Belief
systems help to shape our worldviews and the ways in which a culture organizes life. You may be
surprised to know that even in highly secular societies, religious plays a major part in shaping
society.
The archaeological record suggests that as long as the human species
has existed, we've had questions about our world, though not always the means to answer them.
One suggestion about the origins of religion is that supernatural answers could explain
questions about natural phenomena. It is harder to know what our ancient ancestors actually
believed, but we can make some inferences based on what they left behind. For example, the
burials at Shanidar cave of several members of a population of Homo
neandertalensis (our "cousins" in the Homo
lineage) display purposeful burial. From the finding of flower pollen around the bodies, we can
infer a respect for the bodies of the Shanidar dead, and perhaps a supernatural belief about
what happened to those people after death.
Supernatural beliefs work on a
scale from localized folk-belief to organized, often wide-spread religion. They also may
function overtly or covertly in a culture. Most people, upon hearing a sneeze, will say
something along the lines of, "Bless you." This in itself is not a religious or
spiritual practice, and many secular people offer such blessings when hearing a sneeze. The
origins of this commonplace cultural practice, are religious, though. Another more covert
function of religion is society is the way in which we organize time. Many cultures consider
Saturday and Sunday to be the "weekend-" a time to abstain from work and enjoy leisure
activities. This has long been practice in cultures where the Abrahamic traditions prevail
(Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), as Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath and Sunday is the same for
Christians. This is a predominantly Western practice, though it has spread to other parts of the
world. Even in cultures which are not officially religious, and for people who do not ascribe to
organized religion, abstinence from work on the weekend is a regular part of many people's
lives.
The degree to which religion influences life may be impacted by other
cultural elements such as language and education, geography, ethnicity or race, and societal or
governmental structures. As an anthropologist, I favor the idea that science and religion are
equally valid and serve the same purpose in life- to answer questions we have about the world.
However, as technology has advanced throughout history and continues to advance, the ability to
quantify the world around us can make religion seem less important. Supernatural belief has
always helped humans to make sense of the unknown, and we can be sure that as we answer more
questions about our world, new ones will always arise. Engaging with the supernatural, whether
it be through organized faith or hoping it wont rain tomorrow, offers humans a sense of comfort
in the face of the unknown.
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