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Key points
- Severe tragedies often strengthen survivors' faith in God, as evidenced by some people's responses to recent tragedies.
- Renewed faith in a higher power in the face of suffering may be related to humans' evolved reliance on one another for survival.
- Humans' early experiences of helplessness require them to depend on others for care, potentially creating a psychological need to look for a "parent figure" in a crisis.
According to both Gallup and Pew surveys, at least 80 percent of Americans believe in God, or a “higher power/spiritual force.” And while a handful of societies around the world have a majority of atheist or agnostic populations—such as Estonia, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and Scotland—the fact remains that most people around the world believe in God or in gods (as is the case of polytheistic societies, such as India).
Such religious faith in an omnipotent deity (or deities) is so common and widespread that it hardly merits much speculative theorizing. But three things happened this week that compelled me to look at—in renewed focus—the deep psychological underpinnings of many people's religious faith.
First, there was the mass shooting at a store in Colorado, in which ten people were killed, including a police officer who was the father of seven children. In the immediate aftermath of the slaughter, two survivors, Neven and Qinlyn Sloan, both Christians, appeared to interpret the tragedy as evidence of God’s supreme power. As they explained to CBS News, “Even though this evil thing has happened, Satan hasn’t won… Jesus has won. And God has won. I think this is even proof of it, like, how beautiful these mountains are right now…”
Second, there was a tornado in Alabama, which killed at least five people, and destroyed the homes of many others—including the home of Dean Cook, whose roof was torn off by the storm. However, despite such natural destruction, a large crucifix that she had erected in her backyard remained unharmed. For Cook, this appeared to be clear evidence of God’s goodness and might. As she explained to CNN, “It’s just God… It's still there and my cross is still there because God was with all these people, and us.”
Third, there was more ongoing death as a result of COVID-19. This past week, over 1,800 Americans died from the virus, bringing the total number of Americans who have died from COVID up to over 530,000—not to mention the additional millions of people who have died from the disease in other countries. One survivor who recently beat the virus is Ryan Ragaza-Bourassa, of Spokane, Washington. Although he was in coma for two weeks, was on a ventilator for twenty days, and was in the hospital for a month, he is now well. For Ryan, this is evidence of God’s love. “I am so blessed,” he said on a podcast called Q6 Extra. “I just thank God that he gave me a second chance.”
What all of the above incidences have in common is this: tragedy occurred which involved pain, death, and suffering. All were tragedies that could, in theory, have been prevented by an all-powerful deity who is thought to be in control of everything. But they weren’t. But rather than see the devastation, suffering, and untimely deaths as cause to doubt the existence of an omnipotent god, many people see their fate as evidence of a god’s might, power, and love.
How do we explain this?
Human beings have a deep, innate, almost instinctual need for love and protection—and if they don’t get it, they may invent it. Even in the face of tragedy—or perhaps especially in the face of tragedy—this deep-rooted need for comfort and security often manifests itself in belief in God. If love, comfort, security, and protection are not to be adequately found from other people or from the world at large, individuals may imagine that they are getting them from something supernatural.
Humans' evolved nature is key here. The most basic, primary story of humanity is that every person alive was helpless upon birth, totally dependent on another human for their survival. Unlike other animals—even our closest primate relatives—human babies are completely helpless as infants, and cannot physically fend for themselves for at least two years after they are born. If human babies are not tended to, they die.
Thus, we start our very lives with a deep, desperate need for protection and love. It is perhaps the most fundamental, visceral emotional need we have when we are little, and it never fully fades. As we get older, and we experience fear, pain, and suffering, we cope as best we can—and that means, for many people, we imagine that there is a loving, all-powerful parent-like deity who always has our back, even in the midst of pandemics, tornadoes, and AR-15s.
This theory was most clearly put forth by Sigmund Freud, in his book The Future of an Illusion. Religion, Freud wrote, was “born from man’s need to make his helplessness tolerable” and the very idea of God was “built up from the material memories of the helpless of his own childhood.”
This deep need in humans for a parent-like being who loves and protects us—a need which many fulfill by creating a deity or deities to believe in—may not be the only reason most people are religious. There are social and cultural factors at play, to be sure.
And, of course, maybe there is an omnipotent deity out there. But barring verifiable evidence for such a possibility, “the last word about religion,” wrote the sociologist and religion scholar Peter Berger, “is Freud’s.”
