Needs FAQ

A Christian Apologist seems to think that atheism fulfils a need. This is rather like someone fulfilling a need by not playing golf. He also believes my position to be inconsistent and that my claim is somehow "unsupported". 

So what am I claiming?

Religion fulfils certain human needs, mainly emotional and spiritual. People who are not religious fulfil those needs in ways which are not religious. 

If this was true there would be specific needs identified that are fulfilled by religion, and this is indeed the case. Some philosophers refer to them as the existential needs. 

Before discussing needs, we have be clear of what is a fact and what is a claim. It is common with Religious Apologists to confuse the meanings of the words fact, evidence, argument, and so on.  The facts relevant to this discussion are:

- Every human being has needs.

- Individuals have different needs but all humans have some needs in common.

- Some people need religion, some don't.

- The brain has a whole range of complex mechanisms to deal with emotions. 


Here are some points raised in various discussions with a Christian Apologist:

1 Atheism (or to be more accurate being non-religious) demonstrates the absence of need.
1a To be precise, being non-religious demonstrates the absence of a need for religion.   It doesn't demonstrate the absence (or presence) of needs per se. Every human being has emotional and spiritual needs. Non-religious people fulfil the same needs as religious people, but in different ways that don't require religion.

1.1 But what are the needs fulfilled by religion?
1.1a These can be classified as existential needs. Here's one view 

• Security and stability
• Love, acceptance, companionship
• Meaning and purpose
• Holiness.
• Joy

For more detail click here

1.1b Here's another view which suggest 16 different needs which are fulfilled by religion, such as honour, idealism, curiosity and acceptance.

1.1c And Here is an explanation of five human needs that can be fulfilled by religion: Love; security; acceptance; identity and purpose. 

1.1d Finally, a very personal explanation from a Christian, who goes as far as to say "Christianity is the answer to the deepest needs of all humanity. I want to illustrate how God fulfils our needs by my own experiences since I became a Christian 6 years ago." He goes on to list the needs as: Love; understanding and purpose among others. Full detail here.  

1.2 What about more basic needs?
It could be argued that one might subscribe to a religion to meet more basic needs such as food and shelter, because religions have been a charitable source of such basic needs to people who can't fend for themselves.  This can be explained in the context of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, and there's an interesting explanation of Maslow's ideas in a religious context here.     

1.3 What does the Bible say about needs?
According to Philippians 4:19... 
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

2 It is true that every human being has needs. We all have different needs and we all have some needs in common. 
2.1 Agreed. Non-religious people fulfil their needs, but in ways that don't require religion.

3 A non-religious person states that "a religious person needs religion, I don't."
3.1 This is a truism. 

4 The brain has a whole range of complex mechanisms to deal with emotions. 
4.1 The brain is the source of all emotion and thought and the actual mechanisms of emotions are a very active area of current research. Emotions are a combination of cognitions, feelings and actions. Our emotions are not just feelings but also depend on how we process and respond to those feelings.  Detailed explanation here. 

5 No one ever turns to religion voluntarily if they don't need it.
5.1 I And after all why would they?  However, it could be argued that some people turn to religion for needs other than emotional or spiritual needs. 

5.2 Perhaps in a religious community a person would feel a need to go to church/synagogue/temple/mosque because in order to fit in with the community, or maybe they need join the religious community so their kid can be picked for the local sports team, and so on.   

6 Lack of belief in something does not fulfil a need.
6.1 Obviously! It's impossible to think of a single example to support the idea that lack of belief fulfils a need. 

7 People turn to religion for a variety of reasons, but always to meet a need or needs.
7.1 This is covered in 5.1

8 People who turn from religion to non-religion and/or atheism do so because they no longer need religion, or because they realise they didn't need it in the first place.
8.1 Obviously, if something fulfils a need, and then you don't feel you should use that thing, then need has gone or you've found a different way to fulfil it. 

9 One changes one's perspective because of evidence as much as "needs" 
9.1 This is not true and it's a misuse of the word "evidence". People can change perspective based on the arguments they hear (not evidence).  

9.2 If a person's perspective is changed by a weak, illogical argument and specifically if someone comes to believe something is true when it has not been validated, then they are using faith, which means they need to believe.

9.3 A non-religious example is a scientist who believes his hypothesis must be true before it is validated. He has an emotional need to believe it, he has faith in it.  And this can lead (and has led)  to some famous scientists being embarrassed when their faith was shown to be misplaced.


10 List of Human Needs

The various human needs have been identified and categorised by many psychologists. One such list comes from Maslow as shown below. It can be assumed that religion meets the needs in levels 3, 4 and 5 but it can also be argued that Religions can meet the basic safety and physiological needs by caring for the homeless, refugees, etc.

1 Biological and Physiological needs
Air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.
2 Safety needs
Protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
3 Love and belongingness needs
Friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.
4 Esteem needs
Achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others, self-esteem
5 Self-Actualisation needs 
Realising personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. morality, creativity 

An analysis of how Maslow's list can be applied to the world's religions can be found here