By Caroline Nordström
When I was younger, my father always talked about how stupid religion, especially Christianity is. I grew up in a very atheistic household, and because of that always looked at religion somewhat sceptically. So, when the cynical teenage me discovered Friedrich Nietzsche, and learned that God is indeed dead, I was overjoyed. I had finally found the answer, and my father was right, religion is useless. Now, when I have grown up a little, I of course understand that this is not the case, religion has shaped humanity and society in countless different ways, and there are many reasons to why one might want to be religious, even if science has taken over lots of perspectives about the world. But what are those reasons? And what does it mean for my wrongful interpretation of Nietzsche as a teenager?
In a modern world, often described as “post-religious” or “secular,” religion really has not vanished. In fact, in some places and among certain groups, it is growing. People on social media are starting trends about reverting back to a more “traditional” life, which also implies Christianity becoming more popular again. So clearly, religion is still relevant in many ways. If anything, the persistence, and even the “resurrection” of religion today makes the topic more relevant than ever. Why do people still choose to be or become religious even if God is so called dead?
This particular topic is something that has also been discussed a lot during our lectures, and I found those discussion very interesting. Different theories about why people become religious like the deprivation theory or the theory of meaning and belonging. To me, the most obvious one is the theory of meaning and belonging. It is very easy to find a community, a place to be in, with religion. It provides the comfort and belonging that every human being craves deep down. David Ludden discusses this topic in his article Why do people believe in God? (2018) on the website psychologytoday.com. He mentions something that I do not think very many people even think about, and it is how extremely and deeply religion is embedded in all of us, even if we do not think that it is. How often do you use expressions like “Oh my God” or have you ever begged, pleaded and hoped for a test to go well? All of these small, everyday habits have roots in religion, at least to some extent. So it is not at all difficult to believe that someone would like to devote their lives more consciously to these things, hence becoming religious.
Having grown up in a very nonreligious household, religion has always been something alien to me, and I always questioned why someone would devote their life to something they cannot even see. But it is not as simple as that, people talk about feeling a spiritual presence, or about how prayer helps them ground themselves, and maybe the biggest reason of them all, religion gives life meaning. It gives motivation to keep going forward, to be a better person, to live life with a meaning, with purpose. This is something that I would say most humans long for. It is depressing to think about life as something completely meaningless (teenage me seeing nihilism and Nietzsche as fundamental truths), and religion gives a very clear, structured basis and meaning for life, which is quite appealing for many.
To conclude, I have clearly learned a lot after growing up and noticing that maybe dad is not right about everything in life. Religion is important for countless people everywhere around the world, and it has shaped societies for the longest time, and it still does, even if science has taken over to some extent. But that is the beauty of it, religion persists despite all of that.