Why do people still believe in Religion?

reply to post by For(Home)Country


Atheism is by default NOT a religion. Religion is a belief in a higher being guiding the masses etc. No atheist would ever admit to that.

J.

reply to post by For(Home)Country


I don't think atheism is a religion (by the literal definition) but it is definitely a belief system. If you believe there is no god and believe the universe came into being by itself (this takes more faith than I'm willing to give) then these are beliefs. There are also atheist organizations throughout the world so apparently atheism does have some of its own "dogma," so to speak. So, not necessarily a religion but certainly a belief system and personal choice that everyone is allowed to have. Of course, if this belief system if fallacious, then whatever consequences are to follow will be based on that personal choice.

[edit on 1/6/2008 by AshleyD]

Originally posted by jpm1602
Atheism is a religion in itself. The belief on no God.

Nope, I disagree.

'a·the·ism /ˈeɪθiˌɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ey-thee-iz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.
[Origin: 1580–90; < Gk áthe(os) godless + -ism] '

'Doctrine' perhaps, religion? Hardly...

J.

reply to post by AshleyD


Well, I've yet to hear of anyone burning in Hell for not believing in Zeus - and he was, after all, the most powerful god on the planet for many hundreds of years - so I think I should be ok

J.

Originally posted by jpm1602
Atheism is a religion in itself. The belief on no God.

This is totally and utterly wrong. Atheism is a set of beliefs or ideas, religion is an organization. So Atheism is a belief, not a religion. Furthermore, believing in God does not make you religious either. I have a strong belief in God, yet I refuse to practice with any mainstream religions.

To answer the original question, well there are numerous answers. I will attempt to list them.

Reasons why people still believe in religion:

1. Manipulation by leaders of religion. This is evident all over the place, from the threat of going to hell, to the assurance of martyrdom. People are being mislead on purpose, and the reasons for this are mostly to keep people within the establishment.

2. Competition. With so many religions out there, there is a great deal of competition going on among them. This is causing various organizations to go to great lengths to attract and secure followers. One example that comes to mind is the recent story of the man who claimed to be the reincarnated Jesus, and managed to gain a tremendous following in short time. He was later found to be having an affair with his wife.

3. Its been around forever! People are confused, distraught and looking for some kind of truth in a world gone crazy. Most will turn to traditional sources for spiritual information. Unfortunately the way things are people will end up going to some type of religion for answers, for the simple reason that religion has been there a long time and already has a huge number of followers.

4. Modern Conformity. In order to keep pace with rapidly changing scientific ideas such as extraterrestrials and quantum physics, religions are altering doctrine so they can appear new and updated, despite the fact that some have existed for thousands of years. Because so many people are willing to accept things at face value, they continue to buy the illusion that the church can mesh with modern scientific and philosophical ideas.

5. Lack of true caring. People are more often busy wondering about the latest Britney Spears mess up than they are thinking about religion. If more people truly took the time to reevaluate where they stand with regard to the ideas they commit to in religion, I think religion would be in big trouble.

6. Social Pressure. "If you aren't a Christian, and if you don't go to church every Sunday, and if you dont behave to the standards of the church, then you aren't invited to the music pastor's dinner party. And also we "elite" Christians are going to give you dirty looks and spread rumors about your quality of participation."....
A lot churches are like high school in that they are social contests and nothing more. I have seen this type of thinking go on inside a church.

There you have it, my top 6 reasons for why people still engage themselves with religion.

reply to post by AshleyD


So most religions do not require some type of faith?

reply to post by jimbo999


yeh I agree, but unfortunately many people don't, or rather they go through periods where they don't believe in themselves. Yeah we're not 'alone' physically, but there is a lack of total understanding and connection between two people, not to say people don't try, but noone can get inside your head and hear your thoughts. Unless you believe in a God.

I'm new here after bumping around for a week, so please bear with me.

I am surprised that no one has steered off into meme land a la Neal Stephenson and Snowcrash and Nicholas Wade's Before the Dawn.

Because if you sidestep the deist vs. non deist argument, you move into a discussion of the probability that belief in God has distinct evolutionary benefits in that it creates a motivation for following rules, and moral imperatives there by holding the societal structure together as well as providing a schema for explaining when the crap hits the fan for the individual.

Perhaps I am out of place in bringing this in, however it appears to me that this non religious/evolutionary answer may speak to the original post.

P.

Sorry about my first post. I wasn't necessarily saying that religion is a crutch for the weak, although I know I implied it. Some people use religion to help them in times of stress or hardship. Some truly believe and are not "fair weather fans" (meaning they believe when it is best for them), if you will. As for me, I do not believe in God, but I have not completely given up. Who knows? I hear all the time about people who were not religious then woke up one day and saw God. So I guess I'll just wait and see...

Because you and those of your ilk can't conclusively explain away a great many things.
Well that and some people are in fact, sheeple. Sorry to say it but it is true.
And some of them want to abuse you.
Some them want to be abused.

*breaks into song once again* (doh!)

Well enough silliness.
The simple fact of the matter is. Your a zealot. They are a zealot. And two zealots of different stripes will NEVER listen to each other and will just continue to fight and bicker and carry on. Rather than doing the only sane thing and just leave the matter alone and agree to disagree.
And PLEASE no "They did it first." BS. I am sure your mother had some well used lines against that one that applies now.

[edit on 6-1-2008 by WraothAscendant]

I think a large reason why people stay w/ religion or become religous (born again) is that it *provides an option for strength in a person's mental beleif system* P E R I O D

what you are willing to believe about your self internally can be reflected in your perceptions

believing that there is an external power guiding you takes the pressure off your self and gives many the power to get themselves the results they want in this wild and crazy world they live in. I am not religious , but this is one reason i will respect others beliefs. And to those that see this as a crutch , i would advise them they may be living in their own different glass houses w/o realizing it.

[edit on 6-1-2008 by cpdaman]

reply to post by cpdaman


But "your right" and everyone who disagrees is wrong, but that is ok.

Not agreeing just pointing out the undercurrent to your thoughts.

You can rationalise it whatever way you want in either direction.
And many have and will continue to.
I find all this fighting is simple egomasterbation, attempts to find converts to your respective causes and well to simply attempt to be right.

Yowzers!

Really go check out some stuff on mems. It is a foundational premise of evolutionary psychology ( particularly Dawkins work) that some belief systems and reality constructs are culturally viral in their transmission....

The flow of the posts in this threads totally supports that premise.



P.

reply to post by Quazga


exactly why people used to believe in a god but now we have evidence to suggest otherwise - which has a great deal more commonsense and logic.
dont say this is about religion and not god coz we wouldnt have religion with out a god/s.
already scripture classes are being taken out of schools and evolution is being brought in. hardly any of my friends even believe in god. religion isnt even a topic anymore either is church - well in australia anyway.
i dont think it will be long before religion is forgotten altogether.

i dont like religion because i herd its about control and making a person more dumb becuase u cant think outside the box ot something like that

i thjink there r alot of religions y would 1 religion be true and all the other ones rong

how do u no u have the right 1 but not anothjer religion is right

so many religions u dont no if ur 1 is right

Atheism is religious protest. It denies the existence of fairy-tale Gods and denies organized religion as a whole. Atheists believe humans are fulfilling a natural 'need' or through some weakness of our own are conjuring up Gods and fairy-tales and biblical stories to make us feel better. The reality is, that a multi-dimensional and spiritual existence has been cloaked from man through organized religion AND atheistic scientific materialism BOTH. Any form of institution is a prison, Atheism and pseudo-religious scientific dependance is the driving force behind this war on religion.

The thing that really needs to be addressed is why people allow ANY institution of thought to overcome their own free will. This includes all the people who believe science is truth and anything unknown is not 'real'. If you base your belief on any pre-conceived notion, especially when it concerns something as heavy as God and the multidimensional universe through which we experience life and death, than you're 'betting' on your own minute understanding of reality against the whole of existence. This is insanity in the religious and scientific sense: to judge what cannot be judged.

It's better to keep your cards in your hand and NOT become an extremist religion hating atheist, OR a 'bible-thumper'. We all know this at heart... but you see how easily we are provoked to 'pick a side' in the religion vs. atheist debate. There should be NO sides.

One more thing, how many people in here who believe Religion is dead etc. are free of external mind manipulation? How many of you have NOT been manipulated by your society, your government, your families etc.

EVERYONE is affected by institutional authority, and that goes for all the free-willing bohemian 'nothing matters' generation as well. They are all under the control of institution and society, they are slaves to money and have been conditioned to think a certain way since childhood. Does this make them any different from someone who was raised with religion?

How many people have been raised with religion and have ended up as bohemian 'nothing matters' as well? Plenty. Institutionalized thinking is a form of mind control on EITHER end of the coin. If a person can really think for themself they won't have the urge to attack Religion like it's some grand corporation of people. Religion is a product of philosophy and culture ; all I ever see now-a-days is people shaking their fist at religion and spirituality saying 'Go away! We don't need you anymore! We have our television and fast food and electronic air conditioned homes!'

What happens the moment you take away their societal structure, or break their own conditioned states of minds? They start to think in a religious manner, contemplating the larger forces at work in the universe, contemplating their own mortality etc. eventually, religion is just another spiritual by-product of our culture. Stop fighting it.

Fight the catholic church, if anything. Don't kid yourself that religion is the worlds most destructive force anymore. It's society as a whole.

Yea yea yea.
You think your religion that is not a religion is winning. That much is obvious.
Though there is the other faction that believes your wrong.
So this crap continues, people being people.

Check your histories though. And the spread of Christianity.
They claimed to be spreading the "truth".
They claimed to be bringing peace and sanity from the evils of so called "paganism".
There was bloodshed, of course, which was not their fault (as they saw it) and in a way it wasn't since both sides were antagonistic towards each other. And eventually passion cries out for blood.
Etc etc etc etc and so forth.
You maybe right. You may not be. The movement is obviously more important than the thought.

Ok. So your beliefs win, and once again the great wheel turns and people being people we have "the great *some theory* against *some other theory* schism" followed by fighting and killing and etc.

You know. It would be great if people stopped trying to just prove what they are predisposed to believe anyway and actually just seeked that ellusive thing the "truth".

Don't get me wrong I don't pretend to know for sure what exactly "the truth" is and I won't sit here and preach anything but people really need to take a long hard look at themselves.

I am after all just another short-lived, painfully limited, and able to be fooled mammal amongst many.

How about a little tollerance eh? And realising we are all human? You know, throw the whole cycle out the window.

Oh and well said new.

[edit on 7-1-2008 by WraothAscendant]

I believe in God, not religion. I don't think that a lot of people believe in religion but believe in God and in their faith. Religion is man made, God is not. Being religious means nothing.

Do you really think that people got together in their church and decided to fight wars? The church was adopted by the STATE so that people could be manipulated by organized religion.

When it comes to Christianity, true Christians haven't the slightest interest in War. It's actually the CATHOLIC church which is responsible. Yet you'll rarely hear anybody condemn the catholic, it's always CHRISTIANS.

Here's what I think, Christians are an easy target for non-thinkers. They believe because the media has demonized Islam and because the conservative right christian voters were duped by George Bush that ALL RELIGION is some grand tool and opressor of the people.

Give it up. You're getting worked up at the wrong institution. It is the state which adopts and manipulates religions, and spits out all these 'wars' you people babble about.

Was World War 2 a religious war? Was Vietnam a religious war? You people are obsessed with the idea that Christianity is the cause of all war The truth is, Chinese government rounded up and murdered millions of it's own peasant farmers without a DROP of religious indignation.

So... the logic in all this Christian-hating religion-is-death nonsense is FALLACY. It is the institutionalized, government run wars that are to blame, the religious institutions are just one facet. People who are truly spiritual or believe in a God don't believe in the authority of government.... sadly, I can't find as many religious people with this mentality as they've been brainwashed by the same society as atheists. They both believe they are 'in the know' on reality and are thinking for themselves. To the 'bible-thumpers', the enemy is the devil, to atheists, the enemy is religion, BOTH parties are being manipulated and having their lives run by society and the government.

Keeping that in mind, this whole 'us vs. them' mentality concerning religion is ridiculous. Religious people are not rounding you up and murdering you by the millions, it's the government. Atheists have got to stop thinking they are some bastion for critical thinking if they're only going to target organized religion. Both religiously complacent people and atheists alike need to wake up and realize that the BEAST has been feeding on them in the form of GOVERN-MENT which literally means, to GOVERN the MIND. Mind control.

[edit on 7-1-2008 by NewWorldOver]