The benefits of religion in modern realities

Religion and depression: Religion helps people cope with depression, and many patients say it gives them hope for recovery. A meta-analysis of 147 studies involving more than 100,000 patients showed that religious belief was associated with reduced depressive symptoms in believers. A similar trend was found among people over 50 with various health problems (mostly heart-related): Religious people were less likely to experience depressive symptoms and more likely to recover from depressive episodes. These trends appear to be generally confirmed.

In general, religion is about cultivating human virtues, and sacred texts contain content that is still important today, such as immortality, sexuality, compassion, and love. Each religion has its own characteristics, but most are based on universal concepts. In the previous article, we talked about religions where violence of any kind is almost impossible, but there are also religions that directly promote violence through the metaphor and interpretation of sacred texts.

Under the veil of religion

The French anthropologist Pascal Boyer, in his book Explaining the Nature of Religion, argues that religion should be understood as a mechanism that best meets the needs of each individual, meaning that the religion that best meets the needs of society benefits most from spreading its mythology. 

Now let's talk about how knowledge is perceived in a religious context. When we talk about how we perceive knowledge in a general context, we usually associate it with something we already know. For example, when we hear that our neighbour has a cat, we assume that the cat is furry, runs around and snores. But if we hear that someone has a cat and that the cat purrs or flies, this doesn't fit with our basic attitude towards the concept of a cat. By “basic” we mean the main factors that determine for us whether we have a cat or not. But what about the second? We have the concept of cat + [very unusual barking/flying ability]. This is a very important nuance. Because most religious principles stem from a pattern, where a known pattern or a predetermined position is broken by something that does not fit the standard mould. Another example: Immaculate Conception = the general concept of (sexual) reproduction + an unusual subtype of reproduction. In other words, we add it to our internal Wikipedia as if it were a new exception to the existing order.

God

Religion often assumes that God has all knowledge and knows more than we do, and it is important to add that this is important because God has strategic knowledge, knowledge that is important to us. For example, “God knows everything about insects” and “God knows everything in the refrigerator” do not contain strategic information. But “God knows what sins we commit” or “God knows what good things we do” is strategic information. This is consistent with the theistic view of religion, which believes that God has a direct influence on the world and is always involved. This contrasts with the deistic view, which believes that God is the cause of everything but does not intervene in the world.

Why is the role of religion diminishing?

Globalisation, which dictates the contours of the new world order, can have many negative consequences, leading to the destruction of original cultures and the oblivion of religious and moral values of society The triumphant march of globalisation reduces the role of religion in the world, and it is pushed to the periphery of social existence