The Reasons Behind Following a Religion

[jamesb-uk]

What is the main reason you follow a religion? (not open to athiests please)

 

[Evo]

Discussions of religion aren't allowed.

I will allow this ONLY if

1) No specific religion is named
2) No specific claims as to the truth or value of any religion are made

 

[jamesb-uk]

I don't intend to discuss religion. I don't want it to be for people to criticize or argue over people's beliefs. It's intended as more of a poll than anything else.

But if it's against the rules then so be it.

 

[Evo]

I don't intend to discuss religion. I don't want it to be for people to criticize or argue over people's beliefs. It's intended as more of a poll than anything else.

But if it's against the rules then so be it.

I finished the rules that will apply above. I think you posted before I had time to edit.

 

[lisab]

What is the main reason you follow a religion? (not open to athiests please)

Just curious why you're not wanting to hear from atheists, because it's likely that they have thought a lot more about this question than those who have never questioned their own beliefs.

 

[rootX]

Just curious why you're not wanting to hear from atheists, because it's likely that they have thought a lot more about this question than those who have never questioned their own beliefs.

From some past threads, I know what atheists have to say in these matters and how the thread turns out be so I think he is right in requesting atheists not to respond.@OP:
I don't have one permanent religion and neither I have ability to sustain beliefs that are particular to only one/two religions. But from time to time, I go after religions just out of curiosity, or for having a different perspective about life or people. I believe having beliefs just make people feel happier or stronger in tough times when you can't really answer why it happened to you.

 

[seycyrus]

Just curious why you're not wanting to hear from atheists, because it's likely that they have thought a lot more about this question than those who have never questioned their own beliefs.

That is not only a blatant example of an egotistical statement, but also of a logical fallacy.

 

[jobyts]

For most of the people, it would be because their parents are from religion x. The relevant answer would be from someone who changed to a different religion from their parents'.

 

[lisab]

That is not only a blatant example of an egotistical statement, but also of a logical fallacy.

Most atheists I know came to that state after being raised like most people (i.e., with religious beliefs taught to them by their family), yet came to question religion.

Most religious peole I know don't do much fretting about whether god exists or not...it's pretty much a settled question to them.

It's a mystery to me how you're reading that as egotistical.

 

[Evo]

Most atheists I know came to that state after being raised like most people (i.e., with religious beliefs taught to them by their family), yet came to question religion.

Most religious peole I know don't do much fretting about whether god exists or not...it's pretty much a settled question to them.

It's a mystery to me how you're reading that as egotistical.

I would have to agree with you lisab.

Most of the people I know that belong to a religion belong because that's how they were raised and they've never thought about questioning it.

 

[humanino]

I believe in Greg Bernhardt, and I have faith because I saw a picture, which I believe was not photoshopped. Anyway, if there were no Greg Bernhardt, how would PF exists ?

 

[leroyjenkens]

Most of the people I know that belong to a religion belong because that's how they were raised and they've never thought about questioning it.

It's weird how you'll just believe something until someone finally contradicts it and it makes you start thinking. Like for example, years ago I read that your heart stops when you sneeze. I didn't question it, I just automatically assumed it as true. For years I believed it until someone told me it was a myth. Right when they said that, it enlightened me. I thought wow, it probably is a myth. At that moment, I finally thought about how it didn't make much since now that someone told me it wasn't true. It took that person's contradiction for me to use my own brain and the intelligence I had the entire time, to give it a second thought.

 

[anubis01]

I believe in Anubis, All hail the mighty and powerful Anubis

 

[Cyrus]

I like turtles.

 

[lisab]

I like turtles.

But do you believe in turtles?

 

[Math Is Hard]

I think the creator made turtles, but that was yet another by-product of the ultimate objective of kitty-cat making. Turbo and I are split on the reason for humans. I say by-product, he says slave race for the kitties.

 

[jobyts]

But do you believe in turtles?

As I remember, a turtle is carrying the Earth in its back. Can't remember which religion it is. You better believe it...

 

[Pengwuino]

It's weird how you'll just believe something until someone finally contradicts it and it makes you start thinking. Like for example, years ago I read that your heart stops when you sneeze. I didn't question it, I just automatically assumed it as true. For years I believed it until someone told me it was a myth. Right when they said that, it enlightened me. I thought wow, it probably is a myth. At that moment, I finally thought about how it didn't make much since now that someone told me it wasn't true. It took that person's contradiction for me to use my own brain and the intelligence I had the entire time, to give it a second thought.

I've always had this idea in my mind that people, no matter who you are, how smart you are, how old you are, always believe the first thing they hear about something. I remember last semester talking to one of my professors, a physicist of course, about cats landing on their feet. He said that even he always thought that cats landed like that out of conservation of angular momentum (as is the common belief). He eventually realized that upon actually thinking about it, that that explanation was impossible.

I personally have never questioned that drinking and taking medicines is bad, I've never questioned that sitting too close to a tv is bad, things like that. The thing is, no one has ever explained to me why alcohol and medicines don't mix. Heck, I don't even know who told me that as a kid. I also recently learned that sitting too close to hte TV doesn't actually have a negative effect (i lost the study's link so don't ask me) so it makes me wonder what else i take for granted that might be wrong.

Most religious peole I know don't do much fretting about whether god exists or not...it's pretty much a settled question to them.

Ah but remember, questioning something doesn't mean you might not think somethings true. I think the validity of physics is a settled question to me and one would be hard pressed to say I haven't questioned it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Just curious why you're not wanting to hear from atheists, because it's likely that they have thought a lot more about this question than those who have never questioned their own beliefs.

I don't think I have ever met a religious person who has not questioned their beliefs. In fact, faith takes a lot of work. It is a conviction that one ultimately chooses to live with for any number of reasons, not the least of which being that many people believe their life improves dramatically with faith. For others, it is a choice that certainly respresents a struggle for most people a number of times in their life.

However, I do find that religious women tend to be more comfortable with their beliefs than are men. In my experience, women tend to simply try to live their faith, while the men are compelled to justify it to everyone. While it is true that some religions are very big on recruitment [spreading the word], and members of those faiths are duty-bound to do so, others believe that one should demonstrate their faith by the way they live. Still, I have found many men in those sorts of faiths [the latter case] that will gladly argue about religion all day.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I would even argue that it is often [usually] easier to just stop believing than it is to keep the faith. Consider all of the liability that evaporates in a moment when one rejects religion - no eternal judgements, no hell, no consequences beyond this life. Trust me, that is far easier to live with than believing that we will have to answer for every thought we have, and every action we ever take. For many people, including me for a time, it is difficult to accept the fact that we can't be perfect - that we will knowingly and willingly violate our faith at times no matter how hard we try.

 

[Pengwuino]

I would even argue that it is often [usually] easier to just stop believing than it is to keep the faith. Consider all of the liability that evaporates in a moment when one rejects religion - no eternal judgements, no hell, no consequences beyond this life. Trust me, that is far easier to live with than believing that we will have to answer for every thought we have, and every action we ever take. For many people, including me for a time, it is difficult to accept the fact that we can't be perfect - that we will knowingly and willingly violate our faith at times no matter how hard we try.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here (GIGGLE!) and ask, what about the benefits evaporating? The idea that when you die, that's it, no eternal life, loved ones gone forever, etc etc. It is quite confusing to me why people seem to immediately go towards the liabilities that you mention. Is there a reason people seem to ... i don't know, think about the loss of liabilities more then the loss of benefits? No matter how strong or weak one's faith is, you'd have to believe in the good as much as you believe in the bad.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here (GIGGLE!) and ask, what about the benefits evaporating? The idea that when you die, that's it, no eternal life, loved ones gone forever, etc etc. It is quite confusing to me why people seem to immediately go towards the liabilities that you mention. Is there a reason people seem to ... i don't know, think about the loss of liabilities more then the loss of benefits? No matter how strong or weak one's faith is, you'd have to believe in the good as much as you believe in the bad.

I look at the afterlife without religion and it's really not so bad. I assume it's much like before I was born.

 

[Abraham]

Well, a few certain things defy my ability to reason, but religion provides a certain means to accept what reason can't reveal.

 

[Loren Booda]

My adult sense of religion developed spontaneously out of my need to explain supernatural experiences and somehow end my psychological suffering.

 

[Pupil]

What? No one here worships His Noodley Greatness?

 

[negitron]

But do you believe in turtles?

Of course. It's turtles all the way down.

 

[Pengwuino]

What? No one here worships His Noodley Greatness?

PF Guidelines forbid discussion of any particular religion, no matter how true and awesome they are.

 

[Kurdt]

Of course. It's turtles all the way down.

I guess everyone will have had to have watched QI for that joke.

 

[drankin]

My religion (I prefer the term faith) is a consequence to reading the words of the author of my particular faith. I found his words to transcend everyday experiences and bring a profound simplicity to them. My faith appeals to my belief of a diffinitive right and wrong and a sense of order, justice, and compassion. It works for me.

 

[Pupil]

I guess everyone will have had to have watched QI for that joke.

? I thought that was a reference to Stephen Hawking's Universe in a Nutshell or A Brief History of Time (one of those).

 

[humanino]

A Brief History of Time

Same here

 

[wildman]

As Richard Dawkins pointed out in his book "The God Delusion", religion has positive survival value. In other words it is selected for by natural selection. I would say that given the almost universal nature of religion, Dawkins in his book greatly understated how strongly it is selected for. Religion contributes greatly to the survival of individuals and societies (otherwise it wouldn't be strongly selected for!). As such it can hardly be passed off easily.

Religion gives comfort. My wife (who has seen many people die in her line of work) tells me that religious people die peacefully and the nonreligious suffer greatly at the end of life.

Religion gives people the power to overcome things like drug addiction. The leader of our religious gathering was a former hard core addict and there are many others at our gathering who have the same or a similar story.

Religion gives one a moral compass. This helps to keep one from self destructive acts and acts of destruction directed at other people.

Yes, I know you all can give many counter examples of all the above, but the fact that religion is STRONGLY selected for means that the counter examples are the exceptions, not the rule.

Religion has been a powerful influence on my life. It has given me direction and comfort and the strength to overcome the challenges that I have faced. I see the face of God in the beauty that I see in math and physics, the beauty I see in life around me and in the heavens.

 

[negitron]

...the fact that religion is STRONGLY selected for means that the counter examples are the exceptions, not the rule.

This is not a fact. Facts have evidence behind them.

 

[drankin]

This is not a fact. Facts have evidence behind them.

Sure, but is it not a fact that most of the human race is religious in one form or another?

 

[DaveC426913]

Sure, but is it not a fact that most of the human race is religious in one form or another?

It is. But I too am dubious that this is something selected for. It would have to be shown that it is genetically inheritable, not just socially.

 

[Phrak]

"He said that even he always thought that cats landed like that out of conservation of angular momentum (as is the common belief). He eventually realized that upon actually thinking about it, that that explanation was impossible."

Friend needs more actual thinkin'. It's a true.

 

[negitron]

Sure, but is it not a fact that most of the human race is religious in one form or another?

No. It's a fact that most of the human race self-identifies as religious. I am not entirely convinced that most people aren't simply going along with it because not to do so invites scorn and even persecution, depending upon where they live. People are social animals and have a natural desire to be seen as "normal" and to fit in and will, frequently, misrepresent themselves in order to do so.

 

[Huckleberry]

What is the main reason you follow a religion? (not open to athiests please)

I don't follow a religion and don't have a concept of a God that is restricted to any religion. I do have faith in God. When times are good it makes them better. When times are unbearable it makes them bearable. It gives significance to the universe and all its parts.

 

[Loren Booda]

"92 percent of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/23/ST2008062300818.html"

 

[humanino]

It is. But I too am dubious that this is something selected for. It would have to be shown that it is genetically inheritable, not just socially.

We call that "memes"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
It's a theory...

 

[ANTBLE989]

I am an atheist ..
Religion for me is a like a law ..it keeps men neutral to the surroundings ..and also is a escape way of reality ..

These paradox is one thing faith should question .

"If God can do everything can he make a stone so heavy that even he himself cannot carry"

 

[Math Is Hard]

What is the main reason you follow a religion? (not open to athiests please)

I am an atheist ..

Bzzzzt!

 

[protonchain]

I'm a seruhpeylinist. I believe that Sarah Palin is an annoying idiot.

 

[Cyrus]

I'm a seruhpeylinist. I believe that Sarah Palin is an annoying idiot.

Praise the palin.

 

[Loren Booda]

Suffer the Palin.

 

[Cyrus]

my god is a just god.

So I see were all in agreement, yes?...yes? (points gun around the room).

 

[NeoDevin]

As Richard Dawkins pointed out in his book "The God Delusion", religion has positive survival value. In other words it is selected for by natural selection. I would say that given the almost universal nature of religion, Dawkins in his book greatly understated how strongly it is selected for. Religion contributes greatly to the survival of individuals and societies (otherwise it wouldn't be strongly selected for!). As such it can hardly be passed off easily.

Ignoring for a moment that different cultures will have different ideas of what it means to be religious, and granting that everyone who identifies as religious is actually religious (and not just "going along with it so people will be nice to them"), and assuming that a person's "religiosity" is the result of heritable traits, which have been selected for (which for an atheist, they would have to be, since there is no soul/god, just evolution), you still cannot conclude that religion itself is beneficial to survival. For example, the tendency to anthropomorphise the world around us probably served primitive man well, as he watches for danger from all sides. Many religions are essentially the anthropomorphization of the universe itself, or are derived from such an idea. In much the same way that humans evolving a taste for sweets eating berries and fruits, doesn't mean eating a bag of table sugar is beneficial to survival, the fact that we have evolved a tendency towards religion doesn't mean religion is beneficial to survival. Further, whether it is beneficial to survival or not has no bearing on it's truth.

To the OP:

I was raised with a non-practising religious mother, and an atheist father. Neither of them tried to force me to accept their beliefs, or to indoctrinate me. They taught me thinking and reasoning skills, and applying those I realized that all modern religions (which I am familiar with) are so riddled with contradictions and nonsense that no rational thinking person would join/remain.

 

[humanino]

As Ed Witten was writing the final word in the latest paper he was about to post on arXiv, God suddently appeared before his eyes and, behold, told "Very well Ed, now you hide".

 

[waht]

Why would god create parasitic wasps?

 

[rootX]

Why would god create parasitic wasps?

@above/general:
Does a religion necessarily need to have a god?
Or , do you need to believe in god to "follow a religion"? (Some people believe in god but intentionally/intentionally choose not to follow other parts of the religion because of their self interests/personal beliefs)

I am not sure why god need to be brought into discuss religions.