Why do people cling to a delusion created by man, and with all evidence to the contrary still belive in a God?

Question

I did not just decide I didnt believe in God because I have been brought up that way, but I chose to study religion, and I have continued those studies into my University career. This is not a decision I have reached lightly, but one I spent many hours studying and researching and, unfortunately, my decisions are based upon empirical evidence (I am now studying law so evidence is vital), not this so-called thing called 'faith', and the empirical evidence points towards God not existing. I have looked into it, tried to understand, attended church and I hate to tell you but you are all deluding yourselves.
I want to know why. Why do you believe? I know the whole freedom doctrine, and I know all the various reasons/excuses, but religion occurred in its earliest form in paganism, and developed through the years because the people couldn’t understand the world and what was happening around them so meteors became "signs", basic tidal patters became the parting of seas, and with the advent of science we now know why.
So why do people cling to a delusion created by man to explain the world around them?

Answer 1

Religion is the result of man's fear of death and his inability to explain his existence.
As P.T. Barnum once said, "There's a sucker born every minute, and two to take him."

It's the oldest and most successful business in existence.
It's been used to control the masses and their money for eons, and is alive and well today. Witness the Vatican and it's billions of dollars.
People are incredibly ignorant and show no signs of changing.
As a Priest once said, "Give me a child for the first 5 yrs of his life, and I'll give you a Catholic for life.
So, it's a lot about conditioning from birth, and instilling fear of a non-existent place called Hell, if you don't believe. Plus, the fear of being rejected by your friends and family if your beliefs differ from theirs.
Very few study science, but instead, blindly hold on to ridiculous beliefs about places called heaven, with virgins, angels, streets of gold, and other such total nonsense.
Religions all have a bloody history, because those in power have all used it as an excuse to go to war and take power from others.
The Christians who are so "holier than thou," should stop to think that the Nazis were all Christian, and the bloody crusades were done in the name of Christianity, both of who murdered and tortured untold millions.
Religions are all dangerous, as history bears out.
Unlike others, I make no claim to know what created all this. But, whatever it is just has to be up there wondering when we'll ever start using the other 90% of our brains, and think for ourselves.
Study the sciences and you can't possibly believe these intelligence insulting fairy stories.

Answer 2

Here are a few reasons,

It wasn't until the invention of the telescope that people realized that the number of the stars was huge ...in the countless millions. The Bible didn't make the mistake of saying that the number was merely a few hundred or thousand, but rather, in about 600 BC, the prophet Jeremiah says the number is "countless as the stars of the sky and measureless as the sand on the seashore" (Jer. 33:22). Also, from the year 1500 BC, the same concept comes from Genesis 22:17. And this is correct, because we now estimate the number of stars to be approximately 10 to the 26th (which may also be a fair estimate of the number of the grains of sand on all the earth's sea-shores), but the actual number is "countless" for us to attempt to precisely count. ---However, God, who is infinite in knowledge, knows the exact number, as the Bible says, "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name" (Psalm 147:4).

It had long been thought by generations of scientists that birds of prey (such as eagles and falcons) located their prey by means of an acute sense of smell, however it has since then been discovered that such birds actually have a very poor sense of smell. Instead, ornithologists have determined that such birds have remarkable vision capabilities. In fact, it has been discovered that while some such birds are diving to catch their prey, the shape of the cornea varies during the descent, enabling it to maintain a perfect focus. In about 1500 BC, Job 28:7 makes note of the falcon's excellent vision, and in Job 39:27-29 it states that the eagle looks down from an inaccessible cliff, and spies out its prey "from afar."

But the descriptions of scientific truths which the Bible does make (such as listed above), are further evidence that the Bible is authored by the true and living God who created the universe and all of nature, and those who read the Bible can therefore have solid confidence that its words are true and reliable. In fact, no statement of what the Bible teaches or asserts has ever been proven to be false or in error by any real facts of science or history.

You cannot disprove God, He knew that there would be people like you.

Answer 3

If you want to put a scientific explanation on everything then GOD becomes the only answer. I am a mathemetician and I want you to know that the POSSIBILITY of having this earth have just the right tilt and distance from the sun and a sun of it's magnitude and age is in itself nearly a million-to-one impossiblility. Add to this the complexity of the human being, it's complex DNA and every life that exists here make that another near-impossibility. Then take the BIBLE that was written over a 1500 year period by more than 40 writers (with no discrepancies to be found in it) and all of the predictions of the MESSIAH that occurred, another near-impossibility. I just can not see any way NOT to BeLiEvE in OuR FATHER's existance. I hope that this makes sense. I am also an educated person. I have a master's degree with major emphasis in mathematics. My BA was in Math, Education, and Physics (dual major & physics minor). Have a great week!
EDs

Answer 4

I chose to study Evolution to believe in God.

Is God Real? To that I give you the best example I can think of, the Human Brain.

Studies, like that done by the University of Michigan, and features in the Discovery Channel program, The Amazing Life of the Human Brain, shows just how amazing the human brain is.

Every second while awake, we are absorbing 40MBs of data per second. That’s 144 gigabytes per hour and about 2 terabytes per day. That’s a lot of data even for the largest computer. When we sleep at night, and only at night or under nighttime conditions, all that data is sorted and stored through the creation of synaptic connectors and biochemical bounds. The brain has enough volume to allow for the creation of these storage connectors to last over 10,000 years.

Without the need of a creator, what evolutionary pressure could cause the need for this much volume that would take that long to fill? Clearly, man was either created by God to live that long, or if evolve, once lived that long, and has since de-evolved to what we are today. Which do you think it is?

This is why I believe in God. I use the brain he gave me, and designed for me, to determine something beyond imagining.

Answer 5

Everyone needs something to believe in. I believe in God, I believe He's real, I believe the Bible is true & I believe Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, whether anybody else chooses to or not. I know that prayer works, God hears & answers. I have had prayers answered too many times to be coincidence. There is an order to the universe that did not just happen, there has to have been a creator. I beleive that God created us with a space inside us that only He can fill & most people search their whole lives for something to fill that space. Why is it so hard to believe that God created us & that He wants to have a relationship with us? I will tell you this: God is a spirit & He cannot be discerned with your natural finite mind. You must have simple, child-like faith to accept & believe what you cannot see. God IS & you will find Him if you diligently seek Him.

Answer 6

Most likely because there is no evidence to the contrary. " How is the fact that we are primates even debatable? " Very easily when considering there's not a shred of evidence for it. " All we have to do is look over modern biology and anthropology, and see that, besides those silly pseudosciences, there is no case for that whatsoever. " A smart guy like yourself ought to know that the argument from authority is a fallacious argument to make. Because so and so has such and such a title therefor so and so is right. Or this institution says such and such so such and such must be right has proven disastrous and is not logical.

Answer 7

"the empirical evidence points towards God not existing"

You should have listed this.

I don't believe in the God you don't believe in either, an awesome intelligence in the universe (sometimes called the Supreme Being or God) exists.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 8

What evidence to the contrary do you speak of? Evolution? May I remind you the evolution is still a theory. It hasn't been proven without a doubt. You seem to me as a person that only believes facts. This is fine unless you go to extremes. For example would you believe your child or family member if they told you that someone hurt them, even though they had no facts to prove it? If you are a person that only believes in facts then you would tell them that they cling to a delusion much like you say to Christians. I believe that fact must be balanced out with faith. Without a balance one can go to extremes either way and miss the truth. You may email me if you would like to discuss further.

believe

Answer 9

there have been times in my life when i have longed for religion. all of these times were marked by severe sadness and confusion. i have never been able to adopt religious beliefs of any kind. it never really seemed to make sense to me. i think religion serves as an antidote of sorts to quell the aforementioned sadness and confusion. at times, the realization of mortality and the absolute random nature of life just seizes hold of me and i can barely stand it. i feel so afraid of death and the possibility of harm of all kinds. i have "prayed" to "see the light" so i could experience relief from such bad feelings. this is what makes it all too obvious to me why people cling so fervently to religious beliefs. no one wants to accept that we are merely one of billions of species on this one of who knows how many planets. they fear they are insignificant and that their actions are inconsequential. this fear can result in utter depression and a lot of people can only escape it through religion. i think this is the general reason for the existence of religion. i've managed to get through by realizing that while i am insignificant in the GRAND scheme of things, i can be quite significant on a microcosmic level. i'm figuring you were looking for answers from individuals who do practice a religion though.

Answer 10

You can see evidence every where you look, you simply ignore what you don't want to see.

In places and people without God you find all manor of hopelessness and in people with God you don't see that.

I've been exactly where you are, I hope and pray that you actually try looking where you've already looked but this time with an open heart.