Does Religion Influence Epidemics?

sciencehabit writes "Whether or not they believe in God, evolutionary biologists may need to pay closer mind to religion. That's because religious beliefs can shape key behaviors in ways that evolutionary theory would not predict, particularly when it comes to dealing with disease. According to a new study, some of today's major religions emerged at the same time as widespread infectious diseases, and the two may have helped shape one another. The same dynamics may be reflected today in how people in Malawi deal with the AIDS epidemic."

Comments

Re:Translation: Religion is born ....

[sortius_nod]

They really are. Religion is based on irrational answers to rational problems.

EG:

Where do earthquakes come from?

Religion: GOD!
Science: Tectonic movement

Pretty easy to see how mutually exclusive they are.

Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ?

[Coriolis]

Hitler was not an atheist. He himself may not have known what he really believed, but he wasn't an atheist. This is one of those things people should stop casually repeating :)

You also skirt round a key point: yes, religion is used to justify appalling acts, but as far as I know atheism never has been. Not once. No-one has ever said "We must kill these people because they believe in a god". Religion is harmful because it can be used in this way. It can be used as a propaganda tool in a way non-belief cannot. When a dictator says "These people are against God and must die"', there are people listening and nodding their heads in agreement. Enough people genuinely believe that such rationalisations are valid that it enables mass campaigns of murder and terror.