Religion: why do people believe in God?

Magic is the use of supposed supernatural power to make impossible things happen. When a phenomena is understood and proved, it is no longer magic. Most of the major religions believe in magic. When the human race was young, we all believed in magic. When we were young, we believed in magic. Humanity is no longer young. We no longer believe in magic. It is sad and often painful to lose the magic of youth. However, for Neghie, who is looking for something bigger than herself to believe in: humanity evolved to fill the role of the caretakers of the Earth. Our purpose is to be the thinking animal who can react to changes that would destroy the living things that we share this planet with. We are here to protect them and to create our own utopia, our own heaven. If you are interested, email me at ludocarino@gmail.com and I can email you some of the things I have been reading on the web.

regardless what faith one has (due to humans emotion and bias) it will teach to ridicule anothers faith, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, even whether you have he rights to live (transplant patients) wars are fought over whose god/ala is the higher being, spirituality and religion are 2 separate things but they boil down to consisting of carbon based lifeforms who have a responsibility to this planet and all lifeforms on it, in time of need, sadness, despair, loneliness ones faith brings light, hope, strength if these teachings do not emphasize love, no bias, responsibilities, empathy then what is the point behind them, we are a diverse race surely diversity in faith can be accepted.

It is ludicrous that we, as humans, think we can explain ourselves. We didn't create ourselves, we can't make life, we can only cultivate it. Religion is a discipline designed to procreate. It has saved families, relationships and lives. We only circulate the stories of the bad it has caused.

Scientific explanation is fictional, they can't even decide if milk and coffee are good or bad for us and it has been around longer than humans.

...and on the 8th day, man created god!

"​Soone​r or later​ you just figur​e out there​ are some guys who don'​t belie​ve in God and they can prove​ He doesn't exist​,​ and some other​ guys who do belie​ve in God and they can prove​ He does exist​,​ and the argument stopped being​ about​ God a long time ago and now it's about​ who is smarter."

- Donald Miller

God is alive and well! Religion is more of a faith for me and the faith I chose to follow is Christianity. I'm a Christian because I've seen the power for myself. I was not "brain washed" into becoming a Christian, I became a Christian by personal chose! I'm an individual that questions everything and Christianity has answered my questions! God wants you to follow Him by your freewill not by force!

because most of us don't have faith in ourselves.

Because the alternative to no God is this:

Complete realization that we are nothing more than living, breathing, decaying, defecating, pieces of meat who no matter what we do in our lives end up in the ground and no more meaningful than the worms that feast on our remains.

Our entire social system is based on the fact that we need to avoid that fact at all costs. We seek something that will live beyond us; be it children, a work of art, country, and a religion.

I love Ernest Becker.

god is dead

what religion is doesn't really matter here. everyone should stop trying to define religion. the point is that people are brought up to believe in these religions in most cases and i feel sorry for them. they grow up feeling such frustration with god sometimes, other times wondering if he is even there.

If there were not a God there would be a need to invent one.

simple.

ignorant humans create religions to explain what they
cannot explain themselves.

that is why many religions have a god for every force
of nature and everything that cannot be explained by
the simple-minded human.

god of this, god of that, blah, blah.

christianity is no different.
reading the bible is like reading a comic book.

humans cannot seem to grasp how unimportant they are.
they feel they must be something super special.
not just another flesh being on a planet that will live and die.
they think there has to be some sort of meaning,
some special place for them.

laughable really.

I think people believe in God because it is an easy answer. Every question we have,... existential, metaphysical, or practical,... can be answered by "God!" And with the easy answer of "God",... you can stop thinking about your problems or fears.
Not that fear doesn't play a large role, either. People don't want to think that "this" is it,... they don't want to be "wrong",... and they fear that without religion, it is impossible to be "good."
Personally, when I think of all religions, past & present, I find it hard to say that only one is correct.

I think we can all agree that, yes, there was a GOD at one time.....but shortly after Capt. Kirk destroyed the super computer controling the alien aritifcial intelligence (and regulating our Discipline Belts) and revealed to us that we were, in fact, living inside a hollowed out asteroid that there is no GOD anymore.

Granted it may be possible at some future date to reactivate the alien computer, but until that time we're actually on our own.

"We all want to be the person we know ourselves to be, and for others to recognise this and treat us with respect. We want to live without being dominated by fear, to enjoy good relationships, and to have a secure place in our society. No one is better than anyone else by virtue of their beliefs."

wow. i love this statement she made, it is so true.

Fighting over religion is like fighting over who has the better imaginary friend....

but however on a differant note.. if u dont believe in something what is there to believe in??

lets think about it MY WAY; shall we..?!

U actually think, there is, a [black or white]
(whatever ur argument is) man, sitting in the sky, on a throne, probably with something resembling a pimp cane, pointing at people "ur bad ur good"..?! o.."and i hate gays, blacks and majorities" (depending on what u believe)

cmon, lets at least be a little bit logical.

God, religion, is a state of mind, i believe someone did die for our sins, but only for the reason that he/she believed in a original idea of how we should live/be treated. i dont think he/she is ruler of all mankind now, of the universe. he/she was willing to show how deep their pride was by dying for it.

hmmm...almost sounds like..Dr Martin Luther King Jr. except, we were all witnesses to that, so i guess we couldnt call him God huh [haha]

when u pray, its basically crying to urself to reveal ur true being and to show u the light within urself. instinct, spirituality, thats all the same thing that everyone is born with, some more than others, just like animals.

also, all the things they claim God/Jesus has been through, could all be a rumor to rumor story, kind of like when u played telephone in school so the teacher could prove a point that rumors arent very nice, and always get added on and misunderstood. y/how do u think there are so many versions of the bible?!

any ways, u guys, good luck with ur brainwashing methods [trying to convience people ur way is the right way and if not, i will go to hell, thats ok, i wont be alone for long huh]

Because they can't think for themselves.

As an atheist, I really don't care what you believe or don't believe in; as long as you refrain from forcing your beliefs upon me or anyone else, it is none of my business.

Who is God? Is it even a rational question? Someone easily could have made up that word and anyone would believe it with a convincing story.

Religion is pretty much a cult. We are always demanded what to do and what not to do, according to the book to just to fit in it seems. It segregates and unifies at the same time but do all of us who say they are christian or catholic ever even read their bible before? People preach what they do not even understand. Just be yourself.

Ask an American why they believe the Bible and they will say it's because they believe in God.

Ask them how many other religions they have studied and they will say....none.

Why are Americans Christians instead of Zen Buddhists? Because that's just what all the other kids are doing, they're parents told them to do it....and that's about the beginning and end of it.

Gov. Palin, Pres. Bush -- they are Christians NOT because they have personally studied all the world's religions and after years of soul searching personally concluded that, yes, the Bible is the only Book that accurately descibes the deity they believe must exist.

Nope....it's like McDonalds. You go there not because it's the "best" but because there is one on every block.

Why are most people Christians?

Because like McDonald's there's one on every block and that's basically whatever else is eating....so they do it to.

American religion is a lot like fast food.

You eat it because its there.

You believe it because its there.

If churches had a drive-thru....they'd be a lot more Christians in the US.

Dunno, cause i don't. Maybe people who believe in God want to believe, like people who believe in alien abductions and that the Cubs will win the world series.

Adults with Imaginary friends are stupid.

This is pointless to even bother thinking about. Human minds are finite, and the universe is infinite. How many dimensions are out there? Whatever the number, we can perceive four (x, y, z, t). We just don't have the mental capability to think about certain things (such as the concept of infinity, other than calling it infinity). The best "explanation" for many is that some being out there CAN in fact understand infinity. I'm a science guy, but sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

I don’t think most people have a problem with religion so much as they have a problem with the faithful!

It’s the wild, irrational, illogical leaps the Believers make that are not just annoying, but dangerous.

Is it possible that there is a higher consciousness that exists in the universe? Sure. It’s theoretically possible. But the Believers take that possibility and go crazy with it. Suddenly they leap from “theoretically possible” to “Every word of the Bible is literal and the earth is only 6,000 years old!”

Whoa! Easy cowboy. How the hell did you go from “possible” to “every word is literal” so fast on ZERO proof?

What’s even more annoying is that they refuse to concede that they are being irrational in their thinking. They won’t even acknowledge the contradictions and pure illogic in the Book they insist is “perfect.”

And what’s worse is that the True Belivers demonstrate a truly bizarre indifference to the Creature they believe with their heart exists.

If you ask, “Who created God?” – they shrug their shoulders. They never thought about and don’t want to think about it.

If you ask, “Why did God make Heaven separate from Earth?” They never thought about and don’t want to think about it.

If you ask, “Doesn’t Hell seem like a bizarre idea? Why would God feel the need to be so petty and vindictive with the life forms He personally created?” They never thought about and don’t want to think about it.

I mean, Christ, the Horse Whisperer can train a horse without beating it – and yet God is incapable of “training” us to live exactly as He desires without resorting to physical force? How odd.

My absolute favorite question to ask (they hate this one) involves the existence of evil and free will. I ask, “Why doesn’t God just make everyone happy?” The retort, “Because that would violate free will!” When I point out that everyone in Heaven has both free will AND lives totally sin free lives…..they get pissed. They obviously never thought about the logic behind any of their beliefs and how they measure up to the real world.

Is everyone in heaven a mindless “robot”? Nope. There is total free will.

Is there rape and cancer in heaven? Nope. It is a place without any pain or suffering.

So…..?

is god not a creation of the ego? a substitution of the missing alpha-male from society - a collection of egos fighting for self recognition and an equal place within a system that clearly establishes ranks?

humans are social creatures that think for themselves, but are somehow social. god, being a contradiction, comes from this contradiction. he is who the most powerful are not, who the most beautiful can't compare to, who the wisest strive to match. this contradiction is tearing egotistic society apart out of selfishness.

you can say that god/religion is a political tool, but i'd rather think of it as a tool that was stumbled upon rather than crafted by a politician, or more likely, some insane, power hungry neanderthal that just so happened to be a little more privy to peoples' weaknesses and fears, an alpha-male hiding his zealotry; a wolf in sheep's clothing

schizophrenics are often overly religious, therefore i think it's safe to say what religion can and does spawn; how it's used to bend minds, and how it damages egos within society. fuck religion and fuck the idea of god. i believe religion and god once had it's purpose, because look how far we've come with the idea. at this point, though, i believe humans will never progress until we face who we are and where we're at, until we let go of "dad's" hand... and let's not grab Big Brother's either, shall we?

"When you talk to God, it's called prayer.
When God talks back, it's called schizophrenia."
~ Someone

Seriously though -
Dogmatic religion has always been either a way to control people, or a way to diminish fear of the unknown. The former is why it works so well as the latter.
It's much more akin to politics than spirituality. One can be 110% spiritual, and know that dogmatic religion is a load of feces. Spirituality is about a human journey, while religion just stagnates and rots.
Seriously - how can you apply a social rulebook to the infinite Universe, and think you have it all figured out?

In turn, there are many people that forget to separate the scientific method from "all the stuff we think we've figured out up until this point in time."
That's how a lot of scientists turn into priests, with their narrow worldviews.

Anyone who thinks they know exactly what the universe is all about, down to the last heavenly ghost or swirling electron, is just plain arrogant. Sorry.
We've just scratched the surface - but the scientific method is the key that will, eventually, bit by bit, reveal it all to us.
It's just so beautifully impartial.

Religion reminds me of people with OCD.

Someone with obsessive compulsive disorder feels "out of control" and "fearful" and that something "bad will happen" if they don't repeat the same routines over and over again.

They have to check the door locks exactly 17 times in a row or else.....something bad will happen!

Well, isn't that the exact same attitude people approach religion?

They have to do XYZ (pray, think pure thoughts, say the rosary 15 times in a row, go to confession every time they take the Lord's name in vain) or else.....God will punish them.

I have yet to hear anyone call Barack Obama the antichrist.

Religion gives people a sense of knowing what is going to happen when in fact, none of us do. The overlap of Nostradamus and the book of Revelations to create end times prophecy is a perfect example. What I don't understand is, if Fundamentalists think Barak Obama is the antichrist, why are they afraid to vote for him? Christ can't return without the antichrist coming into power first right? Show some sack moral majority, and let's get this rapture thing rollin!

oh, btw this whole article thing... was about selling a book. Not only the Government and Corporations will do anything they can to influence you. Someone trying to sell a book will do too.

Why do people believe in god? Why this is a question one frequently would ask themselves. Hmm, why? Why do people cross the road, to get to the other side. It's the thing to do. It's that thing you fantasize about. What happens when you die? What will happen if you do bad things to people? Will some entity come down from the sky, and do you in? I do believe in karma, I do things that things have a funny way of catching up to you. This is why we should treat people, "all people" with the most respect. For one thing, life is short, and why be remebered as some asshool, or piece of shit to somebody. The second is why not be decent to one another, why negativity always throws you for a loop one way or the other.

Religion is about control. It started out with men in huts looking to the skies wondering what makes the world work. Because they didn't have any true forms of scientific exploration they decided to just say that all powerful beings controlled everything. There was the creature that controlled the sun. The one that controlled the wind. The one that controlled the plants. Even the one that controlled his labido. Soon others began to buy into this nonsense and he realized he could make people do what he wanted as long as he convinced people that if they didn't the "gods" would get angry. Thus, polytheism is born.

After a while though tribes turned into civilizations and civilizations had conflicting answers about the universe. So, instead of open discussions like civilized people, they decided to kill each other instead.

Soon the monotheists, who were oppressed and forced underground, began to rise up and take out the polytheists and now you have a monotheistic controlled world.

Well now we are on the cusp of a new age. An age when science is advancing faster then the fairy tale believers can keep up. Monotheism and the remnant polytheists are being replaced by atheists and agnostics and the religious are getting desperate.

Massive scientific oppression in the west by the Christians and Jihad in the middle east to kill out the infidels(Or nonbelievers). Even the remnant polytheists in the far east, such as the Hindu's, are cracking down even harder on religious affiliation.

And that leaves us to the future. As science advances these atheist and agnostic minorities will spread to become the majority. Beliefs in religion will fizzle away like the idea of the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause eventually fizzles away from the mind of a child when it is ready to grow up. And then it will just be too embarrassing to believe in a fairy tale that we call god.

The end.

People that believe in Science only are based on Theories, quite not as far as any other Religion does. Still, Religions are highly documented.

very interesting perspective going to a catholic school w/ an atheist dad

"Rather, we are told that we are inadequate, unsatisfactory and helpless."

Prove it otherwise.

People fear dearth, see Religulous.

"For all of us, life is full of uncertainties and difficulties, and it ends in death. Every religion claims to overcome death, to provide certainty, and reward us for being good. So great is our fear of life and death that most of us allow hope to override our intellect."

Well said by the author. I'm a lover of mystery, so I've never been desperate for certainty. I've always assumed that's why religion holds no appeal to me. Additionally, I always thought the apparently blatant absurdity of religious dogma was an insult to human intelligence. Some things are knowable, some things are not. Of the knowable, we know some; some of it we don't know. And that's how it goes. And I'm fine with that. :)

God doesn't exsist.

Science is truth. Hard evidence. People that believe in god want to destroy it and I'm not gonna let them!!

When I 'believed', I thought I was here for some major purpose. It mattered that some great being from the sky cared about whether or not I passed that test. Only problem is, I asked questions...and essentially all the answers turned out to be to just have faith. I can't do it.

So my religion now, is to find my own purpose. I don't want to just go through motions, repeating things, and doing things, simply because it's what's expected of me or what I was taught. I question everything and accept that fact that I may never get the answer. Life is a journey I don't want to take for granted. Blind faith doesn't work for me.

There are so many people who choose to follow a particular religion without question. Not allowing themselves to analyze how they personally feel. They drone on with blinders not thinking for themselves. Now, they'll argue to the death that their religion is great and wonderful without ever having researched anything on their own.

In that aspect religion can be very dangerous. Giving someone / something that much authority in your life if freightening.

Yes patient thats what I WAS SAYING..its Spiritual...and as for kromadjo...your place in nature is Spiritual...and j.jammer..there is nothing stale about any religion once you understand the true concept of it..Dont you Religiously like write in these posts...thats only one non stale religion out of the many...religiously cleaning the car..watching your favourite..the world becomes such an exciting place when you start to really pursue these religions..Dont you think?

J Jam...great post dude. Even the stars and moons are in the control of something bigger.

"case for and against religion"

When I read that in the article I thought...WHOA that's original. Then I realized I was being sarcastic and laughed.

How many different ideas can stem from the same general idea of religion? Not many....it's kind of stale.

As was this article. It was stale. It was boring. The only people that would enjoy it are the ones that are against religion, because there's really nothing 'for' as the beginning stated it was going to look in to.

Freedom doesn't exist in the way the writer thinks it does. We are all slaves to someone, something and some idea. What you slave for is your choice, but to think of yourself as free and not to answer to anyone or to be free of fear is laughable.

If you live on this planet called Earth you are living in fear every single day. Depending on where you live is what degree of fear you feel. But no one on this planet lives without it. We are all (100%) living in fear. How you cope with it and deal with it matters....there's no without.