Nietzsche argued that
religion as we know it is dying, and after reading the text I would agree with
him. It isn’t that religion is completely dead and going to vanish but the idea
of the Judeo-Christian God, who has taken such a prominent role in western
history is disappearing. One only has to look at countries like Sweden or
Norway, countries that were once faithful nations but have become increasingly
more secular over the past year with much of their populations defining
themselves as atheists. The text explains Nietzsche’s proclamation that God is
dead as a declaration that we are no longer children in the thrall of an anthropomorphic,
magical god in the guise of our father. Our society is increasingly becoming
more rational and scientific, to some fundamentalists dismay, and with the
knowledge and reason provided by scientific explanations humans can begin to
understand our environment, ourselves and our spirituality in a much different
way than our ancestors did by using religion to understand their world.
Despite Nietzsche’s
declaration that God is dead, I do not believe it is the end of religion.
Religion is a powerful institution that is more than just the spiritual beliefs.
Religion provides a science of belonging, community and it fulfills the strong
human need for the numinous. I agree with the text that says despite our old
God being dead, new ones will rise up in its place. It seems that throughout
history religions have risen and fallen to meet the needs of humans and I do
not see it as a process that will suddenly cease. Already, as people slowly move
away from the idea of the Abrahamic god, there are new religions and spiritual movements
hoping to compete for unaffiliated adherents to add to the ranks. Religion isn’t
on its way out, it is simply evolving to our current cultural ideas and values.
With this evolution, current established religions must either evolve or become
archaic relics of our past.
Some of the worlds
established religions may owe some of their previous and continued success to
memes. Memes are information that is replicated and the most successful memes
are the ones that be replicated the most. The idea of a virgin birth is meme
that has existed long before Christianity. In my previous Intro to Philosophy
class, I learned of Pythagoras, a mathematician during the ancient Greek times
who ascended into a type of deification. He was purported to have been born
from a virgin who had been visited by a God. Another religious meme has been
the idea of a heavenly father who watches over us. This meme is seen in Greek, Norse
and other myths as well as some of the established religions.
What determines the success
of the memes to replicate themselves, especially when it comes to religious memes?
According to the text there are there factors that determine the success of a
meme which include a value related incentive, memetic simplicity and meme
distribution. Some of our most successful established religions have all three
of these traits, such as Christianity. Even rising new religions also use memes
to perpetuate their success and swell the ranks, like Mormonism. The LDS Church
uses the common value related incentives of heaven and hell to help suggest
conversion, with my familiarity with the church they also use the value related
incentive of eternal togetherness with family, and the church uses a simple
memeplex of ideas called “The Articles of Faith” that clearly state their core
beliefs to people that are new to the religion. In addition to the incentives
and simple message, the LDS church relies heavily on the distribution of their
religion by all followers. Not only do young men and women serve as
missionaries for about two years spreading their faith, but everyday members
are encouraged to share their faith with nonmembers. The church not only relies
on conversion to ensure numerical success but also actively encourages members
to have as many children as possible to fulfill their duty. The Church also
uses charity to help distribute their message to non-believers, and because of
this the church is still rapidly expanding in a time when some religions, such
as Catholicism, are losing members. Because of all this, this particular
religion is quite successful and the path of success can clearly be seen when
using the theory of memes.
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