.blogspot.com/2006/01/is-belief-in-god-beneficial-or-whats.html

Answer 3

Hi there.
Religion is the organised approach to God, so strictly speaking you don't need it - you can approach God anyway.
Where it has the advantage is that others have been trying to approach an understanding of God for thousands of years and what they have discovered is encapsulated in religion - in the case of my own, Christianity, in the teaching of Christ. I don't need to try and reinvent every wheel, knowledge is already available.

Again, as it is a construct, religion is not a necessity - we can survive without it, just not as well.

Happiness is to be found in religion, if you have eyes to see. I stand at the end of a two thousand year tradition of love, I cannot feel other than connected and proud to put my trust in my brothers and sisters, both past and present. To reject what they have put in place is to rely purely on your own ego, stacking the odds massively against your being right.
Cheers, Steve.

Answer 4

We seek answers for the why and how of existence. Religion has been and continues to be a way that we seek the answers. In this sense, yes, we need religion or something that helps us to understand the questions of existence.

Regarding whether religion will bring happiness is debatable. Blind faith may bring some sort of happiness or reassurance that there is a guiding light.

"Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind." - Albert Einstein

Answer 5

we don't need what our idea of religion is. What we do need is someone to pay for the things we have done. What we need is true religion. which is the following: Visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep yourself unspotted from the world......
remember, for all haved sinned and fell short of the glory of God.... so we definatley need the sacrifice that Jesus did. Anything Less the accepting Jesus payment falls short.... Any spirituallity, or religion that is not rooted and grounded on the atoning work of Christ, will never fulfill and will leave you holding on to the short rope when the final day comes

Answer 6

People don't need 'Religion'. What they -do- need is spirituality. That one -is- necessary and will bring happiness. 'Religion' is merely an organized set of dogma which does two things:
a. It provides a framework for people to express their spirituality. And
b. It provided job security for the individuals who run the religion.
But spirituality is an intensly personal and private thing. Each of us has our own relationship with the Spirit World, and for each of us the relationship is quite different. Not 'better' or 'worse', just different. How many people have you known who 'shop around' for a religious affiliation? They're just looking for an organization that 'fits' their own beliefs and relationship with the Spirit World.

Doug

Answer 7

Religion, as the path to achieving eternal life, is certainly important and brings happiness. As we grow in our knowledge of God and the reality of eternal life this concept moves from being merely a promise read in the Bible or heard from the pulpit to an understanding of the totality of life both during our human experience and after this human experience is over. This knowledge of the unity and totality of the life experience and it purpose within the plan of God purposes produces great joy, wonder, love and gratitude.

Answer 8

Because resistance to a notion is nonexistent and the Will is positive and the Judgment is negative.

'The definist fallacy involves the confusion between two notions by defining one in terms of the other. G. E. Moore, for example, argued that "good" should not be defined in terms of "producing pleasure", because it would always make sense to ask of a pleasurable thing whether or not it was in fact good (see the Open Question Argument).'

or: because THEN it would NEVER make sense to ask of a pleasurable thing whether or not it is in fact good for two reasons, one, we are instructed to accept pleasure sensation as validation for good quality in a thing, and two, definitions do not make sense but describe sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definist_fallacy

Answer 9

It can bring happiness to some people! But it's really not "needed".

Answer 10

1) Augustine spoke of an inherent desire for God which in expressed in the practices of religion. 2) Some of the most important aspects of existence are unneccesary. 3)Happiness is the fulfillment of the purpose of one's nature in accord with virtue, if one's practice of religion leads one in the direction of this goal, then religion engenders happiness.