Humans have survived on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years because we organized ourselves into groups, and this concept was evidently successful.

An individual needs the group; the group doesn’t necessarily need the individual.

Various Considerations of the Group.

Groups and Belief

Belief is inherent in us. We are believing beings, because belief is within us: just like fear, hunger, aggression, compassion, and sexual drives, etc.

We are capable of believing in anything imaginable: in talismans, Santa Claus, and above all, in higher beings. The members of a group tend to believe in the same things, and the more people in the group believe the same thing, the more that belief is reinforced and strengthened for each individual. Belief is not knowledge. Imagine a group of people facing a problem and having to make an important decision: for example, should the group head for the mountains or the valley? Their knowledge won’t help them with this decision. We can easily imagine that some members of the group would prefer to go to the valley, and others to the mountains. This would divide the group, and each part would be weakened and vulnerable without the other. For almost the entire history of human development, it has been crucial for survival that a group stay together in the face of various challenges, rather than splintering into ever smaller groups. This is where belief comes into play. If the group, for example, believes in the shape of the clouds, then they look at the sky and all see the same sign in the clouds that guides them. This creates consensus within the group; everyone follows the same path and stays together. Belief is an essential prerequisite for the cohesion and therefore the existence of a group.

We must believe because it is within us. As soon as our knowledge is insufficient, we resort to belief, because group cohesion was always the priority. Belief in higher beings is practical, as it allows us to bridge the gap between belief and knowledge. Religion and gods are helpful because they consolidate our beliefs into instructions and rules. Choosing a member of the group as a high priest was also sensible, in order to harmonize the beliefs, especially within larger groups, and to have a decision-making authority. It is understandable that high priests increasingly used the power given to them for their own purposes. This led to the development of faith groups, established religious communities and churches. Group cohesion and leadership are stronger, the simpler and more unified the belief system is, since consensus within the group is so important and, in turn, strengthens the faith. Consequently, it is also easier for a group to believe in only one god. This is much simpler and more homogeneous than believing in many. Just as a cream cake might be the ultimate answer to hunger, one god best satisfies the religious and belief needs of a group. In any case, this perspective explains why gods must exist for humankind and why it is virtually impossible to do without them: It is not the god itself that exists, but rather our belief that almost inevitably creates the god for us.