War Makes Us More Religious

Watch the full interview here!: • The Religion and War F...
Support us on Patreon!: / religionforbreakfast
Follow me on Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry
Special thanks to the Center for Mind and Culture for the chance to meet Dr. Joe Henrich and talk about this research! Check out their website and research at: mindandculture.org/
Bibliography:
Michael Jackson citation at 4:37 - 4:47: Citation from Existential Anthropology, p. 94
Joseph Henrich, Michal Bauer, Alessandra Cassar, Julie Chytilova, Benjamin Grant Purzycki, "War Increases Religiosity," Nature: Human Behavior, 2019
Vail et. al., "A TMT Management Analysis of the Psychological Functions of Religion," Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2010, 84-94.
Jonas, E. & Fischer, P. ‘TMT and religion: evidence that intrinsic religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 91, 553-567 (2006)
Martin Lang, "Effects of Anxiety on Spontaneous Ritualized Behavior," Current Biology, July 2015.
Richard Sosis and Handwerker, "Psalms and Coping with Uncertainty," American Anthropologist," March 2011.
Gelfand, M. J. et al. Differences between tight and loose cultures: a 33-nation study. Science 332, 1100-1104 (2011)
Harvey Whitehouse et. al., "Brothers in Arms," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2014.
Zachary Rothschild et. al. "Does Peace Have a Prayer? The effect of mortality salience, compassionate values, and religious fundamentalism on hostility toward out-groups," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, June 2009.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

20 hours of work on this video, and I can't monetize it because it's about war. If you've ever considered donating to RFB, this would be a great opportunity! Here's the Patreon link and the PayPal link: www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast | www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast

[@mrghost3209]

@@paradisecityX0 Critiquing a very simple absence of belief? I'd like to see that video too

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

@@paradisecityX0 How can one critique an "ideology" that does not exist? Not having found a credible god, even coming to view god-centered religions as detrimental to modern society and scientific advancement, is hardly an "ideology". Surely a bit more is required.

[@stephentaylforth4731]

@@paradisecityX0 I'd like to see it done from a high quality neutral standpoint. it could only work from a theist viewpoint. The man just used two of them as a source, Wrong channel if you want somebody to prop up your world view.

[@PaintedHoundie]

Does anyone know where I can find some sources of the old and new testament books in chronological order? not in canon chronical order but what time periods each books would have been written in

[@oskarhenriksen]

Yours is the only Patreon I support. Important work :-)

[@ErosAnteros]

Do you think that the rise in irreligion in advanced economies might be causally linked to the alienation from exposure to death? People don't get to witness as much death now with the lower rates of infant mortality, longer life expectancy, less interaction with dead bodies, distance from the memento mori that used to characterise human experience.

[@TykusBalrog]

I'd say that's definitely a factor. But it also has to do with scientific education. If you live in a society that focuses on teaching the youth about critical thinking and the scientific method, then you are also less likely to believe in religion

[@infamedepatates2502]

@@TykusBalrog Regarding your last sentence, it's always seemed to me like a truism. Why do you think that scientific education results in irreligiosity?

[@Napoleonic_S]

@@infamedepatates2502 Because it teaches us to question everything, including everything that connected with religion? And when you start doing that, you'd see the data, information and evidence on how religion actually work in reality and make it easier for you to cast aside the sacredness of religion and see it for what it actually is rather than what it claim to be.

[@aimansafwan1997]

@Azarello I would argue otherwise. Take a look at Malaysia, my home country. Even though we are staunch Sunni Muslims and we reject liberal ideology, we don't prevent progress of our country, nor we discriminate other people. We even accept liberal concepts, like democracy and freedom of speech. However, we put a limit on freedom of speech to maintain harmony and tolerance between races and religions.

[@azn3000]

@Nikolai Leerskov This seems to make sense at first but I'd say this doesn't account for how humans can compartmentalize or how a person may be somewhat doubting of the literalism of their religion but at the same time still adhering to its rituals (practice vs. belief). Education can play a role in creating disbelief but at the same time I wouldn't place all bets on it being the sole or even major factor in doing so. If we were to look at the rise of American irreligion, I would argue that the friction between progressive and conservative ideologies along with Church controversies and religious terrorism have been greater factors.

[@jim22512251]

Like many of us watching this channel I don't think that religion directly causes war. There are usually other factors below the surface. Rwanda was nearly 100% Catholic, but when push came to shove, people identified as Hutu or Tutsi.

[@hafizajiaziz8773]

Maybe it has something to do with "Narcissism of Small Difference"

[@danieltabin6470]

Religion is a great excuse for war, but in its absence people will find a replacement

[@burnttoast111]

In-group and out-group thinking is the fundamental cause of war. You can't have a war without an 'us' and a 'them'. Religions, with the probable exceptions such as Jainism and extremely liberal theologies like UU, provides in-group and out-group thinking. I personally have experienced dehumanization from Christians, even threats of violence, simply because I didn't believe the same thing they did.

[@burnttoast111]

@daughter of Economic Invincibility "On behalf of all Christians, I apologize." I truly think the sentiment of your statement is very nice and well-intentioned. But I don't know how you can apologize for people who maintain bigoted views. You are a woman, and probably have faced much more discrimination and violence (not necessarily physical) than I have over my religious views. If a sexist man mistreated you, and I apologized to you for his behavior, what good would that do if his behavior remained unchanged? "What religion are you?" The most meaningful answer is that I am a secular humanist. That is my philosophy on how human beings should treat each other and face challenges in life. I'm also an agnostic atheist, but that just tells you what I am not convinced of. It doesn't tell you what I believe.

[@burnttoast111]

@daughter of Economic Invincibility "I just meant to wish you well." Just struck me as a little odd the way you phrased it. Those events took place a couple decades ago, when I was living in a somewhat backwards part of the country. I don't really think about it much, tbh. But I appreciate your well-wishing. "And I'm actually a guy..." Ah, didn't realize you were using an AOC picture. "this is a parody account for the channel 'Economic Invincibility'" So a parody of MGTOW? Never heard of the channel before, just briefly skimmed it.

[@jorenbosmans8065]

As someone who studied psychology with a focus on social psychology, I love it when you mention theories from our field. A bit suprised though that I haven't come across the Social identity theory in your videos. It Fits with a lot of your explanations.

[@mrghost3209]

Wow, I hadn't thought of it this way around. This is food for thought and mentally provocative in interesting ways. I really like this divergent subject matter you're exploring, as well as the exploration you entered into with the Druids. One of the best channels on KZbin 🙏🤘

[@worstgirlfreud]

where in the video does he mention druids

[@marieugorek5917]

A lot of what we are just now learning about how the nervous system store trauma responses and the ways in which humans can heal from them is revealing that many practices which are parallel across religious traditions (group chanting/singing/movements, methods of linguistic programming, etc.) are ... yeah you're saying the thing as I type it. Religious practice is a lot more accessible and much cheaper for people in most of the world than the equivalent amount and quality of neuropsychologically based group and individual therapy.

[@that1weirdkid27]

Oh, this made me realize why people are so superstitious when it comes to live theater. I was involved in theater several years back, and we had all kinds of traditions (like holding hands in a circle in a dark room) that were actually rituals intended to soothe our nerves or (in the case of traditions like not saying "Macbeth") give us something to point to if things went wrong

[@dyn01234567]

In Northern Ireland, news still reports on the catholic/protestant divide. While a divide does exist, saying it is based on religion is largely spurious. The divide always was (and remains) due to differing national identities (dating back to the 17th century) and various injustices over time. Overwhelmingly the nationalists who favour re-unification with Ireland are catholic and the unionists who see themselves as British are protestant, however there is some overlap. During "the Troubles" in the 60's/70's/80's, the British government introduced laws such as internment without trial, electoral districts were often gerrymandered to favour unionists, cases of police/military brutality, etc. In turn, this caused a reaction from nationalists in the form of paramilitary organisations such as the IRA, and thus a cycle of violence emerged. None of this has to do with religion (in the dogmatic sense at least) - nobody cares what denomination you are, whether you recognise the pope or if believe in transubstantiation. However, because of the strong correlation between catholic/nationalists and protestant/unionists, identification as catholic and protestant were often used as a sectarian shorthand. TLDR; Religion didn't cause the violence seen in Northern Ireland.

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

Brilliant objective analysis. I love this methodology.

[@ramingr]

Another excellent video. My recent discovery of your channel has resulted to me binge watching all of them. Thanks for the great content! Just an idea: i'd love to see a video on the gospel of magdalene

[@drmuzacluva1311]

So awesome to see TMT discussed! I’m an RA in a psych lab that researches TMT and I always find that not many people are familiar with it. Great video!

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Awesome. I'll lay my cards on the table and say I'm definitely convinced by TMT as an explanatory model for religion.

[@michaelparsons3007]

TMT is the least plausible of all mentioned here. TMT is basically a Marxist critique not to be taken seriously, at least in the West.

[@ABird971]

Well done man! What a great angle, I've never thought about it like that.

[@beardedpanda5086]

It’s about feeling helpless and not having control over your own destiny. It’s no wonder people turn to religion to give themselves a psychological way to relinquish in and feel comfort in that lack of control

[@williamfrederick9670]

this is a great youtube channel can't wait for you to reach 100k

[@MadHatter42]

I would love to see you do a video on Confucianism, as that emphasis on ritual and a reverence for order and harmony are at the very center of Confucian philosophy.

[@dandiaz19934]

Thanks so much for your content! Excellent as always. Why did you decide to start a new channel with your interviews though?

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

KZbin algorithm reasons. KZbin doesn’t generally reward mixed-format channels from my research.

[@sk8rdudeism]

Very curious to what your personal religious inclinations may be, after looking at the whole concept academically - or is that a taboo topic? In any case, i really enjoy your content. :)

[@Beastlango]

War comes from our evolution not religion. It come from the want of assets and our closest relatives the chimpanzees even commit things very similar, if not exactly the same as war.

[@ZXA999]

you do know War is chosen by nation not something evolution from think into war, its like wasps attack bees one try Protect kingdom and other want take over or put down.

[@notdoneyet1361]

Humans are naturally inclined to hate the "other". If we removed religion, we'd just fight over ethnicity or politics.

[@barnacles1352]

yeah but religion influences that. a lot of wars happened because people were different from them and wanted them to change.

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

religion also comes from evolution so still

[@markusarseneault7358]

I wonder if there is any link from existential thinking increasing religious openness (not just religiosity, but willing to count it as valid with levels of agnosticism still there), or mysticism; since that can and does lead to one facing their mortality

[@jacobstaten2366]

There's also existential theism.

[@crocopie]

Is there a causal link with belief in afterlife and handling anxiety? Surprisingly, not every religion teaches an afterlife like traditional Judaism.

[@van-hieuvo8208]

This makes me realize and be grateful for how privileged I always was that I never genuinely had to resort to praying to any god, but it's also terrifying that I might be susceptible to doing so.

[@FreckleFoxShow]

Concerning terror management theory comparing religious to non-religious with religious being more at ease with death. I understand how belief in religion could reduce death anxiety, but wouldn't there be other factors that could have a greater effect on death anxiety than lack of religious belief? I think coping with death anxiety is more about accepting death and choosing to die, meaning you're not looking for an irrational way out. I've accepted death, and though my death anxiety was minor, seeing dead bodies and caring for people at the end of their lives helped. I think having good relationships help too and feeling good about your life and accomplishments. Death anxiety bothered me the most when things were not going well, and I was confused about what I was doing and the uncertain future. Now that I'm more certain about it, I'm fine. But if I was suddenly thrown into great danger and uncertainty, I think death anxiety would increase though I'd cope with it better than when I was younger. So perhaps uncertainty about the future and present are the strongest predictors of death anxiety?

[@krazykris9396]

On a related note, I'm curious to see how covid will affect religiosity once everything reopens. I was an apatheist for several years, but I've been thinking about returing to christianty after a long period of existential dread.

[@echalone]

I'm a nihilist, and I love this channel... I was always interested in the scientific study of religion. Its history is a bit like the ultimate telephone game, its social study tells us a lot about humans, and I'm also naturally drawn to something that I don't understand (namely how people can believe), so I want to understand it better ^^

[@aaron2891]

What’s your religious background? Are you a lifelong nihilist, or did you come to that philosophy on your own like I did?

[@gscd2881]

It kinda seems like everything is done out of “terror management”. As soon as life becomes safe enough for us to sit down and think, we start creating systems to divert our thought. Hobbies, political ideologies, careers...all so we don’t have to think about death.

[@dannyhodorowski5847]

I think you’d enjoy Denial of Death by Ernest Becker.

[@dittbub]

I’ve been a big fan of hitchens. Yet I never thought perhaps it was the other way around, that war increased religion. It’s an interesting hypotheses that makes sense. I also wonder about post ww2 USA where she became more religious. More studies yes please.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

It's a positive feedback loop. Religious sectarianism causes war, war increases religiosity, religiosity increases sectarianism, back to start. If you've ever wondered why leaders of majority religions love advocating war, it's because they know it increases membership while being relatively low-risk due to their larger community.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

@Saint Knight That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the specific case of why religious leaders like to incite wars, not about religious war itself. Evangelical leaders in the US today are advocating an invasion of Iran, but if such an invasion happens now the causes would be economic and the results political.

[@jacobstaten2366]

I would argue that correlation does not imply causation. They could be influenced by the same factors (culture, economy, history, outside forces) but not necessarily cause each other. We've had non religious cults like NXM and countries that ban religion do cruel things like North Korea and the Soviet Union, but also religious people shun violence.

[@robbalink]

Excellent video!

[@doubleirishdutchsandwich4740]

Most scholars agree that street violence can be explained by TMT, but what about TMMT?

[@Salsmachev]

So why a second channel? Seems like you should just make a separate playlist for interviews or something.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

The interviews get less views and viewer retention, and then KZbin responds by depressing views to the rest of the channel.

[@Salsmachev]

@@ReligionForBreakfast Ah. The algorithm strikes again. Well, I subscribed and thanks for the great content!

[@luciamorenovelo8345]

Following your suggestion to read J.Z. Smith, I am now reading Dridgery Divine. Would you make a video on methodologies used in the field of Religious Studies? Pretty please? With bibliography. Loving the book, by the way, even if I think it will take be several reads to understand it all.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Ooo, I'd love that actually. Anything JZ Smith inspired would make a good video...

[@BellePepprs]

I think the link between the effect of war causing religion and the effect of religion causing war are tenuous at best. There's a rather distinct difference between the quiet, personal sort of religiosity in the former and the aggressive religiosity of the latter. Participation in religious rituals does not always correlate to the desire to proselytize and spread these rituals through threat of force.

[@thespasm86]

It all goes back to our tribal thoughts inherited from our ancestors. Wars reinforces the ideas of us versus them and in the cases you cited it is complemented by religion.

[@caleblott399]

5:15 When we mean ritual here, are we focusing on the activity or on the content of the activity? Because I've read the Psalms, and I can see why that would comfort someone closest to rockets falling: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Is it content or activity? Would they have been just as comforted if they had read some obscure but meaningful poetry to their current situation.

[@Bolsonaro_em_Haia]

I definitely believe that there is a feedback loop at work here. Afterlife beliefs, particularly, are very counterproductive for religious growth in my personal experience.

[@wouldyouliketomeetkenbamba9495]

*Drink everytime he raises his left eyebrow

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

*alcohol poisoning ensues*

[@unknownx7252]

@@ReligionForBreakfast 😄

[@SVnerd]

Interesting video. My question is this though, how is that in this study religiosity (in the definition of this video) increased after war, whereas religiosity decreased substantially (or so I was told) in Europe after WW1.

[@daddyleon]

Yes! More (anthropological) research!

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

More on the way! I filmed 6 interviews at that conference where I interviewed Dr. Henrich.

[@NequeNon]

It's on subjects such as these where the lack of religious literacy leads to painfully reductionist simplifications. One need not be "religious" to be religiously literate.

[@daesfacetus7184]

Very careful and fair analysis as always. I recently encountered the claim that there were no wars whatsoever in ancient matriarchal societies. Do you happen to know anything about this? Is it true that war is linked to the patriarchal mentality?

[@malcolmtas5601]

That's easy to answer. There were NO ancient matriarchal societies. This is a feminist myth with no historical or anthropological justification.

[@daesfacetus7184]

@@malcolmtas5601 This claim you made surprised me even more. Now I would like to see a video on this channel that sheds light on the issue.

[@TykusBalrog]

I'd say it's debatable whether religious people are better able to deal with the concept of death than atheists. Because the way a lot of them seem to deal with it is by hanging on to the belief that it's not final. And are they really dealing with it then? I've seen numerous instances where religious people break down in tears at the thought of death truly being final and that they'll never see their loved ones again. So it seems that they are only able to "deal" with it better, because they're not actually "dealing with it". They just brush it off as another beginning.

[@daesfacetus7184]

As long as the fear of death is eliminated, I think we can say that they have dealt with death successfully. Nonetheless I agree that it's essentially wishful thinking.

[@TykusBalrog]

@@daesfacetus7184 i can see what you mean. And I don't think there's one right answer.

[@ChezEricPRL]

I see the concept of "dealing with" as synonymous with "functioning". The argument is that religious people are able to "deal with" death better because they're better able to set it aside, have faith of some unknowable afterlife, and live their current life to the best. Atheists can do so as well but it's not through faith of an afterlife. Are they both able to function? Sure. But if you take the population as a whole, the theistic approach is usable by people who aren't educated whereas an atheist typically will need a solid foundation in dense philosophical discourse to accept death in a non-nihilistic way.

[@ivyssauro123]

I have a suggestion! Can you talk about the Limbo in Christianity? what it is, why it ceased to be etc? Also I'd like to hear more about Islamic apocalipse since it's very different from Christian one(different historical context of course)!

[@TheTrueOnyxRose]

That doesn’t hold a lot of water. Atheism has a number of things in common with religion. You don’t have to be religious to start, be in, or survive a war. You don’t have to be religious to be part of a highly-authoritarian community. You don’t have to be religious to take part of strict ritual. After all, a person or people can be just as committed to the state and what it stands for...like nationalism. No religion required or needed. Just take a look at some of the atheist countries to notice they don’t need religion to have a tight control over their people. (China, North Korea, USSR) Religion doesn’t corner the market on war or the results of it. But religion can be used as an excuse. As it stands, there are a lot of similarities between religion and state politics. It’s probably not that coincidental.

[@michaeltuite5510]

War is very complex. I would like to add my own anecdotal note that, having served in a war, I know more people who became atheists after their experiences in war.

[@doctorshell7118]

Belief in an afterlife is comforting? I guess it would depend on the religion...

[@sonnybrown4758]

I was in a bad car accident last year. I suffer from PTSD. I've become more religious in ways I didn't expect. At some point, in the midst of madness, you have to take some things on faith.

[@michaelparsons3007]

I would wager to say that it’s a lack of a unified set of beliefs which leads to war though I don’t doubt the videos thesis.

[@hrlarson]

My personal experience is that religious people does not cope with mortality better than non-believers, but rather that people who struggles with or fears the uncertainty of mortality take refuge in religion. I do believe, as a nonreligous person, that religion and rituals has a practical application dealing with uncertainty. And that religion has done a good deal of good in society beside some quite horrific stuff. But I don’t buy into the idea that the religious deal with less anxiety than the nonbelievers.

[@hrlarson]

@Saint Knight Bold in what respect? Religious people in my vicinity has dealt with serious anxiety concerning the uncertainty of death. Even the question about "meaning", that is quite common among people of any degree of religious fibre, hints an unease with the unpredictable rather than comfort.

[@torlak9014]

Could you make a video about the parallels between Buddhism and Christianity?

[@annickbrennen8779]

I observed this phenomenon years ago. Also, poverty and hardship tend to encourage religiosity.

[@redsnake69]

Great content. This channel deserves more subscribers and monetization, but I guess culture and social sciences are not profitable, in contrast with angry dudes playing videogames and screaming slurs. Thanks a lot capitalism!

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Yyyyup...maybe if I reworked the channel into toys and make-up reviews, I'd get more Google Adsense $$$...

[@xtscarfacem8255]

Not all believers are normally religious but when faced with death or a difficult situation, they turn to God. I would think it would be a bit different for non-believers.

[@Ile_wozmey]

Very interesting. With the overall decline of religious practice throughout the world, could this possibly be an effect of the overall decline of war/violence in the past century?

[@hannahrose2238]

Eli Yemzow What belief system killed the most people in the 19th century?

[@Ile_wozmey]

Hannah Rose Im not sure I understand you’re question? Are we talking about the 1800s or the 1900s?

[@hannahrose2238]

Eli Yemzow Sorry, my mistake 20th century.

[@a3r0ll3litmusic-officialch7]

Can you do a video for kabbalah theres a lot of videos about it I wonder what a professional like you thinks about it hope you see this

[@sethapex9670]

It would have been interesting to see in this video a citation of Julius Evola's Metaphysics of War, which discusses spiritual understandings of war across a large number of religions.

[@shanevan1]

The thing that makes people cope better with the psychological trauma's of warfare is..."rituals"... practical actions to "create a sense of understanding and control". Or an acknowledgement of a higher conciousness/intelligence/power enables them to cope better with it? 😅. It's rituals that help soothe the anxiety. "we evolved religion to cope with our sense of mortality". An "evolving" religion is one that does not stand on absolute truths. So yes, for such religions that could be the case. The bias is strong in this one lol... But it's only natural that regliosity is higher in war stricken area's. When staring death in the face one is less likely to be occupied with first world problems and more likely to be busy with the 4 questions of life (Origin, meaning, morality and destiny). Religious systems simply offer answers to these questions (some more persuasive and effective than others). So increase seems natural, especially if absolute truth is found. But obviously all, if believed by people, offer more security concerning this life and thereafter. (The measure of which will differ as well depending on the religion and their intellectual/experiential persuasiveness concerning the beliefs on the four questions mentioned.) Thus war correlating and perhaps even partly causing an increase in religiosity is to be expected and only natural. A man that is preoccupied with the present and not the past or future of (his) existence will be less likely to be seek the truth on these issues. The contrary would be true for the one that is. And as mentioned...the fact that religion could cause war is not mutually exclusive from the first proposition. However this is the case for any ideology trying to spread and enforce their ideas through violence. Which is why the first post-modern century 20th century, with it's rise of atheistic/naturalistic regimes was so bloody. The most bloody of previous combined. In fact statistically and historically it seems most wars did not have a religious reason at all. Religion is the cause of a very small minority of wars. Phillips and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars lays out the simple facts. In 5 millennia worth of wars (1763 total) only 123 (or about 7%) were religious in nature. Furthermore, if you remove the 66 wars waged in the name of Islam, that number is cut down to a little more than 3%. A second scholarly source, The Encyclopedia of War edited by Gordon Martel, confirms this data, concluding that only 6% of the wars listed in its pages can be labeled religious wars. Finally, a 2014 report from the Institute for Economics and Peace further debunks the 'religion biggest cause of wars' myth that is echoed in pop-culture nowadays.

[@JaimeNyx15]

Nice Corinthian helmet back there!

[@jim22512251]

I was wondering if Magneto was nearby

[@p.bamygdala2139]

Me too! Or Doomcock.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Thanks! Bought that on eBay back during a high school obsession with swords and armor...

[@JaimeNyx15]

ReligionForBreakfast Nice. During my phase, think I bought a claymore.

[@nachtegaelw5389]

I think it depends on the religion, or the interpretation of it. There are sects of both Christianity & Islam that are strictly pacifist & anti-war, while others have invoked religion as a reason for war.

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

I would be interested in seeing if this phenomona applies to more then just the abrahamitic religions.

[@mohammadboozarjomehri4430]

What about philosophical and ethical aspects? Or capital T truth?

[@Ccaven]

My man doesn't blink

[@sondorp]

maybe in these days there s a slow evolution of a new ' worldwide religion' . The perception of who we are and who all the others are has changed dramatically since sat. tv, internet etc. So the old reasons for religion are fading, but a huge amount of people in the world still believe in something but don t want to surrender that belief for a certain theology.

[@danstiver9135]

The Terror Management Theory makes perfect sense to me. I'd argue that religion arose both to mitigate knowledge of impending death as well as to explain natural phenomena before the rise of modern scientific thought.

[@mrniceguy7168]

3:05 - Joe Rogan frequently comments that his military friends often view their time in war as some of the most nostalgic and memorable times of their life, while also acknowledging how awful it is. Joe’s take on it was how struggle impacts happiness and was using it in the broader scope of people in bad situations having their happiest moments in that era of their lives

[@oskarhenriksen]

If TMT says that managing angst etc is the cause of religion, is it necessarily an argument in its favour that religion has that as one its functions?

[@moumous87]

Well, any life/death situations make us more religious...

[@svon1]

our group stays TOGETHER now ! ......now its far easier to exterminate the other Group !

[@azathoththeprimalchaos2289]

I own that exact same set of plastic soldiers shown im the thumbnail. Just thought it was a neat coincidence.

[@lshulman58]

in fact, any tragedy - war, grief, a pandemic, etc. often leads to people turning to religion for comfort. I don't think war is unique in this. What you are talking about is the fall-out from war, where people turn to for comfort due to war.

[@stephannaro2113]

Yeah, I'd like greater clarity on the meaning/s of some of these terms and on their usage. eg Talking about certain behaviours in sport as "ritualization" merely starts a chain of equivocations. OK, so after a religious war, who do you hang out with? The devil-worshippers, or the good guys you belong to? And what is more likely to prevent future conflict: getting to know the devil-worshippers, or increasing your consciousness of the differences between you? (Hear Hitchens talk about faith schools in Northern Ireland: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnu0gXqHoM1_Ztk)

[@Reignor99]

You're too biased to be taken seriously.

[@stephannaro2113]

@@Reignor99 Excellent.

[@marekminecki350]

My parents, mother brought up strict Catholic and father raised strict Lutheran, lived through WW2 in Eastern Europe... their experiences of witnessing the horrors and experiencing great loss turned them away from religion. My mother said that if there even was anything out there with the powers attributed to God but let such horrors happen, it wasn't worth worshiping...

[@seadawg93]

I don’t understand how studies showing that religious people are better able to manage terror of mortality corroborates the theory that religion evolved in order to manage the terror of mortality. Isn’t that the standard fallacy of correlation (not) proving causation?

[@dwnkaomwn3953]

It's a good thing I hate war, because I'm not religious in any way and I'm happy for it.

[@modernminded5466]

I think both is true.

[@KK-fz6if]

The point that you make is that war push people towards religion is correct in the present,. This is true in the case of Abrahamic faiths. Because these faiths are the most regid, and to a large extent very organised and survive on the principle "that your religion is inferior and therefore conversion is the solution (in other words submission or defeat). , the third point is that all these three religions are governed by an absolute third petson god who would judge them and pass the judgement on them. In short a defeated person will be so vulnerable that any ray of hope more than sufficient to get involved. I agree that self realizing assessment of ones own curcumstances make more realistic and hence will be able to face difficulties wuth a realtively stable mind. Perhaps this is called "spirituslity".

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

I always ask those people, is it the religion that made the war, or was it man who made the war and then used religion to justify to you whether after or before.

[@thedisintegrador]

Very nice. As a believer myself I really enjoyed this video

[@francoisrd]

Observe the fabled Homo sapiens in its natural habitat, performing superstitious rituals in the hopes of exerting control over a chaotic and indifferent universe. Seriously, humans have been doing this stuff since we've existed as a species, whether it's a rain dance during a dry season or wearing a specific jersey to every sports game. The irony is that "sapiens" means "wise" in Latin, but no matter how erudite we may aspire to be, we can never escape these base instincts. What do I mean by this? It's the fact that performing rituals measurably decreases anxiety in the face of uncertainty. Our bodies physically respond to our vain attempts at exerting control over the uncontrollable as if these attempts had actually worked, which then perpetuates the ritual.

[@DiMadHatter]

Well said, sir :)

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

3:33 ya sure about that? NYC went through 9-11 & they all hate each other.

[@aaron2891]

Is it possible to have a religion with extensive ritual practice and yet no expressed supernatural beliefs of any kind?

[@reveranttangent1771]

Did the researchers control for authoritarian personality?

[@alhassani626]

War made me more Religious...

[@mrsaskander]

Great unbiased video ! God has given us ways of adapting within our spirituality but that doesn’t negate his existence

[@Salsmachev]

No such thing as an unbiased video.

[@hannahrose2238]

Neutrality is a myth

[@hannahrose2238]

Pepe The Great Agreed. Tell me about how morality and truth are figments of our imagination?

[@lanwangji3882]

let’s not give god some ideas before they decide to start world war 3

[@chefchaudard3580]

I don't think religiosity increases because of war. European countries never experienced that even after the bloodiest wars in history, the Great War a d WWII. On the contrary, there are more secular than ever. What about Rwanda? I was under the impression that people were quitting 'soft ' religions, like Catholicism for more 'hardcore' ones...

[@truevision3189]

Does war cause people to become more religious? Consider the effects of WW2 on the civilian populations of Russia, and Western Europe, in comparison to the effects on the US civilian population. Shouldn't religion, and religious fundamentalism be more prevalent in Europe than in the US?

[@krazykris9396]

I think what happened with WW II is that afterwards there was a backlash against facism which was somewhat religiously motivated. Western and Northern European countries also adopted heavy welfare states which caused people to have less need for religon.

[@grapeshot]

Well the invisible sky wizards, they are tribal.

[@angelawildman122]

I wish people would stop using religion to justify war and violence. Instead they should just follow the religious beliefs to love your neighbor and treat others the way they’d want to be treated!

[@MrSeadawg123]

Research, Rally around the Flag!

[@maxiomburrows2099]

religion has the temptation of garnering power over others or submitting to some hierarchical structure or organization, this is what can be used for ill, not a belief in a deity or the private practices... says this non church affiliated follower of Yeshua(Jesus)

[@kateshungi8945]

The misuse or misunderstanding of religion, causes war.

[@MrCmon113]

Broke: Religions are bad, because they cause wars. Woke: Wars are bad, because they cause religiosity.

[@aaronlaluzerne6639]

Or you know, war can have the opposite effect and turn people into athiests.

[@_sky_3123]

religion is/was just a good casus belli, nothing more. And when somebody wants war, he will find an excuse. When citing individual wars, where religion played a big part (like crusade), people often forget how many times religion also stopped the war. Hell, even the first battle in history which had its date accurately recorder, never actually played out due to religion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eclipse

[@Ashberryvillage10]

War, War never changes

[@jhoughjr1]

the emperor protects

[@bhagwatshah]

Wars also turn people away from God because they see all the suffering and realise, God did not stop it!! As a direct result of WWI and WWII, Europe saw a massive decline in religious activity and church attendance. Examples you have given are of places that are still way back on modernisation and the majority of the population is rural or illiterate. Preachers and priests have a field day when the congregation is clueless and will believe anything that is told to them. In such places, preachers use war and loss / victory as a reason for holding on to their faith and asking God to help.

[@brandonkellner2920]

But what about the non-Abrahamic religions?

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

That’s a really good question that I do not know the answer to. I’d love to see this research expanded to other regions to see if it holds true for Buddhists and Hindus etc.

[@paulfowler7505]

Nazis and Soviets, who were anti religion ? People use Religion as an excuse but it's not the reason

[@tompatterson1548]

judging by a system for writing english in the hebrew alphabet, the number should be 901 in english.