Religion vs Behavior – which came first? June 10, 2008
Posted by symbolicgodzilla in psychology, religion.Tags: behavior, buddha, buddhism, catholic, chicken, christ, christian, confirmation bias, criticism, culture, egg, hinduism, psychology, religion, sin
3 comments
Well depending on your religious or non-religious beliefs, this question seems pretty cut and dried:
- If you believe in a creator, the God(s)(esses) created whatever does the behavior
- If you don’t, man came up with the idea of religion
Over at Cafe Philos, Paul posted a blog questioning how religion impacts the behavior of the individual. He seems to come to a conclusion primarily favoring the idea that individuals interpret religion to justify their behavior, which is something I would not necessarily disagree with. He also acknowledges how the idea is incredibly complex.
Likely the relationship between behavior and religion lies strongly in the idea of confirmation bias, the idea that the human brain will usually interpret new information in a way consistent with their existing belief systems. So if a man inclined to believe that he shouldn’t be forced to pay his debts finds a religion that agrees with this viewpoint, he is more likely to take to that religion than one that encourages exact payment of all money owed. Or, in a more personal example, when an ex-girlfriend of mine decided it was over, she found it comforting that God also confirmed this by speaking to her from the tree in her front yard.
Of course, the religions we are raised with certainly color our own interpretation of events. My slight Catholic background likely causes me to look at religious matters as black and white: either you accept this particular aspect of your faith as true or you don’t, you can’t be unsure. I often find myself arguing with Christians that they aren’t truly Christians since they don’t believe in Jesus Christ dying for their sins.
One could argue that Buddha had such a confirmation bias when he founded Buddhism… the story of Buddha involves him rejecting the established faith of Hinduism till he finds a belief system that he could follow.
Ultimately, we probably choose our religion and our religion chooses us in a complicated chicken-egg sort of cycle that ends with us believing in whatever gives us the most comfort – be it the familiar we were raised with or the radical that allows to think of ourselves as agents of change. What do you think?
