IF RELIGION IS AN EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION WHICH PARTICULAR RELIGION CAN BE RECKONED AS THE BEST ONE?

I. Nasalski

doi:10.5593/sgemsocial2019V/6.1/S07.005

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IF RELIGION IS AN EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION WHICH PARTICULAR RELIGION CAN BE RECKONED AS THE BEST ONE?

I. Nasalski

First published: 2019https://doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2019V/6.1/S07.005View metrics

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate in the contemporary studies on religion and society on whether religion is an evolutionary adaptation or a by-product of our human evolution. Taking the most convincing pros and cons into consideration I come to the conclusion that religion is both: as a set of universal norms and ethical regulations it is an adaptation functioning as a cybernetic homeostat; as a set of beliefs and imagined spiritual beings it is a culturally dependent by-product that enables the implementation of behavioral constraints. The most interesting question is thus: if religion is an evolutionary adaptation, which particular religion can be reckoned as the best one? Which one provides its followers with the most effective and resilient mechanisms that maintain the social coherence and make society immune against destabilizing effects of the modern life style such as individualism, self-indulgence, promiscuity, tolerance for nonstandard behavior, striving towards endless change, disapproval of religious sentiments? All evidence suggest that it is Islam, the religion that is chronologically the last of the three great monotheisms. It can be argued that this consecutive evolution makes Islam the most advanced adaptation which has brought about the most effective mechanisms of social discipline, obedience, and resistance against the threats.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2019V/6.1/S07.005