In a previous post when I referred both science
and religions as models, many colleagues rushed to comment that all religions
may be models except their own. This response clearly indicated that in their
perceptions a model is a “bad” thing as far as the religion is concerned. What they
say maybe 100% correct in their frames of reference. What I present below is
what I see in my frame of reference.
I define a model as a concept (or hypothesis)
that we accept to be correct and applicable in solving our problems. Here, by
the term “we” I refer to human intelligence, however, there are instances that many
other living beings adopt models to solve their issues.
In the above context, science runs almost 2
million years back in the timeline, compared with religions (refer the article
“Science”). Thus, religion is a newborn baby compared with science.
The difference between religious models and
scientific models is very clear. As I described in “Science”, scientific models
are provisionally accepted to be correct and at any instant, the scientist is
willing to modify it to suit the “new knowledge” or “new needs”. A religious
model is fixed (or frozen) at a certain point of time. It may undergo slow
changes over millennia due to the mode of transferring information, earthly
needs of the clergy and rulers and for the adaptation to new geographical
environments. Thus, one may refer to religious models as quasi-static and
scientific models as dynamic.
Why religion is a model?
It is very evident that primitive religions
have been originated, perhaps about 60,000 years back, to find ways of avoiding
natural calamities such as floods, droughts, landslides, lightning, bush fires,
volcanic eruptions, plagues, insect swarms etc. The primeval communities may
have expected that the divine models developed and the consequent rituals done to
appease these divine powers could save them from nature's catastrophes.
In the last few millennia, while still paying
the attention to getting protection from natural disasters, many civilizations
have changed their primary focus of religion to another dimension. That is to
get a better position in the “beyond-earthly-life (BEL)” phase.
Primitive religious models may not have been
survived for long as they were frequently tested against physical phenomena.
When a model failed several times in a raw, the communities may have
understood that they need to change the model and seek another divine power.
As the civilization and “intelligence” developed, people, especially clergy, may have seen this distinct disadvantage of the primitive models (drawback for them rather than for people). In this backdrop, BEL may have been an excellent concept to make their religious models to last long as the models can never be tested against the hypothetical concept.
An analysis of BEL concept reveals that it has introduced a few hypotheses that human intelligence has not captured for almost two million years.
- There is a non-physical superpower/s (God) or absolute law (Karmic) which determines the BEL.
- There is an ultimatum in BEL for a human being; a place together with the superpower (Abrahamic religions, Sikhism and a fraction of Hinduism), integration with the superpower (a fraction of Hinduism), or attaining a certain state, which is not well-defined (Buddhism, Jainism, a fraction of Hinduism).
Combined with the above new hypotheses, many religions introduced another concept borrowed from primitive religious models. i.e. one can reach ultimatum of BEL by appeasing the hypothetical superpower/s or following practices (guided by the religion) that is aligned with good karmic flows. The ways of appeasing the superpower and practices of aligning with good karmic flows vary from religion to religion.
None of the above hypotheses could be tested by
an external party (one can only self-conduct that either by going through death or
having super-human senses). Thus, they are well secured.
The above description clearly shows that all
religions are models that have been developed to address the question of what
could be the best to happen after death.
The same models, untested against the basic
hypotheses, have then been applied to many other purposes in the physical
world, similar to those in the primitive era; getting rid of natural
calamities, gaining social and economic benefits, gaining beyond-normal psychological
powers, the survival of clergy, survival and/or enhancement of the power of the ruling
party etc.
The pattern of spreading of the religions and
their dominance during the last 1-2 millennia reveals that the last two points
above are the main determinants of the success of religions in existing among
the human masses. A religion that provides the best assistance to the well-being
of clergy and the ruling party have the best chance of expansion.
