2007-05-28 03:59:38 · 14 answers · asked by Watcher 465 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Many people responded the way jonjon said they would.
Yes SombreEbony, I know what Karl Marx said.
2007-05-31 03:47:56 · update #1
It's most likely because that is the most recent god in a long list of gods people throughout history have believed in, and people just assume that particular god is true because they were raised to believe in it. They can't get their heads around the fact that had they been born in say, ancient Egypt, they would have believed in Ra instead.
2007-05-28 04:10:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It would take pages to answer this fully, but let's skim the surface of it:
Basically, no one starts out from birth as a believer, but they all have the ability to believe. That's hard-wired in the brain, and evolutionary theory has some ideas about why, like about how that could enhance a tribal band's cohesiveness and lead to better odds of survival.
As you grow up, everyone around you is a believer. Your brain is like an unplanted garden that will grow whatever lands in it, especially if you start while young. It will become incorporated into your identity, and you will end up thinking that you'd be lost without it. People send you all sorts of messages, like to be without belief would be immoral, as though you could not be ethical independant of religion. But this is because historically in our culture, the religious have been the enforcers of our moral code (and many of our immoral ones). Questioning these teachings will be punished with negative feedback, and accepting them will be praised and rewarded with a more full status or membership within a community. It's not hard to see how people cave to the peer pressure.
Religion also provides answers. I'm not saying they're right answers, but we naturally ask questions that few other voices (maybe philosophers) are answering in a way that would appeal to people. Questions like the purpose of life, the ultimate source and fate of things, how should I live to be a good person, etc.
Plus, religion promises you a lot. The afterlife. Ultimate justice. Things people want to believe in badly, even if we have no basis in real evidence for those things.
Religion is almost like humanity's training wheels, helping to keep us upright and ethical until we can learn how to stay that way on our own - that is, for the sake of being ethical itself.
Lastly, the missionary effect. Since believers believe it is good to be a person of faith, they have worked very hard over the millenia to spread their particular messages to every person possible in order to "save" them and to add to the overall power of their own belief system.
We are now so deeply entrenched in this way of thought that it appears we may never collectively climb out, even if our more skeptical or critical thinkers do.
2007-05-28 11:18:22 · answer #2 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Um, I don't. So much for everyone.
Of course, I'm not a Jew, Muslim or Christian. If you want to know why most people in Western society DO belong to the "Abrahamic" tradition, I think the only real answer is that history just happened to pan out that way. Members of these religions would say it's because their god is "God," but so would members of every other tradition.
2007-05-28 11:02:24 · answer #3 · answered by jonjon418 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Jews and Christians do believe in the same God. However, dont include muslims in the list. Allah is a fase evil god. He is not the same as the one true God.
2007-05-28 11:30:16 · answer #4 · answered by arikinder 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watcher, do you know the God of the Jews? He is not the God of the Christians who is a living God and tht is why the nailed Jesus to the cross because they do not believe that Jesus is the son of God.
jtm
2007-05-28 11:07:51 · answer #5 · answered by Jesus M 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You know what Karl Marx said.
2007-05-28 11:07:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a christian I can understand you asking that question.
You will not get an answer (says in the Bible, KJV or NIV) until.......you believe and have faith (all comes from God alone) Read the Bible and you make a choice. I hope you make a.......... good choice....sincerely. Thank you for
letting me comment on this question.
2007-05-28 11:23:46 · answer #7 · answered by terry m 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most people worship the true God, because it is pretty obvious that he is the true God. the alternatives are (1) man-made idols, (2) natural phenomena, or (3) no god at all. To any reasonable person who truly searches for God, these alternatives are not acceptable.
2007-05-28 11:13:02 · answer #8 · answered by infinity 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Because He's the One True God.
2007-05-28 11:02:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Everyone doesn't.
I follow Isis and Osiris.
2007-05-28 11:06:13 · answer #10 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋