why do people believe in religion?

Question

no im not an athiest. but i have not made up my mind about anything so far. why are people religious?

1. do they fear life itself would be pointless since we are all going to die within say 100 years or so.
2. have they been brainwashed to believe that there is a HELL, and they dont want to go to hell.
3. or is it just a hope, every one here answer truthfully have you ever seen an angel, or a demon. has god every really talked to you.
so why do you keep believing.

i mean the univererse is so incredibley large. 1 human being (no matter who he/she is) is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. what seperates us from the animals. we are the dominant species on the planet.but that is cause we are smarter than the rest. So why are we going to heaven/hell and a dog is not. because we have a soul.
the biggest question in the entire universe would have to be what happens when you die. the muslims that crashed into the towers on 9-11 thought they were right. religion?

Answer 1

There's at least a couple dozen questions or so in there. If I was wider awake I might tackle the whole thing.

The people that crashed the planes were fanatics. Even athiests can be fanatics (example = Pohl Pot's Khmere Rouge)

I think there's a Hell. For years I didn't want to think there was, but I've come to the conclusion there. is. I'd be stupid to want to go there.

I believe because I think it all didn't happen by accident.

Maybe you should try reading C.S. Lewis. He was an athiest who found the beauty in Christianity.

If Athiesm is right, and there is no afterlife, no God, no reincarnation, etc., then I won't be out anything by being a Christian, because in that case, it won't matter if I'm wrong, now will it? The end result would still be the same. I can't think of what I'd be missing out on by being one, anyway.

However, if they're wrong, then I better choose well.

And don't tell me how happpy athiests are, either. I've never met a happy one yet, and from the questions the post on Yahoo answers, (example: "What part of the Bible makes the best toilet paper?") I doubt there are any.

The worst thing that will happen by being a Christian is that I'll be happy and I'll strive to be a good human being and help others...not because I have to, but because it's the right thing to do. Is that really so bad?

Answer 2

basically every human being has will to know God because he or she has godly spirit in him/her, then it depends on how that human being react it. That is way every human being know and can differentiate the right and the wrong thing even though most of the time like to do the wrong one.
Religion was made by human. For example the word Christianity came after Jesus was not in the earth. He did not ask us to be Cristian but believe in Him. Another word the word religion it self was made by human being. So if you don't believe in religion is okay but you have to believe God and the Salvation by Jesus Christ and do what you believe.

Answer 3

I guess some people get religion and relationship mixed up. People who are religious are some of the most mixed up group. Just look around and you'll see people willing to kill and die for what they believe. However; we are called to be disciples following a relationship with Jesus. The choice is never taken away from you. Jesus talked about Love and Forgiveness. Not war, killing, and dying. Physical life wasn't meant to last forever. That is one reason why we need to starting thinking about the spirit we carry around with us. The spirit in us lives on when we shed this life.

Answer 4

I do not believe in religion, I believe in God. I have had two encounters with angels and have had the Lord Jesus speak to me. My experiences will not help you or anyone else however it is impossible for anyone to know anothers personal experience.
The only thing that separates us from the animals is the fact that God made us in his own image. The Muslims that crashed into the towers on 9-11 were radical, murderous terrorists, it didn't have anything to do with them being right and everything to do with dragging America into the crap hole they've been in for centuries.

Answer 5

You say you're not an atheist but your question sure reads like you are. God has proved to us that He exists in all of creation. God has proved He exists through the teachings, life, death, resurrection that, takes away our sin, through Jesus Christ. We have those things plus the Bible, thousands of Christian books,Christian Church's, Christian preachers, etc. and you want even more proof? USE, really use, what we have and answer your own question

Answer 6

If people didnt believe in religion then a lot of peoples lives would be meaningless.

Early Americans practically forgot about religion and it was in chaos- The quakers came and reintroduced it and the country stablizied.

Answer 7

1. Human beings are just social animals.
2. We developed because we are the fittest (Darwin theory). This fitness comes from social rules and practices like institution of marriage, institution of community, religion, villages,public behaviour etc.
3. We protected our breed by thinking and implementing all the above things.
4. Religions is just one of the tool for survival and development of human race.

Answer 8

For me, I believe in religion because it provides me with guidelines that can make me happier to live life. We always need something to hold on to. I'm a Buddhist and my religion help to be more respectful toward others and I'm happy with my religion.

Answer 9

What is that religion you are talking about. To my understanding whatever you have mentioned here are the beginning of a religion and not the end itself. Heaven and hell are certain ideas that are preliminary ideas in any religion. Those are preliminary teachings for a budding child and we unfortunately stop with them rather than growing with religion.

Mother religion cannot be blamed for the atrocities committed in her name by foolish interpretations nor mother science can be blamed for scientific destructive events in the world. The solution is only in making sincere efforts in growing UP towards the goal of religion.

Religion is not just a belief but a scientific path towards a Goal.
Spirituality is the Goal of religion. Religion is from the word Religare which means to unite (to your own source).

Religion is that which leads to God and not to heaven or hell.

In the famous book of Hinduism, Bhagavat Gita 2:42 & 43, the Lord himself declares that "Flowery speech is uttered by the unwise. Full of desires, having heaven as their goal, they utter flowery words"

Heaven is not the goal of any religion. Goal is our own Self (Godhood). Realise our own source is Godhood. This quest will be in all of us as search of happiness until we attain it. We are ruled by our thoughts which could only end when we stop identification with our thoughts. Anything that is ours is not us. It is apart from us.

So philosophical portion of religion shows the way and the spiritual practices are supposed to be practical lessons. Anyone who does a crime thinking that it is religion is more of a foolish act than that of a religious act.


We are happy when asleep. We say I slept happily. Now after waking up from sleep, we say I am sorrowful, stressed. So what is the reason for stress. We cannot say that I was not conscious when asleep. If so how do you feel that you slept happily. Modern science and western psychology may call it subconsciousness or through other terms. In our culture we say that it was our natural state, but we most of the times colour ourselves with thoughts and assume that thoughts are us.

Anyway the problems are because our identification with the thoughts. So the solution to the problems are always because of I and mine. The solution can be by understanding who is that I which is referred, whether it is our thoughts or whether it is our real nature. Thoughts cannot be us, because it keeps changing and flowing in front of us. Anything which could witness is apart from ourselves.

This is meditation in Indian terms, finding out "WHO AM I" also called as Gnyana Yoga, the path of knowledge. In this way we find that we are our true nature and sorrow is only because of identification with useless temporary thoughts chain parading before us.

Devotion is complete surrender as everything is yours (including me). Even in that case there is no stress because we see everything as a gift of the primordial cause (GOD), so there is nothing for me separately, there even I am His. This also leads to the same goal.

All great saints have proved to be living experience of that contended state of Godhood. That is the goal of religion and not the petty acts that happen by misinterpretation of religion.
The Kingdom of Heaven is within us is the experience of all saints. "I am that I am", "I am Brahman (God)" are statements of those who realised the natural state of contentment and Godhood. May we all reach that natural peaceful state of ours with our own religious efforts.

Answer 10

I'm a pretty staunch atheist (member ACLU, Secular America) but I find religion really important because it makes me *religiously* work to improve myself.

No non-religious atheist can tell me religion does not work until they have meditated daily, studied their mind and consciousness and seriously studied the nature of reality.

I've seen the 'atheists' post here and I'm usually embarrassed by their shallow understanding of these thing. "Morality is using common sense", "I believe in 'reason'", "I'm a 'Free Thinker", "Religious people are brainwashed", "Religious people fear death", etc, etc, etc,

It's like smurfs talking about humanity and the universe.