It’s hard to determine in human history when it became cool to not believe in God. The exodus has been going on for a long time, and was caused by a number of historical events. Worshipping God has always been optional. But there is still a cost for every decision, so what is the cost of giving up religion? Asked in another way, what are the advantages of attending church? Simply put, religion was established from the beginning to help us to improve to become better people. We have been taught since Primary that we are to seek eternal progress. But that eternal progress should be occurring now, while you are here on earth. If you an active member of the church, congratulations on your efforts to continue that progression.
email - ScottRFrazer@gmail.com
Website - ScottRFrazer.com
S1E32 – Season 1 Finale – Why We Need Religion
This is the podcast Science and Scriptures, Season 1, Episode 32, or “Why We Need Religion”
Hello again. This Scott Frazer of the podcast Science and Scriptures.
I thought a lot about my subject for today, as I want to give you something to think about for the next couple of months. I decided to remind everyone who listens to this podcast the reasons for religion in our lives. I think as a society that we have forgotten why we need religion – and I have the statistics to back up that conclusion. In the course of my research for my books and podcast, I look at a lot of statistics. There are statistics about everything of course. But the statistics that worry me most are taken from the Pew Research Center, which conducts extensive, worldwide polls about social issues and public opinion, including religious observance. In a nutshell, here are the numbers that concern me the most.
Of our oldest living generation, born between 1928 and 1945, 51 percent attend church weekly. Of the next generation, or Baby Boomers, 38 percent attend church weekly.
Finally, of the youngest adults, or Millennials (born between 1981 and 1995), only 28 percent attend church on a weekly basis. Comparing daily prayer and importance of religion to these generations shows similar results.
It’s hard to determine in human history when it became cool to not believe in God. The exodus has been going on for a long time, and was caused by a number of historical events. One of those events occurred when Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in November 1859. The first edition sold out immediately and evolution made headlines. Once Earth’s creation could seemingly be explained by evolution, it appeared to many that God had become unnecessary in their understanding of life. Just the mere possibility that God doesn’t exist was enough to convince many people that church attendance was simply not necessary. Many faithful Christians decried evolution for decades after its introduction, but evolution has forced no one out of church. People either forgot, or never understood, why religion was important in the first place.
To summarize my statistics, in less than a century, active church attendance has gone from 51% of the population to only 28% of the population. That is a huge drop in church activity in a short time. We would like to think that the Latter-day Saint population is more immune to these drops than other churches. But our numbers are similar. Utah is no longer isolated from the rest of the world. Many once-faithful Latter-day Saints, most of them of our younger generations, are leaving the church. It seems that we have forgotten Why We Need Religion. Obviously, people get along in life without religion. Tens of millions of people do it every day. If you wish to defend the practice of religion, we must ask, “What are these people missing?”
After all, worshipping God has always been optional. But there is still a cost for every decision, so what is the cost of giving up religion? If you sacrifice eating, you starve. If you sacrifice exercise, you become overweight and lethargic. What is the cost of sacrificing your religion? Asked in another way, what are the advantages of attending church?
There are a number of answers to this question, but I want the ultimate answer. Has a little child ever you ever played the “Why?” game with you? Whatever your answer to the first “Why” question, the child again asks “Why?” Before long, you are trying to explain the Gospel Plan and the Plan of Happiness to a 3-year-old. In this podcast, the last of Season One, I want to answer the final “Why” of religion.So, why should we be religious?What is our goal?
The answer may seem obvious, but I think that answer has been lost in all the debates about God and religion. Simply put, religion was established from the beginning to help us to improve to become better people. Many of you may object that religion was made to teach us faith and obedience. But, in the bigger picture, we are commanded to learn faith and obedience to become more knowledgeable, more empathetic, more capable, and more spiritual people. We learn patience and love from being spouses and parents. In the long run, you are on earth to evolve to become a higher being, a being who has moved beyond childish selfishness and seeks to be wise, thoughtful, and charitable. Deep inside, we know this to be true. We have been taught since Primary that we are to seek eternal progress. But that eternal progress should be occurring now, while you are here on earth. Repentance is a means to that same end, of course. We repent so that we can get our act together again and resume our learning.Some of that learning occurs in our jobs and home life. But much of the more advanced learning – in knowledge, emotional stability, and charity – occurs at church. We accept callings so we can help the ward function and more fully engage with the congregation. In doing so, we learn skills and understanding. Callings teach us much.
To understand the significance of religion, let’s compare it to two other areas of our life which can also demand our time – Politics and Social Media. For the time you give to each of these pastimes, what do they give you back in return?
Politics - For centuries, politics has had its place in talks in break rooms at work and in conversations at the bus stop. Even in the days of the New Testament, I’m sure that people chatted about the Roman occupation, and how unreasonable Caesar was in Rome. I’m sure there were discussions about higher taxes and how the Pharisees were becoming too strict in their rules. But news traveled very slowly in the days of the New Testament. It could take months for new news to arrive in Jerusalem.Since there was only so many times you could talk about the month-old news out of Rome, discussions about politics were a minor part of life.
Then newspapers started reporting our news. But even then, the news was a couple of days old before we learned of it. Television certainly sped up the process. As I remember it, ABC, CBS, and NBC News programs aired at 6:00 and 10:00 PM, in my time zone anyway. Again, breakroom discussions about the news were limited to last night’s news reports.
Today, we have 24/7 news coverage. The debates in political circles and on social media are never ending. They can occupy hundreds of hours in your personal life if you let them. It got especially bad during COVID-19, as we tried to keep up with the minute-by-minute reports of the virus. It was exhausting – and it still is. The news feed on my cell phone never stops. Politics and the arguments between progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans seem to demand much of our attention. Whether you are Republican, Democrat, or Independent, your party wants your vote, your devotion to their platform, and your donations.They want those things so that their representatives can be elected - thus making their party stronger and even more influential. Let’s be honest - to these political parties, each party member is simply a vote or maybe a contribution. Parties spend millions of dollars on advertisements to convince you of the wisdom of their own candidates – and of the evil and unscrupulous actions of their opponents. However, your political party does not care about you as a person. You are only one of billions of voters – why would they spend more time or concern for you than an emailed newsletter?
Social media never stops either. In fact, social outlets continually suggest that I add more people to my “friends” list so that I can receive even more posts. Social media allows you to interact with your friends and family on different social media outlets. Every social media outlet wants you to visit their site and stay there for as long as possible. This allows them to sell more marketing space to advertisers. Sites will post “click bait” titles over a news item to entice you to click on their story. I have taken the bait myself numerous times, to find that the title way oversells the story. Advertisers will post enticing photos on sites like Instagram to get customers to click on their posting. It’s just business. The more clicks a “media influencer” gets on a post, the more “Likes”, the more Followers, the more money the site makes from their advertisers. Consumers spend hours a day on social media. You can feel that you are up to date, informed, amused and listened to. But it’s just a forum. The articles you read, the videos you watched, and the posts you considered were all fed to you by a social media outlet that knows who you are and what you want to hear. Again, keeping your attention makes social media money.
Religion also wants some of your time, such as much of your Sundays and the time to carry out your callings. Religion teaches commandments and other expectations the Lord has of you during your earthly sojourn. Some of these commandments are simply not as much fun as say… social media posts of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.
For religion, however, you are not simply a means to an end – you are the end goal.The goal is not to get you to vote a certain way. Neither is the goal to hook you into a social media site and keep you there. The goal of Christian religion is to help you to live a Christ-like life. Religion is designed to help change you to be a better person. This is not a trite observation. Those people who leave religion do not believe that it can help them.
First, the church wants you to learn how to be more capable of handling earth life. Each Sunday, lessons are given to the men on how to be better husbands and fathers. Lessons are given to the women on how to be better wives and mothers. We have ward social functions to both enjoy ourselves and to help us to be social. We form quorums and relief societies to teach us how to help one another.I have a great example of how such learning develops us. My wife Cheri and I are both converts and the only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day church in our families. One summer day, we attended my sister’s outdoor wedding. It was a hot day and, after the ceremony, everyone waited impatiently for the reception – a promised light lunch and something to drink.Finally, Cheri went inside the house to find out what was going on. The unpacked food was sitting in the kitchen, but the caterer had failed to show up. A few minutes later, I found Cheri in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and using the knife as a pointer to assign any youth and adults who wandered by to fill and take out platters of food and containers of punch. I have never been so proud of my wife. Years of Relief Society had prepared her to take over catering a wedding reception with no notice. That is capability.
The church wants you to be taught in the temporal knowledge and the doctrines of the church.We have Sunday school classes, Relief Society, seminary for youth, and institute. The church has BYU Pathway Worldwide. There are a host of offered topics to help us to understand our scriptures, our Christian and restored church history, and our spiritual lives.
The church wants you to be more empathetic and capable of dealing with others. Through my callings over the years, I have learned how to interact with toddlers, youth, adults, and the elderly. Through those callings, I feel much more confident in my ability to comfort and support people of any age. Have you been called to the Nursery yet? There is a lot that can be learned there.
However, because it wants to help you to improve yourself, the church can become very unpopular with many people. To get you to make improvements in your life, religions must continually teach you to change. The church will try to help you to stop destructive habits and to replace them with activities that build you up. The church has programs and counselors (like your bishop) to help you in your self-improvement. Let’s face it, the list of things to do in the church is long, but there is a purpose to each.
The church tells us what to eat and drink… and what to not drink and to not smoke.
The church tells us what to do on Sundays. Come to church, listen to the talks, and learn wisdom...
The church teaches us to treat other people with respect and love.
The church asks us to learn to sacrifice, asking us to give monetary donations, as well as donations of your time in service.
The church asks us to conform to many other commandments as well – don’t be dishonest, don’t covet, etc.
Many people don’t want to be told to change. Many people see the commandments as restrictive and the church as being overbearing. Such people fight back against the church, not understanding that the changes sought are constructive. Self-improvement of any kind requires self-discipline.
Spiritual, but Not Religious
Simply put, many people don’t like to be challenged to improve. In fact, we are told by our society that everyone is fine just the way they are. We are told that everyone’s voice is important. Encouragement to become more understanding, socially mature, wise, and spiritual is not even a concept that is understood by our younger generations.It is a popular belief that spirituality doesn’t take any work. During the polls to collect the statistics I quoted earlier, it has become a popular for people to answer a question like “Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person?” with the response. “I am Spiritual but not Religious”. In fact, about a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) now say they think of themselves as “spiritual but not religious”, up 8 percentage points in five years, according to a Pew survey conducted in 2017. The growth of “spiritual but not religious” Americans has come mainly at the expense of those who used to say that they are religious and spiritual. Many in the “spiritual but not religious” category have very low levels of religious observance, saying they seldom or never attend religious services and that religion is “not too” or “not at all” important in their lives. (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/)
As Lillian Daniel, Pastor at 1st Congregational Church, of Dubuque, Iowa expressed in her paper entitled “Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.”
“On airplanes, I dread the conversation with the person who finds out I am a minister and wants to use the flight time to explain to me that he is “spiritual but not religious.” Such a person will always share this as if it is some kind of daring insight, unique to him, bold in its rebellion against the religious status quo. Next thing you know, he’s telling me that he finds God in the sunsets. These people always find God in the sunsets. And in walks on the beach.” (Lillian Daniel “Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/spiritual-but-not-religio_b_959216)
I completely agree with Pastor Daniel. I would like to ask these “spiritual but not religious” people exactly how they are becoming more spiritual if they are not religious. In your spiritual development, you need other people to teach you different perspectives. You need others to set examples for you, and you need to serve other people for you to develop spirituality, wisdom, and empathy. The point here is that you don’t gain spirituality or other noble characteristics by simply thinking about them. They take work and effort – and a group of people called your congregation to help you develop those traits.
Can’t See the Progress
As stated earlier, a growing number of people do not see the benefits or return on being active in church. Being inside you, the improvements in your capacity to be a good husband and father, or wife and mother are not visible. Your kindness, empathy, self-confidence, and wisdom are difficult to quantify, so the beneficial effects of church activity remain a mystery.Our society today tells us that people are pretty much the same inside - which is a terrible conclusion that makes no sense. At church you have weekly encouragement to live good lives and to care for your family and neighbors. We are reminded to avoid covetousness, not to lust in our hearts, and to obey the laws of the land. When we err, we are encouraged to repent and mend our ways. How can that weekly inspiration NOT have a significantly beneficial effect on you?
Strangely enough, most people believe in some form of an after-life AND they all know, that in regards to their big houses, bank accounts, boats, and other toys that “you can’t take it with you”. All you can take to the after-life is the person you are. In the Final Judgement, I don’t believe that you will be judged for every good and bad action or for each instance of repentance accomplished over the decades of your life. I believe those actions will be collectively imprinted upon your spirit. Your kindness, charity, spirituality, wisdom, etc. will finally be visible. Your Heavenly Father will be able to judge you with His very first glance. He will know what you started as and of your opportunities for progress in your lifetime. Given all that, it is a mystery to me that people care so little about their inner person.
Conscious self-improvement can be a hard principle to grasp. We put in the effort to improve, but we then need to have faith that we are progressing as well. We need to have the insight to realize that our weaknesses are becoming strengths and our strengths are becoming stronger. As an example, I think there are two types of golfers in this world.The Competitive Golfer wants to be better than anyone else in the foursome. But the Competitive Golfer is never happy. If everyone else in his party are weaker golfers who only play once or twice a year, the Competitive Golfer really has no motivation to play well.He doesn’t need to push himself physically or mentally, so basically, he manages to avoid all the good things that a sport does for you. However, if the Competitive Golfer is part of a foursome of golfers who are more gifted at this game, he is equally frustrated. He will be pushed to do his best, but in the end, he will probably feel like a failure.
On the other hand, the Continuously Improving Golfer wants to be a better player than he was last week, last month, or last year. A round of golf is a social occasion, but at the same time the outing is an opportunity to improve golf skills. Such players love the game for the game. The Continuously Improving Golfer can still enjoy competition, but he also appreciates that he can become a better golfer, who is more confident in his game. Religion helps us to work on the noble characteristics of life so we too can become confident in who we are and what our Final Judgement will be.
In the end, remember that a lot of organizations are vying for your time, your attention and your donations. But these organizations have very different goals in mind for you. Of the many organizations available to you, your church is probably the only one trying to help you to become a better person.Social media and political parties see you only as a potential customer. They want your purchase, or they want your vote, but when you have done that, I can assure you they don’t care about you or the person you become.
So, that is all I have for you today. Thanks for listening. I hope you can better understand WHY we need religion. We don’t know exactly when our eternal progression started or how it will go from here. But we do know we are in the middle of it now, and if you an active member of the church, congratulations on your efforts to continue that progression. I hope you felt this was an appropriate topic on which to end the first season of this podcast. As always, if you can think of someone who might enjoy the discussion, please share this episode with them. I will be taking July and August off, so the next podcast will be in September.As long as you are subscribed to the podcast, you will receive a notice when the next podcast is available.Or you can send me your email address at ScottRFrazer@gmail.com and I will remind you. This is Scott Frazer from the podcast “Science and Scriptures”. Have a great summer and take care.