Jonscot Dowland

English 1010
3/27/2016
Synthesis essay

Has Religion slowed evolution?

Sense the beginning of humanity, the belief in gods has always been
among us. As far back as we can trace there has always been thought and
theory of a higher power. As humans began to evolve, the concept of
organized religion began to develop. At first there was a positive connotation
that came from religion and lead to piecing together answers of existence
that helped them come up with the perfect direction for life. There had to be
more than eat, mate and repeat. The human mind became more conscious
and we were able to learn and expand. This consciousness allowed our
thoughts to be as free as we allowed. We had as much potential to create as
we could imagine. If it could be thought, it could most likely be done. The flip
side to this is as much potential we had to create, we also had the equal
amount of potential to destroy. The concept of using your mind to get ahead
or earn the loyalty of others was power. Being in a position of power and
influence was a concept that was grasped early by humanity. He who can

control many, can control ideas. He with power has freedom and limitless
creation abilities. This is when religion began to corrupt the people around
us. Its almost ironic that at this moment the very thing that started
evolution will destroy it.
As different religions and beliefs surfaced more controversy came
about, you now had to choose a group to follow and come up with rules you
wanted to live by. Organized religion is similar, giving security to the people
that needed it created a secure and powerful orbit around them. Many
people would come and go, living there whole lives dedicated to one religion.
There were few who had enough will power and free thinking to challenge
the religion they were brought up into. But they would most likely convert to
another religion that they agree with more for their own security. There were
others who would challenge their religion enough to simply not believe any
of it and find the comfort and will power within themselves. The worst of all
of them were the people who actually understood the system of it all. These
people would actually brake off from the norm or majority of people and start
their own ripped off version of a religion and call it better. These were the
toxic power hungry minds that have gotten us to where we are today. With so
many different types of religion today, and how similar or stupid some are
you can really see the issue with organized religion more clearly. The reason
the flaws have surfaced is because of how sloppy some of the minor changes
and constant rewrites of one religion to the next became.

With a religion having a set of rules and beliefs you have to follow
shuts down the creative mind. At this point you can only be so creative or
think so deep into something before youve reached the parameters of your
religious guidelines or rules. This will put a huge halt on evolution for we can
only explore so deep into certain areas. Religion has scarred the majority of
people from pondering lifes most questionable questions, ideas, and beliefs.
It take a very strong will powered individual to go up against this alone. That
is why not many people challenge religion or societies norms. The idea of
feeling or thinking different is very hard for a human. This is one of our
greatest weaknesses as a race. Only very few self-actualized individuals
impact the world with something great. Without the habit of religion and
acceptance in our society humanity would have more individuals that were
self-actualized and have the potential to think freely, thus accelerating
evolution. The human brain is capable of whatever it wants to do. Only you
set parameters on the thing you want to accomplish.
On the other hand where would humans be without the inspiration of
religion? Some of the most influential individuals give all their credit to their
belief in god or their religion. What would Michael Angelo have painted if it
werent for god? Would he still have found the inspiration to create his
masterpiece? Benjamin Franklin a very religious man founded and created
one of the most groundbreaking inventions in the history of man. Would he
still have pushed through to invent electricity if it werent for his belief in
religion or god? Albert Einstein once said "Science without religion is lame;

religion without science is blind." This is an example of the harmony or in

other words ying and yang religion and evolution play in the world.
Joel Primack has a long and distinguished career as an astrophysicist,
he codeveloped the cold dark matter theory that seeks to explain the
formation and structure of the universe, he also believes in God. That may
strike some people as odd because some beliefs dont allow science and
religion to be compatible. It would be hard to find any science today that
does not rely on the theory of evolution. Most of the greatest scientist such
as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein base there theorys on evolution. Why
cant a scientist believe in god? Well most of them do, about 80% of them
believe in god. There theories dont always disprove gods existence but in
cases they almost prove gods existence. (Lovgren, Stefan)
Many religions have even adopted the idea of Charles Darwin theory of
evolution even though is goes agents the text in their religions. About 60% of
Roman Catholic Church members strongly believe in the idea of evolution by
natural selection. Even with such a strong belief that evolution is true there is
a large amount of court decisions that prohibit the teaching of creationism in
schools. I find it very troubling that society still conforms to the so called
norm of religious teachings because their afraid to give modern day ideas
to the youth, even though they themselves believe in something different, to
withhold information is a lie. The concept of feeding blatant lies to the youth
only for them to find out later and be troubled by what they thought was the
truth all a long is very wrong. The idea for the youth is to inform them better

than the generation before, for them to be more knowledgable which will
help them have a better future. If they were able to obtain this information
and grow up with the truth then they could decide for themselves with new
ideas how to approach this controversy. (Masci, David)
In Americas dysfunctional society, people need God more than
Darwin. That was the summation of a prominent evolutionary biologist Jerry
Coyne, a University of Chicago professor of ecology and evolution who has
worked for years to counter creationists anti-evolution arguments. Jerry
Coyne cited many surveys that showed only about 40% of Americans accept
the theory of evolution. This is a very low almost embarrassing number. A
national embarrassment Especially with how accessible the proven science
of evolution it. Not only is it widely taught in schools and colleges, but it can
be found all over the internet with a simple google search. Even with all of
the supporting evidence still about 40% of the population in America
believes man was placed here by god, this leaves 20% of the population
undecided. Many studies and statistics have shown that the more insecure,
unhealthy, and dysfunctional a society is the higher the religious views. This
comes from jealousy in places where everyone has an opportunity to achieve
everything they want, such as America. People need a place to feel accepted
if there arent doing as well in life as they want to be or as their peers are
doing. This is where religious acceptance comes into play the most, it gives
you a way to justify your life, there for slowing evolution. (Powell, Alvin)

Humans tend to crave greater meaning, we have always strived to

answer impossible questions to give meaning to things that seem
meaningless. One of the most common is the feeling of transcendence. The
idea of becoming a part of something larger. People will usually experience
this a few time in their life through both good and bad experiences. It is
almost as if our mind contain answers to the unknown, they just havent
surfaced to the conscious yet. The world has created many ways for humans
to consciously justify these feelings and thoughts through many different
types of religion. Some religions employ meditation, others use spinning,
dancing and repetitive movements in combination with music. Some use
natural drugs. Many secular people have used these methods to think of the
popularity of rave parties, which combine most of these techniques to
produce feelings of peace, love, unity and respect. As the great French
sociologist Emile Durkheim put it, we are homo duplex, or a two-level man.
The question is why do our minds contain these thoughts of a greater power?
The human has always been a social being. The concept of losing oneself
and merging with others to gain acceptance and answers is very clearly the
natural drive of mankind. This idea holds the concept of all for one and one
for all. If the human capacity for self-transcendence is an evolutionary
adaptation, then the implications are profound. It suggests that religiosity
may be a deep part of human nature. I dont mean that we evolved to join
gigantic organized religions that kind of religion came along too recently. I
mean that we evolved to see sacredness all around us and to join with others

into teams that circle around sacred objects, people and ideas. This is why
politics is so tribal. Politics is partly profane, its partly about self-interest, but
politics is also about sacredness. Its about joining with others to pursue
moral ideals. Its about the eternal struggle between good and evil, and we
all believe were on the side of the good. (Haidt, Jonathin)
With religion being such a 180 degree view from evolution there will be
great disagreement. The problem with the disagreement is that we live in a
society where people have to be okay with one anothers opinions. This is
easier for older people with life experience and education, but what about
the young people? What about the education system and what is being
taught to children in school. In Texas the Board of Education failed to approve
a leading high school biology textbook whose authors include the Roman
Catholic biologist Kenneth Miller of Brown. The University rejected the
textbook because of its treatment of evolution. According to The New York
Times, critiques from a textbook reviewer identified as a Darwin Skeptical
view on the subject. Even as creationists keep trying to undermine modern
science, modern science is beginning to explain creationism scientifically.
And it looks like evolution scientifically uncontested explanation for the
diversity and interrelatedness of life on Earth, emphatically including human
life. A major part of the story. Our brains are a stunning product of evolution,
and yet ironically they may naturally predispose us against its acceptance.
(Mooney, Chris)

The hand and hand battle of evolution and religion has been at war as
long as man has been on earth and I believe that it will stay here as long as
we are, for one has no purpose without the other. If they didnt conflict there
would be no controversy. One might even go as far as saying one cant exist
without the other. Others may say we would be better off with one or the
other. The topic is so evenly divided among man kind that it is one of the
most intriguing topics I have ever researched. How can so many people live
their lives a different way and believe in something so strongly only to have
a 50% chance of meeting someone that will have a complete 180 degree
view in what they believe. How can we all be so similar yet be so different. Is
there even a right or wrong way? What would we measure it by if there was?
Man is so divided even though we are all alone and all we have is one
another. Man might just be mans biggest danger. Are we hurting our selfs
with such theories of evolution? Fully abandoning the creator? Or is there
more harm in the false hope of the higher power for comfort base on nothing
but false fact and lie? Evolution could be a tool for god. Religion could also be
a tool gained from evolution. Either way the ying and yang of religion and
evolution keep a constant well balanced conflict between them perfectly. In
completely harmony. Its almost beautiful.

Works Cited
Haidt, Jonathin. "Have We Evolved to Be Religious?" Ideas Have We
Evolved to Be Religious Comments. Time, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Lovgren, Stefan. "Evolution and Religion Can Coexist, Scientists
Say."National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 18 Oct. 2004. Web.
03 Apr. 2016.
Masci, David. "5 Facts about Evolution and
Religion." PewResearchCenter. Fact Tank, 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
Mooney, Chris. "7 Reasons Why It's Easier for Humans to Believe in
God than Evolution." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Apr.
2016.
Powell, Alvin. "The Whys of Religion vs. Evolution." Harvard Gazette.
Harvard Staff, 8 May 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.