Why do human beings almost universally believe in a Supreme Being (or Beings), and why do we have organized religions?
Those are two aspects of human existence that have been part of our makeup for tens of thousands of years, and because of this, we take these two constructs for granted in the same way we take the moon and sun for granted. It just is. We don't really think about them. In relation to our lives, they have always been there and will always be there.
How do we know early humans held some version of religious belief? In France, the Lascaux Palaeothic cave paintings depicted mystical rituals that were performed to insure future hunting success, a clear indicator that homo sapiens believed in mystical powers that controlled their lives. Also, archeological digs unearthed the remains of bodies that were buried with ceremonial trinkets and tools, another indicator in a belief in an afterlife.
So what compelled homo sapiens to devise these rituals? What purpose did they serve? What needs were satisfied? In order to find the answers, we must transport ourselves to the Palaeothic period. Humans began to populate Europe around 100,000 BC. It was the ice age, and life was hard, brutish and short. Hunger and deprivation were the norm. One can imagine a clan of 20 or 30 hunter-gathers sitting around a fire in a long, cold, harsh night. They would tell stories to pass the time, questioning the bewildering world around them. These were nomadic clans with no conception of science or technology, or the workings of nature.They battled cold, snow, ice, rain, drought, floods and wild beasts. And lacking the basic scientific knowledge to figure out the world they inhabited, these prehistoric minds formulated their own explanations. This is how the myths and legends originated. Every natural phenomenon had its own special god or spirit overseer: There was a god of rain; god of fire, and of the sun and moon, droughts, floods hunting, planting,etc.. To please these gods meant bountiful hunting, good weather, protection from predators. Displeasing these gods meant floods, hunger, eclipses of the sun and moon, and disease. Inventing these various gods gave order to the chaotic lives of early humans. I
These stories were told and retold and embellished as they were past down from generation to generation. By assigning a higher power to every aspect of nature, pre-historic humans were able to assemble their lives and environment into an orderly, and to some degree, predictable mode. Now everything happened for a reason, and if they followed a certain code of behavior, they possessed the potential to intervene and alter natural events. This is where religion comes into play.
Over thousands of years a code of conduct was gradually constructed for the sole purpose of appeasing and pacifying the gods in an effort to bring about good fortune.Follow the rules, and the gods would reward them; disobey the rules, and the gods would bring down punishments, like plagues, floods, droughts and infestation.
Eventually these beliefs were codified into precise rules, with specific tribe members--usually elders- to oversee their enforcement and to act as the earthly representitives of the gods.Therein lies the roots of organized religion, replete with special ceremonies, sacrifices, and earthly envoys to act as guardians.
Why would home sapiens find it necessary to concoct explanations for things they cannot prove? Best selling author and psychologist, Michael Shermer, has a theory that supplies the answer. His theory puts forth two concepts: patternicity and agenticity.
He says that over thousands of years the human brain became wired to discern patterns regarding the world around them. The more patterns early humans could find, the greater their chances for survival. For example, fifty thousand years ago humans were primarily hunters, In order to increase their success as hunters, they learned to take notice of the migration habits of certain animals; what time certain animals gathered at a watering hole; which animals were nocturnal, and which animals hunted only in daylight.
When humans morphed into farmers they had to take notice of weather patterns to determine the best time of year to plant certain crops.
Agenticity refers to the powers that devise and control these patterns.Because early humans lacked any knowledge of scientific principles, they created gods to be the agents of these diverse patterns.
There is yet one more reason for the creation of gods and religion: Death. Surely pre-historic humans must have stared at their deceased comrades and wondered what happens to humans when they die.One thing we know for certain that is hardwired into our brains:the fight for survival. No rationale person wants to die. We all hold a secret wish to live forever, even though we also realize we cannot escape from the inevitability of our own demise.
It is not difficult to imagine ancient humans pondering death, what it means, and what happens after we die.Nor is it difficult to understand why they would have concocted scenarios about an afterlife. After all, who wants to believe that death means the end of everything? So depending on what religion was celebrated and what region of the planet ancient humans lived, they all had their own unique vision of the afterlife.It might be called heaven, or paradise, or the happy hunting grounds, It may entail a trip down the River Styx, or reincarnation into another life form, but the one common denominator in all of these scenarios is the belief in life after death. In fact, humans want so desperately an eternal life that they even accept the Judeo-Christian belief in Hell. Imagine. We want an afterlife so badly, we are willing to embrace an eternity of unspeakable pain,suffering and horror beyond human comprehension. At least we won't be dead.
That is the crux for a belief in a Supreme Being or God. It provides order in a chaotic world and holds the promise of eternal life. However irrational and illogical these beliefs may be, they have helped humans for eons make sense of their lives and the world around them,.
We, in a sense,are adults who still behave like children. We refuse to relinquish the belief in a Santa Claus, that ageless spirit who spans the centuries, who knows all and sees all, who rewards the good and punishes the bad. And like children, we are taken in by fairytales and myths because they are the panacea for a sometimes bewildering and dangerous world.
Let's be honest.. How fabulous would it be to spend an eternity at the North Pole, interacting with Santa and his elves?
