evolution of religion

In this article regarding Haiti, voodoo, and Christian evangelicalism, we once again see religion’s influence and its value or perhaps more accurately lack thereof. The voodoo priest is complaining that the evangelicals are hogging the airport and the supplies and then distributing them in such a manner as to increase the evangelicals influence among the Haitian people. Whether this complaint is logistically true or not, I have no way of knowing. It's the thinking behind the scenes that intrigues me.

It seems like we'd all be better off if we gave up our superstitious religious beliefs and took responsibility for our behavior towards others. I'm not just talking about the voodoo priest. Religion, in general, seems to be expert at clouding relationships and separating human beings from each other.

Why didn't God make a world where love, peace, joy, and all those wonderful things just existed without the option of human beings messing things up? That would be my old brain trying to simplify things. I no longer pretend that life is simple. Trusting God exclusively to take care of all the things “out there” is no longer something I‘m able to do.

In spite of my rant above, religion is a part of the social construct of man and has been around for a long time... perhaps beginning with simple folk tales regarding the death of loved ones and bringing comfort to those still alive by explaining that they (the dead) were still present though invisible. This would be comforting indeed. We created gods or a God in order to explain the unexplainable. Religion has worked well at uniting people. Amazing civilizations have existed in history and religions have played a part as unifier in many of them.

Somewhere along the way we developed the idea that the gods or God could be placated, pleased, commandeered, or even manipulated by our actions of sacrifices, prayers, worship, idol making industries, and more. We created ways to get what we needed (safety, acceptance, comfort) even though it may have simply served psychological purposes. This went a long way in soothing fears in a very unfriendly world filled with natural and unnatural catastrophes.

While religion has positively contributed to societies, it also produces negative situations in people's lives. People have learned how to control other people by using religion in any number of ways. A few examples would be… Constantine, the Roman emperor, making it the empire’s state religion in order to maintain control of his people, hell doctrines, inquisition killings, shaming, money making schemes (i.e. tithing/prosperity gospel). Religion needs conformity from its constituents in order to survive and at the same time produces a form of security. Thus religion survives.

As I have been studying evolution (natural selection) over the past number of months, its probability has grown in my mind. I can see how evolution has worked in religion. Religious concepts evolve. In Christianity alone there appears to be an observed peace amongst the 30,000+ sects/denominations in Protestantism since its birth 500+ years ago. It certainly didn't start out that way, but you don't hear of many killings related to denominational differences anymore at least not in the United States.

The divide between world religions is another matter. Wars are being fought today because of these differences. The Abrahamic faiths... Judaism, Christianity, and Islam especially have a history. “My God is the one true God and yours is not.” Our current war with radical Islam shows the Islamists’ religion and its preservation as the motivating forces behind the terrorists’ insistence that the ways of the West must die.

War should be a last resort and I'm not saying we shouldn't protect ourselves. Evolution insists on self preservation. Each religion must evolve to the place where it recognizes its own survival is dependent on peace. Perhaps Buddhists, Taoists, and other seemingly peaceful religions have learned this, I don't know.

Religions also need to police their own fundamentalist extremists who do not understand the concept of compromise and tolerance. I know that's easier said then done. It is in everyone’s best interest that the concept “our God is the only Right One” evolve into extinction. Will we evolve quickly enough to avoid major destruction? How much pain will it take? Will religions' inability to bring peace be the end of its own existence?