Religion and Spirituality

When you have a guy like Yuval Noah Harari who is well versed in multiple fields and who can communicate brilliantly, the books he writes are inevitably awesome. Like his recent book, Home Deus.

Among the hunter gatherers, religion, says Harari, was animist in its world view:

“They believed that there was no essential gap separating humans from other animals… People talked with animals, trees and stones, as well as fairies, demons and ghosts.”

Then came the religions of the post-agricultural era, like Christianity, by which time man was into agriculture and used cows and horses as tools:

“While animists saw humans as just another kind of animal, the Bible argues that humans are a unique creation… (In a book full of miracles) The only time an animal initiates a conversation with a human is when the serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge.”

Harari thus concludes that religions reflect the relation between man and nature at the time of foundation of the religion! The rest of nature is considered irrelevant in the post-agricultural religions, he says:

“The Bible thinks it is perfectly all right to destroy all animals as punishment for the crimes of Homo Sapiens, as if the existence of giraffes, pelicans and ladybirds has lost all purpose if humans misbehave.”

As opposed to the older religions:

“Other religions, particularly Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism, have demonstrated even greater empathy to animals.”

But even they changed the narrative as their population moved to agriculture and the use of animals as livestock, finding “ways to justify human superiority and the exploitation of animals (if not for meat, then for milk and muscle power)”.

In a different part of the book, Harari tries to define religion. He starts by citing what it is not: it is not mindless superstition or belief in supernatural powers or even a belief in gods. Rather, he says:

“Religion is anything that confers superhuman legitimacy on human social structures. It legitimizes human norms and values by arguing that they reflect superhuman laws. Religion asserts that we humans are subject to a system of moral laws that we did not invent and that we cannot change.”

By this definition, not only are Hinduism, Christianity and Judaism religions but so are Buddhism and Jainism (despite not having gods), and (hold your breath) so too are Nazism, communism and liberalism!

“Of course, each believes in a different set of natural laws discovered and revealed by different sears and prophets, from Buddha and Laozi to Hitler and Lenin.”

Spirituality, however, is a different thing altogether, says Harari:

“(Spiritual journeys) take people in mysterious ways towards unknown destinations. The quest usually begins with one big question, such as who am I? What is the meaning of life? What is good? Whereas many people just accept the readymade answers by the powers that be, spiritual seekers and not so easily satisfied. They are determined to follow the big question wherever it leads, and not just to places you know well or wish to visit.”

The key difference from religion?

“Such journeys are fundamentally different from religions, because religions seek to cement the worldly order whereas spirituality tries to escape it. Often enough, the most important demand from spiritual wanderers is to challenge the beliefs and conventions of dominant religions.”

And so:

“For religions, spirituality is a dangerous threat.”

Like I said at the top, this is just one topic in his awesome book. The others are written just as well, if not even better.