Why People Cannot Live Without Religion
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
26 May 2023
The learned
IFS bureaucrat Mr Ashok Sharma has asked a pertinent question as to “Why can't
people live without a religion?”
Humans need
a perpetual illusion to live their life with and there is no bigger illusion
than a religion. Here I'm not bringing in god which is a pure hallucination and
an infantile projection of primitive humans.
In “The
Future of an Illusion," Sigmund Freud wrote that religion was comparable
to a childhood neurosis. This universal neurosis comprises esoteric beliefs,
totems, sacraments, screeds and myriad perceptions ingrained in the collective
human psyche. Humans subconsciously / unconsciously carry this neurosis as an
unmistakable genetic behaviour. In other words, religion is in human DNA. It's
our inexorable fate.
In 1978, a
team of researchers at an Ivy League University in the States, studied an
atheist couple and their 16-yr-old son who was also brought up as an atheist
and didn't undergo baptism. The boy's parents left Christianity completely
during their days of courtship when both were in their early 20s. They turned
atheists and brought up their son without any faith whatsoever. This was the
family background which was ostensibly non-religious. The researchers called
the parents and gave them a few notebooks, books and a copy of the Bible. They
were told to tear the pages of the books. Both tore without a skerrick of
hesitation.
Now the
Bible was given to them and they were asked to tear its pages. Both hesitated,
paused, thought for a while and 'agreed' to tear, albeit not so roughly the way
they tore notebooks and novels. They slowly tore three-four pages of the Bible
and said that they'd not tear further.
Now their
son was called and the same exercise was repeated. The completely un-indoctrinated
boy also baulked at tearing the pages of the Bible, though he tore it
completely. Mind you, he had no preconceived knowledge or respect for the
Christianity. His parents at least had a Christian upbringing. The researchers
concluded that the remnants of religion were still present in the crevices of
all three, despite the child having been brought up in a religionless and
godless setup.
The point
is: Religion and god are parts of our long evolutionary process and we're
actually 'happy' and 'content' with these illusions because living with
illusions entails not much thinking. They give us a sense of protection and a
sense of mental and physical snugness. This is what we call a bolstering
effect, insulated from everyday worries. Even the atheists among us may give
Freudian Slips at times. For example, a man like Richard Dawkins, the most
celebrated atheist in the world, once blurted out on the stage, "Oh, my god!"
when a believer's question stumped him.
We're all
in the process of evolution. Even the most 'evolved' amongst us are travellers
on this journey. The more you evolve, the less you feel the need of religion
and god. Since most of us are still unevolved and are like crawling creatures,
we need religion and god. And those who're intellectually and comparatively
(more) evolved, are in the process of dropping religion (and also god). They
know the futility of all faiths and the redundancy of god. Yet, they're not
fully evolved as they still identify themselves with some sort of amorphous
spirituality or even mysticism.
Unless all
humans become collectively evolved and universally enlightened, religion shall
remain with us and will not get off our back just like the old man perched
firmly on the back of Sindbad the Sailor refused to get off.
The
'realized' souls among us, will not be affected by religion but the hoi-polloi
and the Great Unwashed will continue to wallow in it, converting and killing
people in the name of it (religion). Remember, the majority nurtures
religiosity. So, the masses cannot live sans it.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/people-live-religion/d/129859
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