Plurationalist Dialogue 307, "What Makes Religion So Successful?"

The reasoning theists, atheists, liberals, libertarians, & conservatives of Secular Bible Study, First Minneapolis Circle of Reason, Circle of Ijtihad, & Winnipeg Circle of Reason join Interbelief Conversation Café for our 307th Plurationalist (Interbelief Reasoning) Dialogue by Zoom, “What Makes Religion So Successful?”

Religion | rəˈlij(ə)n | noun
· the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods: Suffering and injustice have led many to religion.
· a particular system of faith and worship: Christianity will by 2050 cede to Islam its mantle of “world’s largest religion.”
· a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance: NFL Football is America’s new religion.

The first recorded religion was revealed in the 300,000-year-old burial ceremony of Homo sapiens neandethalensis: Neanderthal families buried their dead posed as if asleep on their backs or sides, with their heads laid upon a carved limestone pillow, a few bone tools and perhaps flowers laid in their arms; and also made sure to bury them with an open tortoise shell. Today, our Homo sapiens sapiens burials are not too different – using more flowers and ochre face make-up, and using religious symbols other than an open tortoise shell.

So why did the neanderthal religious tradition of preparing their loved ones for an afterlife succeed in persisting -- for 300,000 years?

What makes religion so successful? Should we attribute it to God loving us? Or to our fearing Death? Is it God promising to provide Liberation to us, the “oppressed,” and Justice to them, the “oppressors” -- even if it will come only in an immortal afterlife for every one of us, whether it be one of blissful reward, unceasing penitence, or vengeful torture?

Was the USSR’s communism REALLY just communists’ “religion,” as claimed by some atheists today? If communist dicatorship is just another religion, why hasn’t it grown in abundance over the millennia as have religious dictatorships in the form of kingdoms or theocracies? What about religion made it of more supreme importance than the philosophy of “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need?” Wasn’t Jesus a communist? If so, why did that part of his teaching not catch on with Christianity as much as the later man-made “Prosperity Gospel” falsely attributed to him? Is communism’s secular fundamentalism in suppressing independent thought and in coercing others’ behavior as successful as religious fundamentalism has been?

Why are stoicism, logic, and rationalism not among the MOST successful human social initiatives, but among the LEAST successful ones?

Non-religion, however, is becoming more popular, at 1.8 billion “Nones” in the world, compared to 2.4 billion for Christianity. What is giving rise to Nones’ current level of success? Is it an active trait of different secular humanist, atheist, libertarian, and antitheist groups? Or the benefit of finally having a free Sunday (could the joke about the NFL being Americans' new religion actually be true)?

What makes interventionist antitheism successful? Secular France and communist China ban both wearing a hijab and a cross, while Islamic theocracies ban NOT wearing a hijab, and ban Christians’ witness to seek to convert others. Will behaving like one’s theological opponents bring success? (And if so, at what cost?) In ancient cultures, dictators invoked divine attributes or communication with the gods, to justify their taking power. Are secular dictators just cutting out the middleman and claiming Godhood for themselves? Will that be successful, especially if they start acting like gods by killing their subjects, rather than showing them the Gates of Heaven?

What elements of religion are the ones responsible for its long-term success? Is it religion’s-associated political worldview? (Some religious sects are politically theocratic, others politically conservative, and yet others politically progressive, yet all retain large followings). Is it religion’s commitment to grow the family? (Islam is growing more rapidly than other religions due to higher fertility rates. But Nones are growing in number as well, and in countries with lower fertility rates.) Is it how doctrinal religion is? (Unitarians have no religious doctrine, while many Nones are unchurched and without religious doctrine per se, but still believe in an afterlife, or of a God or gods, or of a purposeful Universe). Is it religion’s provision of community, whether applied to small groups, or large ones – to call for us, however imperfectly implemented and selectively applied, to practice humaneness in how we treat others? Or is it the promise of all religions, and all supernatural beliefs, that they provide a way to both heal the world and to overcome it, at the same time?

At 7-9 pm CST Mo 1/19/26 by Zoom we'll reasoningly share our diverse or even disparate views on why religion still remains so “boss”! Our reasoning dialogue’s agreements of open-mindedness, acceptance, curiosity, discovery, sincerity, brevity, & confidentiality should help us give a more informed survey to the CEO of Heaven.com (who’s allegedly been quietly polling our thoughts for up to a third of an Eon -- or at least for 9,000 years).