If you are religious, what makes you believe your branch of religion is the right one?

[Soubriquet]

I mean…Jesus was Jewish.

Why do you believe your catholic branch is more believable than someone’s baptist branch?

I don't think anyone does think theirs is the 'right' one, or 'more believable'.
People feel that their religion is right and the most believable for them
I'd suggest you unpick why you've asked the question without having thought this through a little more.

In a world where none of us know the answers to the truly big questions it really doesn't matter what people choose to believe as long as they do no harm to themselves or others and it brings them comfort/community or whatever.

I don't think I do really. No particular denomination has a monopoly on truth.

I believe what I do on the basis of my own reading, understanding, sense of what hangs together etc. This has changed through life and will no doubt continue to do so. I can only sit with what seems right to me in the present moment which includes a lot of "not sures".

Such a patronising response!

There are very clearly many, many religious people who absolutely believe that they are right and every other religion is wrong.

It's sort of the basis of religion: these are the correct rules for living your life and if you follow them, you'll be rewarded.

I don’t see what Jesus being Jewish has to do with your question about different denominations within Christianity?

It's not about right or wrong. People usually just go with the church that feels right to them, that they enjoy and fit in with.

So much harm has been done by religious people, though. Think of Christian missionaries going to sub-Saharan Africa to "educate" the indigenous people there, as just one example. All the wars fought in the name of someone's version of god.

I'm not religious but would've thought the simplest answer is faith.

Agreed and #We respect everyone's religion as long as its not forced on us - simples

We were lucky to be brought up by very sensible and decent parents that taught us well.

Do you mean choosing between different denominations of Christianity, Catholic/Baptist/Methodist etc. Or do you mean between different religions, Christian/Muslim/Hindu etc?
Because they are different questions.

It’s because the religious leaders who you trust and respect tell you that other religions are wrong, repeatedly. Not so much within the different sects of the same religion but they will definitely say other religions have got it wrong. And if you believe and trust your preacher, you believe that too.

I am sure that in the past, people thought their Gods were the only true Gods.

The Viking Gods, Egyptian Gods, Roman Gods, Greek Gods...

And people had faith that their beliefs were the only true ones. When you died, you went to Valhalla. Or Hades etc.

Who knows..I am sure that maybe 1000 years or 2000 years in the future, people may look back at the faiths of today in the same way we look at the faiths of our ancestors.

Absolutely - that is why I stipulated "as long as they do no harm."
I am very well aware that religion has a very bad track record on this!

I think we like to believe we can be truly rational and immune to influence from those around us, positive and or negative childhood experiences, but we are very much driven by emotion and what feels familiar/comforting to us. The reverse is also true that some people choose a religion very different to anything they've known in their upbringing as a way to escape what was familiar, because it wasn't positive.

There may not be a "logical" or "rational" reason why a person chooses one religion/denomination over another, it will be driven by many factors including subconscious ones. Ultimately with something like religion/faith it's about a feeling of belonging, connection to others and something bigger, and meaning. So whichever brings the person the most of those things will most resonate. This includes no religion/atheism.

I believe the Catholic Church is the true apostolic church for a few reasons. Firstly Jesus said he'd build his church on Peter and Peter was the first pope of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church defined the Bible and also included all of the early church fathers. Jesus's presence in the Eucharist is biblical, he didn't say "eat this bread as a symbol of my body" he said it literally. The Protestants took out several books of the Bible and wanted to take out another one too but couldn't, I feel like if you have to change the Bible to fit your denomination than it's not the right one. The Catholic Church has true apostolic succession. And finally a bit controversial but all the Marian Appiritions and Eucharistic miracles point towards the Catholic Church.

That's my reasoning! I converted a year ago

Also, why is your Jesus was Jewish comment needed? Jesus was the start of a new covenant, the need for Judaism and its practices ended with him. And also if you mean racially then the time of the chosen people was also ended and it was for everyone. Additionally the origin of the word Catholic is Greek and means Universal. So the Catholic Church literally means the Universal Church

I think it's more about how you fit into the organisation, whether you feel at home attending their services/meetings/worship. Organised religion whilst being about the religion in theory, is so much more, it's a social system.

Hands on table, I work for the c of e and we offer far more that isn't really religious than what it, we are more a social services provider who holds events on Sundays involving god! Feeding people, supporting families, giving older and disabled adults activities to do, visiting them in their homes and yes a good sing song. Religion is what drives us to do it rather than what we do much of the time and any body of any faith or none is welcome. Like other people working and volunteering here I'm driven by a desire to serve others in ways appropriate to them rather than push a certain view of religion, if then come to communion fair enough, great but most at most come for the other side of our organisation plus enjoy a good carol service and that's just fine too.

I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian and our Church was the first Church as established by Christ and the Church Fathers. The RC church was part of this, but started to exert their authority and alter the doctrine and the nature of The Trinity, so we split off from them in 1054.

IMO, people have one God but different messengers
As I said previously, I respect all regions as long as its not forced on me

We were lucky with our parents as they brought us up to be nice, polite, decent and caring

It depends where a person lives. You wouldn’t last long in a country such as North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, and Yemen if you were a Christian.

Roughly half of the Eritrean population is Christian!

That is a very simplistic view. Wars are fought along tribal lines for territory. If there was no religion, do you really think thete would be peace on earth? Of course not. Because the actual fight is about who owns what and who has power over who. And that is the basis of evolution in all animals. We just do in a more sophisticated way than lions for example.

Disagree. I certainly think my denomination is the "right one" over others. Because if I didn't, then I wouldn't actually believe it, I'd just enjoy practicing it/find a benefit in it.

For me, I believe mine is more "correct" because I believe it is truer to the Bible. Others believe theirs is because it's closer to Church tradition/ teaching of the Pope etc. that's the difference at least in my faith.

In terms of why I believe the Bible is more important than Church tradition/other stuff etc that's a different question haha.

Why do these seekers after truth never ask about the, ahem, disagreements between Sunni and Shia? I gather that not all branches of Hinduism see eye to eye, leaving aside how inherited caste affects relations between believers.

Come on, let’s widen the enquiry.

Nothing, I do what works for me.