A Wrong View about Emergence of Religion
Some materialists who fail to recognize monotheistic worldview that is based on the intellect and Fitrat (nature) say the root of faith in God is fear. They argue that just as a baby needs a refuge named parents, people have made a refuge named god for themselves because they have limited power and capabilities and face many dangers and threats.
They say early humans who were exposed to dangers and calamities such as earthquakes, floods, thunder, etc, imagined a delusional refuge for themselves. Therefore, they say, the origin of faith in God is fear.
In response to their view, it should be noted that if the root of faith in God is fear, then the more fearful one is, the more faithful he should be. In other words, wherever there is a lot of fear, there should be a lot of faith. Moreover, if fear is the cause of faith, those who are brace should have no faith. But these are not the case.
Here a question may rise: If the origin of faith in God is not fear, why is it that man turns his attention to God whenever he is afraid of something, for example before undergoing surgery or when his car is overturning.
The answer is this: Yes, it is true that when in fear, man’s mind turns to God, but this does not mean that the root of faith is fear. We seek water when we are thirsty but that does not mean that water is something made up by our imagination. Water is a real thing and our thirst leads us to it.
Man’s intellect sees signs in this world that leads him to conclude that God exists. For example, he reasons that he has not created himself. So there should be one who has created him. In this reasoning, he has not fear and panic. What leads him toward God is his intellect and reasoning.
