Why Do We Need Religion?

I used to think that the world would be much better off without organized religion. In many ways I still do.

In the past few years, however, I have talked to many people, religious and nonreligious, people who both have a good "ethical compass" (not to be confused with a "moral compass," which is entirely different and arguably does not exist) and those with little or no ethics at all. The common thread I found was that people who are "inherently" ethical were raised by caring parents, and those who had a weak sense of ethics were raised in uncaring settings. Many of the latter group were highly religious and depended on religion as a crutch to prevent themselves from lapsing into unethical practices.

Generally, people who were raised by parents who did not practice strict or harsh discipline or corporal punishment, but rather took the time to explain why something was right or wrong to the children and trusted them enough to listen and understand ended up not needing this religious crutch. Many of the latter group of people also were highly motivated to learn about the world around them as a result of being trusted and treated as knowledgeable by their parents.

So at least in part, it looks to me like Harry Harlow was right, and people with "wire monkey" parents are socially stunted. They cannot internalize the social contract enough to get along. They need religion as a crutch to keep them in line.