Religion and pleasure in human experience

¶ … Religious Motivation

The Origin of Modern Religion

Religion in some form or another probably predates recorded human history as evidenced by ancient cave drawings and ritualistic artefacts associated with some of the oldest burial sites ever excavated by modern archaeologists. While it is unknown precisely what the earliest religious beliefs might have been, anthropologists theorize that they likely provided many of the same functions as modern religious traditions (Armstrong, 1993).

In the millennia since the dawn of modern religions, they have served the role of establishing moral guidance, psychological comfort, in addition to filling in for gaps in human understanding of life and the world we inhabit. On the other hand, religion, and religious differences in particular, have also been the source of tremendous antagonism and outright persecution and brutality perpetrated in the name of religion (Armstrong, 1993).

In contemporary society, religion often provides the basis of social structure, community, and moral values and rules. Religious institutions are frequently the source of local unity within human communities and they have been a source of informal confidential social counseling and spiritual advice.

Human Morality

Sociologists have long debated the source of the human moral impulse without much in the way of concrete evidence to support conclusions besides theoretical constructs. The advent of modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other brain imaging technologies have finally yielded possible evidence suggesting that the actual source of the human moral impulse is in our genetic code (Marantz-Henig, 2007; Pinker, 2008).

The Source of Pleasure in Religion

Religion is undeniable a source of pleasure in human life of a variety that depends only on the precise definition of what pleasure is. Religion provides a valuable source of spiritual meaning for those who might feel lost psychologically without a larger purpose to their lives. Religion contributes a comprehensive moral framework for human social interactions that generates a motivation for ethical conduct in the human community.

One of the most profound benefits of religion is the extent to which it allows some people to negotiate emotionally trying circumstances, especially in relation to the loss of loved ones. Irrespective of whether or not religious beliefs about the afterlife and the continuous existence of the human soul after physical death are true, they undoubtedly help countless people cope with emotional loss.