Religion in human evolution                 

Religion in human evolution                                                                                                               

Introduction

According to Hedges, (2015), religion can be defined as a socio-cultural structure of one’s practices and behavior, an individual’s view of the world, morals, ethics, or even organizations that link humans to spiritual or supernatural elements. It differs among different people whereby some use objects considered sacred, faith in a supernatural being that guides the people, provides for them, and even provide power. People practice their religion in different ways. Some attend sermons; others perform rituals while others do commemorations such as deities (Hedges,2015). Different religious history is preserved in the form of narrative or sacred objects and symbols. These are then kept in holy places in an attempt to give meaning to life. Some of the significant existing religions include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. However, out of the total world’s population, a small percentage does not affiliate to any religion or do not believe in the existence of any supernatural being. These are either the agnostics or the atheists (The Global religious landscape, 2012).

Evolution can be defined as the process through which creatures evolve from one form to another.  Therefore human evolution is the process through which the present-day human beings evolved from the historical primates. It is believed that humans came from the primate of the genus Homo to the modern man. From the primate, homo sapiens emerged, that is, then modern man. The process was gradual, whereby the development of traits resembling the present-day man such as language, bipedalism happened. The process was, however, not a straight line, rather a wed, in which interbreeding was taking place among the hominids. This process is, however, contrary to that recorded in religious ways.

According to religious beliefs, human beings and all other creatures were created by a supernatural being. This happened in a stipulated time, unlike evolution, which was gradual lasting for so many years (Campbell, 1966). In this paper, religion will be discussed, emphasizing its involvement in human evolution, how it has impacted the current society, its development, and the present-day state of religion. It will also look into the currents trends in the world of religion.

Human beings, unlike animals, have evolved to become creatures that have a heavy dependence on motivations, behavior or character, strategies, and beliefs. All of the above amount to human psychological processes, which have been influenced by nature’s selection. The ability of humans to learn, especially socially, enables the betterment of our generations as it expands the knowledge of humans and other complicated practices that happen to people or around people. In ancient times, human ancestors had placed extensive dependence on cumulative cultural evolution products, most of which were non-intuitive. This may have forced them to rely solely on information acquired through artistic practices. This information included their experiences of intuitions. Such behaviors included the processing of food to remove toxins.

Although they did not know what exactly happens if the toxin is not removed, the consumption of the small amounts may bring about long term effects on the body. So, the human generation had faith that the steps needed had to be followed correctly; otherwise, less quality products would results. This shows that ability and will to believe and adapt to cultural traditions, like experience and persuasion, rely on the faith of an individual.  The ability to believe in cultural traditions over experiences is highly influenced by growing or living in a world of cultural adaptation.

Religious evolution

As the years go by, humans continue to evolve. This is evident in the continued sophistication in the ways of life of human species. The cognitive abilities and visionary mindset dominate now than in the past, like the time of home Erectus (Byrne, 2018). Although the technology of today is a product of the efforts of the past generations that invented simple tools made of stone, that they used to better their life in the different ways possible (Wurz, 2018). Similarly, the vast technologies of today enable people to adapt better and lead a more comfortable life than they used to in the past. Just as human evolution is acknowledged, spiritual development receives similar credit.

As in ancient times, the early man developed believes in particular cultural tradition unto which they held sacred, such believes and strong affiliation to traditions and even to deities as seen in the Buddhist religion. Religion has continued to evolve through to the present days (Hanegraaff, 2018). Severe violations are observed in which a defined group of believers stick to a particular supernatural being; for instance, the Christians believe in the existence of God and abide by the teachings contained in the Bible.

The early man believed that violation of the traditions amounted to severe calamity to the community. Religion is a social subject. ‘This is my body ‘ are words recorded in the Gospels. Jesus said them during the last supper. However, they are repeated in the church often. They remind believers of the long-gone past, estimated at two millennia in the past. Apart from the celebration of the communion are loaded with violence episodes, split of churches, disputes, and even ex-communications whose core origin was the Eucharist.

Oral traditions were developed and included in the canonical new testament in the form of texts in the past. Jesus, being a Jew, reminds us of the Jewish people by breaking the bread during the last supper with His disciples. This comes across with their escape to Canaan from the slavery in Egypt. It also reminds us of the receiving of the commandments at Mt. Sinai. All these happened before Christianity emerged (Hanegraaff, 2018).The feeling surrounding the sharing of a meal existed in the times before the emergence of modern man, estimated at 200,000 years ago. This act was also considered a critical ritual in the near East of the ancient (Tencati, 2018). The act was later taken up as theological and liturgical. Apart from the Homo sapiens, the neanderthals and other Homos discovered the goodness in sharing as they could engage in pulling resources together (Pitre, 2017).

This act is said to have been in existence even before our homo ancestors. For instance, chimpanzees, in a study by Barbara Fruth, were observed sharing their food with fellow chimpanzees from outside their social group. Bonobos the same (JONES, 2018). This indicates that meal sharing may have had roots in the modern human’s last common ancestor, who lived 19 million years ago. Shared experiences role keeps evolving in the sociality of the humans and hence becoming an integral part of human religion.

Are humans becoming more religious as they evolve or not

Comparing religion today and that of the ancient man, it seems like worlds apart. Religious institutions that have been developed, that did not exist deep in the past. This is an indicator of religious advancement that has taken place over time. However, it is a clear sign that the complicated status of the religion developed from simple beginnings. In today’s world, secure attachment of human life to religion has developed that controls people’s behavior, decision making, and even relations with others. With the clear outline of evil in the holy books and doctrines for the different religions existing, people can relate with others without having to offend them or hurt their feelings. The value of life is also outlined in these books. One’s decision making about human life tends to be informed and conscious, unlike in the old age, when the information was limited. Some religions of those ancient times would use humans as a sacrifice to their supernatural power. It is nullified by the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Blood for sacrifices was demonized during his gospel and also the killing of people as punishment for sin.

Impact of religion on society

In a society where people attend church services regularly, the possibility of moving out of poverty becomes higher than in the non-church goers. The inspiration and moral support offered in church enable people to change their perspective of life and hence more comfortable to work out of poverty. Similarly, the formation of ethical standards is also key to the establishment of moral criteria by individuals. The religious ones even get to make sound moral judgments (Zaccaria, Anthony, & Sterkens, 2019). Giving a spiritual touch on some issues that touch on human ethics may shed light on a judgment. According to the scripture, the act of killing is emphasized as sin. This, together with the legal laws, could help give a fair and just judgement on the involved parties.

Continued attendance to church services helps in reducing cases of mental health disorders. It improves self-esteem as well, giving people greater happiness both in family and in marriages (Lindenfors, 2019). It is said that the strength of a family is linked to religion. The likelihood of church gores getting married is higher compare to those who do not go. Chances of divorce are also lower with religious people, although a marriage requires excellent sacrifice, those who do not believe my experience less satisfactory marriages than those who attend church.

How has religion contributed to human evolution

Human beings are social beings. With faith that contributes to social life, humans have been able to continually expanded their social relations until they can coexist with others in a community communicatively. According to history, each culture is believed to have developed a system of supernatural belief. Due to this universal behavior among humans, it is labeled as an evolutionary adaptation. It is also thought that non-believers of the system slowly died and came to extinction while those who believed thrived. This led to a world made up of only believers (Burghardt, 2019). People may claim not to believe in the supernatural, but this does not mean they do not experience it. Of course, they do, but they choose to ignore it (Burghardt, 2019).

In any situation where people believe in supernatural power, watching them, they display the best morals. Survival in the world of today requires excellent cooperation. Humans of today as well are observed to exhibit great cooperation day in day out with strangers. This brings about good results that we enjoy today. For example, it requires a combined effort to develop and implement a new technology aimed at enhancing livelihood (Burghardt, 2019).

How will religion help human evolution in the future

The doctrine holds nature as a divine revelation in which things are the way they are because of a supernatural being. For example, Christians believe in the creation story, as indicated in Genesis, that God created all creatures. However, this does not hold in science, which brings out human reason to disclose how nature works. This continued tension may be held responsible for western civilization witnessed today. Civilization makes people enlightened about life issues hence a better coexistence with other world inhabitants.

Currently, in the world, religious groups are observed rising against each other. They wage wars against each other. For instance, the Islamic terror group in Nigeria that has been fighting against Christians in the country. Such fights result in the death of numerous people. But one would wonder if such is part of the teachings of the current massively growing religion. It is not but still is done by people with proper knowledge of religious instruction of rising against a brother (Hansen, Jackson, & Ryder, 2018).

Reason to believe

Togetherness is power, and this is important for communities that want to prosper. In the past, people believed that religion that is a universal faith could bring a community together. This unitedness brought about success. For instance, during an election, when a community is united, it possesses the power to vote their leader in. It is believed that having faith In a supreme being would bring the people protection. The religious believed that they would also enjoy indirect protection from their maker (Lougheed & Simpson, 2017). Those who believe in God are said to enjoy divine protection compared to those who don’t. This belief keeps attracting more and more people to religion(Dammer, 2002).

Conclusion

In the journey of human evolution, religion came about. It has since then continued to evolve into the faith of the present day. More people have begun embracing religion out of personal intuitions and even the spread of the doctrines. It is, therefore, clear that religion will stay here with us. From the ancient human, religion has encountered division which keeps intensifying by the day. Religion has also touched people’s ways of life, with some of the old adored lifestyles being abandoned in pursuit of holiness and closeness to the supernatural being. Several aspects of human experience have been touched by religion. These are social life, politics, the world of science, which lives it unexplainable by the day.

References

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