Blurts & Spasms

Not every religion, but most dominant ones — and even nonreligious philosophies that take root where religion doesn’t — tend to define, reinforce, and encourage “prosocial” behavior. There is a growing body of evidence (see references below) that demonstrate a strong correlation between group fitness (i.e. survival of the fittest group of humans) and prosocial tendencies, which have indeed seemed to help humans succeed in very harsh environments. There is also a strong argument to be found among sociologists and philosophers that societies themselves flourish when prosocial behavior is the norm.

Has science made the role of religiously based prosocial behaviors obsolete? Those who are secular humanists — or others who follow a particular philosophy that emphasizes prosocial traits — might assert that religion is not necessary anymore. And that might be quite true…for them. For others, a desire for guidance and encouragement around how to “be a good person” might nudge them towards an established religion. Or they might find this by joining a charitable organization, or volunteering in their community, and so on.

But what we do know is that there aren’t many strong cultural institutions right now that encourage prosocial behavior — and those few that remain have either been degraded by bad actors or have simply declined. Take the Boy Scouts, for example, or the Shriners. The role of many such organizations (and indeed churches) has been replaced by things like GoFundMe campaigns, social media, and online groups bound more by political ideology and cultural beliefs than religion or science.

And I’m not so sure that prosocial traits are being adequately reinforced by any of these new pathways and practices — even ones supported by scientific evidence. And, in fact, some online groups have rejected science altogether in favor of conspiracy theories, etc.

As to “why religion was created in the first place,” that is very much open to debate. My own personal take, having studied (and practiced) different religions from around the world, is that there are common features of those religions that were inspired by personal felt experience — and by shared “mystical” insights into that felt experience. Essentially, before most religions became the institutions they are today, they were grounded in what was a communally shared spiritual reality that they actually perceived themselves (i.e. they weren’t relying on someone else’s account). My book Essential Mysticism explores this aspect.

REFERENCES

https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112242
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-08941-002
Essential Mysticism - https://integrallifework.com/styled/page3/page20/index.html