Believing in God a Product Of Harsh Conditions, Hardships -- New Study

Believing in gods is more likely a product of harsh conditions as people living in hardship tend to "moralise" them. In a major new study co-written by New Zealand researchers, scientists traced the evolution of human culture and found that ecological factors play a role in shaping societies, including the development of religious beliefs.

The new study was published in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. Researchers used data from between 1900 and 1960, covering 583 religions and traditional societies. They studied the most common religions like Christianity and Islam and the other localised belief systems.

Professor Russell Gray from the University of Auckland's School of Psychology, who is also the co-author of the study, said people believe in the high gods when their lives became uncertain or difficult. The study suggested that people can thrive in unpredictable environments if they engage in pro-social behaviour.

Previous studies have indicated that religion was a product of either cultural or environmental factors but not both. The new findings suggest that complex practices of humans were influenced by various historical, cultural and ecological variables. The new study featured high-resolution global data for variables like rain and temperature unlike past studies that relied on rough estimates.

Gray said several evolutionists have been "busy trying to bang religion on the head." However, he believes the challenge is to find an explanation for it. He added that the near universal presence of religion indicates some adaptive value. Researchers also found a strong connection between religious belief in gods who implement a moral code and other characteristics of society.

While there were previous research of natural calamities leading to conversion of religious beliefs, it was not clear how ecology helped shaped religion around the world. Dr Carlos Botero, lead author of the study and a biologist at North Carolina State University, said the harsher the conditions, the more people believe in the existence of gods.

According to The Guardian, some academics had claimed that dramatic changes to the environment around 535 AD were associated with the emergence of Islam as a religion. Researchers of the new study warned against the oversimplifying the spread of religions. They expressed their interest in determining how commerce, conquest and language played a part in the development of religious beliefs.