Why?

Hello everyone, it's your favorite agnostic! I have a question I'm sure someone can answer: Why believe in a religion? Now, I'm not bashing anyone's faith. I really don't care if you believe in it or not but I'm truly curious as to what the proof is in any of it. Why would you believe, well, anything a money sucking pastor tells you? (no offense to those with a nice pastor, I've seen them) Are you just listening to your parents beliefs?

Those are all interesting questions! The first one I don't even know if I can give an answer too. Some believe based on fear, and others believe based on the opposite. I can only speak for myself as a believer, but I am not going to give away what I believe in. Considering what my answer is I see no reason to.

Religion to me is what creates a conviction throughout our entire being. It convinces us of the truth spiritually. I don't believe anything like that can be concluded through reasoning (concerning a pastor or spiritual leader) or inherited from parents. It is something you have to connect with. So I appreciate hearing what others have to say about their experiences as I would share mine.

Bottom line, I don't believe that the spiritual is a mind game full of reasoning but a reality within you that resonates with the living truth. So I don't think that I have a good enough answer to your first question.

I don't believe in any religions, and consider myself a soft/weak atheist as I don't believe that there is a God. There could be, but right now, the lack of evidence for such a being doesn't really convince me that there is so I just go along with life. I think I'm mainly that way as my parents weren't religious and didn't bring me up to believe in anything particular, though my father was raised as a Christian/Baptist. I was taught about all the major religions at school, but I still didn't believe in them though we visited churches and even a synagogue. Very nice people, but belief still isn't for me and I don't think it ever will be.

Some people may just be 'Christian' (Or anything else really) because of their parents. I admit I was that way for a long time myself. But I guess you could say I believe what I do because I had a spiritual experience of sorts (After leaving the faith I was raised in). And that has determined where I am now.

If you are asking for proof, you don't understand the meaning of faith.

i believe in god but i'm not a fan of organised religion...people are corrupt and they doctered things from the bible, and added stuff like hell so they can manipulate people into following their rules, like no sex before marriage, would God honestly care!?

but anyway, does teach people how to be better citizens, weather or not they are true.

Originally Posted by slither

Why would you believe, well, anything a money sucking pastor tells you? Are you just listening to your parents beliefs?

That's a bit of a loaded question there. You've already decided that anyone religious is just believing anything they're told. It's like asking someone why they got a new car by asking them "why would you want to speed?" You've already decided for them that they got the car because they want to speed, rather than giving them a neutral question to respond to.

While people do often end up sticking with their parents' beliefs, that's just as true for atheists as it is for religious people. Your prepositions don't actually address the question of why it would be believed in the first place.

Originally Posted by Thane

If you are asking for proof, you don't understand the meaning of faith.

Yes, the question of God existing is one that in the end can't be scientifically proved, because the question doesn't really make sense in the context. Scientifically proving things involves there being an actual physical thing to measure, and phrasing it that way makes it seem like the existence of God is something that can be proved with a telescope and some patience. It's just an unsuitable question for the topic. Statements like "the existence of God can't be scientifically proven" mean as little to debate as "the existence of love can't be scientifically proven!" It doesn't mean that love doesn't exist, just that you're asking the wrong question because science experiments aren't how philosophy works in the first place. You can't use testable experiments (the foundation of science) to prove or disprove the concept of God any more than you can measure Justice in kilograms.

The fact that "the existence of God can't be scientifically proven" doesn't at all mean that people don't have any kind of background to their claims. The reasons behind belief in God are wide and varied, and range from historical research on miraculous events to personal experiences to philosophical arguments. For example, Bishop N.T. Wright's beliefs have a strong foundation in his experience as a historical scholar and findings on the historical figure of Jesus, while say C.S. Lewis had little experience with that but has several strong philosophical arguments around there being something more to life.

When you ask why, nobody can just give you a complete handy summary of why people believe, because the fact is that it's so complicated that thought applied to religion is an entire branch of philosophy, known as theology. If you're interested in the subject, there's enough to read to last you a lifetime.

Now, I'm not asking for proof, I'm just asking for reasoning. Thank you to smooth sailing for actually trying. I'm not assuming everyone who believes in religion is just listening to what their told. I'm just trying to see why they believe in anything without proof. It truly baffles me.

Because people need things to believe in to get through the hard times. Believing that everything happens for a bigger purpose makes handling loss and failur easier. The belief that there is an afterlife gives people comfirt in death.

Religion is a driving force for a lot of people. It helps people overcome their fears.

For me, I don't believe in God or an afterlife, but it's easy to understand why people do.

Why?

Simple enough question.

And my answer would be because everybody needs something to believe in. Without a belief system life feels empty and we all want to feel full.

People often adopt their parents beliefs cause they are the most accessable and it can often be hard to find what to believe in for yourself. Most people actually prefer to be told what to believe rather than to try and make sense of this world on their own. Thats like being thrown into the woods without a guide (Hidogi as it were lol) and having to make your own map. Not impossible but also not as easy as if someone just guided you through.

Lastly I think its also about the community as much as the religion itself that attracts people. By joining a church community you surround yourself with people of similar interests. Your kids can have wholesome relationships with other kids of the church. And when you have a family issues you can fall back on that church community for support and guidance whereas if you dont have that church, you have to find some form of faith on your own.

1. reasoning is just as solid as physical evidence because physical evidence relies entirely on reason anyway. in this sense, an idea or principle can be proven to be absolutely right or absolutely wrong.
It is a matter of universality

"What is absolutely true is always correct, everywhere, all the time, under any condition. An entity's ability to discern these things is irrelevant to that state of truth." - steve robiner

this brings us to the next point

2. In matters where an absolute truth can not yet be proven or disproven, what ever is MOST correct (whatever is most logical or makes the most sense) should be temporarily accepted until it has been disproven or invalidated in some way.

3. Any thought on those things which can be neither proven or disproven at all must be regarded as being purely speculative.
That is to say, it is illogical to believe in the existence of a god with the same conviction as one would have in believing in his own existence. Ideally, the existence of a god should be treated with indifference.
Love, on the other hand, is just a matter of neurochemicals

also, the idea that the inability of humanity to DISPROVE the existence of God confirms it is senseless - you should never have to disprove a negative, the burden of proof lies on those who believe in God, not those who don't

Why believe? It is a question that I don't believe can be answered for anyone but ones self as there are so many different perspectives that any attempt to generalize in any way becomes meaningless.

For me I have beliefs I follow out of tradition and out of them benefiting me and my life. Though I am a very big atheist sympathiser, I mean that in the sense that I say they have the most likely conclusion based on the evidence (as you would have to assume there is evidence missing to believe in a faith and as you add such assumptions you decrease likeliness... doesn't make you wrong, just reduces how likely it is).

Personally I don't care if I'm right or wrong, it's not why I believe and I don't believe in an afterlife for comfort nor am I made whole by a belief in a special relationship with a deity. I do believe in deities, I just don't have any belief in them caring in me as an individual... maybe if I was a King or a great hero but alas I am not (well not yet :p ). I believe because it allows my to keep a culture, a culture of my ancestors and by proxy my ancestors alive (in my father and grandfather live in me sort of way if you get my meaning) it also enriches my life in a variety of other ways including giving me the will to continue on in situation I know I'd otherwise give up. All of this is true regardless of how likely my beliefs are and even if it was proved that they where 100% wrong I'd still follow them because as I said, to me my beliefs being right or wrong is not the point.

Indoctrination is a transition from prisoner of the womb to prisoner of the mind, with no reactive force before concepts are ingrained within the perception and philosophy one would wield against it. That's the greatest oppression, and one regarded as a civility ritual. One can always ponder "why" but they'll never consider "how" for the mind is conditioned so, broken perhaps. An untapped wisdom.

Originally Posted by Toastergear

Indoctrination is a transition from prisoner of the womb to prisoner of the mind, with no reactive force before concepts are ingrained within the perception and philosophy one would wield against it. That's the greatest oppression, and one regarded as a civility ritual. One can always ponder "why" but they'll never consider "how" for the mind is conditioned so, broken perhaps. An untapped wisdom.

Yea but thats not necessarily a bad thing. I mean ants are indoctrenated in the way that in their minds they act for the good of the colony. In this same fashion the "indoctrenator" creates these religions in order to create a colony where each person feels obligated to help the colony. In that way it forms a structure which has the ability to organize great masses of people. We evolve through trial and error, and this strategy seems to have been working for humanity as a whole for some time now. People want to believe that we are enslaved (I used to be one of them and I'm surrounded by people who are happy being slaves) but the fact is God gave you free will and that can never be taken from you. Honestly you could do whatever the hell you want, you could blow up a church if you really desired that, but you wouldn't because there is something in the church that holds value in your mind because honestly its the only hope we really have in the harsh reality of life.

Heck, Ima indoctrenate my son to believe the same thing. For the good of the family. Anyone who is in charge of other peoples lives would want to create some form of structure to make things more simple for everyone. Of course things would be better if everyone could take responsibility for their own life and destiny, but we gotta work our way up to that point, baby steps.

Why believe? Well, we do have no proof. This is just me, but it gives me hope. It gives me something to hold on to. I have the promise of a better world, and a place of peace. All my life I have been raised in a town, and learning these endless teachings at schools. It just has me believing more and more. Maybe it's because I have been raised in a religion all my life. But, I can't help believing in it. I like believing in it. And I believe that there is a god.

Religions are based off of faith rather than proof. The fact that you try and argue with something that can't be proven just shows how ignorant you really are. And you don't have to go to a church to believe in something. For Christians, everything is in the Bible.

My mom's side of the family are hardcore christians. I believe in God, but it's kind of an on and off thing. I pray every now and then when I'm going through rough times, or when I just feel like I need someone to talk to. I sometimes question God, because there's a lot of things that really disturb me. But overall, I've found that my life has been a little more happier with religion.

Why not?

Why believe in a religion?

People need something to believe in. Be it themselves, other people, or God(s).
I was raised as a Catholic, but became disillusioned to the whole thing.
The faith is nice and all, but it's constraining, too. I'm totally on board for being a nice person, but I start to draw the line at going to church just 'cause, or professing a love for a man who died two thousand years ago. The list goes on.

I don't really care what religion anyone goes by, if it helps them get through the day. Just don't try to force it on me, thanks.

I really don't care if you believe in it or not but I'm truly curious as to what the proof is in any of it. Why would you believe, well, anything a money sucking pastor tells you? (no offense to those with a nice pastor, I've seen them) Are you just listening to your parents beliefs?

There are no absolutes when it comes to people and their beliefs.
Why or why not? You ask why like it has a definite answer. The answer is going to be different for everyone, and not all of us are going to agree.

I'm also an agnostic and I find it very difficult to believe in one religion when all of them basically (no offence to anyone) say, "We're right. Why? Cuz we're right." So.. I can't seem to.. err.. understand which religion is.. 'correct'. But then again, as I think I've posted before, if you're Christian (as an example), and you're right about religion, then awesome. If you're wrong, okay. If you're athiest, and you'r right, that's okay, if you're wrong.. Then that sucks. Isn't that a funny way to look at it? Not that something like that would make anyone believe in it. Either will trying to fear people into religion using something like Hell. It's supposed to be faith. But what if we're all wrong? Who's to know? Aren't we all kinda a little bit agnostic, because even if someone claims they know, no one actually does know what happens after you die.
Uhm, yeah, I bother myself all night with this crap.