The evolution of religion: we started with fantastical stories of magic and monsters because people knew so little about the world. As we learned more the old religions were forced to update. Eventually entirely new renditions were born with names like Christianity and Judaism. In modern times we have the latest revisions which are still being updated and tweaked, but seem to be failing at captivating their audience. To blame? Education is most likely teaching us too much about the world for them to appear real anymore. But religions will persist because people will demand purpose and meaning and instead a new batch of religions will be born and the cycle will continue.
This also raises an interesting question: has this happened before? When established religions begin to die, there must be people too attached that are willing to resort to extreme measures to try and protect them. We should be cautious of this. But ultimately new generations, more open to fresh ideas, will adopt new religions and beliefs, eventually allowing the old religions to die with their last supporters. It also might mean that institutions like Mormonism and Scientology, despite the absurdity of their teachings, may someday be far reaching religions. Although we cannot forget that modern times are different. With our ability to store information and share ideas, religions may have lost much of their power permanently.
Lastly, I wonder if people who have strong religious beliefs can’t actually comprehend what it’s like to not have beliefs? Fundamental concepts are very abstract and belief vs non-belief may actually be impossible for some minds to grasp if they’ve been indoctrinated.
Update 6/28/2013: it seems that most people need some sort of belief in their life, whether that be concretely religious, loosely spiritual, or simply a strong belief in something like business or government. They tend to hone in on some specific thing that defines their existence which makes sense since most people can’t dedicate years of their life actually determining what’s going on around them. Distracting yourself is easier and cheaper.
Religions formed for very obvious reasons and in turn can be easily broken down with minimal research. Man created religion and it evolved as an institution over time, gradually making changes as society progressed. Their mystical claims are clearly false and severely flawed, but what’s interesting is that religions may not function without at least one absurd element (ex. God, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, aliens, etc). People need a symbol to gather around otherwise you’ve just developed a normal community which will eventually disintegrate without focus on a common enemy or purpose. This answers the question, “why can’t we have the good parts of religion (community, donations, etc.) without the weird religious part?” We do have these, they are governments, businesses, clubs, organizations, communities, etc. Adding an absurd element you can convince people of only serves to make it stronger.
It would also be very saddening if Christianity, or one of the others, turned out to be true because it’s so obviously flawed and weak. There are so many elements to it that are non-intelligent, non-wise, and non-enlightened. It would also be depressing to think that roughly 2000 years ago we basically “figured it out”. If Christianity and God are the end game, then what’s the point of the rest of the universe? How could our more primitive brethren, who knew less about the world than we do, have solved all our great problems? The answer is: they didn’t. Religions merely exist to maintain order, help build society, and give you peace of mind. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing mystical. Another way to think about it is: during the early ages there were many pagan religions because people didn’t know how else to explain things. Whatever fantastic idea popped into their head could explain lightning, volcanoes, and the seasons. As societies formed, governments, businesses, and business-like organizations (we call them religions) formed. It would be foolish to think that smart, pioneering individuals didn’t see the power, wealth, and influence behind these religions and wanted that for themselves. In fact, governments most likely requested these organization because they wanted to unify the people. Trying to run a civilization with competing religions probably didn’t work well, especially if they’re violent and sacrificial. It is reasonable to assume they designed and implemented Christianity and other religions for this reason. You may say, “but people claimed Jesus cured them and performed miracles!” Of course he did because rich and powerful folk paid or ordered people to say those things (if they even needed to go that far). For example, a man who’s always had sight receives payment simply by claiming he used to be blind, and a religion is born through successful marketing. This is a far more realistic and simple explanation for the rise of religions than magic. If Jesus were real and could use special powers than we have to explain an entirely new branch of magic science which is by far a more convoluted answer and thus far less likely.
Lastly, religious belief exists among intelligent and/or wealthy people for 1 of 2 reasons: 1. they were indoctrinated early and either believe it or have always “believed in their belief” of it and aren’t going to change or, 2. they utilize their beliefs as an image to inspire common people to follow or support them, generally for power-related reasons. There is also those who pursue religion entirely out of power or financial reasons, enticing followers to donate or give their allegiance. It is probably rare, and an exception to the rule, for actual intelligent people to actually believe in religions.
