Name: Anonymous 2016-07-16 10:50
World religions are psychological techniques designed by humans to overcome hardships of life.
Think about it: the life of most people in antiquity was a harsh, unforgiving, exhausting exercise in overcoming physical hardships and poverty. You had to rise up with the sun, plow the field, milk the cows, herd the sheep, sow some clothes - and all of that like 9 days out of 10 (sorry, no 2-day weekends or 40-hour workweeks). And then disease or drought hits, and half your family is dead. And even in the good years, the king's men (more like armed bandits) come and take away any surplus you've managed to scrape up. And you'll never get an education or a chance to choose a job you like, in fact you'll probably spend your whole life in your village. How would you bear yourself through this kind of life? You would need psychological help to make you get up in the morning and not e.g. say "screw it all" and join up with Robin Hood to rob people in the woods.
Well, religions (I'm talking Christianity, Judaism and the like) are just that kind of psychological help, or rather technique. They instill a sense of purpose to your life, no matter how monotonous and bleak it is, and promise some sort of reward in some sort of afterlife. They say that all you need to do is love your family, work hard and respect your rulers, and you get an eternity of bliss. Your life isn't a worthless, dirty and short affair anymore, it's watched by an omnipotent super-being who will definitely reward you. When and how? Well, never, really, but you just have to believe in that invisible and ineffable reward (or a punishment if you start a rebellion against the king).
Regular, periodic communal ritual actions (going to church on Sunday, having weddings with a priest etc) served to solidify the psycho-technique. The imaginary "God" was more real when there were special people wearing uniform ("priests"). Everyday "prayers" served to train the mind to focus and strengthen the willpower to overcome the harshnesses of life.
Note also that the virtues of these religions are crafted to target the common man: hard honest work, servility to rulers, having lots of children, closely-knit communities etc. The aristocratic classes couldn't care less about these virtues because they spent their time indulging in leisure, making war, plotting against their rivals, satisfying their natural curiosities (which is what European science has developed out of: curious, vain rich & powerful who tinkered around in laboratories). Religion was meant for the common man, not for the upper class.
With the recent developments in technology and corresponding sharp increases in comfort of life as well as near-elimination of famines and epidemics in developed countries have led to a sharp decline in religiousness. The most atheistic countries are those of Scandinavia, where overall "quality of life" (i.e general comfort and peace) is the highest in the world. This is obviously in line with my theory: if religions are psychological training techniques, they're needed only when there are hardships to overcome. In the modern developed world, the most religious people are the poor and those who have suffered losses in their life. The worse your life, the more you need the "God" technique to focus your will.
Think about it: the life of most people in antiquity was a harsh, unforgiving, exhausting exercise in overcoming physical hardships and poverty. You had to rise up with the sun, plow the field, milk the cows, herd the sheep, sow some clothes - and all of that like 9 days out of 10 (sorry, no 2-day weekends or 40-hour workweeks). And then disease or drought hits, and half your family is dead. And even in the good years, the king's men (more like armed bandits) come and take away any surplus you've managed to scrape up. And you'll never get an education or a chance to choose a job you like, in fact you'll probably spend your whole life in your village. How would you bear yourself through this kind of life? You would need psychological help to make you get up in the morning and not e.g. say "screw it all" and join up with Robin Hood to rob people in the woods.
Well, religions (I'm talking Christianity, Judaism and the like) are just that kind of psychological help, or rather technique. They instill a sense of purpose to your life, no matter how monotonous and bleak it is, and promise some sort of reward in some sort of afterlife. They say that all you need to do is love your family, work hard and respect your rulers, and you get an eternity of bliss. Your life isn't a worthless, dirty and short affair anymore, it's watched by an omnipotent super-being who will definitely reward you. When and how? Well, never, really, but you just have to believe in that invisible and ineffable reward (or a punishment if you start a rebellion against the king).
Regular, periodic communal ritual actions (going to church on Sunday, having weddings with a priest etc) served to solidify the psycho-technique. The imaginary "God" was more real when there were special people wearing uniform ("priests"). Everyday "prayers" served to train the mind to focus and strengthen the willpower to overcome the harshnesses of life.
Note also that the virtues of these religions are crafted to target the common man: hard honest work, servility to rulers, having lots of children, closely-knit communities etc. The aristocratic classes couldn't care less about these virtues because they spent their time indulging in leisure, making war, plotting against their rivals, satisfying their natural curiosities (which is what European science has developed out of: curious, vain rich & powerful who tinkered around in laboratories). Religion was meant for the common man, not for the upper class.
With the recent developments in technology and corresponding sharp increases in comfort of life as well as near-elimination of famines and epidemics in developed countries have led to a sharp decline in religiousness. The most atheistic countries are those of Scandinavia, where overall "quality of life" (i.e general comfort and peace) is the highest in the world. This is obviously in line with my theory: if religions are psychological training techniques, they're needed only when there are hardships to overcome. In the modern developed world, the most religious people are the poor and those who have suffered losses in their life. The worse your life, the more you need the "God" technique to focus your will.