Is religion more natural to us than marriage?

[Harriet Pilkington]

The need to believe in gods has been hardwired into our brains as a result of an evolutionary mis-firing. Probably the one which compels young children to trust their protectors 100% to further their chances of survival.

But ,, marriage? totally unnatural . Man has evolved to spread his seed around with many different partners for the same reasons as above. ( except for my husband Boris of course )

the union of marriage is totally unnatural and this is why the majority of them fail.

Blame your 'gods' you religious lot if you don't like this, after all , you claim he made us.

[Misty]

That is ridiculous, it's all about brainwashing.

[sandra]

Yeah - like there's anything natural about marriage. Or religions.

[Fireball]

FOR SOME OF US YES....HOW SAD THE FIRST GIRL FEELS THAT WAY...MY PARENTS LOVED US AND TAUGHT US ABOUT GOD...AND NOW I AM SAVED..we are all born with spiritual thirst...some FIND GOD...AND SOME FOOLISHLY SEEK THE DEVIL..

[darwinsfriend3 AM]

They are very similar.
Religion has the fear of a god, marriage has the fear of a mother-in-law

[nostradamus02012]

if you look at how people behave, i don't think either is particularly important to most people.

consider this:

about half of all first marriages in the usa end in divorce.
how much can you care about something when 50%of hte people swearing this holy oath, just break it three years later?

and most religions are based on the ancient 'sun god' religions - certainly christianity is.
if so, please explain the vastly polluted state of our planet. if we idolize the sun and the planet it warms and protects, how did it ever get to the horrible state it's in?

you might want to substitute money for both of those things in order to find something most people care about...

[Chandvr49]

Remember when one of the New Testament authors said he wanted to present the church to Christ as a virgin? Probably means she would have to be single.
http://biblehub.com/revelation/12-16.htm

Also got a question about the first Pope (Peter). In the New Testament the Jews directed the new church to "abstain from food offered to idols" and I'm wondering which idol they were referring to. haha

[witness of jesus]

i think religion is unnatural to mankind, even if there are false teachers like Matthew Alpert that says mankind has a god part of the brain where we all have created a God in our brain to comfort our anxieties with death.
i think religion is unnatural the beast animal parts of mankind because the animal parts of us are enemies of God in the natural sense.

however, i think, God has hard wired our minds to desire to believe in religion. and it is known to the educated that satan has always attempted to steal religion from the true religion of God which has always existed since before the creation of the earth. it is said that men will invent a god if one were left alone, they would worship the earth. so more correctly it is natural to worship falsely. not in truth.
another thing that is not natural is to follow evil men. men must be subjected to terror and force to follow wicked men in fear.
with God it is not natural to follow him in fear, but with knowledge we find fear in God becaue of belief and teachings of doctrines, but fear in God brings us to obedience and then to love and understanding.
something like that.

[kyle]

Yes, monogamy is absolutely a cultural, social construction. Is is not inherently biological. We intentionally structure our relationships around monogamy, despite our obvious opposition to it as human nature drives us. Cultural socialization through media, "the family unit," and "normal sexual expression" drives us to believe we want monogamy, but historical and contemporary relationships tell us that monogamy is not ideal for humans. We aim to be life-long pairs, but we fall short most of the time.

[The White Queen]

"The need to believe in gods has been hardwired into our brains"

It's not actually a need to believe in (a) god(s). It's actually our inquisitive nature and eternal desire for answers, even to things we cannot explain. Spirituality (and eventually religion) was a means of giving fulfillment in life (by granting answers to why we are here, how we should live and where we are going) and meaning to otherwise unknown phenoma. Sadly though, this also led to organized forms of spirituality (which we now know as the world religions) and many wars and killings in the name of "God."

"the union of marriage is totally unnatural and this is why the majority of them fail."

In that, I agree. Many pagan cultures never even practiced longstanding monogamous relationships. If you then also hail the ability of men to impregnate multiple women with ease and the male need for "hunting" partners, practicing monogamy would actually be a willing neglection of our otherwise exceptional reproductive capabilities and nature. Not that the world desperately needs more people though. And even though I agree it's unnatural in its essence, this does not mean I have anything against monogamous pairing and do myself engage in monogamous relationships.