Why is religion still a thing?

[Scarletthoo2]

As the title states, I would like to know why people still choose religion rather than science, please give me your personal view and opinions.

I was christened at birth, but grown up an atheist. I'm just curious to know why so many people still believe in religion and god. Considering there's undeniable evidence that everything on earth is simply made of atoms and particles and wasn't created by an otherworldly person.

Hopefully this doesn't cause offence to some people, like I've said, just simply want others views.

Well, exactly. This is what gets on my nerves, the fact that some believers can say this stuff without stopping to think. It's incredibly arrogant. Hardcore atheists do the same thing when they sneer about sky fairies. How about a little mutual respect? Nobody can prove whether or not God exists. It's all about belief.

I found this comment to be offensive. But hey. Besides I apologised for my last post, and any decent human being would accept it and move on.

What on earth was offensive about my comment? The 'God of the gaps' argument is an existing philosophical concept dating back to the 19th century and its fallacious nature has been pointed out ever since. No refutation has come from anyone.

My elephant analogy was just that - an analogy, intended to point out that man makes God in his own image and that we cannot know the nature of any deity. We can only project.

Whereas you straight up accused atheists of being wilfully blind, deceitful or in denial, which isn't even in the same ballpark. Your apology is meaningless, because this is what you believe about me and other atheists, and it's nonsense.

I’m an ex Christian and used to get offended by comments like sky pixie etc and the elephant playing with Lego above.

Now I’m on the other side and see faith more objectively and critically. I am disturbed by religion, for want of a better word and I think that whilst my belief gave me the desire to help others in my life, it also gave me a lot of guilt and shame. I think the church have got a lot of things very, very, wrong.

However I can also see how analogies that involve children’s toys/story themes and fairy tales are belittling and actually derail any sensible debate by mocking the believer. If you can’t present your argument without sniggering behind your hand, it’s probably best you just leave religious people to their own devices.

TIL you can say whatever offensive shit you want as long as you follow it with "didn't mean to offend".

@Karwomannghia I think that whatever analogy I used would have been offensive because it wouldn't have matched the 'benevolent all powerful entity with human characteristics' image that believers have of their gods. I suppose I could have quoted some of the Egyptian gods or Norse gods, with all their spectacular infighting and bad behaviour, but that would have been deflected with 'but those aren't real gods'. The point I was making is that we cannot know what God is like and that makes some people very uncomfortable.

It's an absolute truth that we do not and cannot know what a god is like in form, however we can see the reflective form he takes through the people that believe in their gods. In general terms the reflective form of gods through men is fearful, destructive, exclusive and divisive (amongst other things), whilst trying to convince everyone else that this is not how it's supposed to be, that it is the incorrect interpretation of their gods purpose, and we should just accept the (their) truth. To me, this is just madness.

I opened my Bible at random yesterday evening and the very first thing I read was 'The Magi Visit the Messiah' (Matthew 2). Rather relevant considering we've just had Epiphany! So many other tiny "coincidences" happen all the time which can't really be measured in a scientific way, but are meaningful on a very personal level.

In the Middle Ages people used to make huge decisions by sticking a pin in a random page of the Bible. It's still just chance, no different from rolling dice.

But that’s your interpretation that it’s just chance.

@OMG12 no, that's what a rational approach based on current knowledge of how the world works dictates. It's a theory, but only in the sense that the theory of evolution is a theory. Anything else requires faith.

But maybe a rational
approach is not the best way at looking at the spiritual.you might think that knowledge gained through rationality might dictate how the world works, but this isn’t really true. All it does is give you a lens through which to view the ways of the world.

I see the world working differently, I see layers of physical and spirit. The spirit will never be seen through rationality. It is possible to have knowledge of it, but never any facts.

It’s a waste of time trying to apply laws of rationality to spirit, the same way you can’t tell what colour something is by using your nose.

When it comes to making serious decisions about life, the rational absolutely makes more sense though. If I were for example to need a decision on whether or not to buy a particular house, a survey report would be a great deal more useful than a line from the Bible. Some things just require a pragmatic approach.

If you're looking for a thought for the day to set you up spiritually - sure, why not? I cuddle the nearest available cat, you use a sacred text. All good.

Well as I was saying the rational approach is the most suitable methodology (usually) when you are looking at the material (eg whether a house is of sound construction).

But should I buy a house which ticks all the boxes re size, area, construction of it doesn’t feel “right” if I don’t love it, if it doesn’t feel like home. None of which is rational? So life decisions should not always be made purely rationally. Rational things might feed in but I would say your heart should lead you in life.

A very good point, well made @OMG12

@OMG12 I agree with you - buying a house is very much also about how it feels to you. Spirituality is important. But spirituality comes in very many forms and there isn't one that is 100% correct in everything and effective for everyone. The problem with religions is that they tend to believe there is and that they are all of them it.

I think that’s one of the functions of religion though, to create tribes. If you look at say Christianity since Constantine is been used to harvest a them and is attitude. Islam was founded for this very purpose.

But for many it’s a gateway into the Spirit. Now some might get very curious and move beyond the dogma, into the escoteric, others might reject it, moving to different spiritualities or atheism.

moving beyond the narrative handed to you, whether it is the dogma of religion or reason, is difficult. Few people do it to any real meaningful extent.

it’s not to say religion itself is meaningless- it’s that many using it does realise it’s full potential for spiritual development. It’s there for many reasons, a community, a provider of rituals, keepers of history, so many things the spirituality gets almost overlooked. People cling to it. Try explaining to many Christian’s about the origin of their religion and it starts a lot of mental gymnastics

I just think it would be nice to have the spirituality without the religion. Humanity needs less tribalism, not more.

Plenty of people do. My spiritual path is designed to fit with religion or none. But it sees the truth in each religion (and also its lies).

I guess there’s a deep need for tribalism within humanity. Even when you strip away religion you still get people forming us and them groups. I think the trick is to see value in other tribes but not feel your own tribe is under threat. Tribes. I think, are very valuable, esp for support and mental health, but feeling secure in that tribe is important. If everyone respects others tribes no one feels under threat and likely to respect others back and not fight. We need less black and white thinking, more compassion. At the end of the day it’s easy to tear any system apart, but why? To feel superior? What “truth” are we trying to reveal, what is”truth” anyway? We largely just have our beliefs.

I agree OMG12, I have a rich spiritual life without religion .

Hi softarrows,

I'm an agnostic who wants to become a Christian and I find it interesting when I come across a Christian saying, "If it turns out I was wrong...". I always thought Christians were sure that there was a God and that Jesus was the son of God, instead of simply believing it to be likely.

I'm not trying to undermine your beliefs - posts like these give me comfort because it means that I can still become a Christian with my faith simply being strong, rather than needing to be 1000% confident that my belief is the "correct" one if you know what I mean.

One way to placate the "I'm not sure" feelings would be to cover all the major religions over time, say maybe one per year, on a rolling basis, a bit like spread betting?

@Ahsoka2001 I am a Christian and like most of my Christian friends am definitely not "sure" there is a God. That's why we call it "belief/faith" rather than "knowledge/ certainty".
But like @softarrows if it turns out there is not a God, I feel that by believing, my life has been much happier and fulfilled, and I've found great comfort during the tough times.

I get where you're coming from. IMO, for many, religion provides a sense of purpose, community, and moral guidance. It's like a way to navigate life's uncertainties. Science explains the how, but religion often dives into the why. Btw, stumbled upon some thought-provoking Christian walls lately at www.christianwalls.com. Might add an interesting touch to the conversation!