# My Animal Religion Theory **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2021, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897 "2021-04-13T06:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/21 "2021-04-13T19:23:58Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > They may not have religion, but a lot of animals (well, mostly pets) have faith. Nah. When my dogs prayed for a treat, they got it. If I never gave them one except randomly, and they still prayed, then they’d have faith. Now dogs do have a god, their owner. And cats have a god, themselves. In general though, I know animals don’t have religion because animals of the same species don’t kill each other for no damn reason. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/22 "2021-04-13T19:29:50Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > And as I said, this is a new scientific theory of mine. I look forward to seeing the experiments you devise to test this theory. Absent the ability to test it in some fashion, I’m not sure why you believe it is a “scientific theory” and not “idle noodling.” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/23 "2021-04-13T21:46:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > the basic precept of all religions is that all other religions are wrong. Not true. There are and have been plenty of religions of the opinion that ‘we have our gods over here and you have your gods over there’; or of the opinion that nobody human understands the whole universe and there are multiple different valid ways of trying to. ETA: plus the ones who think everybody’s really worshipping the same gods that they are, just under different names. – Whatever it is that religion’s doing in humans, I doubt we evolved it out of nowhere, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there are similarities to various aspects of it in other species – I’d be a lot more surprised if there aren’t. I have no idea how to scientifically test for this, however. And whether those aspects would amount to something that humans call religion is another matter; we didn’t evolve language out of nowhere, either, but that doesn’t mean that other species have exactly human language, though they certainly communicate. I don’t think we can even clearly define what religion is in humans, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/24 "2021-04-13T22:18:19Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I don’t think we can even clearly define what religion is in humans, for that matter. Ayyyy-MEN, preacher! I just told a friend that I must have cabin fever: “I clicked on a discussion with the words 'MY” and “THEORY’ in the title.” _“Oh, yeah, you got cabin fever.”_ “And the word RELIGION.” _“Oh, you got it bad.”_ “Not just religion, but ANIMAL RELIGION.” _“Whaaaa…? Why would you… Oh, you need to get outside.”_ ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/25 "2021-04-13T23:10:35Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > this is a new scientific theory of mine It’s not even a scientific hypothesis . . . but since you’re being all scientific like, > [@Jim\_B](#): > > {…} Now humans get their skills, their language, their very knowledge from society. Little or none of it is inborn. No such thing is true of wild animals and insects. They’re basically born with all that they need. So is it so wild to presuppose that they are born with a kind of quasi religion already intact? This is very true of their language and moral/social code. {…} I’d like some cites that ‘wild’ animal language (whatever that even is) and moral/social code are solely inborn and in no part learned. Just to be clear, you’ve stuck yourself with a ‘no black swans exists’ position, a single black swan falsifies your hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/26 "2021-04-13T23:22:11Z")
I think, rather, that the human need for getting knowledge from our society is fundamentally tied together with our disposition towards religion. That dependence on society makes fertile ground for religion, and religion is one of the structures through which we get knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/27 "2021-04-13T23:31:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > > [@saje](#): > > > > …as much as I adore animals I do not think they have **or need** religion. > > (Bolding mine) I wrote a Black Mirror episode in my head where a priest realizes he can talk to animals, so he gets them practicing religion… and they all end up depressed. > > Ooh, and enslaving humans! Now it’s the pilot for a Netflix series. Oh please. I have had cats. Clearly I was enslaved by them. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/28 "2021-04-14T00:42:14Z")
A religion is a hypothetically plausible explanation for observed phenomena whose cause is not readily apparent. Like a train passing the pasture. First, awesome fear of an unknown power, but when the cow gets used to it, it becomes theology. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/29 "2021-04-14T01:59:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > religion is one of the structures through which we get knowledge. > [@jtur88](#): > > A religion is a hypothetically plausible explanation for observed phenomena whose cause is not readily apparent. Seems to me that what we call religion is at least three different things, serving three different functions in humans, often tangled together but sometimes found separately. One of them is an individual experience of oneness with and/or connection with the universe as a whole, or with or through specific parts of it – this primarily emotional experience can be with what seems to be everything, or with a particular mountain or tree or field or body of water etc. It doesn’t rely on any group or structure, though people who have it sometimes create them around their own experience, and some groups and structures incorporate techniques of encouraging it. Another is a sense of oneness and wholeness, similarly primarily emotional, with a community of other humans. That does require such a community, though it can be a small one. And the third is a structure for attempting to explain the universe, for passing on knowledge and/or dogma, and very often for enforcing societal laws. But I’m not sure the third on its own is religion, though religious movements do tend to increasingly incorporate it over time, and are often still considered religions even if the emotional core is gone entirely. A “hypothetically plausible explanation for observed phenomena whose cause is not readily apparent” isn’t a religion; it’s a hypothesis. That’s an equally good description of a secular hypothesis. And a ‘structure through which we get knowledge’ can be an entirely secular school, or library system, or code of human laws. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/30 "2021-04-14T07:05:40Z")
What’s the name of this train religion that cows have? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/31 "2021-04-14T11:08:39Z")
Religion is just a weakness of understanding of the world around us, to such an extent that we made up some shit to sort it into any kind of order, exert power, and dominate others. Whereas animals clearly, profoundly, and intuitively understand the world around them, and to such a degree, that they clearly have no need for religion. As for this… “ Religion clearly serves a very important psychological and social need for humans. This surely must also be the case for feral animals.” This is a swing and a miss to me, right from the jump. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/32 "2021-04-14T14:18:03Z")
Yup, nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/33 "2021-04-14T14:58:48Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Whereas animals clearly, profoundly, and intuitively understand the world around them Cows especially when it comes to reverence for trains. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/34 "2021-04-14T15:01:46Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > They may not have religion, but a lot of animals (well, mostly pets) have faith. They certainly do. > **[Hachikō](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D)** > > Hachikō (ハチ公, November 10, 1923 – March 8, 1935) was a Japanese Akita dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for over nine years following Ueno's death. > Hachikō was born on November 10, 1923, at a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture. In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University, brought him to live in Shibuya, Tokyo, as his pet. Hachikō would meet Ueno at Shibuya Station every day after his comm... ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/35 "2021-04-14T16:56:59Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > I have a number of medical and scientific theories that I have tried to share with people. Interestingly, you may be the first ones to read this one. This is not a scientific theory. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/36 "2021-04-14T18:02:26Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Absent the ability to test it in some fashion, I’m not sure why you believe it is a “scientific theory” and not “idle noodling.” > [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > This is not a scientific theory. Unless he was wearing a lab coat and holding a test tube when he suggested it. That would make it scientific. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/37 "2021-04-14T18:07:12Z")
Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-MOOOOOH!- MOOOOOOOH!!! chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/38 "2021-04-14T18:39:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Unless he was wearing a lab coat and holding a test tube when he suggested it. That would make it scientific. Or it would make him a pharmacist. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/39 "2021-04-14T18:51:04Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Or it would make him a pharmacist A farmacist? That’s a scientist who studies farm animals, right? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897/40 "2021-04-14T19:51:44Z")
> [@Enjoy\_Slurm](#): > > What’s the name of this train religion that cows have? Locomology. The central tenet is the belief that after a cow dies, it is carried by a train to a place where its body serves the needs of others. Hey wait… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-animal-religion-theory/939897.md?page=3)