NOTE: This is an excerpt of a concept discussed in my book Ramayana 3000. Ramayana 3000 is a Futuristic Dystopian Science Fiction Book that combines Evolutionary Theories with Hindu Religious Philosophy. You can read my book online directly in your browser (Mobile/ Desktop) here.

An introduction to Homo Religiosus

The basic concept is that we evolved to exhibit religious behavior which is hardwired in our genes. There seems to be general agreement across most evolutionary psychologists and anthropologists that humans are inherently biologically religious. There are differences as to whether the evolution of religiosity conferred survival value or whether it was simply a by-product.

Implications of the “Homo Religiosus” concept for Atheist Movements

Pure Atheism cannot really scale into a functioning society

It is not possible for a society of humans to be atheists. Religiosity is part and parcel of human existence and cannot be assumed away. Even those who reject existing organized religions will find that their inherent need for spirituality still needs to be fulfilled. Religiosity is a powerful biological impulse that needs to be channeled in some way.

Atheist movements will begin to resemble organized religions

Religions depend upon group worship to maintain and propagate themselves. Religions that solely depend on individual worship in private would not be very successful at disseminating religious belief. This works because mirror neurons in the brain are activated by shared rituals in a community setting.

The Atheist Movements around the world also use similar techniques to propagate themselves. Atheist churches will spring up, online and offline proselytizing efforts will increase to acquire new followers. In order to grow and out-compete other religions, atheist movements will be forced to adopt shared ritualistic practices that characterize religions.

Atheistic movements will also have their own set of unscientific dogmas

Given the close overlap between Atheism and Marxism, several unscientific Cultural Marxist dogmas will be believed by the majority of atheists with religious fervor.

For instance, the blank slate ideology is something most atheists seem to believe in, although it has been discredited widely. You can read this book The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker to understand this persistent dogmatic belief.

Similarly, the sexual revolution will continue to be regarded as a net positive for society by the majority of Atheists, even though evolutionary theory predicts that the sexual revolution will be dyscivilizational. The empirical evidence also bears this out as the sexual revolution has led to a host of social issues including high levels of divorce, fatherlessness, substance abuse, poverty and violent criminal behavior.

The extreme example of the Blank Slate dogma is that people can choose their own genders.

Carlson: There’s no biological anchor to sex anymore. It’s all determined by the individual. So my obvious question for you is, how do I know if a person’s male or female? Is there some absolute standard people have to meet to be male or female, other than what they say? Petkanas: One’s gender identity is enough to show what gender they are. Carlson: Is there a scientific standard? Petkanas: Your gender identity determines your gender. Period. Carlson: As an apparent man, if I say I’m a woman is that enough, do I meet the standard, as a woman to play in a woman’s sports team? Petkanas: Yes. The answer is absolutely yes. Carlson: I want you to name a single scientist, just one, who says you can determine your own sex just by saying so. Petkanas: You clearly have some issues around this.

There are people who are genuinely transgender due to genetic or hormonal defects. But the notion that anyone can just pick and choose their gender is something just so ludicrous that only someone who has been infected by a communally shared dogma can believe it.

Atheist Ideologies can also abuse religious power

Religiosity is a very powerful, biological impulse in our species. Like all forms of power, religiosity has been abused in the past and is likely to be abused in the future. There have been God-Kings, despots who sought to combine political and religious power together into their hands. There have been those who’ve used religious power to further their political goals of global conquest. Likewise, there have been Communist dictators who have sought to destroy religions, make the State the absolute authority and themselves onto Gods.

The takeaway

Organized religious institutions did not create religious behavior. Human religiosity predates modern religions by tens of millennia. For good or for bad, religious institutions are communal expressions of inherent biological impulses that have been naturally selected. The best we can do is to choose the focal point of our religiosity and ensure that the religious institutions that spring forth from that focus adhere to moral standards that we have arrived at using Reason.

We are puppets on a string controlled by the Gods of Nature. We can understand the nature of the strings manipulating us. But, cutting away at those strings on a societal scale is dangerous utopian thinking that will likely lead to extinction.

Perhaps the way to satisfy our innate religiosity while still promoting the scientific pursuit of Truth is through naturalism. I will be blogging more about my thoughts on naturalism in the future.

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Ramayana 3000 is a Futuristic Dystopian Science Fiction Book that combines Evolutionary Theories with Hindu Mythology. You can read my book online directly in your browser (Mobile/ Desktop) here.

You can purchase your paperback copy of Ramayana 3000 here.

You can read my book online directly in your browser (Mobile/ Desktop) here.

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