DAY 163
CHALLENGE
“Religion was invented to give some people control over others.”
DEFENSE
This is an easy claim to make if you don’t look at the evidence.
Religions propose moral values and rules of conduct (don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder), but so do other institutions—like philosophy and government. Yet no one would say that philosophy or government were invented merely to control people. Like religion, philosophy seeks to answer profound questions (where did we come from, where are we going, what is ultimately real). Also like religion, government seeks to promote human well-being.
Leaders in every field can be manipulative and self-serving, but it would be false to claim that controlling others is their exclusive motivation.
This is particularly the case with philosophers and religious leaders. Whatever flaws they may have, any realistic appraisal of these individuals shows that most are not power-hungry psychopaths but sincere believers in what they proclaim. This means religion is not just a manipulative game. It is something its leaders believe.
The same is true historically. Most religions do not have specific founders but grew organically. Their leaders, whether village priests or tribal shamans, have always shared the beliefs of those around them. They didn’t invent those beliefs to suit themselves but inherited them from previous generations.
When we look at religions that do have founders, we see a mixed picture. Although some religions had founders who benefited materially (e.g., Muhammad, Joseph Smith), other religions had founders who renounced wealth and power (e.g., Gautama Buddha) or who refused political power and suffered greatly, up to and including martyrdom (e.g., Jesus Christ; cf. John 6:15, Matt. 27–28).
Whatever the motives of some founders may have been, we do not have a basis for saying religion is a phenomenon invented to give some people control of others. This is particularly the case when we consider that religion is a human universal. It appears in every society, both today and in history. This indicates religion corresponds to a fundamental part of human nature; it is not something simply invented by a select group of people.
Finally, the behavior-affecting aspects of religion aren’t its primary characteristic. Otherwise religions would just be codes of behavior, and they aren’t. They are systems of belief about the divine and the afterlife.