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May 12th, 2011
12:46 PM ET
Religious belief is human nature, huge new study claimsBy Richard Allen Greene, CNN London (CNN) - Religion comes naturally, even instinctively, to human beings, a massive new study of cultures all around the world suggests. "We tend to see purpose in the world," Oxford University professor Roger Trigg said Thursday. "We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can't see it. ... All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking." Trigg is co-director of the three-year Oxford-based project, which incorporated more than 40 different studies by dozens of researchers looking at countries from China to Poland and the United States to Micronesia. Studies around the world came up with similar findings, including widespread belief in some kind of afterlife and an instinctive tendency to suggest that natural phenomena happen for a purpose. "Children in particular found it very easy to think in religious ways," such as believing in God's omniscience, said Trigg. But adults also jumped first for explanations that implied an unseen agent at work in the world, the study found. The study doesn't say anything about whether God, gods or an afterlife exist, said Justin Barrett, the project's other co-director. "This project does not set out to prove God or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact," he said. Both atheists and religious people could use the study to argue their sides, Trigg told CNN. Famed secularist Richard "Dawkins would accept our findings and say we've got to grow out of it," Trigg argued. But people of faith could argue that the universality of religious sentiment serves God's purpose, the philosophy professor said. "Religious people would say, 'If there is a God, then ... he would have given us inclinations to look for him,'" Trigg said. The blockbuster study may not take a stance on the existence of God, but it has profound implications for religious freedom, Trigg contends. "If you've got something so deep-rooted in human nature, thwarting it is in some sense not enabling humans to fulfill their basic interests," Trigg said. "There is quite a drive to think that religion is private," he said, arguing that such a belief is wrong. "It isn't just a quirky interest of a few, it's basic human nature." "This shows that it's much more universal, prevalent, and deep-rooted. It's got to be reckoned with. You can't just pretend it isn't there," he said. And the Oxford study, known as the Cognition, Religion and Theology Project, strongly implies that religion will not wither away, he said. "The secularization thesis of the 1960s - I think that was hopeless," Trigg concluded. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Religion is not human nature. Spirituality is. Religion is the politics of spirituality (teaching, assimilation, converting, greed, appeal to wekaness, etc..) anything but nature...it is what causes the conflict within ourselves to be Spiritual.
Instinctive if you are a dummy.
The only quarrel I have is when religions war between who is right and wrong.
I can't believe that these morons spent 3 years doing research and yet do not have any conclusive answer on anything. Its a shame that CNN even published this article which is just useless...
Morons have been doing the same research for thousands of years...still without any conclusive answers 😉
Yeah, but these morons got paid to do this "research" plus they fulfilled their responsibility to publish or perish in academia.
The earth used to be flat, until there was evidence to the contrary. It cannot and will not ever be shown that God does or does not exist in the physical world, but current knowledge shows that any particular religion cannot be the only correct religion and also that religions cannot be taken literally. Metaphors to teach us how to live and a hope for the future are fine if they give people comfort, but most religious people living on planet earth today are still at least 500 years behind the times.
There's been a lot of evidence that Jesus exist and is who He said He was in Medjugorje. What is your theory to explain what’s going on for the past 30 years in Medjugore? 6 kids, ages 10 to 15 dropping to their knees at the same time, focusing on the same spot (even though they have side –blinders on), bright flashing lights and hot skin probes not showing up on their EEGs, all raising their heads simultaneously when she leaves. Being arrested by the communist police and threatened with jail and torture and refusing to change their testimony. And now 30 years later, still going to church daily, praying many hours every day, all sticking to their ‘story’ while raising families. Six pathological liars? I guess the proof will be if they die without the signs happening that they say will happen in their lifetimes. Search vimeo for Mirjana or Medjugorje. Look how young Jakov is in this 1984 video, how they all raise their eyes at the same time. They've done this in front of crowds of hundreds of people. http://vimeo.com/10286499 Watch the u-tube videos of Mirjana. Please reply with your explanation. She says in one of her videos that Our Blessed Mother doesn't refers to atheist as non-believers but as ‘those who do not yet know the love of God’, so at least there’s hope in the way she puts it, sounds like you'll eventually come around. I’ll keep praying for you.
Pax.
I have a book that proves Superman exists, he is faster than a speeding bullet, and more powerful than a locomotive, can leap to tall buildings in a single bound. He came to earth from the planet Krypton. Great read, try it sometime you'll enjoy it! Oh, I can also put you onto some great books about aliens from outer space.
http://vimeo.com/10286499
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So here I saw a load of brainwashed kids staring up. Never saw at what. No sound so they could have had an audio signal that the "experience" was starting. Rather sad really.
I'd like to know who paid for this study......
I think it is obvious.
I do have a question ? If everyone thinks the after life is going to be so great . Why does everyone try so hard not to get there ? If in fact there is no afterlife . I guess if you did not live your life while you could . You will have to ask yourself . Do I need the phillips or straight edge screwdriver . I can prove your body goes no where. If your body goes no where . Exactly how do you think you will recognize anyone ???
"If your body goes no where . Exactly how do you think you will recognize anyone ???"
Another copy of each body is created there for this purpose...
I don't think their study shows an inclination to religion, just an inclination to have an explanation for things unknown. The relgious part comes from some of the earliest people learning that they can control the majority by giving them something to feel more secure and, thus, religion is born.
Of course humans today are ingrained to believe in the afterlife and most other basic religious conventions. For thousands of years we have selectively bred this trait into our population We have used the unassailable authority of a distant, uncommunicative god as the basis for a system that allows one human to dictate the actions of others. Until very recently, only the past couple of hundred years, If you disagreed with those laws from on high, your life, wealth, and ability to create more offspring were all forfeit.
Very interesting article. I feel people use religion for comfort in times of trouble. If they are going through tough times religion gives them comfort in believing that whatever happened was for the good. Since most people go through tough times, religion can be very comforting and help them endure the pain.
I also found a resource that can help understand people's religious sentiment through twitter :
checkout-
http://bit.ly/lm3zXm
http://bit.ly/mnJ2ft
As an atheist, I believe it is possible that the instinct to believe in the supernatural is another example of our human evolution. As life strives to survive, our minds also strive to preserve its sense of self, to include self-image, legacy, and eternal life. Thoughts?
EVERYTHING in the Universe is NATURAL by definition. Most of it, however, is yet UNKNOWN to us. An intelligent being millions of years ahead of us, humans, would have abilities we can not even imagine... and YOU will be the first to call such being a "supernatural" one.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization. -George Carlin
How is this new news? They've been talking about the "God part of the brain" for decades.
Religion is where the big money is. That's why Glenn Beck will reinvent himself as a for-profit-prophet after Fox boots him out the door.
obviously you have never experienced actual religion, you only know the American travesty of it.
@tomorrowstruth – You flatter us....but Americans hardly have the corner on this particular travesty. Ever seen the Vatican?
If spirituality is instinctive it only magnifies a certain truth The horror resulting from the moneychangers who exploited it to create the competing religion industry... The results are in: Millions have been killed and injured in the process....
Definition of Christianity:
The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
This should be on a TShirt 🙂
no, simply no.
Christianity defined itself almost two thousand years ago and many thousands of educated and smart people worked on it since then. There is no (really!) any need for IDIOTIC "definitions" for anything, especially for "definitions" of things you have not a faintest clue about.
@Thinker23 – FilthApes post is an old joke, but an accurate synopsis of the religion. I prefer a more simple definition:
The Big Book of Multiple Choice.
Well what a revelation! (pun intended) Extremely interested (some would say consumed) in this conundrum, I was quite pleasantly surprised when I saw the CNN headline. However, a quick, one second reality check would have urged me to apply a little more caution and restraint with my optimistic inclinations...this article is redundant to the nth degree!
Can anyone honestly say that they didn't know A) that as an evolved primate species we seek, and moreover, yearn the comfort and artificial refuge afforded in the concept of actually never leaving this party called life or B) that we could ever "pretend it's not there"?
If so, please rewind the CNN headline newsreel to the news of our slain friend Usama Bin Laden, the religious nut formerly intent on carrying out orders concocted in the deluded and megalomaniacal grey matter that once resided in his, now, rather inactive, cranium. And to not discriminate, take our other friends, the Christian right, whose perseverance and mosquito-like opposition towards honest scientific endeavor such as stem cell research or the law to teach, and the law to teach only, the now proven scientific fact that is Darwinian Evolution, as expounded in "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".
So no, wise guys at Oxford, I don't think we'll make the mistake of claiming that religion isn't innate or pre-wired in our primitive and fearful little minds. And I CERTAINLY do not think we'll make the error of ignoring it or pretending it isn't there. For as much as that notion would be nice, it would be equally...no, way more naive. Instead, let us combat this phenomenon and make sure that the Founding Fathers are not let down; that the "Wall of Separation", so ingeniously conceived by Jefferson, remains high and insurmountable.
My only concession: to fully admit and agree that we need to find a replacement for the bronze-age doctrines. But let us do this by extracting our heads well clear of the sand and by consulting modern day scientists and philosophers that at least have a modern day clue. A good start would be Daniel Dennett or Sam Harris.
wow, you sure are trying hard to sound smart! honestly though, i found your post redundant and, for the most part, boring. get a blog if you want to write crap no one will read.
Please. They come out of the Stone Age. I suspect they knew more about the earth around them than most of these contemporary Fundamentalists.
The day religions begin to fizzle out due to the growth of knowledge and intellectual thinking, the more we'll begin to see world peace. The overwhelming majority of wars were caused by intolerance to another's religious views. Its like hating someone who believes in Santa because its different than your belief of the Easter Bunny.
Stalin, Pol Pots, both werent religious. Yet Stalin was the greatest murderer of all time
Actually god is the greatest murderer of all time. Its in your bible.
World War 1 and World War 2 had nothing to do with religion. Boer, Korea. Vietnam, same thing. Wars of Religion have happened many times in the deeper past. At that time religion was state sanctified so you cannot really say "only religion" as politics and economics come into most of them. The 100 years war was a power struggle that included who ruled churches but they were not, as such, religious.Owning the church in your lands meant you got first grab at the money and could set up your own priests. Religion causes more wars is just a knee jerk reaction by someone who has not actually studied the history of Christianity. It is one of those silly myths like "history repeats itself."
Unfortunately religion is a whole lot more than virgin maries. Go visit a sunday service and you might get closer to understanding what an immense function religion can have to tie societies together.
Shake the hand of your neighbor as a sign for peace.
What about Hitler and the Jews? What about the American Revolution, or our current war against Muslim extremists?
Spoken like someone who has never read about Napoleon's invasion of Spain or Soviet suppression of religion. Unless you think murdering priests and raping nuns gets a pass because it's done in the name of secularism?
Well put and to the point.
To say that world war I and II had nothing to do with religion completely discredits the rest of your argument. And people can be good people without being religious. I grew up in a very religious home. I grew up going to church every Sunday and was very active in our youth group and extracurricular church activities. As I grew older I began to recognize many problems in the bible and the hypocrisy that surrounds our Christian society.
@Nathan – You're getting tagged because of your phrasing and the old "Pol Pot, Stalin" BS is flowing freely. I think it's much safer to say that even though wars, per se, may not necessarily be based on religion, generalized k | lling is. More people have been offed in the name of religion, particularly xtianty, than for any other reason up to and incuding biblical accounts.
Sure, then wars will simply be fought over commodities like oil, water, and mineral rights... A lack of religion won't reduce the number or intensity of wars. It will just change the impetus. People will still be opressed by governments. Interest groups with good funding will always buy their way to capitol hill. And atheists will always try to rationalize God out of everything.
None of the above will ever cease to be. Get used to that.
Yahveh and his general Moses were the worst murderers humanity has ever known. It’s all in the book of nonsense: the Bible
The studies reaffirm that our brains hate randomness. The neuro-science literature affirms the continuous activity of the brain. We store information as patterns and subsequently see patterns in everything. We CRAVE patterns. As such, we find what we seek. Even when there is nothing there but random noise.
yes, there is only random noise. Even you yourself aren't really there or are you? I can't see you, you're just one of those... *patterns*. What would there be inside your brain that is "you"? I don't seem to be able to see anything that would be potentially called "you". Just forget it. You aren't real. You are just b.s. that's all.
we crave patterns? OK, but what on earth would "we" be in the first place? All I can see right there in your brain is just more patterns, nothing really much there that could be called "you". You aren't real. I think you aren't honest with yourself, if you were you would have to come to the conclusion you simply are not there.
In other words, people who have poor control over their base instincts are religious.
That makes sense.
as you know very well, the opposite is the case.
All humans having functioning brains BELIEVE in something. Religious people BELIEVE that the world (the Universe) we live in was CREATED by someone having the knowledge and technology needed to build a Universe. Atheists, on the other hand, BELIEVE that the Universe came into existence all by itself from nothing. It's up to each and every one of us to decide which one of these BELIEFS is more plausible.
No; why would he state something in complete opposition of his belief then? Your argument makes no sense. God isn't dead. You can't kill something that was never there.
@Thinker23 – You are correct about religious people but you misrepresent atheists. Atheism only addresses one single issue…existence of god(s). We reject claims of god and most of us with respect to all gods because they lack evidential support. That’s it. Most theists are atheists with respect to every god with the exception of the one in which they believe. You, yourself, are likely an atheist with regard to Thor, Amun Ra and Zeus.
As to your snide representation of the big bang, yes, most atheists would accept it. The reason is more important and far more tangible than your nebulous characterization of it being a ‘belief’. Regardless of some of the remaining unanswered questions, a singularity leading to the big bang is where the evidence points. There is good scientific basis for accepting the big bang as the impetus for our existence. And even though the study is extraordinarily complicated and out of reach for many a layman, it doesn’t negate the concept any more than rocket science or brain surgery are invalidated by their complexity.
Nathan: "You can not kill someone who never was there"... but you CAN say something no one will understand. Can you translate your statement into something comprehensible?
BR: As an atheist DO YOU BELIEVE that the Universe was CREATED by an intelligent being having technology and desire to do it? YES OR NO? If you say YES then you believe in the CREATOR. If you say NO then you BELIEVE that the Universe came into existence all by itself from nothing.
Simple, is not it?
Well, it seems that there are THREE possible answers to a YES/NO question: a YES, a NO and a... NOTHING. Right, BR?