The Physiology of Faith by N. Fakhr - HTML preview

Military Conquest

In light of what we have discussed so far, we can see why the military conquest of a territory can provide one of the most powerful means of propagating a religion.

As we have seen, the most favorable time for instilling religious faith is when we are especially receptive to believing in the existence of a “mind” that knows our thoughts, watches over us, and has power over our lives both in this world and after death. We saw that, because the theory of mind develops during childhood, and because children place considerable trust in adults, childhood is the period in which we are particularly receptive to such beliefs.

Military conquest of a territory, followed by the suppression of earlier beliefs and gods, compulsory instruction in the new faith, and the instilling of a new God in the minds of children, can therefore be an exceptionally effective means of establishing that faith. As discussed earlier, once such a God has become firmly established in the mind, our older brain systems can inhibit critical examination of beliefs associated with that God. Largely regardless of the content of those beliefs—their logical or illogical character, or even their contradictions with other information and knowledge we possess—we may accept much of the doctrine and many of the commandments associated with that God and religion, while the brainstem and limbic system discourage us from entering a path of persistent questioning and doubt.

Military domination of a population, combined with control over its education, thus enables the conquering group to place a large body of beliefs and sacred ideas within a domain of the conquered population’s minds that becomes resistant to criticism.

In past centuries, education was almost entirely in the hands of religious schools, and even nonreligious subjects were commonly taught within those schools, interwoven with religious instruction.