Benefits of religion (atheism is dysgenic)

If we look at every society throughout history, we can notice that most if not all of them, had some kind of religion or belief in higher powers at some point. There is also the VMAT2 gene, which is called the God gene, that some scientists say predisposes people to believe in God and have religious experiences. Religion has shaped our cultures and societies for thousands of years, and we wouldn't have these beliefs if there wasn't at least some benefits to them. What are the benefits? Let's dive in.

First of all, some religions increase fertility rates and thereby help those groups of people survive. We can see this with Mormons who have a very high fertility rate in the West, it's around 3.4 children per woman which is over the replacement rate of 2.1. Catholics and Protestant Christians also hover around 1.9 to 2.5 children per woman. But the fertility rate of atheists is only 1.6, which is not enough to replace their population. Agnostics are even lower at 1.3. So clearly these groups of believers have a future due to their fertility rates, whereas unbelievers will eventually die off based on how few children they have, unless they continue to deconvert believers.

Then religion can also have benefits for the survival of the individual. Let's say there is a famine going on, and food is scarce. A believer may hold out hope that God will provide food for them if they stay faithful and they will fear killing themselves due to being punished in hell. However an atheist will look at the data and determine there is little hope and only a lot of suffering ahead. This hopelessness might result in suicide, especially as the atheist has no fear of hell.

But the thing is we don't have perfect knowledge, we don't know all the variables, hope could be just around the corner. So someone who believes in a higher power that promises to help them, whether that is real or not, will have more inner strength to persevere and survive in tough situations. In fact tough situations may even make an unbeliever convert to a religion as their brain does everything it can to keep them alive, including creating religious experiences.

Then there's also the fact that religion gives people structure and a purpose to their life. With atheism, what do you really have? A pursuit of hedonistic pleasures and acquiring material wealth and social status, that will disappear the moment you physically die. Religion is a two-edged sword however, for some people it can provide a purpose, but for others it can force them to bear heavy burdens that they don't want to bear.

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