Religions have uses—they serve and satisfy a variety of very real motives, needs, and purposes for individuals and communities.
For one thing, religion can be a source of identity for a person, community, ethnicity, or region. In fact, *historically, religion has very often been the main source of identity for individuals and groups. For some major large-scale examples of this, consider how most of the Arabia and certain other Middle Eastern regions have been united through being identified as Muslim, or how the Roman Empire and later almost all of Europe gained and maintained some sort of united identity through Christianity. Without religion, many people, communities, and regions would lack identity.
And this naturally brings up a related point: Historically and in the present day, in many regions in the world, religion has and continues to be the main foundation for community, social interaction, and social life. In other words, many community ties and social interactions in a large measure revolve around religions--and in many cases, person’s social role is diminished without some degree of religious participation. Abandoning and outwardly rejecting one’s religion, or at least refusing to participate in it and its customary practices, often causes a person to lose most of his or her social ties and position, as well as the benefits associated with them. And this being so, even the people most disinterested in their religion have still usually stuck to the particular aspects of it that allow them to retain their advantages in society. A great modern example of this (and one that frequently occurs even among people, families, and communities that are not very religious) is how most modern couples that want to get married almost always follow family religious customs in order to do so.
And related to religion’s general influence on interpersonal interaction is the way it is often one of the primary objects of uniformity that people use in order to find something they have in common with each other, can both relate to, are both interested in, etc., in order to make themselves more able to share and sustain each others’ company in spite of their differences and diversity that might otherwise cause conflict or at least prevent interpersonal interaction. In other words, people generally need something—for instance a common view, experience, activity, etc.—in order to overcome their differences that might repel them from one another; and religion is often one of the main “somethings” they use to achieve this state of uniformity—so much so that without religion, a great many of the world’s social relations would lack the impetus to overcome the personal differences in character that might otherwise hinder the various parties from coming and staying together.
And related to religion’s overall role in social interactions and society is how it can be a source of reliable social acceptance. Indeed, many people are often drawn to a religion largely because the religion accompanies a religious community of others who in certain contexts will almost unconditionally accept and in some ways support most adherents to their religion.
And since religion plays so many various and important roles in social identities and social interaction, it can also be used in order to institute standardization and social order among people, and make people better fit to be controlled or control others, and more likely to preserve social institutions. In fact, religion is perhaps the best and surest way to make a group of people constant and submissive. And this being the case, human history is filled with a countless number of examples where leaders have jumped on any opportunity to use religion in order to institute and preserve standardization of their people. In fact, throughout human history up until the modern day, virtually every time a large region adopted an official religion, one of the main motives its leaders had for doing so was to contribute to this mass standardization of the people. Moreover, this use of religion is not only confined to large social organizations such as states—it also extends to the family as well, so much so that the social order of many families is largely dependent on religion, and for many families there really is not much else besides religion that could dependably and effectively secure a high level of overall stability.
Religion also helps maintain general social order by being a great (albeit sometimes artificial) way to maintain morality and civic honor among people—two necessities for maintaining peaceful interaction between people in society. Without a religion, people are far more liable to become unscrupulous and commit injustices towards others for their own benefit and gain. And consequently, in this regard, religion is not only useful for the “ruling class” who wishes to institute order among the people, but also for people in general to maintain the implicit “social contract” they have with each other—particularly the part that stipulates they will not use unjust means to get what they want. Without the restraint of religion, people are far more likely to abandon much of their morality and civic honor, transgress the rights of others, and thereby cause social disorder.
And in the scope of this last use, religion can be used as a means for a person to display his “goodness” to others. In other words, people can show others they are religious in order to demonstrate that they are more likely to be moral and have civic honor; and by doing so they can gain people’s trust, be better able to live peaceably with others, and more likely to receive society’s general benefits conferred to those who are deemed to be this way.
And due to a variety of factors (many of which have been brought up or will be brought in this essay), appeals to religion have been used in almost every way throughout history to influence and control others, and gain or maintain authority and power. In fact, in practically every single region of the world from ancient times until modern day, the use of religion and religious authority (including appeals to a concept of divine reward and punishment) has almost always been one of the surest and most expedient methods of controlling and influencing others, winning their support, making them comply with one’s will, and/or gaining their submission or allegiance—not only in the case of governments and those who hold governmental power, but also in many person-to-person relations and social orders, particularly the family . In other words, most people will often find many ways of utilizing religion to aid his or her power and influence over others.
And related to this is how religions—being so influential, such an important aspect of society, and so frequently utilized to influence and control others—are often used to make financial profit and access various resources. In other words, religions have always been and continue to be both directly and indirectly tied to money or wealth in numerous ways. For instance, religion (directly or indirectly) provides a living for a large percentage of the population, and religious institutions and organizations often control a great deal of resources and property. And it is also true that if money and opportunities for financial gain were taken away from a religion, it would undoubtedly have an overall smaller and less devoted following; and that, to some extent, many people who use religion for a living are more sincere about the money than the religion.
Now that I have examined religions’ uses in the scope of worldly and social matters, let me move on to exploring other types of religious utility pertaining more to the core individual human experience, including a person’s dealings with his own self and the world’s phenomenon*.
For one thing, since religion is to a certain extent based on human emotion and feeling, it can play a role in a person’s emotional makeup, and fulfill certain emotional needs, including but not limited to a general need to believe something. Indeed, many people might feel quite emotionally lost without their religion.
Religion can also be a source of spirituality—a word I use here to refer to anything that falls outside of the scope of the physical, mental or emotional, or anything that deals with the ontological. People often associate religion to any idea or experience that has this spiritual aspect.
Related to this is how for many people, religion play a major role in the way they explain themselves, the universe, and nature. In other words, as people who find ourselves existing and in a universe that exists, and who have various thoughts, feelings, spiritual experiences, etc. aroused by the existence of ourselves, humanity, and the universe, religions provide us with definite or near definite explanations regarding matters that we know little or nothing about for sure, and that are perhaps unfathomable or unsolvable through any other means other than a divine revelation.
Furthermore, not only do people look to religion as a source of explanations for many phenomenons in this world, they also often believe they can directly change external forces through religion—for example, by praying for rain or for any other type of natural phenomenon to occur in their favor. And this also goes beyond just natural phenomenon, and can apply to any kind of general external force (real or imagined) that is metaphysical or supernatural—religion is often the main means people have for interacting with them.
And related to this is how people often look to religion and to the metaphysical/supernatural in general as a source of causes of occurrences in the world and their lives—for instance, when people believe that God caused or prevented something from happening, be it an incident that affects many people, or a more personal one; and be it something that is outside of human control, or even something that is in human control. On this latter point, it should also be added that people often use religion to explain certain matters of the human experience that seem and/or are frighteningly out of human control—occurrences we observe that in some way might appear to be (and in some cases perhaps very well might be) random variations, and that we prefer to attribute to a cause directed by a divine being, rather than to an impartial motiveless chance that plays no favorites or non-favorites with anyone or anything.
This also brings up how in certain ways, a particular religion is often to some degree a mere cloak for generic superstition, and that people’s motives for religious belief are often the same or nearly the same as their motives that impel them to adhere to various superstitions. In other words, people participating in religious practice are often doing so out of fear of the unknown, and due to a belief in a certain line of cause and effect that does not come close to following any rational lines whatsoever (including “karma” rationale, i.e. that one’s moral actions directly affect a person, and that individuals are subject to some type of personal moral cause and effect)—almost always in the form of a person’s belief that he or she will be benefited by external forces through adhering to certain abstract ritualistic practices, but will meet bad fortune if he or she does not. In fact, superstition’s role in religion is especially apparent considering how nowadays and throughout history, a large percentage of a supposed religious practices common among many religious practitioners have little or no backing in the very religious scriptures themselves—and yet, followers of these religions are certain in their belief that these practices do play a role in the fortune or misfortune they will encounter in their lives. For instance, many Jews rigidly adhere to practices such as touching a mezuzah with one hand and then kissing that hand’s fingers before entering or leaving a room with a mezuzah on the doorpost, wearing a head covering throughout the day or at least during group religious services and personal prayer sessions, keeping separate dishes and kitchen utensils for meat and dairy foods, and reading the entire contents of certain Hebrew language prayer books on Jewish holidays—and, although the performance of these specific practices in their entirety really have little or no scriptural justification , they are often followed with a superstitious type fervor, and with a belief that not following them to the letter will result in divine disapproval and personal calamity.
Related to this and other aforementioned points is how religion and religious activity often derives from many of our fears of misfortune, and is also often one of the main ways we deal and cope with many of these fears.
So far the personal uses of religion covered in this section have dealt primarily with human emotions, spirituality, and a need for explanations—but now let’s move on to other uses of religion pertaining more to the self than society. *
One is the way people can use the authoritative impression or emotional appeal of a religion in order to draw into a certain self-empowerment source or even a supernatural knowledge and/or power. In other words, there are certain types of knowledge and power that we can tap through various ways—one of which is some general type of religious faith and feeling. And thus it happens that all religions have true accounts of faith healings, miracles, and so on, which, while not serving as proof of one religion’s truth over another, do perhaps establish the existence of some phenomenon of Nature and/ore the Divine that is difficult for the human mind to fathom.
And in the scope of accomplishments, a person’s religious faith can also in certain ways result in an increased chance of great accomplishments (and usually a corresponding increased risk of failures)—not through any external intervention and assistance from a divine being or beings ___—but due to the fact that faith can make people believe things more than reason warrants and/or believe that God is on their side and favors them, and this can cause people to be more bold, risk-taking, confident, stubborn, persevering, and willing to do or go through almost anything in their pursuit of objectives and goals.
Religion can also be used as a means of self-discipline, self-empowerment, and self-improvement. This takes on many forms (including some already mentioned). And just the fact that religion places as constraints on a person can play a role in all of this. For instance, all types of ascetical* religious practices generally cause a person to increase his or her power of self-mastery, and be better able to deal with certain ordeals he may encounter. And related to this is how religion also can be a source of a variety of challenges for a person to meet. Additionally, religious teachings—both scriptural and others—have various wisdom teaching integrating into them that can serve as another tool conducive to general self-improvement.
Religion can also provide people with general life structure, order, and meaning. For instance, religion can provide a person with regular schedules and practices, concrete goals and aims, a motive to live, definite explanations regarding the universe and existence, personal identity, personal emotional needs fulfilled, and some sort of an underlining all-pervading life and personality oneness and unity. Without the structure, order, and meaning that religion can provide, many people would feel like their life would be lost and out of control—and in fact, for this reason and several other factors (such as those mentioned in the last few pages), many people might become somewhat “deranged,” if you will, without a religion (or at least something like a religion that is conducive to self-order), and in extreme cases, they might feel compelled to commit suicide.
Furthermore, most people to some extent and in certain ways have desires and/or needs to be controlled and/or commanded, as well as to have someone or something else take responsibility for what affects them—all of which are needs and desires that religions can to some degree fulfill, especially considering how the God of most religions is often portrayed as a parental authority figure that gives commands, makes authoritative assertions regarding many topics, institutes rewards and punishments, and takes much responsibility for many matters and occurrences.