Thread:User talk:WaitingforGodot/You believe in "religion"?/reply (3)

I woudln't doubt that. I always figured religion stems from something biological - but something that is there in our brains helping us live day to day. Pehaps (and this is totally pulled out of my ass) a child sees mom as capible of fixing everything, and therefore trusts mom implicitly to get that child everything, which is a biological necessity for survival, but also allows someone (or thing) to manipulate trust and "create" gods. or perhaps humans necessarily see all objects as "alive" as children, and as "helpful" or "un" in a very binary. (this one *is* pretty much proven - what it means, is anyone's guess, though). So those kids have this built in function to see all things as somehow able to help them or harm them - therefore lighting is "helpful" or "harmful" therefore it's got a will therefore it's god. or some such.

As for why we all see white when we get near dying; or why we hear voices, or sense peace after long exertions that aer otherwise called "mystical", i don't think any good Religious Scholar (karen Armstrong not included there) would say that it is in any way exclusive to religion, but rather that religion takes or uses natural biological reactions and says "see... that proves (it)".