The appeal of ritual

It is hard to deny the appeal of rituals. They are an integral part of worship practices of many religions. The longer we participate in a particular set of rituals, the more comfort and strength we seem to derive from them. Athletes often develop personal rituals before a big game that they believe enhances their performance while breaking the ritual risks disaster on the field.

It turns out that our response to rituals is very much a part of our cognitive plumbing, so to speak. A series of studies by University of Texas psychologists delve into how we perceive rituals.

Rituals pose a cognitive paradox: although widely used to treat problems, rituals are causally opaque (i.e., they lack a causal explanation for their effects). How is the efficacy of ritual action evaluated in the absence of causal information? To examine this question using ecologically valid content, three studies (N = 162) were conducted in Brazil, a cultural context in which rituals called simpatias are used to treat a great variety of problems ranging from asthma to infidelity. Using content from existing simpatias, experimental simpatias were designed to manipulate the kinds of information that influences perceptions of efficacy. A fourth study (N = 68) with identical stimuli was conducted with a US sample to assess the generalizability of the findings across two different cultural contexts. The results provide evidence that information reflecting intuitive causal principles (i.e., repetition of procedures, number of procedural steps) and transcendental influence (i.e., presence of religious icons) affects how people evaluate ritual efficacy.

What is intriguing about this research is that it shows a clear cognitive bias for rituals that have many steps and are repeated regularly over a long period of time. The researchers also found that rituals performed in a religious context with icons enhance feelings of meaning and efficacy.

I am sure our agnostic or atheist friends will gladly lump all ritualist practices together as superstitious behavior. However, these rituals serve far more complex purposes than some false sense of controlling the world. It is more about meaning, but discussing liturgy with people antagonistic to faith is difficult, to say the very least.

This study gives me a better appreciation of why people have such strong feelings of affinity for the liturgical practices they have grown up with or practiced for many years. Any change in the rituals is likely to produce discomfort and even disorientation, particularly for complex practices repeated frequently over time.

The importance of rituals to religious observance makes sense in light of the research. Since the presence of God defies our five senses, rituals performed in the context of icons helps foster a sense of personal connection to the sacred. Sharing rituals with others also creates a bond and sense of community.

One problem with liturgical rituals is that we are prone to feel that ours are superior to those practiced by others. The impulse is understandable. If we find something meaningful and emotionally gratifying, then people who do not follow the exact same practices must be doing it incorrectly. Even if our core beliefs are essentially the same, the temptation to engage in tribal identification based on practice is considerable.

The scriptures provide potent warnings about the relative importance of ritual. Rituals are accorded much less value than treatment of others and mindfulness of God in Hosea 6:6:

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Jesus picks up those same themes. He rebukes the Pharisees for questioning why He is socializing with outcasts in Matthew 9:13:

But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus uses the same words to rebuke the Pharisees for condemning the disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath in Matthew 12:1-7. And in response to religious teacher that asks Jesus about the most important commandments in Mark 12:28-33, He closes with a contrast with ritual.

To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

Christ did not dismiss rituals and there is no denying the psychological rewards that can come from their practice. The moral of the story, however, is that it is our common bond in Christ that carries more weight than any differences in our liturgy and practice. Rituals are good, but loving God and each other are far more important.