Why Does Religion Exist

Fear of the unknown is one of the most basic traits shared by all humans. One unknown, that induces fear into most people, is what will happen at the end of time. Of course, science can answer this question in terms of the universe as a whole – the universe will continually expand, become colder, and human life will no longer be able to survive in the resulting desolate universe. However, most people do not fear this end as they will not live to see it. Instead, they fear what will happen to them, or more precisely, their soul at the end of time. Science has not and most likely will never be able to explain what happens to a person’s soul, if it even exists, at the end of time, as it is an untestable theory. Therefore, to seek an answer to this terrifying question, many people abandon science – due to its inability to provide answers – and accept one, or many, religion’s explanation of what happens to their soul at the end of time. While each religion has its own unique explanation for this question, they do share many similar aspects such as rebirth, judgement, …show more content…
Thus, it is possible that Muhammad, and other religion’s prophets, had an implicit understanding of the concept of Pascal’s wager, and realized that they could control and promote desired action by promising rewards to those that are faithful, and punishments to those who are not. In sum, it might be possible to assume that the development of the judgement day was not based on divine revelation, rather it was created for the sole purpose of controlling society. Thus, we can reject the idea of its