Does Religion Influence Epidemics? 547
sciencehabit writes "Whether or not they believe in God, evolutionary biologists may need to pay closer mind to religion. That's because religious beliefs can shape key behaviors in ways that evolutionary theory would not predict, particularly when it comes to dealing with disease. According to a new study, some of today's major religions emerged at the same time as widespread infectious diseases, and the two may have helped shape one another. The same dynamics may be reflected today in how people in Malawi deal with the AIDS epidemic."
Not a new concept (Score:3, Interesting)
Rodney Stark got a Pulitzer for this 15 years ago: The Rise of Christianity [wikimedia.org]
Is the Catholic church still against condoms? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes? Then I'd say they're having an influence.
Re:Translation: Religion is born .... (Score:3, Interesting)
Humanity needs to replace religion with a civil institution for promoting social cohesion with a basis in rational thought.
FIFY
Re:Translation: Religion is born .... (Score:5, Interesting)
You ask enough, eventually get to "point where we cannot explain".
Some people fill this void with an arbitrary explanation not limited to the involvement of a postulated deity. Some choose to let it inspire them to find out the real answer.
I wonder which one produces more truth and beauty...
Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ? (Score:5, Interesting)
The point is that people kill for the basest reasons, and come up with an excuse to rationalize it. Sometimes, the excuse is religion. Sometimes it's spreading democracy. Should we destroy democracy as well, for the harm done in its name? Or should we perhaps realize that people aren't always honest about their motives?
But hey forget it. We now return you to your regularly scheduled five minutes hate.
Catholics should endorse condoms (Score:5, Interesting)
Their position on condoms is inconsistent. They are against them for the prevention of pregnancy yet support the rhythm method.
The trouble is, the rhythm method works by timing, so there will be fertilized embryos that die because they came too late in the cycle.
So, the Catholic teachings have killed far more babies (their definition) than if they hadn't come out against condoms in the first place.
Re:Cue the fun.... (Score:5, Interesting)
However, religious people do go on about it. It's much more subtle that evangelism; how many times have you seen a character in a film, etc, thank god for something or pray? How many films are there based on the premise of there being a god, heaven, etc (vs how many based on the premise that there is no such thing)? How many religious symbols do you see in day to day life (from a cross around someone's neck to a church you travel past)? How often are religious figures or issues reported on in the news?
It all adds up to an unintentional, background pushing of religion. It's little wonder that some people feel the need to push their atheism (and that's ignoring the theists that do go round actively pushing their views; I've never told anyone they're an idiot for believing, but I have been told *to my face* I'm going to Hell for not believing).
Re:Translation: Religion is born .... (Score:3, Interesting)
Quote I saw last week:
"Why is it that when someone has an imaginary friend it's called insanity, but when millions have the same imaginary friend it's called religion?"
The value of religion is already proven (Score:5, Interesting)
The social value of 'religion' as a concept is well-proven.
At least one study has shown scientifically that people's behavior (in this case, children) was distinctly impacted positively by the concept of 'an invisible being watching me'. In the case I'm thinking of, children played a game that gave them both opportunities and rewards for cheating. Cheating, unsurprisingly, was endemic in the control group (no adult present). When an adult was present, the incidence of cheating was greatly reduced. When the children were told convincingly that there was an invisible person sitting in the same chair the adult had used, cheating was even LESS.
Further, there has been some discussion of the value of shared rites (usually religious) in predicting who will reliably follow a society's rules. If a person can't/won't reliably adhere to shared religious rites that supposedly are beneficial at little/no cost to the individual, this would predict that person will be unlikely to adhere to more important societal norms as well.
(One might further observe that this remains largely true, at least in the US. The left is politically characterized as individualist and chaotic, and the (religious) right as collectivist and 'marching in lockstep'. This has resulted in a balanced political landscape, despite a clear majority of voters self-identifying as Democrats (left of center).)
So the value of religion to early societies is pretty clear.
Nevertheless, I'd disagree with their conclusions here. They point to the rise of the great organized religions around the era of plague - this was also (unsurprisingly) the rise of widespread urbanization, probably something that I'd guess had more to do with both the spread of disease AND the rise of religion.
Seems to me... (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems to me the summary has the horse before the cart. Epidemics influence religion, not the other way around. During the plaque of the Middle Ages, European towns were decimated. Monasteries, being isolated from the town fared much better. Therefore, religious practices changed to reflect those of the monks. Yes, it is true much of it happened because people thought that God had spared the monasteries, however, without the plague none of it would have occurred. The plague or epidemic was the catalyst for the change in religious thought, not the other way around.
And, for the many posts referring to religion blaming natural disasters on God, are we talking 20th century or centuries ago? I'm pretty sure that blaming unknown forces on some superstitious being or practice was quite common in all cultures. Breaking a mirror causing seven years of bad luck has nothing to do with a deity.