Sever, Z. 2006. Reclassifying Mankind as Homo religioso. The Zoological Society of Israel, 43th Conference, Abstracts, p.65.

1. Sever, Z. 2006. Reclassifying Mankind as Homo religioso. The Zoological Society of Israel, 43th
Conference, Abstracts, p.65.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reclassifying Mankind as Homo religioso
Zvi Sever, Department of Science and Arts, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, USA
SEV@NETVISION.NET.IL
In this article, I propose that the scientific name for humans does not fully express our uniqueness and
thus, it is recommended to change our taxonomy.
The biological scientific community made an error when, some two hundred and fifty years ago, they
declared that the scientific name for mankind would be Homo sapiens (Linnaeus, 1758), that is, the
“intelligent/wise one”. This is not to say that humans are unintelligent, but in actuality we are not so
different from many other animals in essence, but "only" in quality and quantity.
When assigning a scientific name to a species, it is desirable to focus on one “distinguishing factor,” -
that unique characteristic that clearly differentiates it from all others. Therefore, if one wants to single
out what separates mankind from other species of animals, the "distinguishing factor" is religion - that
is, the urge to believe and the ability to channel this impulse in various ways of religious thinking and
practice.
Therefore the scientific classification for human beings is worthy of the name Homo religioso.
The concept of religioso spans the entire gamut between religion and faith. I want to emphasize that
with the development of monotheistic religions, various groups began to mediate between man and his
deity, and transformed belief into a deception, which sometimes causes discomfort and sometimes
kindles love of religion and hatred of the religious.
I want to posit a hypothesis. Let us suppose that the basket in which baby Moses floated had not been
drawn from the water but had been carried along with the currents of the flowing Nile River and arrived
at the Mediterranean. From there, the basket could have been swept to the ocean and pulled along by
storms and tides until it landed on the shores of a green island. There baby Moses would find food and
reach maturity, as a man who is robust in body and mind. Later we discover that this man is a believer,
a religious person. He may have been an idol worshiper praying to trees and stones and trusting in the
spirits of heaven, and he may have built a place with a special altar where he communed with one god.
Since then, the urge to believe in a supreme power is probably innate and will therefore be found in
every newborn infant, even if he or she does not grow up among other people.
Accordingly, I suggest that we reclassify the taxonomy of mankind as: Homo religioso, - the believer, the
religious person - because it is this uniqueness that differentiates us from all other creatures and indeed,
wherever we explore here and there in the land of God we can find devout tribes. This is true whether it
be idolatrous tribes in the South American forests, pagan groups in Papua, New Guinea, or devout
Muslims in Pakistan, Confucian believers in China, Christians in the United States, or Jews in Ethiopia.