Having An Open Mind Helped Me Understand That Religion Can Stem From A Fear Of The Unknown
Whether it be Christianity, Hinduism or Islam, they all had to have a reason to start.
I recently finished reading "The Winternight Trilogy" by Katherine Arden, and it got me thinking about a few things. One of the things was how in the book, fear is used to get people to follow a new religion. It got me thinking, what if fear is the reason we have religion today? It is a far-fetched idea, but hypothetically speaking, it could be a reason.
We've learned about religion in history class for years: how it started, when it started and how it spread throughout the world, creating thousands of religions that we know today. We might even know why they started, but I have a different reason for that. This topic is like saying aliens exist. Religion was created because of fear. There's no concrete proof of this, just a lot of thoughts that I believe are actually plausible.
There are two parts to this whole idea: religion and fear. Here's my thought process.
First, I started thinking about religion. Like stated before, all the when and how. It started off with a few people, but then those beliefs spread. Religion became something for people, whether it be to help seek comfort or to cope with problems. It's actually proven that it's healthy to follow a religion. Today, there are thousands of religions across the world. But, for anything to begin, there has to be a reason.
The second part is fear. Everyone is scared of something, regardless of age. Even though fears change all the time, we all have at least one. They can stem from any experience throughout your life or from your beliefs. People do crazy things when they're scared. Now, connecting this to religion, people follow one to help cope with the fears they have.
So, putting the two parts together, what if the reason religion started was that the people had a fear of something. Nowadays, when people see something inexplicable, they have the technology and science to study it. Back then, when there was no technology to help prove a point, people had no way to explain what is happening or what was seen. Their brains weren't able to rationalize what they saw because to them, it would literally be unbelievable.
To help rationalize what they see, people would create stories to tell to give a reason. These stories then spread to others and people adopt them into their daily lives, giving them new beliefs. As more and more stories are created and spreading, more and more people start to believe in them, thus, creating a whole pool of new beliefs, turning them into a religion that people can follow.
As I thought more about this, I couldn't bring myself to believe that what people could've seen was some alien or a UFO, so what if it was just a simple question that many people had different thoughts about? What if people were just scared of death? Or even God? I have an idea for both.
Let's talk about death first. Not something I thought I would be writing about, but we'll go with it. Back when all of this was new, people didn't know what happened after death. Now, we know that the body decomposes, but for the religious part, I believe that people didn't know what happens. People didn't know how to comprehend what happens after death, or they refuse to believe that the body just rots away because they didn't want to believe loved ones were actually dead.
So, what I believe happened was that in order to deal with these thoughts, the people created a place for the dead to go after death to comfort themselves. It seems likely when I think about it, but it is just a theory.
For those people who couldn't believe that things just happened, they started saying that there must be a higher power. It makes sense, too. There are people, like me, who believe that things can happen on their own. There doesn't have to be a reason. If this is now, imagine the amount for when there was no technology or science to help prove ideas. But overall, the beliefs that we believe in are passed down, and they may have just started from stories.
I know these ideas are a bit weird, but it can be plausible.
Fear could be a reason we have many religions around the world. Those stories that might have created religion can spread and change to give new beliefs, therefore creating a new religion. It's a crazy thought that involves science and lots of history, but also a bit of imagination. There's no time machine, so the only thing I can do is hypothesize about what the reasons could have been for fear of the unknown being the cause of religion.
6 Reasons I Watch Joe Rogan Podcasts And You Should Too
Do you love Joe Rogan Podcasts? So do I and I'll tell you why.
For years I have followed Joe Rogan. From comedy sitcoms, to fear factor, to UFC, and now YouTube podcasts... the guy does it all. I have always found this guy to be so interesting in the way he displays life questions and how comfortable he is with talking about it. Recently I have picked up that many people watch his podcasts on YouTube as a secret pleasure especially around campus. I wanted to investigate why people watch his hour long content rather than an easy vlog or a car rating. I wanted to make sense of it and to answer why we all watch him...
1. The Dialogue Feels So Natural and Informative At The Same Time
When watching Joe Rogan's content it feels so natural. He says what comes into mind, nothing is scripted which makes it SO real. It makes us feel like we are in the moment with him. His tone of voice also enhances this. Nothing is fake, there is no BS.
2. The Topics Are Things We Are Scared to Talk About
Rogan discusses what we are all scared to talk about. Most of us think many of the ideas he brings up, but most of us are afraid to speak on them with family and friends. Why? I literally do not know. I feel like if people discussed this more many wouldn’t feel alone in their thoughts. But if you are interested in talking about fucked up topics let me know!
3. He Questions and Challenges His Guests
He always questions and challenges his guests. Rogan brings up questions like "why do you think that?" Leaving the spectator to wonder the same thing. It becomes very interactive, which is why I think many people always tune into his podcasts daily. It is basically exercising our brains. Rogan also has awesome guests that come on like scientist or UFC fighters.
4. It’s Our Safe Place to Wonder About “Bad” Things
It is a safe place for us to wonder our "bad" ideas and or thoughts. He brings up many topics about the dark web, space, social media, drugs, alcohol... things that we are taught not to do. It is an escape from reality, but my question for you is what if this is the REAL reality that we aren't letting in? I always wonder if we discussed this more openly that we would make some sense of the world.
5. Makes Us Think About Things We Don’t Everyday
Joe Rogan and his guests make us think about things we do not think about every day. When we hear the same topics over and over again in class, it becomes refreshing when hearing a new obscure ideal that challenges our minds in many different ways.
6. Makes Us Think Of The Future
Lastly, he makes us think about the future, especially with humanity. Many people I believe get uncomfortable with discussing this topic. So, I think they find comfortability when listening to him and his guests talk about these topics. We can also identify and make sense of what is to come with many of the theories that he brings up.