Religion as an Invention
POSTED BY: AnthonyT
UPDATED: Sunday, August 23, 2026 16:07
VIEWED: 9267
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Hello,
If we look at religion as an invention, what can we say about its continued usefulness in modern society?
If we analyze religion the same way we might a Transistor, an Incadescent Lightbulb, or a Steam Engine, what can we say about it?
Does it have utility? Was it important at one point in History? Is it still important today? Is it a boon for mankind? Does it have a useful place in the future? Or is it a mere artifact of the past?
What do you all think? How does religion rate amongst the other inventions of history?
--Anthony
Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.
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Lots of pretty buildings are made under the guise of religion.
Many more are blown up...
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I think religeon is an inate human experience, at least at the level of groups of people. Ever since when can trace people have held beliefs about how the world came to be, where people go after they die, who made us, etc. If religeon is an invention then so is love, enginuity, charity and other human traits that span the ages.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
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Hey Anthony,
If you ask me this question once a year from now on, you'll prolly get a different answer each time. Right now, I'm seeing religion as an extremely powerful psychological weapon that has a crippling design flaw in that it disables the wielder as well as his target. At the same time, the weapon is sophisticated enough to exploit this design flaw in bringing the fearful and disabled victims of its power together in large, defensive groups. Its medium of control is fear. When humans find another way to process our deepest fears, religion will no longer be of any use to anyone. Bear in mind: I'm talking only about religion itself, not the phenomena it purports to explain.
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
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Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
If we look at religion as an invention, what can we say about its continued usefulness in modern society?
I don't know that I can say much about its continued usefulness in modern society. If it was an invention (which it was) then it was an invention along the same lines as any other written work. Which it was. So, working from that, it was invented to explain the universe, because the universe is so awesome. And by that I mean that it is awe-inspiring. It is a place full of awe. Anyway, so the universe is awesome, so how do we explain it? Well, various stories, ideas, and philosophies sprang up around trying to explain it. Some of these stories and ideas were hammered in so solidly that they were taken as the Absolute Truth and the letter was followed, rather than just the idea. The problem, I think, is that new discoveries have made that Letter a bit... well, wrong. But there are some who cannot accept it as wrong, or can't accept it as a story like anything written by Shakespeare or Dickens. The invention has gotten a bit out of control in its "success" at explaining the universe. Fact is that there are better ways to explain the universe, better ways to find inspiration... but there are few better ways to control the thinking of so many people. The Greek philosophers, in their quest to understand the universe, insisted that everyone think for themselves. Their ideas evolved into things like physics and the scientific method and the study of this awe-inspiring universe.
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If we analyze religion the same way we might a Transistor, an Incadescent Lightbulb, or a Steam Engine, what can we say about it?
It, unlike transistors, engines, and lightbulbs, has not really evolved or been updated, even though it's been around longer. These devices have all been altered to serve better; we didn't just ignore the bits that didn't quite work for us, we changed them. This is an inherent difference between religion and devices, and indeed all of the sciences, as well as the arts, social structures, really most things you could name.
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Does it have utility?
Technically, yes. Some people utilize it in very benign ways, drawing motivation or inspiration from it. Some people utilize it in ways that are deeply offensive; control, justification for violence, aggressive evangelism, condescension, denial, repression, fleecing, hatred, abuse, etc. etc. etc. and many flavors of all these things. Not to say that people wouldn't find other ways to mess up the world and be annoying, but religion can be very convenient for them. I've heard more than one person say, "Oh, but he's a good Christian man who goes to church..." when someone is clearly a thief and a liar, or worse things. It can be used as a shield against just consequences, often very effectively, and that is wrong.
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Was it important at one point in History?
Clearly. It has shaped countless events.
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Is it still important today?
Clearly. It is still shaping countless events.
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Is it a boon for mankind?
Ah, that type of importance. No, I don't think it is. I think there are more boonful things.
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Does it have a useful place in the future? Or is it a mere artifact of the past?
Hm. I would be hard-pressed to say that religion/dogma has a useful place. Having a philosophy, something that can change and shift with new information, that's one thing. And it can lead people to the same places of goodness that religion can, without the restriction of never accepting a new idea, which is where it gets dodgy.
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What do you all think? How does religion rate amongst the other inventions of history?
Honestly, I think it ranks pretty near the bottom. I can name things that have done more harm, several of them in fact, but in comparison to an invention like clockwork, the computer chip, the light bulb, or disco
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Who cares? Our money is being shit on. We argue about 30 billion, entitlements, money spent on war.......really? We can have all the entitlements we want...low taxes, etc... when we stop the FED from printing TRILLIONS and giving it to war and foreign governments.....get me? Have your welfare, foodstamps, war machines. Whatever. Our money is being handed out all over the world..making our prices(gas, food, welfare) more expensive.....and our reps(senate, house, prez) have nothing to say about it....think browncoats...Think
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I regret that due to current circumstances I cannot give a coherent answer to that question - normally you'd get a flamestorm with the acknowledgement that individualised religion is often a positive force...
But right now I got a real life situation making me deeply question my inherent hostility towards religion in general even when I think it's complete bunk - some people *need* to believe something to get through the day, particularly in a crisis, and to take that from them seems an act of malice no matter what I, personally, think of it.
I don't know, I just... don't know, ok ?
-Frem
I do not serve the Blind God.
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Interesting thread, and I'll try and come back to answer in more detail later (very busy now, a good thing 
) but my short answer is I think Religion was like Music. A phenomenon was 'discovered' rather than 'invented' and various cultures studied it and, like with music, the various cultures collected their beliefs and rules concerning this phenomenon into 'theory's' (much like 'Music Theory'). Music around the world is written differently under different rule sets (though now most use the 7 note western style) yet their are certain things, like the minor third interval, that are common around the entire world amongst children of any language or culture, like it comes naturally. In religion the parallel is the general attitude of good will towards others that is found (though now always practiced) in most all religions.
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Anthony
I think religion is a useful invention. It sets out a social order of mutual support which can teach people the end conclusions of the logic that is being used in that society before they are capable of reaching those conclusions themselves, and thus they are able to use that wisdom to avoid some of life's more serious mistakes, and will be able to function as members of that society more effectively and much earlier.
That said, if a religion does not then allow its followers to reach their own conclusions once they are ready to do so, it has become dogmatic and fundamentalist.
That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.
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Anthony,
I think Jaynestown summarizes religion best for me. To me, religion is not an invention. It is a need.
Or I can put it this way. Religion is not the various foods we eat, which changes with personal preferences, cultures, and time. It is our hunger itself, satisfied by different kinds of foods. The hunger is universal and constant.
Just like in Jaynestown, people believe what they NEED to believe.
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