Is Religion Like A Drug Addiction?

Picture by ParentingPatch via Wikimedia Commons.

There are a number of comparisons that can be made between religious belief and chemical drug addiction.

1. Religion and drugs can both spread as a result of individuals communicating their apparent benefits and demonstrating euphoria. This stokes the curiosity of potential converts.
2. Religion and drug use can both combat depression. In particular, religion promises an afterlife, a purpose for being, a loving supernatural friend, and many other comforting beliefs. Grief, uncertainty, anxiety, and depression may all be superficially alleviated by religion.
3. The end result is that both can result in euphoria for the believer or user.
4. Drugs require repeated doses to maintain their effect. Religion requires repeated reminders of the benefits of being a believer, and repeated visits to Church.
5. Both can lead to significant character changes in converted or addicted individuals.
6. Both lead to decreased responses to stimuli. The drug user is physically numbed, while the religious believer often leads an ascetic and abstinent existence, resulting in decreased arousal for stimulating imagery.
7. The decision-making capacity and brain chemistry of addicts is tuned towards fueling the addiction. Similarly, for religious individuals, God becomes a central part of their lives, and is the answer to all that is uncertain. If God is always the answer, the individual must keep learning about him, thus fueling their religious addiction.
8. Withdrawal is difficult in both cases.
9. Over-use can lead to injury or death. Religious martyrs destroy themselves entirely, while missionaries put themselves in great danger to spread their religion.
10. Addiction is passed from parent to child. For chemical drugs, the effect is physical. For children of religious parents, the dependence is psychological.
11. Both drug use and religious worship involve the release of dopamine into the brain to reinforce the behavior.
12. Some people are more susceptible to drug addiction. In the same way, science is finding that the presence of specific genetic markers makes some people more susceptible to religion.
13. Some people respond differently to drugs. Alcohol can make some people tired, while others become aggressive. In the same way, some religious believers are pacifistic, while others turn to violence.
14. Some drugs are more potent than others. It appears that some religions are more potent too. Christianity and Islam spread and supplant other, less attractive, religions.

Though religious belief would have to be a psychological addiction; the causes, usage, and effects are strikingly similar to physical addictions that can arise from the intake of chemical drugs. The details of this relationship should be an interesting topic for future research.