Psychology Of Religion Essay

Religion, throughout the entirety of human history, has played an integral role in shaping events, cultures, societies, and the collective belief system of large masses of individuals. Today, decades into the scientific revolution and at a time when information and explanations for “supernatural” phenomena are widespread, easy to obtain, an instantaneous; roughly 85% of the world population follows some religious doctrine. These religious organizations range from large-scale, global organizations such as the catholic church, to smaller less organized groups with differing beliefs. One could argue that religion is not just an idea that took root, but rather a conscious impulse in the brain. People use religion to make sense of the world and

Linden makes a very thought-provoking point in his comparison of religious individuals to amnesiacs, those who are unable to form short term memories. Linden claims that amnesiacs have a tendency to “create a narrative from scraps of older memory and weave them together to make a coherent and detailed story” and that “this process, which is called confabulation in anterograde amnesia is not a process under voluntary control. Rather, it’s what the brain does when confronted with a problem it cannot begin to solve: it makes a story from whatever bits of experience it can dredge up (Linden 226).” This point is makes perfect sense when one compares religious belief to confabulation. Essentially, when humans are faced with unanswerable questions such as; how did we get here? What happens when we die? And what is the purpose of this life? We have absolutely no idea how to answer them so we make up an answer based loosely on what we know or have experienced, or cling to what others tell us to be true. If an individual has trouble accepting the existential and meaningless nature of life and death, he/she can adhere to a religious school of thought that gives them some comfort in knowing the answers to some of life’s unanswerable questions. This psychological correlation provides an explanation as to why individuals are drawn to religion, and gives some insight as to how religion can make one’s life more