Beinhart's Body Politic

The Wine of Wonderment

by Larry Beinhart, December 21, 2007

If we really want to figure out what religion is about, we have to start with the assumption that God doesn’t exist.

That may sound odd, but if we begin the other way, the only thing it can lead to are arguments over who has imagined God more correctly. Such disputes end up like this:

“The pieces of the bodies of infidels were flying like dust particles. If you would have seen it with your own eyes, you would have been very pleased, and your heart would have been filled with joy.”
—Osama bin Laden

“I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.’ And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.”
—George W. Bush

The agnostic position appears to be very nice and reasonable. But it wanders around in a swamp of incoherence because it can’t ask the fundamental questions. Which are these:

If God does not exist, why do we believe?

Why is belief so powerful that we kill and die over our particular beliefs?

If God does not exist, why do all cultures have spiritual and religious practices?

If God is a delusion, why isn’t that delusion dysfunctional? In its extreme cases—as with Osama bin Laden and George Bush—it is. At least for the rest of the world. But in normal cases, it is not. Indeed, with normal use, religion is usually quite helpful to people and to societies.

Here’s a theory.

Our number one need is to understand the world in relationship to ourselves.

If we do not, we’ll stroll off of cliffs, eat pebbles, and attempt to procreate with thorn bushes. Without understanding, we are unable to satisfy any other need. Therefore, it comes before them.

The way we developed (since we’re starting with an atheist assumption, we can say through evolution) we have handy biochemical prompts to arouse us to take care of our needs. If they are not immediately met, the prompting gets stronger and becomes discomfort, even pain. When they are met, the discomfort ends, plus we get an additional biochemical shot of something that makes us feel good.

As babies, we start with ourselves and then move further and further out into the world and deeper into ourselves. But we get to certain points where there are no answers. The need does not disappear, anymore than hunger goes away if there is no food, thirst if there is no drink, or the desire for love when everyone hates you.

The pain—biochemically prompted—remains. Then someone comes along and says, “Here’s the answer! Big Guy in the sky, just like the king, but bigger. Knows it all, does it all, has a plan and a place for you.”
If we believe it, the need is answered. The pain chemicals recede, and the pleasurable satisfaction chemicals rise up. We now know enough about human biochemistry and mood-altering drugs to understand that Karl Marx’s statement “Religion is the opium of the people” is not a metaphor. It is a literal truth.