Why do people believe in religion?

by sinis 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  sinis

  I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this. For example why do so many believe in the bible when ample proof exists that negats its validaty? Why not believe in Zeus or Jupitor, etc. as those stories have just as much merit as the Jewish mythology books (aka Bible)? I wonder, if its because of want or some subconscience need to be needed or think we are the "center of the universe" and god (whoever that may be) exists. How about the notion that some alien race dumped us on this planet, inhabited by humanoids, and these aliens were considered gods by the people of this planet? Sound wacky? Well so does the creation stories and ad infinitum laws and regs, rules, etc. in other religions.

  Basically what I am trying to get at, is once religion does not haunt the rooms of your mind there are so many other plausible notions as to how we got here, and the possibility that nothing exists after death. To me, religion is nothing more than a secondary means to control people, with the prime controlling entity being government, in whatever shape it takes. The two have been melded, and though seperate in some ways, actually work in unison.

  I realize that religion in some ways was used by ancient man to try and describe where we came from, why we are in the position we are in today, and where we go after death. But why in an educated society do we still lean upon the ignorance of societies that have disappeared milleniums ago?

  The only "religion" I cannot really criticize would have to be the inner spiritual religions such Confucian philosophy, etc. At least these look towards the inner person to make a difference and don't throw all there eggs in one basket or effectively turn to an external locus of control as so many do in christian or muslim, etc. beliefs.
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  under_believer

  People believe in religion because they don't want to believe that our consciousness ends when we die.
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  sinis

  My only gripe with that is that people put off things now and figure they will do it later when in paradise or heaven, etc. Why base your WHOLE LIFE'S DREAMS AND EVENTS on something non tangible? What if in the end, there is nothing, no god, no heaven, no after life, no nothing? I guess it won't make a difference as the person won't realize they wasted there whole life in believing nonsense.

  Getting back to religion... I cannot understand why people don't see it as a tool of government and aristocrats, a means to control thoughts and events, right or wrong. I look back and wish I had not pissed away so many years as a JW, if I only knew then what I know now. Yet, I'm still breathing and can still pursue my goals, etc. with no need to fear some entity if I make mistakes in the process.

  With society becoming more polarized lately as regards to religion, it makes me want to puke. I feel like screaming out that we are acting insane and that its the a redux of the 11th century crusades. That we SHOULD have worked passed our tribal rituals and kicked religion to the curb. Instead history repeats itself. Very sad.
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  SPAZnik

  Because their parents beat it into them and their community pounces on any stray thought.
  
  "God" is everything we can't articulate that is good and on our side.
  "Evil" is everything we can't articulate that is bad and not submitting to us or making life easy for us.
  
  Because they are shamed, punished, denounced, abused for existing, moving, breathing, every move they make, by everyone around them from birth and so they figure the only love they gonna get is from their imaginary friend in the sky. Delusion is a survival trick. Society supports religion cause it keeps people in line. I think when the tv came on the scene rendering people mindless fools right in their own homes without even having to go to church, religion had it's first real competitor. I wonder how many churches are on-line now?
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  PEC

  I have always said, that people believe in religion, because they can't handle the fact, that what we have here is all the is. The only way to be remembered, is to accomplish something, to better humanity, during your brief time on this earth. It is much easier to believe in God, than to know that when you are gone, in 20 years no one will ever know you were ever here.

  Philip
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  sinis

  I have always said that, people believe in religion because, they can't handle the fact, that what we have here is all the is. The only way to be remembered, is to accomplish something, to better humanity, during your brief time on this earth. It is much easier to believe in God, than to know that when you are gone, in 20 years no one will ever know you were ever here.

  Philip

  That actually makes a lot of sense. The sad thing is, no matter if YOU are remembered or not, you should still pursue your goals and reach out for what life offers you. Instead many religio's sit back and say I'll get to it in the next life, all the while life passes them by. I know the JW's are big into this. Why do anything now when I can do it in paradise? As a society, religion has really destroyed the full potential of its citizens by giving them a "tomorrow attitude". Think about the advances in stem cell research, yet religion has been used an opposing force. I wish people would wake from the haze...
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  JamesThomas

  If the eye can not see reality, it sees fallacy.

  j
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  Lumptard

  People beleive what they want to beleive...If everyone beleived what facts indicated, then McDonalds would be out of business and George Bush wouldn't have been elected in the first place.
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  found-my-way

  Sometimes, it's just a human emotional response

  some people need to have something bigger than they are to believe in, their life is probably very difficult, they are struggling....prayer to a powerful being brings them hope, comfort.

  It's like a security blanket, the blanket itself holds no special power, but to the owner, it posseses the power to soothe and to comfort when scared and feeling alone.

  There are also those who do not want to think for themselves, they are content to let others do the thinking for them, to tell what morality is, to tell them what their future holds, and they are content to just let the world go by why they wait to die and get their reward for being faithful.

  Some like being associated with a group of people, like in a club, where they feel companionship, togetherness, a common ground, oneness, etc.

  No offence to any religious ones here.

  Not saying this applies to all religious people, but to some.

  that's my take on it anyways.
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  BFD

  I think it's generational mass hysteria, no offense.

  BFD