Consolation Prize

I have blogged in plenty--more than any reader ever wanted to read!--about death, religion, and god.  In blogging about these, I rarely ever make fun of religions, their gods, their narratives, and their followers.  Yes, the atheist that I am, sometimes I do joke about them.  But, for the most part, I don't.  For one simple and fundamental reason: Religions, gods, and the narratives help most people deal with the inevitable: Death.

If there were no death, then we humans would not have invented religions, gods, and the stories of how everything comes about.  We won't find any need to invent new religions/cults either.

But, there is death, and we humans know we are all going to die some time.  What happens to us after we die?  Where did grandma end up?  What about childhood friends? Heck, where did our favorite pet go upon death?

These are troubling questions.  And emotionally taxing questions.

Religions offer ways to deal with the ultimate existential angst:

Mainstream religion reduces anxiety, stress and depression. It provides existential meaning and hope. It focuses aggression and fear against enemies. It domesticates lust, and it strengthens filial connections. Through story, it trains feelings of empathy and compassion for others. And it provides consolation for suffering.
Emotional therapy is the animating heart of religion.

Of course, we are only talking about the sincere people, not like the fake ones who use religion and the fake religious for power.

When we are grieving, when we feel incapable of dealing with terrible developments, religions help:

Emotional management is important because life is hard. The Buddha said: ‘All life is suffering’ and most of us past a certain age can only agree. Religion evolved to handle what I call the ‘vulnerability problem’. When we’re sick, we go to the doctor, not the priest. But when our child dies, or we lose our home in a fire, or we’re diagnosed with Stage-4 cancer, then religion is helpful because it provides some relief and some strength. It also gives us something to do, when there’s nothing we can do.

Indeed.