Spirituality Saved Humanity—Religion Could Destroy It

Spirituality is inherited; a religion has to be learned. Evolutionary biologists tell us that our species became human around 100,000 years ago when our brain finally attained consciousness. Eight million years ago, we began our evolutionary split from the same ape ancestor as our chimpanzee cousins. When the first human finally emerged, the conscious brain suddenly realized how treacherous the surroundings were. Predators, mostly big cats, seemed to lurk everywhere, looking for easy meals.

Attacks from other hominid species and humans (some being cannibals) were daily occurrences. Adding to the stress was the fear of natural disasters and the realization of their own mortality. Anthropologists say that the average life span for early humans was only 10 to 12 years.

Before anyone goes ballistic, I said average life span.

Since there are now 6.5 billion of us, enough early humans lived long enough to reach puberty, but not many. Many who did, however, were nervous wrecks not very interested in procreating so their genes were quickly eliminated from the gene pool. Fortunately for us, some successfully procreated and produced offspring. Like all living things, each generation has individuals with different traits, instincts, and tendencies. In time, a brain gene in one mutated that pre-disposed the individual to imagine that within him or her was a spirit that would live on after death in a safe and happy place forever. This individual, being less stressed, enjoyed procreating more than others in the group and, therefore, his or her “spiritual” gene increased in the population. Soon, most had the gene. Being less fearful because they had brains allowing them to plan, the group soon dominated all the lands where they lived, spread out into unknown lands, and conquered them as well. Ongoing mutations eventually produced a population with members having variations of the gene.

It is likely that the human family would have disappeared quickly had the spirituality gene not arrived when it did, so we can confidently say spirituality saved humanity. Since most survivors in the early human family had the gene, most people living today have inherited it, or variations of it. But, some have not.

Having established that an afterlife in a supernatural world was possible, ingenious leaders devised religious beliefs that connected acceptable or prohibited behaviors in the present with the quality of life the individuals would experience in an afterlife. For their own reasons, some good and some bad, the leaders decided which behaviors were acceptable and which were not. The leaders told their followers these decisions had been revealed to them by spirits, of course. Many beliefs became accepted through coercion but most were accepted by groups because they offered hope for a better life. Different groups developed strong loyalties to their own religious beliefs and their leaders and considered anyone who believed differently an enemy and, therefore, dangerous.

Throughout human history, disrespect for the beliefs of others has produced tension within and between groups that often results in violence to convert others. Religious fanatics frequently massacre anyone who they perceive as being disrespectful to their strongly held religious beliefs. Religious conflicts around the world have been ongoing for thousands of years—millions have been slaughtered. The loss of life has not been large enough to threaten humanity’s continued existence because of the limited power of the weapons used by combatants.

Think I exaggerate? Extremists tell us daily what their intentions are. We are foolish to ignore them. Let us resolve to take their threats seriously, stiffen our spines, and send the violent extremists and their “conditioners” on to an afterlife not of their own choosing. Let us deny their supporters the means to fulfill their evil dreams. Only then can we freely worship, or not worship, in the way that comforts us and does not hurt others.

Read Settled Science to learn how the human brain evolved, capable of both wondrous and evil thoughts.