Why do we need God?

god ganesh
Originally uploaded by jk10976

Setting aside the cosmological explanation, the concept of a personal God must answer some deep psychological need or needs that humans have, as it has been part of all cultures and societies throughout history. Neanderthals are not even the same species as us, yet flowers have been found in their graves suggesting some kind of ritual associated with death. Some people would say that this alone proves that a God of some kind exists but wide acceptance of an idea does not prove that it is true. What it says to me is that we humans have a longing for what we lack. As we know we are finite beings, we long for the infinite. As we know our lives are brief, we long for the eternal and as we know things only relatively, we long for the absolute. Infinite, eternal and absolute are words often used to define God across all religions.

But there can also be a longing for a more personal relationship. Andre Comte-Sponville says, “What do we wish for more than anything else? Leaving aside our base or vulgar desires, which have no need of God to be fulfilled, what we wish for most is: first, not to die, at least not completely, not irreversibly; second, to be reunited with the loved ones we have lost; third, for justice and peace to triumph; and finally and perhaps most importantly, to be loved.”

Freud of course went further and claimed that humans, when faced with the perils of life and frustrated by their helplessness, recalled memories of the protection afforded them by the father whom they both loved and feared in childhood and constructed a far mightier figure to protect them through the rest of their life and after death. While not totalling agreeing with Freud and what he called the universal neurosis, I do accept some of his arguments that humans made God to satisfy a range of unfulfilled needs and anxieties. My problem with Freud however, is that he is good at analysing the symptoms but not so helpful about offering a cure. He basically says we have to all grow up, stand on our own two feet and accept reality. Easier said than done!

I think we all have to find ways to cope with life and death – it is not necessarily a weakness or a neurosis, it is just human. We Atheists too no doubt have our own God substitutes and need to accept uncertainty. Much as I admire Richard Dawkins, like any fundamentalist he can be at times too certain of his beliefs. There is a freedom though, I think, in realising that we can depend only on ourselves and the people we love to help us through life. Maybe we would fight more to improve things in this life if we withdrew all expectations from the afterlife?

Even though their views on life after death and God are different to mine, I find that some religious figures are helpful as guides for this world. For instance, I respect Jesus for his teachings about humanity and for his emphasis on love, compassion and tolerance. It is not always easy to live in accordance with those values (tolerance is particularly difficult I find) but at least we can try. At its best, belief in God can promote the elevation of those values over things such as power, wealth and bodily pleasure. This is obviously not a bad thing but in my opinion it is not exclusive to a belief in God and can also be achieved with the use of reason and an understanding of human nature.

[The future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud (Penguin books Great Ideas, London 2004) and again the Book of Atheist Spirituality by Andre Comte-Sponville were used in this post]