Why do we have religion?

Question

Is it because of fear of the unknown?

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. ... A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.

— Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

Answer 1

Short story, religion starts as a vague feeling that there are things that you can't understand, and your mind starts making up rules. This is the superstition phase, then there is the animism phase, where you start making up an organized system of superstition Ok, fast foward here, you realize you can control your friends behaviour, and better yet, make them support you if you have a line of BS to hand out. DOn't forget to promise stuff, because they aren't going to do this for free. ALso threaten, just in case. ANd of course, make sure that your promises cannot be verified or disputed, because they are in the afterlife, not here.
Got it? good, now go out and get rich, and don't forget where you heard it first...

Answer 2

My mom is a very religious person. I would consider myself spiritual, but not extra ordinarily religious [that is to say that I do have my faith and beliefs, but they go no farther than the average person who believes in God, and tries to make good choices in life and be a good person.]
I don't think, for most people, that Religion has anything to do with fear or the unknown. I think that people just find something that they believe is the truth, and live by that truth. When my mom was younger, she was far from Christian. In fact, she probably sneered at anyone who said they believed in god. But after some coaxing she at least gave religion a chance. Sought out answers to some of the questions she had, and really got to understand what it was all about. Ever since, she's tried her best to live life by what she *believes* is the truth. Not because she's scared, but because it makes her happy, and she feels that she's striving towards something greater than anything we know. In addition to this, by believing, and putting her faith BEFORE her natural fears, she has found the strength to overcome so many obsticles that we've come across in life.

Answer 3

Religion is one of the oldest forms of control. If you fear god, you don't do this. Give them a book and say it has all the answers, and they won't ask any questions. (Shakespear had a hand in writing one version, so how true could it really be) I'm not saying that god is not real, all I'm saying is that man has taken spirituality and gone crazy with it. Yes people are scared of the unknown but, they fear the wrath of god more. We do need knowledge but, we also need acceptance. There are so many religious people out there that do not have any acceptance. Gay people for example, religious people are so quick to jump on them for wanting to get married. Or for even saying that they are gay. God made them that way but, they are sinners. Does that sound like acceptance?............Anyways, fear controls everyone in some way, It just sucks that spirituality got mixed up in the middle.

Answer 4

It has always been my belief that religion was invented by the poorest of the population. For most of recorded time, there was always a large percentage of the population just getting by. Then there were kings, queens, ect. To make those who had nothing feel better, religion was invented so that when they die, they get to go to a better place, heaven.

I always find it funny that we look back and laugh ridiculously at how people back in the years 400BC did things, but believe without a doubt that a bunch of stories passed around about a guy named Jesus are absolutely positively true. I always thought it would be funny if Jesus were just a really good magician. Think of how simple the people were then. It wouldn't take much to make them think that you were "sent from God".

When it all comes down to it though, religion was invented as a life insurance policy for people to believe they will have it better in the next life. That their good deeds would be rewarded. I believe in good deeds but i don't do them to satisfy a ficticious God, i do it because thats the right thing to do.

Answer 5

Not everybody needs religion but most people need guidance - some kind of framework for their spiritual life

The problem seems to be that most people ar reluctant to change or they dont see the big picture

As I understand it - the universe is unfolding and th social laws need to be updated from time to time - thats part of the purpose of a religion - they all have the same core beliefs, but th social laws and practices ar different

Like all things in nature - each religion has its time, then a new one comes along - so the people who hold fast to the old one end up loosing the plot - hence the confusion and conflict

if ud like to check out the latest religion visit: www.bahai.org

Answer 6

Very young people imagine that religion is to keep us from being afraid to die, but that isn't the whole story. We have the deaths of our loved ones to recover from as well. Religion is what keeps us from being afraid that we will never see our grandparents again.
We also use it to solidify our marriage commitments, to give us hope when we are sick and to wish each other good luck in many different circumstances.
It is also the simple way to tell children about the importance of following the rules and a way for us to claim authority about some of the laws we make when we would otherwise have to say that a certain act is "just wrong".
Religion is also very useful nowadays in explaining much of the history of art, literature and warfare.
I think that just about covers it. If I think of anything else, I'll come back and edit it in.

Answer 7

It is really regretful that you have no knowledge about religion and you dare conclude that religious teachings are "words uttered long ago by ignorant men." Who are you to say that Religious Founders...are ignorant men?!
Religious people don't fear the unknown; they only fear the One True God, the Most Hidden of all the hidden and the Most Manifest of all the manifest.
It is you that fear the unknown. You know nothing about religion, you fear it and you say such blasphemous words about it!
Please think and rethink about your own knowledge. Wise and educated people never dare say words like yours.

Answer 8

I believe religion was not created by man, but given to us by God to teach us who He is and how to relate to him. The formation of religions is undoubtedly due to our questions about what is real beyond what we can see and understand. There are many questions that can't be answered beyond what you readily perceive. These questions can't be ignored if we're smart. But there is only one religion that is backed up by real evidence and facts. That would be Christianity, the kind that believes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. God created us because He wanted a family. He wants a personal relationship with us. And only He can do what other humans or ourselves can't do for us. If you call upon Him, if you seek Him with all your heart, and listen to or read His word the Bible with an open heart, you will find Him, or rather He will find you. He is already drawing you every day to come to Him!

Answer 9

faith:- faith is a equipment of ideals and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. there are a number of faiths interior the international on the instant. a number of those religions are of modern beginning place yet maximum of them are very previous. in actuality all of us be attentive to from background that guy has consistently had a faith. Even the primitive men residing in caves or jungles had some form of religion. The suggestions and rituals in guy's faith have continuously superior and become extra rational and state-of-the-paintings as time went on. The primitive religions of the Cave guy and the Bush guy gave upward push to the well-known religions of the previous 3 thousand years. on the instant, the main important religions of the international comprise: international faith ----- Originated in Zoroastrianism ----- Iran Confucianism ----- China Hinduism ------ India Taoism ------ China Jainism ------ India Judaism ------ Neat East Christianity ------ close to East Islam ------ close to East Buddhism ------- India Shinto ------- Japan those are the super religions of the international that are actually not in easy terms in charge for all our amassed wealth of awareness, philosophy, ethics, and social and ethical codes, yet have inspired the subculture, the language and the ethical attitudes of purely approximately each individual residing on the instant. distinction between non secular and Non non secular Peoples. a million. The non secular human beings have faith in something on an identical time as the others do no longer. 2. The non secular human beings carry out particular acts of worship on an identical time as the others do no longer. 3. The non secular human beings look to stay with a definite code for his or her social and ethical behaviour on an identical time as the others do no longer. 4. The non secular human beings come across a objective of life and characteristic a distinctive philosophy in direction of it, on an identical time as the others do no longer.

Answer 10

Atheism is based on the fear of actually having to account for your actions. Religion is soley based on reality. When we started believing in gravity it wasn't because we were afraid of floating away. It was because we didn't want the cnsequence of falling off a cliff.