Why does religion exist ?

[azimuth_wl]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

Is there any believers willing to help me understand their beliefs - or they reasons why they still believe in their God ?

 

[tucker58]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

Is there any believers willing to help me understand their beliefs - or they reasons why they still believe in their God ?

Hi azimuth and welcome to this forum! There seems to be two realities when it comes to religion, you have either experienced God personally or God has been shoved down your throat. I was just born to love God and my wife was just born to love God and we have experienced God and Jesus personally. With some folks that just happens. With most folks the whole belief thing is just a mystery and maybe a possibly, and in a lot of circumstances a reality that was created by a lot of personal and public pressure.

azimuth, to a logical mind, if God does not talk to you personally, then there is no reason that you should believe in Him.

Cool topic azimuth and you presented it very well. The problem is that religious people are very thin (not many here) in this forum. You might want to try the World Religion Forum, I think that
arborvita and others would welcome your topic there. Yours is a valid and serious question. and a gift.

just love,

tuck

 

[nolongerhome]

Religion exists because there are things in this world which we can not explain adequately and we desire things to have some sort of "meaning" beyond mundane material existence - religion provides the answers and the meaning where otherwise we have none.

 

[AlexBP]

I was raised in an atheist household and brought up to believe that all religion was merely a holdover from an era of primitive superstition. After I grew up and went through college, I was introduced to Christian thought through various books and conversations with some friends and coworkers. I was forced to confront the different assumptions and conclusions presented by these two worldviews, the one I was brought up with and the Christian one. I eventually decided that the the Christian worldview matched the reality that I could observe better than the atheist one.

So that's the four-sentence answer to your question. I'd be willing to go into detail but the topic is so broad that we'd have to narrow it down somewhat. I can also recommend an excellent book to start explaining religious philosophy: A Guide for the Perplexed, by E. F. Schumacher.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Because people need reasons. We are predisposed to look for intention and purpose in the universe. Some people find that in religion.

 

[Greg1234]

Religion exists because there are things in this world which we can not explain adequately and we desire things to have some sort of "meaning" beyond mundane material existence - religion provides the answers and the meaning where otherwise we have none.

The end is where the beginning is. The assumption for answers to the unanswerable is born from reaping what has already been clarified without the help of the atheist, and then using that as an argument. Not realizing that you have conveniently glossed over the starting point, a point you have already replaced with your belief, and from where you draw your conclusions. It is only natural that you draw your "meaning" from your religion, your purpose from your creator, the primordial soup.

 

[nolongerhome]

The end is where the beginning is.

What does this actually mean in the context of this thread?

The assumption for answers to the unanswerable is born from reaping what has already been clarified without the help of the atheist, and then using that as an argument.

What has already been clarified without the help of the atheist?

Not realizing that you have conveniently glossed over the starting point, a point you have already replaced with your belief, and from where you draw your conclusions.

This is not a coherent sentence. What is the starting point?

It is only natural that you draw your "meaning" from your religion, your purpose from your creator, the primordial soup.

What "religion" am I drawing my meaning from? The primordial soup is not a religion.

Maybe if you spent more time trying to convey your points in an understandable format rather than couching them in an overly-elaborate style which has sacrificed any sense that was contained in your arguments, this discussion would be more productive?

 

[Isambard]

To make people feel good.

 

[Gracchus]

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions."
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

 

[r21c]

To make people feel good.

Yes, I would say that too.

 

[tucker58]

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions."
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

Gracchus, you personally are running the evidence that is based on a person that has never had a personal experience with God. There is no way that you are ever going to understand God. But at the same time, you are also attempting to suggest to others that they also never explore God in a personal way.

Gracchus you are promoting Satan, whom is a valid reality on this message board, and you personally have never experienced God or Jesus or have explored Them as a possible reality.

love,

tuck

 

[Gracchus]

Gracchus, you personally are running the evidence that is based on a person that has never had a personal experience with God.

That is incorrect. I have noted however that the experience of the numinous although ineffable is often interpreted according to the preconceived ideas of the person experiencing it. The Buddhist calls it satori, the Sufi discovers Allah, and the Christian finds in it the Christian god. It is like the seven blind men with the elephant. Each brings away only a part of the experience.

There is no way that you are ever going to understand God.

You, of course, do? And you know for a fact that my understanding is inferior to yours?

"He has shown you, o man, what is good. And what has the Lord required of you, but to love mercy, deal fairly, and to walk humbly with your God?"

But at the same time, you are also attempting to suggest to others that they also never explore God in a personal way.

No, I am attempting to suggest that the idea of God does not mean that we ought to discard reason. To discover God is to begin a journey on a different path. It is not the end of the road.

Gracchus you are promoting Satan,...

It is you who promote him: from imaginary to real. There is no necessity for a "satan" to cause people to acted cruelly. They can manage that quite readily without help.

... whom is a valid reality on this message board,...

I do not recognize the authority of this message board or the majority of this message board to command my thought or belief, although I recognize that the persons running the board may, at their discretion, bar me from posting.

... and you personally have never experienced God or Jesus or have explored Them as a possible reality.

Oh my! You don't even know my real name, but you know all about me, and my religious experiences!

love,...

Spare me the politically correct, although factually false, rhetoric.

 

[jayem]

To make people feel good.

Yes. And more specifically, religious faith mitigates fear--fear of death, fear of adversity, and fear of the unknown.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Why does Religion exist? Because of a natural human inclination to search for meaning in an otherwise chaotic, bizarre and perplexing existence. The most dogmatic of Atheists prefer to view Religion as some sort of mystical collective delusion. I prefer to see it genealogically. The narrative at the core of every religion functions as an answer to some of life's most fundamental questions. Hence, the gods of the Pantheon were not simply 'imagined' in some dazed and incoherent fantasy. Rather, they were the result of Greek thinkers trying to find ideas and meaning in life, which they embodied in the figures of gods. I have no doubt then that religion does exist, for better or for worse, because it has, or did, serve some human need.

 

[BrianOnEarth]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

Is there any believers willing to help me understand their beliefs - or they reasons why they still believe in their God ?

By "in today's world" do you mean in spite of today's knowledge? Knowledge has changed but human nature has not changed. People believe what they want to believe. Want has emotional origins. To what extent has today's knowledge changed peoples' emotional imperatives?

 

[dlamberth]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

Is there any believers willing to help me understand their beliefs - or they reasons why they still believe in their God ?

My thoughts...there is something buried deep within the nature of man that needs to reach outside of himself to give thanks. Often they sense a greater consciousness at work somewhere. Some are pulled by that need, others are not. Those who are, tend to find others with the same pull, and religions are created…Hopefully as a way to help explain that greater consciousness.

The only other thought I'd like to add is that the Human Being does have a spiritual aspect to our being. And in our attempts to understand our spiritual side we join religions hoping that they will provide the answers to what is felt in ones hearts but are not able to be seen with their eyes.

.

 

[kharisym]

Last I read anything on the topic, there were two schools of thought on this subject: Either religion provides or provided some survival benefit or religion is the byproduct of other useful traits. In either case, 'religious thought' can be traced back to a handful of cognitive traits we posses. At an early age we have a tendency to see things in terms of purpose, this is a product of our brains being really good at establishing patterns but really bad at handling randomness. At an early age we also have a distinct tendency to anthropomorphosize our surroundings. Both these traits are fundamental to religion.

Now back to the question at hand, we don't at this time know the actual origins of religion, but there are scientists studying the phenomena.

 

[quatona]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

I have problems following your reasoning here.
Just because concepts are human inventions doesn´t seem to be a good reason to abolish or reject them. In fact and to the contrary, typically we regard our ability to create concepts a great strength. It´s, after all, our concepts that make our realities plausible to us.

 

[Im_A]

One of the reasons I'm an atheist is that God seems to be nothing more than what our imagination can create.

It seems that the only reason we have religion is because we created it and I can't understand why it still exists in today's world.

Is there any believers willing to help me understand their beliefs - or they reasons why they still believe in their God ?

Religion exists because mankind created it.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

God allows Satan to fashion many elaborate false religions that attempt to obscure the true religion, which is the 'called out ones' answering the call of God to be a part of the restoration of his damaged kingdom, becoming perfected beings that will replace the rebels, thus completing the "restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world (age) began." The true religion is 'answering the Call'.