Faith Matters - The nature of religion

Some questions for our discussion on February 23

(Questions raised by Chapter 1 - 'The Nature of Religion' (from 'The Faith Instinct,' by Nicholas Wade - Penguin Press, 2009)

I hope you'll join the conversation by making comments and/or raising questions at the end of this week's post.

1. Are humans genetically predisposed to religious behavior?

Nicholas Wade writes, “…an instinct for religious behavior is indeed an evolved part of human nature. Because of the decided survival advantage conferred on people who practiced a religion, the behavior had become written into our neural circuitry by at least 50,000 years ago, and probably much earlier.” (see The Faith Instinct, p. 6)

Could we humans be "wired for religion?"
What do you think so far?

2. In primitive religions, which is more important: religious beliefs or religious behaviors?

Wade writes, “Faith brings personal rewards but it is as a social force that religion carves its place in history. Religion… sustains the quality of the social fabric, and did so alone in early societies that had not developed civil authorities. It binds people together for collective action, through public rituals that evoke emotional commitment to a common cause.” (see p. 2)

Western Christianity has placed heavy emphasis on correct belief. Considering human biological and social nature as The Faith Instinct describes it, do you think this emphasis has been helpful?

3. What is the ancient connection between morality and religion?

Wade writes, “However strongly religion may seem to grow out of people’s personal beliefs, the practice of religion is heavily social. The quality of a society is shaped by the nature of its morality and by the strength of people’s adherence to community standards. Both of these – standards of morality and the extent of compliance with them – are set or heavily influenced
by religion.” (see p. 9)

Many religious traditions and faith communities emphasize correct moral behavior through their sermons, writings, and other teachings. Have you belonged to such a community, or did you grow up in one?

4. What is the role of emotion in religious commitments and behavior?

Wade writes, “Religion and morality share a common feature: both are rooted in the emotions. Moral intuitions usually appear in the mind as strong convictions, not as neutral facts. Religious and moral beliefs can be discussed in a rational way, but both have emotion-laded components that are shaped in regions of the brain to which the conscious mind does not have access.” (see p. 17)

Have you ever considered that faith might be rooted in the emotions, not in the mind?

5. Could religion be a vehicle for communication, like language?

Wade writes, “People survive as social groups, not as individuals, and little is more critical to a social species than its members’ ability to communicate with one another. Language is a system for communicating thought; religious behavior is also a way of communicating shared values and emotions.” (see p. 7-8)

If you have participated in a faith community, now or in the past, what are some non-verbal ways that religion communicates shared values and emotions?

6. What's the difference between religion and spirituality?

Nicholas Wade defines religion: “Religion is a system of emotionally binding beliefs and practices in which a society implicitly negotiates through prayer and sacrifice with supernatural agents, securing from them commands that compel members, through fear of divine punishment, to subordinate their interests to the common good.” (see p. 15)

And Robert Fuller writes, “In the twentieth century…the word spiritual gradually came to be associated with a private realm of thought and experience while the word religious came to be connected with the public realm of membership in religious institutions, participation in formal rituals, and adherence to official denominational doctrines.” (From "Spiritual, But Not Religious," Oxford University Press.)

How would you define religion? How would you define spirituality?

Remember, I hope you'll join the conversation by making comments on these questions, and/or raise your own questions here....