This blog post examines whether science and religion have been a cause of conflict throughout human history, or a driving force for integration and progress.
The possibility of science and religion coexisting has been a subject of debate for centuries. Countless historically significant events stemmed from the conflict between these two forces. Even today, many influential scientists view science and religion as adversaries, highlighting religion’s negative impact. For instance, Richard Dawkins argued that religion is a mental virus that turns people into murder weapons due to its fixation on an afterlife. From the religious wars between Catholicism and Protestantism in the 16th and 17th centuries to the modern 9/11 terrorist attacks, religion has been identified as a cause of much conflict and sacrifice. The global confrontation stemming from the recent IS terrorism also has religious roots. It cannot be denied that religion is a cause of many conflicts. But is religion simply a deadly virus that must be eradicated? Would humanity have progressed in a better direction if religion had never existed? On this point, I can state unequivocally: without religion, humanity would have failed to achieve unity.
So what is the definition of religion? Yuval Noah Harari, an anthropologist and historian, defines religion as ‘a human system of norms and values based on belief in a superhuman order’. The origins of religion are uncertain. While the dominant theory suggested religion emerged around 11,000 years ago with the transition to agricultural societies, the discovery of a 11,600-year-old religious structure in Turkey by archaeologist Klaus Schmidt in 1994 means the earliest date remains unknown. However, it is known that the timing of the agricultural revolution and the emergence of religion are similar. While various human species lived as hunter-gatherers for 2.5 million years, one can infer a connection between the agricultural revolution that occurred roughly 10,000 years ago and the religion that emerged around that time. The commonality between these two elements is the gathering of numerous people to form communities. Unlike the nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers in small groups, agriculture required many people to settle in one place and cooperate, necessitating social order and hierarchy. Since these moral norms and hierarchies were both fictional constructs born of human imagination, maintaining them required transcendent legitimacy. It was precisely here that religion played a role: by instilling belief in a transcendent, absolute monotheistic deity (or the supreme deity among polytheistic gods), it established self-enforcing norms and values and created hierarchical order among people. This structure is one piece of evidence that religion contributed to unifying humanity.
Even if religion contributed to human integration in this way, would humanity have failed to integrate without religion? In other words, is religion an essential element for human integration? To answer this question, we must examine how human integration has historically been achieved. One might consider that for humanity to be ‘integrated’, or ‘live together’, forming states or empires is the most stable approach. This is because it is predictable that without an absolute ruler or a small group of wise leaders, and with everyone being equal, society would descend into chaos. Decisions and actions at the national level are more efficiently carried out through a top-down command structure based on power. So, what granted legitimacy to this ‘power’? In most groups, religion has traditionally fulfilled this role. ‘Absolute and predetermined’ power does not inherently exist; to justify it, the only recourse was to explain that it was conferred by a transcendent being. This naturally raises the question: ‘Why did people believe such absurd tales?’ In humanity’s early stages, awe towards natural phenomena likely formed the origin of such beliefs. But why did these beliefs evolve into systematic religions, and why do religions persist even in the modern era when truths are revealed? While no definitive answer exists, one explanation proposed is that ‘religious concepts spread like a virus from parent to child.’ This theory seems compelling when observing how many people around us naturally adopted religion by attending churches, temples, or cathedrals with their families from childhood. Furthermore, one reason modern people still believe in religion is that humans are not purely rational beings. According to Matthew Hutson, humans possess an innate tendency toward magical and religious thinking, and maintaining a healthy mental state is difficult with pure reason alone, devoid of these elements.
While we previously stated that religion’s power stems from belief in an absolute being, Harari’s definition extends religion beyond belief in a god to include belief in any specific ‘power’. This reveals that Dawkins’ claim that ‘obsession with the afterlife leads to murderous acts like terrorism or war’ overlooks religion’s core value. The core of religion is not the afterlife. For example, the Old Testament contains almost no mention of the afterlife. While contemporary Islamic extremists emphasize the afterlife, this represents only a tiny minority. Dawkins did not view religion as a virus that contributed to past human unity; rather, he criticized religion’s role in modern times, where its counterproductive effects have only increased. So, does religion still contribute to human unity today? Yes. Religion still influences our lives in various ways.
We can consider the scope of religion in its definition. Beyond the Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic faiths we commonly think of, could ideologies like capitalism or communism also fall under the category of religion? Take the United States, for example, which values capitalism and liberalism. Seventy percent of the American population identifies as Christian, while only 5% have no religion. The American Declaration of Independence includes the phrase, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ This was influenced by the early American presidents, who were Enlightenment deists. Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration, excluded the Bible’s religious elements but retained Jesus’ ethical teachings. This represents taking only the accumulated wisdom of humanity since religion’s origin. Ideology and religion share many characteristics, and modern ideologies often derive legitimacy from religious beliefs.
Religion has influenced other domains beyond ideology. Religion has long emphasized morality, love, and conscience, advocating for the welfare of the vulnerable. However, the state did not actively respond to this. For example, ancient Romans viewed relief for the poor negatively and provided only limited welfare for political purposes. Communism and social democracy followed religion’s spirit of philanthropy, and welfare remains a significant issue even in modern capitalist and democratic societies. In our thoroughly capitalist system, we worship ‘money’ like a god. Many believe that with money, anything is possible. Without this belief, currency is merely paper, but because we believe in money’s power, it holds infinite potential. Even atheists skeptical of religion end up worshipping the god called ‘money’.
To summarize, viewing religion simply as ‘believing in a god’ fails to capture its true essence. Religion is ‘belief in an unseen power,’ providing the foundation for humans to gather and cooperate. Without religion, humanity’s progress would have been far slower than it is today. Religion persists in modern times, permeating society in different forms and acting as an adhesive that unites humanity. This does not imply religion is a perfect invention for peace. Religion inevitably causes conflict, and figuring out how to minimize this conflict is a challenge for humanity. This remains one of humanity’s unresolved tasks for the future, perhaps even until the day humanity ceases to exist.
