Hipparchia said:
I can't agree with you. For several reasons.
Firstly, I know you were probably speaking metaphorically, but calling it an experiment sounds as if it was a deliberate decision to 'try it out'. And that sort of smacks of intelligence, and intelligent design, and evolution having a direction, none of which I am comfortable with.
Secondly, you cannot say it has failed without showing that humanity is worse of with it, than without it. I doubt you can do this, and before you ask, I can't prove the reverse either, nor am I trying to.
Thirdly, there is a spiritual side to all of us. If you have children, as an example, you are probably aware of that. This spiritual aspect is as much a part of us as our cold intellect, or our instinctive drives. It is most easily expressed through religion.
You are right in each of your criticisms, of course. Obviously religion isn't an "experiment" because it implies an "experimenter" -either human or divine- so I was, indeed, using the phrase as a metaphorical device comparing to other social "experiments" that humanity has been said to engage in: capitalism; communism; socialism, etc.
And, of course, it would be difficult to demonstrate that humanity would be better or worse without its development. We can, however, examine religiosity in human cultures and measure their successes or failures based on the levels of involvement religion has had on societies, and various texts have been written on this topic since the 19th century through today. In societies where religion has the most influence on government, for instance, there is increased oppression (16th century CE Europe; 21s century CE Saudi Arabia; etc.). In nations with
low religious influences on government and therefore less pressure on society, the national success rates are correlated to higher rates. Scandinavian nations are good examples, as is the U.S. to a certain degree.
But even I would argue that it was probably necessary for humanity to be "infected" with the mind virus of belief (may I use another metaphor?) at pivotal moments in our history when agriculture and complexity were emerging. A belief that natural forces should be associated with anthropomorphic deities and animated, as with thunder storms; a belief that there are deities that create life - were probably very instrumental in motivating early man to domesticate the natural world.
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The best evidence available in the archaeological record shows that the earliest civilizations had religious beliefs that held all things to be sacred. That's a huge contrast to today's religions that hold a very world-rejecting point of view. To early man (and even contemporary aboriginals), all is sacred and it is this life that matters. To the "modern" religious believer, this world is largely rejected and "salvation" becomes of paramount importance so that one may pass on to believed "afterlife."
It is this world-rejection that I believe creates the "evils" of the world. In the backs of the minds of all christians is this notion that there is an "end of days" which will negate the need for a sustained planet; conservation of energy; a need for scientific progress; a need for world peace; etc. These are the "Left Behind" nutters that don't see any reason to worry about preserving or conserving what we have or learing to tolerate others in the world that don't think the way they do (even if they're next-door neighbors). It all doesn't matter because the "rapture" is coming.
Consequently, this world-rejecting point of view becomes one of the least spiritually involved positions a person can take. If you steal, cheat, lie, fuck your parishoner's kid, it all won't matter as long as you repent and come clean before judgement day and accept your imaginary friend as real.
This is
probably why the non-religious are under-represented in prisons and the devoutly religious are
over-represented. I have the numbers somewhere and will dig them up, but prisoners are surveyed during intake of their religious beliefs (prisons have to ensure reasonable efforts are made to cater to them and need the info), so it isn't a version of the flawed "no atheist in a foxhole" hypothesis. Only a very small percentage of inmates surveyed reported to be non-religious. An even
smaller number were agnostic/atheist.
Finally, spirituality need not involve religious superstition. I can appreciate the setting sun as much (I say more!) as any theist. I find great comfort in being alone on a hiking trail or kayak. I have tremendous respect for aboriginals who view the world as sacred and can appreciate their belief that the star in our sky is animated with a deity -after all, its warmth and presence are easily felt and noticed.