Get me in a group with a love-bomb good vibe and I get a jigger of dopamine. Throw in a few feel-good songs, and there’s my double-dash of serotonin. Invoke a primal fear for some edgy cortisol, then serve me a remedy, and my brain on church is feeling pretty good. I call it my church cocktail. This is exactly how my brain works in reaction to church stimuli. All very natural. Sans the supernatural. The recipe is revealed, and the spell is broken for me.
Religion has made people feel good since humans have produced history. There have been more than 18,000 gods, goddesses, and various animals and objects worshipped by humans. There are currently around 5K deities worshipped today. Our human brains are primed for it, not just to avoid pain, but to seek comfort in a scary world.
Religious change is nothing new. The oldest religious figurine is the Venus of Berekhat Ram. Imagine fitting her name under FDR’s chin on the U.S. dime! Historically, people naturally stop believing in deities and church teachings. Current headlines read, “The ‘Nones’ are on the Rise.” The growth of religiously unaffiliated Americans is increasing and is now a larger group than those who claim Catholic or Protestant faith groups.
Research reveals the top reasons cited for leaving a religion are intellectual incongruities caused by the hypocrisy of church scandals, the behavior of believers, intolerance of LGBTQ folks, and the church getting political. Personally, I cite modernity as a major contributor to secularization. When my computer breaks, when weather patterns change, when my appendix bursts, I don’t pray or seek a priest, pastor, rabbi, imam or shaman. I can know how my brain works on church and know my experience isn’t magic or a deity’s divine intervention.
Interestingly, most “Nones” report believing in God or a supernatural being, some retain rituals or learn new ones, and some identify as agnostic or atheist. Because everyone I know denies belief in Zeus, Inanna and Anubis, atheism is everywhere. I recently heard the term “nontheist” and I like it as a description for nonbelief in all 18,000-plus deities.
Secular humanists can be theists, agnostic, atheist, and nontheist, and still acknowledge that humans consistently demonstrate the ability to better themselves and are capable of extraordinary things. My brain on humans doing good things in the world is a healthy drug of choice for me. Life is complex and it’s comforting for me to know that there are very smart people working on those moving parts and generating new ideas to benefit humanity. With or without a dominant deity of the day, it’s going to be OK.
The ability to reason beyond religious convention vastly contributes to the quality of life for humans. Without curiosity and reason, humans might still be living in caves gnawing on bones. It may not seem like it from the carefully crafted headlines demanding attention, but by almost every measure, humanity is better off today than any other time. People are wealthier, healthier, safer, better informed and prosperous because people can reason through problems toward solutions. Go Team Human!
Marugg is a secular humanist and a voice for the growing number of unchurched folks. She can be reached at janetmarugg@gmail.com
