宗教と部族の本能

Some time last autumn, I was chatting with an acquaintance about toxic beliefs from childhood. He said he was surprised that many people avoid changing such beliefs, sometimes finding excuses, sometimes even reacting with hostility if they disagree with others’ opinions. I said (approximately): “It’s because そのような信念を持って、私たちは家族と結ばれている。, and on some level we feel that it helps our survival – it’s almost like religion sometimes.”

I blurted that last part out without too much thinking, but then it struck me – it は 宗教によく似ている。 Religion serves the same purpose – group cohesion, mutual support, encouraging each other’s survival – on a wider scale than biological family. Family bonds are created naturally, automatically; weaker tribal bonds require something more in order to motivate people to invest extra effort into activities that benefit the tribe.

I’m quite aware that many anthropologists must have come to the same conclusion long before me, but it was still quite a revelation to me because of all the psychological conclusions that follow.
It makes sense, then, that most religions require suspension of disbelief and upholding certain traditions that don’t make much sense in modern times. It’s a way of testing people: “Are you with us, are you willing to follow our leaders unconditionally – or are you unlikely to contribute to our tribe and therefore a liability?”

It makes sense that people often respond with such hostility when those beliefs are challenged – in some instinctive part of our minds, it’s not just a belief that is challenged – it’s our survival and sense of belonging.

除外

A woman I worked with some years back, told me that when she was a child, her family wasn’t religious and didn’t go to church – so their neighbors avoided and excluded them. This doesn’t make sense if you consider that most religions teach compassion and unselfishness – but it makes perfect sense if you consider tribal instincts. This is why most religions in the past fueled ethnic conflicts – and some extremist factions still use it for the same purpose.

From the perspective of tribal instincts, the feeling is not, “Be kind to everyone”, the meta-message is more like, “Love and help あなたの隣人 – but other tribes are a competition and need to be fought or assimilated.” If there wasn’t for tribal instincts, a meeting of different faiths would look more like “That’s what you believe? Cool! My folks believe that a giant fish came out of the ocean and grew legs and gave birth to first people! Let’s get together and share stories!” instead of “Is その what you believe? DIE!!!”

現実的だ、 キリスト教のさまざまな系統が本当に新約聖書に従っているならば、どのリベラル・メディアよりもリベラルになるだろうしかし、その本質的な目的は集団の結束であるため、通常は、かなり厳格な行動規範を定義して強制することに重点を置き、その一方で、その規範と異なる者を罰することにある。 部族の本能は、しばしば理性や思いやりよりも強い。.

繁栄と宗教

I also find it significant that in rich countries of Western Europe and Australia (perhaps Canada too, but I’m not so familiar with the situation in Canada yet, in terms of religion), people are much less likely to take religion seriously than anywhere else. In fact, you can observe the 生活水準の低下とともに高まる宗教の重要性 from country to country (often even from region to region within a country). It’s not just about better education – it’s more about the feeling that in a rich country, you don’t 必要 もう部族ではない to ensure your survival. If a social security network works well, you might not need your family or neighbors’ help even when you are sick or old. In such circumstances, tribal instincts are not so necessary and it makes sense to question authority and old beliefs.

You might say, “アメリカは？? Religion is still very important there!” I see several explanations for that.
第一に、アメリカはヨーロッパの多くの国ほど均質ではない（ここ数十年の間にEUへの移民が増えたとしても）。アメリカでは、実質的に誰もが何らかの形でマイノリティなのだ。あまりに多様であるため、部族的本能が誘発され、集団に属し、集団のアイデンティティを確認する必要性が強くなる。

Second, social security system in America is much less supportive of an individual than in EU – especially in case of メディカル problems. There are many more homeless people in USA than Europe – and many more possibilities for an individual to ホームレスになる このため、人々は安全を感じにくくなり、既成のコミュニティーに加わることでさらなる安全を求めるようになるかもしれない。そのため、人々は安全でないと感じ、既成のコミュニティに参加することでさらなる安全を求めるようになるかもしれない。

第三に、ヨーロッパの部族領は（多くの局地的な小競り合いや両大戦にもかかわらず）何世紀も前に多かれ少なかれ確立されていたが、アメリカの開拓戦争はウィキペディアによると1890年頃かそれ以降に終わったばかりである。私の見るところ、アメリカはいまだにかなりの軍事文化圏であり、軍隊はEUよりもはるかに美化されている。に対して 戦争に駆り立てるすべてにおいて 戦争とは必要なのは 強い信念と強い集団意識 – and religion is one of the things that fulfill that purpose.

いくつかの宗教は今や世界的な宗教であり、個人が親しみを感じることができる数よりもはるかに多くのメンバーを含んでいる。私はそれが、それらの宗教の中に多くの派閥（しばしば互いに敵対する）が存在する理由（あるいは少なくとも理由の一部）だと考えている。私たちの脳は 手に負えない too large a tribe. If a tribe becomes so large that the relationships become too impersonal, can you really count on those people’s help? Best to make it smaller. It’s not a conscious decision, but an instinctive urge.

I’m aware that questioning religious beliefs often makes people feel angry and offended. While trying to be as objective as possible, I have to take that risk. I hope that most readers will understand this as an invitation to think, rather than “whose worldview is better” contest. I also hope that, if more  people become aware of how their tribal instincts influence them, it might motivate them to abandon “kill the unbeliever” way to be religious in favor of “love and compassion” way to be religious. All the religions in the world include some great and uplifting ideas, as well as some that are toxic or pointless. Let’s finally put the emphasize at the former.

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