Explaining Religious Belief, Part One

If someone is an atheist, then he or she owes us an explanation about why nearly everyone who has ever lived has held to some kind of religious belief. There are, of course, several such attempts (five, as I count them) that I will review one by one.

My interest in this issue was renewed recently when I heard about an interesting scientific study attempting to explain the human tendency for religious belief as an effect of natural selection. I will get more into this issue in a few weeks. Obviously, such a claim would be significant for the religious believer; however, if true, it would also pose problems for those who want to explain away religious belief as somehow disingenuous. I will begin next week by addressing the attempt to explain religious belief as a desire for comfort.