Religion and the decline of magic

"History's back in fashion", according to the FT. It is hard to see this as anything other than a good thing, unless of course, in trying to avoid perceived mistakes in the past, we make even worse mistakes in the present..... I have been giving this line of thought some consideration when I read statements criticising 1930s-style protectionism or advising that we must avoid the Japanese problems of the 1990s, as it seems to me that we can never know what the consequences would have been of an alternative course of action. Maybe, just maybe, the actions of our forebears spared us a worse fate. In conversation yesterday evening, an eminent investment professional remarked to me that history is the best laboratory for economics. In my view, it is certainly more robust than the curves and assumptions which riddle economic theory, but we should also recognise its limitations in such a rapidly changing world.

Following the brilliantly-written history of the British abolitionist movement - Bury the Chains - by Adam Hochschild, I have now finished reading a more demanding but no less interesting work: Religion and the Decline of Magic, by Sir Keith Thomas (pictured above). This work is a fascinating study of social change in 16th and 17th century England. Its central thesis is that popular belief in superstitition and magic (and ultimately religious belief) will gradually be eroded as scientific advancement provides explanations for natural phenomena.

At first, I began to think about this thesis in the context of East Africa - where belief in both religion and magic remain strong. Indeed, one of the least attractive features of life in East Africa is the extent to which unscrupulous people exploit widespread beliefs in religion and magic. Barely a day goes by without a quack pastor forming a new church offering heady homespun mixtures of salvation and forgiveness, all in exchange for the payment of lavish donations which, more often than not, are diverted into the pastor's pockets. These shameful deceits, however, pale into insignificance in comparison to the creation of myths supporting so-called "traditional medicine". These myths have recently given rise to the following reported abuses: the widespread murder of albinos in Tanzania, in the belief that albino body parts can cure certain diseases; the discovery, in Uganda, of children's heads in the foundations of new buildings, apparently in the belief that this will bring good luck to the owners; the frequent sexual abuse of young girls by HIV+ men across East and Southern Africa, in the belief that sexual intercourse with virgins is a cure for Aids. In today's world, where almost everything has a scientific explanation, how can such vile beliefs exist?

But is East Africa actually any different from anywhere else? It is widely reported that in the USA there is a significant minority who deny the theory of evolution. In China, there is a huge market for animal body parts as medicine. Astrology is popular everywhere. Homeopathy, crystals and the occult have countless aficionados. Global youth is addicted to fantasy entertainment. Far from rejecting magic and superstition, the human race seems to have embraced it even more closely in recent years.

The great anthropologist, Malinowski, observed that “...magic is dominant when control of the environment is weak” and this seems to represent the best explanation for its enduring power. We live in a world where most of us are unable to understand the technology around us. Modern science itself is magical: the astonishing advances in medicine, the ever-increasing power of the semi-conductor, genetic modification, the capacity of modern weaponry, the incalculable power within the atom - all of these lie far beyond our understanding and our control. Society is magical: achievement and wealth often appear to have little connection to effort, hard work and ability. Finance is magical: all the collective brains of regulators, of auditors and of bankers themselves were unable to understand the risks presented by ever-more-complex packages of financial derivatives.

In such an environment, is it really any wonder that people retreat towards superstition and magic? As Keith Thomas concludes - “If magic is to be defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it.”

Perhaps this is history's fundamental truth: that despite all our scientific advances, we are destined to repeat our mistakes, time and again.