How religion improves civilization through progressive revelation.

I wrote this today as a response to a question on the forum Quora (www.quora.com).  The question was: "Would big societies be able to exist without people believing in religions?"  Some people said "yes" and went on to tell about all the bad things that they find to be associated with religion.  I can see their points, but I still maintain that when a religion has become strongly established in a culture, it becomes polluted by politics, and other human frailties and so loses much of its true worth.  This was my response, for what it's worth:

I read a study a few years ago (and I apologize for not having the reference) that gave evidence that in primitive societies religion was a needed cohesive influence for cooperation and prevention of conflict in groups of more than about 20 to 30 individuals.  Most religions provide:

1) A common commitment to a set of values which prevent the strong and/or greedy from destroying the life of kinder and/or weaker people and regulate how common resources are to be used.

2) Shared rights, celebrations, rituals, symbols etc. which provide a sense of community.

3) A sense that there is a higher power (god or gods) which has authority to make laws and demand sacrifices. (Such laws and sacrifices being for the common good as much as to please the higher power.)

Consider the 10 commandments:

The first 4 (No other gods, No graven images (i.e., objects to worship), Don't take the Lord's name in vain, and Remember the sabbath and keep it holy) have the purpose of establishing loyalty, reverence, and a community activity which leads to the unity and agreement of the religious community.

The other six are laws which are important to establishing cooperation, trust, and justice.  Basically, they are necessary in order to develop  those institutions (like commerce, supportive families, specialized tradespeople, etc.) that we take for granted in our present society.

If you look at experiments in game theory, (like "the prisoners' dilemma") you see that unless there is a consensus that people cooperate, it is often to an individual's advantage to be greedy or self-serving.  However, if there is a consensus to cooperate and follow certain rules of behavior, then every one benefits and most every person in that society has a much better quality of life than even the strongest most ruthless self-server in a non-consensual "society".

The pioneers of new religions, those who sacrifice self-interest in order to follow a higher level of rules for cooperative behavior, despite the fact that the rest of society opposes them, are the ones who eventually bring about that higher level of cooperation and therefore general prosperity for the rest of the population.  Eventually, most of the population is following these rules and agrees that they are "just common sense if you want to live in a decent  civilization."  Whether or not the believe in the deity or the religion, they are following consensual, society-and-individual-strengthening behaviors which were originally brought into common practice by religion.
The problem we see now are partly due to there being such a huge human population on the earth. In the competition for resources, including human resources, the various religious groups, while somewhat internally cohesive, are at odds with each other.  Meanwhile, advances in science have brought us powerful technologies which can be developed and used either for the improvement of life, or for its degradation and destruction.  Unless all the nations, cultures, races and religions can learn to cooperate, the conflicts will continue to the point of a world wide disaster which could make the world wars look like a football match in comparison.
I believe that, once again, the bar for cooperative behavior is being raised by an emerging religion, and that many of its principles (like equality of the sexes and of all races, elimination of prejudice, and universal education) are becoming accepted as the norm by civilized people everywhere.

An evolving perspective

When we first came to Rwanda, we stayed for 3 weeks in the home of another HRH couple.  He is a native Rwandan, she is from the US.  The house had a master bedroom and 4 other bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a large and functional kitchen, and a large, comfortable living/dining room.  We were very comfortable there, and, though the couple was away during our stay, his brother lived in a small house in back and he and the house keeper made us feel quite welcome. We began to learn our way around certain parts of the city where we were staying: Kigali, the capital.  With the house came a car and driver to show us around.  Mostly what we saw, though was the most westernized parts of the most westernized city in Rwanda: the big house, the mall experience at the Union Trade Center, the nicely paved roads, and a chauffeur-driven Mercedes.   We were most thankful for all of these things, but they are beyond the means of most Central Africans at this time.

When we moved to our apartment in Kabgayi, on the grounds of the Saint Leon Minor Seminary, we were in a much smaller accommodation.  The bedroom was just large enough to fit the bed and a free-standing closet.  The bathroom was very small and up a short flight of stairs from the bedroom, the living-room/office was about 8 ft. X 15 ft. furnished with very uncomfortable chairs, and the kitchen was barely adequate.  There was not much sunlight, and there was frequent noise: of farm animals, pumps and generators, crowds of university students, and church bells. Some of those students would stand outside our place conversing loudly, and sometimes idly peer in through our windows.  As far as transportation, we walked a lot at first, but soon we purchased a car. (A Toyota Corolla, of course.  Most of the vehicles here are Toyotas, even the buses!)  I still walk a lot, while Anne drives the car to the School of Nursing and Midwifery, where she teaches.  Still, there were many things to be thankful about that living accommodation: it was a 10 minute walk to Anne’s work, the people at the Seminary are very friendly and went out of their way to make sure we were happy, I could walk to the market, there was frequently live entertainment of one form or another, and we had security within the compound.  Also, when compared to the living conditions of the majority of people in this country, we had considerable material wealth and comfort.

Now, we have moved into a house in the adjacent town of Gitarama (AKA Muhanga).  We have 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, (including a 230 square foot master bedroom with attached bathroom), a living room that measures 18 feet by 21 feet and is furnished with comfortable couch, love-seat and chairs, dining room with a table that can seat eight, gardens, a wall around the property, a security guard at night and a woman during the day to clean, do laundry, and possibly to cook. I can still walk to market, it’s just in the opposite direction, but our housekeeper does most of our shopping for us now.  So be happy for us: we can afford to live in this degree of luxury here. 

We are most thankful to have all of this luxury, but if I do not make good use of all that we have, I will commence feeling guilty soon.  After all, 98% of the population here (that’s a guess) have much less.  Many families here live in very small houses made of mud bricks and sleep on mattresses stuffed with straw.  Some have to walk for hours to get water and carry it home.  Some have little or no free time, while others seem to have little to do. 

I seem to have a lot of free time, and I intend to do something useful with it. I believe that we - all of us humans - are destined to develop a world civilization in which each of us has opportunities to develop to a higher degree of functioning than we have seen.  I believe that the day will soon come when all of us will be striving to work together in harmony to accomplish great things.  So, if I am now in a situation where I don’t have to worry about the basics of life, it behooves me to devote my life to working at a higher level and striving to contribute towards the fruition of that advanced civilization.  Therefore, I have a plan to follow, the means to put it into effect, and confidence that sticking to the plan (which includes quarterly course corrections) will make a positive difference in many people’s lives.  That plan includes learning the local language, Kinyarwanda.  It also includes making friendships around conversations and shared interests that are meaningful and enlightened. It also includes keeping you, my friends and well-wishers, posted about what we are doing.  All of it requires prayer, spirituality, and focus.  

The Century Language Club

So far, the most interesting and enjoyable part of my new life in Rwanda has been my participation with the Century Language Club.  This is a club formed by a group of students at the Minor Seminary where Anne and I are living.  As I mentioned, they meet after lunch and after supper on Mondays and Tuesdays to debate in English, and after lunch on Thursdays and Fridays to debate in French.  At the meeting Monday a team of three students who are preparing to do a Science Fair presentation later this week were to have rehearsed for the club so that we could give them advice as to how to improve their demonstration.  They were not able to present, so the club met to discuss future activities.  One of the activities suggested were to have discussions where an open-ended question is asked and everyone gives his opinion as to the answer.  Another activity would involve having one member give a short presentation, and then the rest of the members would ask him questions. 

Tuesday’s after lunch meeting was of the discussion variety.  The topic was, “What can each of us do to help prevent war and other types of conflict.”  There were some excellent answers!  Among them were: love your neighbor as yourself, value your neighbor, consider every person to be part of your family, recognize that we are all equal, work to ensure that everyone has equal human rights, do not tolerate hateful speech and propaganda such as that used to incite the genocide of Tutsis in 1994 (and the Nazi genocide of Jews in WW2), provide education to everyone, create jobs for everyone who can work.

I missed the Tuesday evening meeting because Anne and I drove to Kigali for an event at the residence of the United States Ambassador to Rwanda.  The event was a party for all of the Americans who have come to Rwanda to help the country develop its health care system.  A number of people from the C.D.C. were there, as well as many of the HRH people, and a several from USAID.  I talked about the Century Language Club to everyone I spoke with there (maybe 30 people total.)  While I often find myself on the edge of a big party like that, I decided to make the effort to introduce myself to many people and engage them in conversation.  Since I had something besides small talk to share, I did feel like I was bored/boring, and I met some very interesting and dear people, all of whom seemed to share my appreciation of the Language Club.

When we returned home this morning, we noticed a line of Rwandan drums standing next to chapel that stands just inside the gate.  This afternoon, as I was typing the above paragraphs, I heard drumming, and went to see what it was.  There were 10 drummers drumming where I had seen the drums this morning. The leader was playing the smallest (highest pitched) drum, setting the beat and demonstrating rhythmic patterns. Much of what I saw them doing appeared to be in what a European or American musician would call 6/8 time.  The most interesting part was when they paused for 17 beats, then, in unison, pounded out 6 1 2 3 4, then rested 19 beats, repeating this sequence eight or ten times, then going into a more insistent pattern in 6/8 for the big ending. During the long rests, they would all beat the air to count time, then all hit the drums at the same time. The drum team appears to have some new members, as I heard a few inconsistencies, but noticed improvement during the course of the practice session.  In any case, as I was once a drummer myself, I greatly enjoyed watching and listening to the drum team.

Religion, Society and Civilization

There can be no doubt that religion has had a powerful effect on society. Some historians and historiographers have suggested that with the ascension of a new religion has come a renewal of civilization. Studies in the social sciences have suggested that religion facilitates cooperation among unrelated people, including strangers, within a culture or society (assuming that all or most members of the society are members of the same religion.) There have been cultures based around common religious belief and practice, theocratic states, and even theocratic empires. There have also been many conflicts caused by religious differences, including wars waged by the members of one religion against the members of another, the purging of heretics, and lesser conflicts in the form of verbal and social attacks.

IMHO, one of the central purposes and functions of religion is to unite people. We can look at this statement in two different ways:
1)The function of uniting people that religions have had in the evolution of social order. This would be the materialist view.
2)The purpose of uniting people that the founders of religions have had and that the Supreme Being has had in inspiring the revelation upon which each religion is founded. This would be the theist point of view.

Likewise, IMHO, the conflicts which religion has caused are due in part to the those tribal instincts which we share with our closest genetic relatives, the great apes. While religions have, through the ages, provided common identity, common goals, common moral laws, and cooperation within large groups of people, it has not eased competition and conflict between large groups with different religions. The tribal instinct is exacerbated by the human creativity of some clerics and pseudo-clerics who use the influence of religion for the promotion of their own power. It has been found in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan that education can strengthen a society against the influence of so called “fundamentalists”, who try to recruit terrorists by using lies about Islam. This is especially true when girls are educated the same as boys. (See the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson.)

I believe that conflicts can be ended, and humankind's potential increased, by a religion which grows by its power to attract peoples hearts, which appeals to our highest aspirations and ideals while also satisfying our intellect, and which promulgates the oneness of humanity (that is, that expands the group to include all people everywhere, whatever their races, cultures, nationalities, or original religions), the oneness of religion, universal education, unity of nations and the development of a common world language and script.

Bahá’u’lláh says, “The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity.” 'Abdu'l-Baha expands on this, saying, “if religious belief proves to be the cause of discord and dissension, its absence would be preferable; for religion was intended to be the divine remedy and panacea for the ailments of humanity, the healing balm for the wounds of mankind. If its misapprehension and defilement have brought about warfare and bloodshed instead of remedy and cure, the world would be better under irreligious conditions.”

It is because of human nature that an institution such as religion is needed to unite and facilitate cooperation among large groups of unrelated people. Human nature includes many characteristics that we share with chimps, bonobos and other great apes. Among these characteristics is a sort of tribal instinct. Tribes of great apes usually consist of 20 to 50 individuals. There is coherence and cooperation within each tribe, as well as a limited degree of competition. There is competition, between tribes, and inter-tribal warfare has even been observed. Human nature also includes a degree of creativity and individual expression far beyond that of the great ape. This creativity and ability to act outside of cultural norms and constraints is, I believe, what the book of Genesis refers to as “knowledge of good and evil”. Our creativity has also led us to form cooperative groups (societies, states, cultures, etc.) much larger than the tribe.

Cooperation in these larger groups requires shared identity, trust gained through a shared moral code, and shared allegiance to leaders who are perceived to have a strong claim to authority. All of these are provided by religion, along with guidance on how to practice being a good member of society and motivation (in the form of promised reward and punishment in the afterlife) for behaving within the norms. From a theist point of view, one sees that God, having created us and the universe in which we live, has given us religion to guide us along the path He has set for us. In the scriptures of most religions, we are urged and guided to strive toward the goal or purpose for which we were created. In the Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith, that purpose has been stated in different, but compatible, ways. One of them is, “to know and worship God.” Also in those scriptures we are told that to knowledge of God is knowledge of our true selves. In the Bahá’í Writings we are told:

“The heights which, through the most gracious favor of God, mortal man can attain, in this Day, are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess the capacity for such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men. ... All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.”