To wonder how anyone can believe in a religion?

[Staringintothevoid616]

I can understand why some believe in a higher power, in many ways it’s logical and many might just feel there is one, some people might refute that, all fine and dandy.

But what on earth makes people follow a religion? There’s literally hundreds of them over the course of history, even a rudimentary bit of research/critical thinking highlights the fact they can only be man made, the rules designed to fulfil a particular mundane purpose.

What makes people pick one (beyond being born in a certain place to a certain family) over all others and go “ yep this is the one truth, these rules come from a specific god/gods/goddesses, these rules other religions are just made up”.

I mean for many it’s not just a hobby, they’re willing to shape their lives to whatever set of rules they pick, sometimes to kill and be killed. Why??? Even a second of thought must highlight their folly?

it’s not about whether a higher power exists, it’s about why people have to frame that belief on a set of clearly made up rules, which range from the bizarre (don’t eat meat on a Friday) to the downright dangerous )it’s justified to kill anyone who doesn’t believe the same set of made up rules as you do)

AIBU to wonder why people follow religions?

@Springsnail

That isn't true for everyone. Some people (like myself) are part of a religion that we didn't grow up in.

My family don't share my religious beliefs and I was not exposed to my current religion as a child.

That’s fine, some people are curious, others aren’t

Multiple levels of understanding.
Circles within circles.
The following is beyond the understanding of the simplistic majority that just know the nativity et al:

In the Gospel of Mary (discovered in Egypt in 1896), Mary asks Jesus:
“How does the one who sees the vision see it - through the soul or through the spirit?”
To which, Jesus replies:
“One does not see through the soul, nor through the spirit, but the mind which is between the two: that is what sees the visions”.
Prior to this Jesus has stated “…where the mind is, there is the treasure.”
Clearly by mind Jesus is referring to the Jungian conscious and unconscious aspects of the Psyche, the Freudian Super-ego.
Therefore, our soul/psyche contains our public facing Ego, that is our Conscious thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Further within is our Super-ego, our Unconscious with memories, values and personality characteristics.
At our core is our divine Id, comprising our primal angelic and demonic drives.

If you don’t mind me asking what made you choose that particular religion?

I think people like a sense of belonging and having their ‘tribe’. Personally I can’t be doing with it and rid myself of the shackles of Catholicism as soon as I felt old enough and brave enough to do it.

If you believe the table doesn't really exist because it is just a thought in the mind of god, or it is just a bunch of atoms which are mostly empty space, so you try to walk through the table, you will soon find out it is real and say 'ouch'.
It is not about whether you call it a table or a bench, it is about whether it is real, i.e. it physically exists.

Multiculturalism can work if you have a model of layers of society with sub-societies within. So all people who feel a part of UK society believe in stories such as the rule of law, policing, democracy, free speech, the state's power to raise taxes, equality before the law, etc. Beyond that, the different cultures can have very different ideas about e.g. the proper roles of men and women in marriage, or what food should be eaten on what day.

If people don't believe in the basic stories exampled above, they are not truly taking part in the society in which they live.

I think about this a lot, sometimes I wish I believed in something just to know what it feels like.
Then I think again and I think believe in what exactly because it’s just blankness?

ermmmmm Joke?

Were these conversations between Jesus and Mary actually recorded? When she’s asking him, who is writing it down for future prosperity? It used to make me wonder as a child (and I guess still does).

I think when one looks at Jung in the context of dignity, it’s impossible to not be drawn to his answer of whether he believes in God. He answered he didn’t believe, he knew. I suspect though he had a different concept of god to the Pope (although maybe not).

Looking at the “Gnostic gospels” certainly brings a different perspective. The gospel of Judas is one of my favourite.

Sorry ,yes not everyone no ,I should of worded that better

The same can be said of all the gospels of course, oh to have a time machine; in reality those with the capacity for thought know all the teachings written down (by whome knows) are allegorical. That is why I consider literalists also sheeple.

It is not at all clear that your Freudian/Jungian interpretation follows from Jesus' words.
An alternative explanation is that the "soul" is what Western occultists call the astral body (or it could mean the etheric body), and the mind is the mental body, which is above the astral but below the spirit.
Many interpretations are possible from such a scant text.

I suspect it's often simply that you are born in the place and time where your religion is the dominant ideology.

But at its best, when it is chosen, religion is making community and life with others who share your faith, seeking and supporting that which is Godlike in one another.

@Staringintothevoid616

You mean why have I chosen Celtic Paganism over others?

Well, I was already a polytheist and occultist who was into practicing magic. While not all pagans practice magic, it is an element of many pagan religions, so pagan religions already fit my established interests.

In terms of why I went to Celtic paganism, it's partly because I live in Britain, and many of those deities are native to the island of Britain (and Ireland), so I felt a bit more of an interest in the deities that are specifically associated with the land I was born on/live on.

That doesn't mean that I restrict myself to deities from those pantheons alone, I am quite happy to seek to communicate an engage with gods and goddesses from other pantheons if I feel I need to. I've reached out to Greek and Roman deities as well.

https://www.jesusandmo.net/comic/hole/

I feel most of your comments here apply more to religious fundamentalists than the majority of believers, OP. There are many, many religious people who don't think "this is the one truth, these rules come from a specific god/gods/goddesses, these rules other religions are just made up" as you put it, and are happy with a pluralist view that we're all (imperfectly, partially) seeking after truth.

Beyond that, I think there is a lot more to religious practice than you suggest. Custom and ceremony can have a value in themselves- I have Jewish atheist friends who still follow all the rules, because these rules relate to family, community, history and meaning- not just to whether or not one believes in God. And even the question of belief (outside of fundamentalism) is a lot more nuanced than your posts suggest- plenty of Christians allow for a decent helping of metaphor in their belief system and understand that you can't really read the Bible like a Haynes manual- would recommend Karen Armstrong's work to anyone interested in this.

Beautifully put . Everything I wanted to say but wouldn't have found the words at this time on a Monday afternoon. Thank you😍

But does it physically exist? If a character in a computer game walks into a wall it can’t (usually) go through it.

is the table real or just the force holding the atoms together, can we say that we know energy exists but little else? What is that energy? We can destroy the table but not the energy so, I would say the only thing that really exists is the energy.

For many people it's indoctrination, the community aspect and it is a comfort to them. I was brought up a Catholic and so many of my older family members have strong faith however the younger generation are exposed to so much more information now with the internet and social media that they pick and choose the areas they believe in. The older generation were brought up a lot more disciplined and compliant. I think an increasing number of people in the modern world aren't as 'religious' for want of a better word as years ago. There is a lot of hypocrisy in religion and this idea of a set of man made rules that people must adhere too are to me ridiculous. However I can see the appeal of the idea of heaven and community and there is comfort in routines, services and celebrations. It's a way for people to come to terms with their own mortality and try to make sense of why the world exists in the first place. Makes people feel less alone.

As an occultist, I certainly appreciate the value of customs and rituals. But they are very different to believing in a religion. I think what you describe are cultural Jews/christians (one of my friends is a cultural Muslim). I can understand this, I guess I was asking about religious (as in believers of the faith - and not some random pick and choose variety) believers.

Sophistry.

Or, philosophy, but you have to define what you mean by the terms you use.

Either way, you are still going to say 'ouch'.

I think the way you're defining belief is close to fundamentalism.

I agree

I was raised by atheist parents and wondered the same thing, how could people believe everything in their religion. I always thought that I could never join a religion even if I wanted to as how could I sign up for all those beliefs. Then I read a book called The Believers by Zoe Heller and it was really enlightening. There's a character of a young Jewish woman who returns to her faith and its practices and her ultimate conclusion is that faith and religion is not something you believe but something you do. As an non-believer it looks like you have to believe all the stuff but I think from inside the religion it's more about practicing the religion, doing it, the rituals, etc. than a pure belief in every single thing. It's what you do with your family and friends, it's how you celebrate and get comfort and it may provide a framework for spirituality or higher being beliefs that means you don't have to try figuring it all out yourself.
I also saw an interesting tiktok about why so many people who are autistic are atheist and how certain thinking styles lean to religious belief whereas others lean to atheism.