admice

I don't know where to put this. I'm sorry. Am looking for some good articles about the purpose religion used to serve; why people need(ed) religion and. Am thinking of writing one and maybe how we can meet those needs in modern society. Don't want to overlap. Any recommendations?

monkey mind

I have an essay here that I really liked. I don't think it is 100% relevant to what you are seeking, but I think it is somewhat relevant. It is an essay about religion and science. In this chapter which I am going to post the link to, the author explains his views on why religion started and what purpose it serves (in comparison to science). Anyways, I really enjoyed this essay, and I hope you find it useful.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/budscience/bfs-02.htm

Psycho Economist

You said articles not books, but I have to recommend Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer. He's an anthropologist that uses the techniques of linguistics and cognitive psychology to try and glean what primitive peoples mean when they say and do what they do with respect to their cultures. The outside research he pulls together includes western cultures.

He covers all the psychological hows and postulates evolutionary whys of religious belief.

lisarea

Here's a Google Answers question on the topic, including a few links to relevant articles and sparkling commentary by the researcher:

Why do humans worship?

never been there

I followed that link around a bit, and it led to discussions of psychological research. I read that (no, it's not news) that neurologists figure out what parts of the brain do which task by studying people whose brains have been damaged. Damage to part X makes a person unable to speak, therefore it could be the speech centre. Damage to Y makes a person blind, it must have something to do with sight.

But the cases mentioned all concerned people becoming MORE religious as a result of brain damage, not less. It's not the 'religion' centre in the brain, it's the 'atheism' centre that's been damaged.

As for the comments in a related thread about people experiencing transcendence follwing certain stimuli, it can't be thought to prove anything unless you found someone who's never been exposed to any religious idea whatsoever, and I don't think such a person could be found even in North Korea.

never been there

Hey admice, sorry for contributing to the drift away from your question. I don't have any references for you, but I could suggest:

a search on "sympathetic magic" i.e. painting pictures of a successful hunt on cave walls in hopes that life will imitate art.

the fairly early link between religion and astronomy - predicting the date of the flooding of the Nile etc. I imagine the priests, being less concerned with the grunt work, had time to work out the calendar and this was of great benefit to an early agricultural civilization. Our common calendar was instituted by a pope, and the Eastern Orthodox still use their old calendar as a way of expressing their religious difference.

and there's the 'opiate of the masses' theory.

lisarea

Well, I don't think this can really correlate exactly. Certain brain functions, such as speech, visual recognition, and so forth, roughly correspond to different areas of the brain, but I wouldn't go so far as to assume that religion follows this pattern. I think it's at least a slightly higher function than that.

chekmate

I got myself a book for christmas called Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.

I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but it looks good, and you may want to check it out...

admice

Thank you all for the links and I will check them out. I was primarily looking for sociological, cultural and social psychological reasons if you know of any articles from those disciplines, but thanks again.

admice

Both the Buddhism article and the God Won't Go Away book look good. Lemme know how you like that book Checkmate, after you've read it. I put it in my Amazon cart, but I'm so behind on my reading list (at home, not on the web) it may take me a year or 2 to get to it.
Thanks again