The Natural Narcissism of Religion

In light of recent events like the attacks in France, Bangladesh and Orlando, the need of religion in the world needs review.

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From its origins, humankind has come quite a long way. When Hinduism was arising in south central Asia, humans were crafting buildings from slave labor and crude machinery. We thought God controlled the weather. We believed sacrificing other humans appeased God and made Him happy. By the time Islam arose, the majority of human life would be deemed feudal.

So, now that we have the internet, the relentless progression of technology and infinitely more knowledge of our reality than we did a few thousand years ago, why is religion needed?

Used to comprehend our existence, religion was a wonderful way to explain why things are the way they are. Why are there stars? What happens when we die? How do we become rich? These questions were easily explained with the myth of religion. People, like you and I, created these explanations and collectively decided to recognize them as a formal entity–religion. There was no other explanation other than that we are held in the highest regard in life on Earth and must have something above us that made us special.

Here is the grandest act of narcissism in recorded history.

When crops failed, it must have been God who was unhappy with us. It wasn’t our poor knowledge of farming. When gold was found, it was because God was pleased and offered us reward. It wasn’t because we had been lucky or had refined geological understanding. We behaved like every inflection on reality was directly purposed for us and carried meaning.

When we look at religion from a perch, we can see that, indeed, humans perpetuate it and adjust it to their liking and favor. A man who kills 80+ fellow humans in the name of God isn’t doing it because there is a deity who speaks to him uniquely. Rather, it’s the man injecting that own purpose into himself narcissistically. He wants purpose and seeks to fill a void in his life to give him the same sense of importance our ancestors did. With this perspective, is religion anything more than a means for humans to give themselves a purpose?