Research proves that belief in a higher power helps humanity

[Divine Insight]

"Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that control religious faith. And the research proves, they contend, that belief in a higher power is an evolutionary asset that helps human survival."

Scientific research shows that belief in a higher power is an evolutionary asset that helps human survival?

Your thoughts?

[Divine Insight]

Is a continued belief in gods beneficial to mankind is the question we need to ask ourselves now. Time to grow up mankind.

Or maybe a better question is "When does a belief in a God become detrimental to mankind?"

It seems to me that the main problem with religious beliefs today stem from the "jealous-God" religions. Specifically the Abrahamic religions and most notable the highly proselyting and evangelistic of those: Islam and Christianity.

Instead of using a God concept to benefit mankind, they use the God concept in negative bigoted ways to belittle anyone who doesn't believe in, and support, their specific religious dogmas.

They have used their jealous Gods to create division and even hatred spread in the names of their jealous Gods toward everyone who doesn't support their religions.

For example, more people have been condemned in the name of Jesus the Christ Almighty than have supposedly been saved. Even the mythical scriptures themselves having Jesus himself making this proclamation, "The path to the kingdom of God is straight, and the gate is narrow and few will make it."

Is there really any benefit in a religious belief that most people will fail to be embraced by a supposedly divine creator?

Doesn't that become the anti-thesis of the original proposition that a belief in eternal life is an asset to evolution. If now people are being told that there is a far greater chance that they will be damned to eternal suffering, does that really inspire a positive desire to live for the future?

I also wonder too, if Christians truly believe in the words of Jesus that only few will make it into the kingdom of heaven, why do they keep having children? Even according to Jesus himself there is obviously a far higher probability that most of those children will end up in eternal damnation. That has to be the case if only few make it into the kingdom of God.

It's truly a wonder that any Christian would dare take the chance to procreate a new child in the face of such obviously horrible odds.

Beats me why they bother having children at all. The safest thing they could do is to become nuns or celibate Christian monks. Humanity would quickly cease to exist altogether if everyone did that.

So much for religion being an asset to evolution.

[Danmark]

There is no 'research' that proves such belief helps humanity.

There's certainly plenty of evidence to the contrary. A belief in a 'higher power' enables people to go beyond the rational and commit all kinds of evil acts of violence that cannot be justified by purely rational thought. The belief in a 'higher power' allows one to feel justified in superseding normal, rational, human values and act on some screwball and dangerous 'value' he gets from this irrational 'higher power.'

[Divine Insight]

There is no 'research' that proves such belief helps humanity.

There's certainly plenty of evidence to the contrary. A belief in a 'higher power' enables people to go beyond the rational and commit all kinds of evil acts of violence that cannot be justified by purely rational thought. The belief in a 'higher power' allows one to feel justified in superseding normal, rational, human values and act on some screwball and dangerous 'value' he gets from this irrational 'higher power.'

You don't think that burning thousands of midwives alive on poles for having sold their soul to Satan was justified or rational?

What are you? A secular atheist or something?

[Crazee]

"Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that control religious faith. And the research proves, they contend, that belief in a higher power is an evolutionary asset that helps human survival."

Scientific research shows that belief in a higher power is an evolutionary asset that helps human survival?

Your thoughts?

This is an appeal to the unknown in the form of the evolutionary process as an ultimate creator.

Believing in a higher power is beneficial to survival because it helps many to find purpose in an existence that may seem unendingly confusing. humans attained a belief in mysteries and are realizing that the basis of reality isn't stagnant bliss, but passionate discovery.

We all believe in the mystery, we only disagree as to what is the best way to examine it. Some spiritually, and some scientifically.

That higher power is the mystery we are searching for. Real power is an increased perception of the universe; awareness. More awareness leads to more data processing within one's mind which leads to more information to analyze and find patterns within.

Higher awareness is also heritable which means the level of thought is constantly increasing among people that interact. Evolution is a means to be aware and become more god-like, part of that is a rational belief in infinite solutions to infinite problems; this could be considered the definition of omnipotence.