Religion made us human

ANI, Nov 11, 2010, 12.00am IST

A psychologist has in a new book stressed that religion played a very

important role in the grim struggles of prehistory, providing humans
with a way to relate to each other and the world around them.

Matt Rossano, professor and head of the Department of Psychology at

Southeastern and author of the book "Supernatural Selection: How
Religion Evolved", said religion offered them significant survival and
reproductive advantages.

"The roots of religion stretch as far back as half a million years, when
our ancestors developed the motor controls to engage in social rituals -
that is, to sing and dance together," he said.

He also revealed that about 70,000 years ago, a global ecological crisis
drove humanity to the edge of extinction.

"It forced the survivors to create new strategies for survival, and
religious rituals were foremost among them," he added.

Rossano's work is, in part, a response to the 2006 best-selling book

"The God Delusion" by scientist Richard Dawkins, an atheist
manifesto that pitted science against religion.

But, according to Rossano, Dawkins missed the science that revealed

how religion made man more human.
Neither an apologist for religion nor a religion-basher, he pulls
together the evidence from a wide range of disciplines to show the
valuable purpose served by a systematic belief in the supernatural.

According to Rossano, evidence seems to confirm that at its core

religion was not about doctrines, creeds, institutions or miracles, but
about relationships.

"Religion is a fundamental way for humans to relate to each other and

the world around them, and in early prehistory that was a definite
advantage," Rossano explained.

"Religion emerged as our ancestors'' first health care system, and a

critical part of that health care system was social support.

"Religious groups tended to be far more cohesive, which gave them a

competitive advantage over non-religious groups and enabled them to
conquer the globe," he stated.

Rossano noted that for Dawkins and his supporters, there is nothing
quite so wicked as religion and all that trails in its wake: suicide
bombers, Taliban-style tyranny, child abusing clergy, etc.

"But if religion was so clearly damaging to the human psyche and so

corrosive of human society, how could it have ever evolved?" How is it
possible that every culture throughout human history has had
religion?" he asked.

"Time and again, studies show that religious people tend to be

happier, healthier, more generous and civic-minded than their non-
religious counterparts," he continued.
"Religion is also tenacious. Enlightenment thinkers promised that
religion would fade as science and reason provided a more accurate
picture of the natural world.

"To the bewilderment of Dawkins and his ilk, the world seems to have
reneged on that Enlightenment promise," he concluded.

Rossano, who has studied the evolution of religion and other cognitive
traits for some time, is the author of "Evolutionary Psychology: The
Science of Human Behavior and Evolution," as well as numerous
papers on evolution, ritual, religion and moral behavior.

Read more: Religion made us human - The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spirituality/new-age-insight/Religion-made-us-
human/articleshow/6097704.cms#ixzz172ixm6MU