Gatineau Monde lecture series

The Decline of Religion, a Personal Essay

Why does religion still continue to exist, asks anthropologist Daniel Baril.  Perhaps more to the point, we might ask why it is in decline. Baril says it continues to exist because of natural selection. That was the theme of his talk sponsored by the Société Gatineau Monde on March 29 at La Basoche in Aylmer.

His argument is that the size and complexity of the human brain promotes socialization. In society, people seek explanations for outcomes. Why is there a good harvest, successful hunt, or the birth of a child? They invent a supernatural cause. Complexity of religion develops and adherents join together in a social cult.

Baril tries to trace a religious motif even to a sub-human level. He showed a film clip of chimpanzees in which the dominant male imposes obeisance on the others. He claims that the subservient behaviour is religious worship, perhaps a debatable point.

He holds that among humans the physically stronger male is less religious than the weaker female, and he demonstrated this difference using survey data from a number of countries. However, he added, women in the work force tend to be less religious than their sisters who stay at home. In addition to the physical difference between the sexes, he also points to the maternal, caring role as congenial to a religious perspective.

While Baril focused on outcomes in natural occurrences, the point can be expanded to an explanation of conditions as well. Thus Genesis “explains” and describes  all kinds of things. Why do women suffer in childbirth? The earth is flat (four corners) and is surrounded by water, with a bowl-shaped heaven above. When the windows of the heavens open, it rains. When they close, the rains stop. And so on. While no one any longer believes these things, many people adhere to religions which claim that these stories are not to be taken literally but rather allegorically. The explanations are pre-scientific, the effort of early humans to understand the world around them.

Leslie White, another anthropologist, argued that as science progresses in one field after another, religious explanations are abandoned. For him, this progress begins with things that impinge less directly upon us. Astronomy replaced astrology. Knowledge of geography brought an end to the flat earth. Biology overrides older religious ideas about the function of organs. Then, finally, we come to psychology and anthropology-sociology.  (He speaks instead of culturology.) Psychological science replaces notions such as possession. Exorcism gives way to medication, psychotherapy, etc. Culturology makes it possible to move beyond culture bondage in viewing the world.

As for a decline in religiosity, we need look no further than Quebec. The province is still Catholic—very still. In a Catholic province, Catholic churches are closing because of lack of attendance and financial support. Yes, people will tell you, I am Catholic but I don’t go to church. And beliefs are often heretical.

Some time ago, I attended a Muslim gathering. At one point, the imam announced that the evening prayer would be held in the next room. Most of the men got up to go to the prayer, but at my table my seatmate stayed behind. “I am a secular Muslim,” he explained.

While religions will undoubtedly remain, especially because of the social functions such as rites of passage and feast days, we can expect to see a continued decline in commitment and identification. As science progresses, religion suffers.