Religion as an Ego-modulator
&gt; In other words, the hallmark of a religious mind is a smaller ego.<p>Is it?<p>In Jesus&#x27;s teachings, the ones who were most egotistical were the scribes and pharisees. While the one with arguably the smallest ego was the good Samaritan. There&#x27;s no real evidence that religious people (even by religious teachings) are immune to the issues of selfish, self-centered thinking.<p>-------<p>I say ego is independent. Religion doesn&#x27;t affect it really. An ego-centric individual could be drawn into Religion for selfish reasons (ex: purely for the hope to get into Heaven without thinking about others), for example. There are certainly teachings within the religion about society and working together, etc. etc. But I don&#x27;t think people necessarily follow those unless they were already predisposed into thinking about other people.<p>I would argue that any religious scholar (at least, of Christianity), would point out that the Bible has numerous examples and stories to remind us that &quot;Religionism isn&#x27;t good by itself&quot;. There are plenty of priests and holy people throughout the ages who have failed to live up to the ideals of the religion.<p>Ex: Moses&#x27;s brother Aaron worshiped the golden calf with the rest of the Isrealites. Jesus was betrayed by an Apostle named Judas. The scribes &#x2F; pharisees were some of the hardest set against Jesus, forcing Jesus to preach to non-believers (ie: Gentiles)