Why are people religious

[pure_ego]

taking a basic study of world religion and have a paper due in a few days.

rather than run around asking a buncha random people (you guys are random.. so whats the difference?) a question and whatnot.. I'm asking you guys/gals.

"Why do you think people are religious?"

you can talk as long as you want... but just FWIW..

I have to summarize whatever you say in about 50 words so no point in doing a novel.

also a bit about your religious background (if it doesn't bother ya) would be helpful.

leave your mark on the world... be filed away in some ancient filing cabinet for the duration of history as being mentioned in a silly little paper by EGO.

plus the people I've already asked seem to have wildly different opinions so it will probably be interesting and start a brawl!

haha.. well no.. no brawls.. but something ot talk about anyway.

 

[SAMBUSA]

Look at poor neighborhoods. There are more churches there than what are in rich neighborhoods. It's because religion gives people a hope/belief that things will be better.

Not why I'm religious, but my opinion on why some are.

Non-denominational Christian for 28 years

 

[BiG-T]

What's your definition of "religious"?

 

[Relsek]

(BiG-T @ Sep. 07 2006,21:54) What's your definition of "religious"?

+1, or in my words, what do yo mean by religious?

 

[Lamb busa]

There aren't alot of true leaders in the world! Followers need something bigger than themselves to be led by!

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

Tough question.
I will need to reflect upon this and then post my best 50 words.

 

[BiG-T]

(Lamb busa @ Sep. 07 2006,22:02) There aren't alot of true leaders in the world!  Followers need something bigger than themselves to be led by!

Interesting.....so what does that say about leaders? Are they not religious?

 

[Don Hardcastle]

Humans, by in large, need the answer to the question, "Why?". Originally the "Gods" were used to explain the inexplicable. Science has explained a lot of things for us, ie. Apollo's chariot doesn't really carry the sun across the sky.

Now days ppl are religious because we have to have something to believe in. Something that can not be tangible. If it is tangible it can be proven wrong or can have faults. If it is intangible, we can believe it is perfect and no one can prove us wrong.

As a student of psychology, just my $.02.


Don

PS. Use any, all or none of what I said. I would be interested in you opinion of my thoughts.

 

[JINKSTER]

"Why do you think people are religious?"

uhhhmm...justa wild guess here but i'm gonna go with...

"cause...'he11 for eternity'...really bites the big one?

old church women...headed off on sunday morn'in with a tamborine under one arm and a bible under the other..."crashing for their finals".

L8R, Bill.

 

[Relsek]

Perhaps you should ask the people that fit your description of religious, rather than asking people why they think other people are religious.

That's like asking me, a tall skinny fellow "Why are people fat?" I'm likely to say it's because they eat too much and or do too little. I may or may not be correct, just like Lamb busa and all the others that are going to chime in, they are just throwing up what seems obvious to them, rather than digging a little deeper and finding out from someone who knows.

 

[extreemachine]

People need something to believe in. Some people.

 

[JINKSTER]

(extreemachine @ Sep. 07 2006,16:20) People need something to believe in. Some people.

or perhaps?..."something to believe in"...needs people?

just a thought.

 

[chrisjp]

religon is a heavenly way to go to hell...too many humans in control putting in thier 2cents and religion is the biggest buisness on the planet

non denominational christian

 

[pure_ego]

(Relsek @ Sep. 07 2006,12:59)

(BiG-T @ Sep. 07 2006,21:54) What's your definition of "religious"?

+1, or in my words, what do yo mean by religious?

the "official" definition we are using for "religion"

it's a long story.. but the short version is...

the word "Religion" comes from an older word.. "Rligare" (latin I assume) which means

"to link back to something"

he went on to explain that from that defintion we would use the following as the definition for "Religion"

2 things linked together..

1. world we live in
2. whatever world we (you, whoever) attempts to link back too.


I've got about 10 other ones for it here... but in the prof's opinion are either too broad, or too narrow.

Some of them are interesting..

Carl Jung - "An Instinctual drive towards whole-ness."

William James - "Belief that there is an unseen order beyond our common perception."

There is one for everybody..

typically this one gets picked by christians over the rest..

James Martineau "Belief in an ever living god -- holding moral relations with man."

Atheist...

Sigmund Freud "Universal Obsessional Neurosis"

At the end of the day.. whatever your definition of religion is... is the one I need to know why you think people do it.

interesting stuff though.. really glad I took it even though I don't "need" it.

 

[pure_ego]

(Relsek @ Sep. 07 2006,13:17) Perhaps you should ask the people that fit your description of religious, rather than asking people why they think other people are religious.

That's like asking me, a tall skinny fellow "Why are people fat?" I'm likely to say it's because they eat too much and or do too little. I may or may not be correct, just like Lamb busa and all the others that are going to chime in, they are just throwing up what seems obvious to them, rather than digging a little deeper and finding out from someone who knows.

if you believe carrots are the supreme being in your life.. thats fine.

Doesn't matter what type of religion you got... if any. Even Atheist have an opinion of why non-atheist are religious.


Thats the reason I said you could share your religious background or not.

for the carrot example..

why do you think people are worshipping carrots.

same thing I'm asking.. just worded to include the people that worship carrots, celery, and apricots as well.. lol

 

[pure_ego]

(usn04limited @ Sep. 07 2006,13:06) Humans, by in large, need the answer to the question, "Why?".  Originally the "Gods" were used to explain the inexplicable.  Science has explained a lot of things for us, ie.  Apollo's chariot doesn't really carry the sun across the sky.

Now days ppl are religious because we have to have something to believe in.  Something that can not be tangible.  If it is tangible it can be proven wrong or can have faults.  If it is intangible, we can believe it is perfect and no one can prove us wrong.  

As a student of psychology, just my $.02.


Don

PS.  Use any, all or none of what I said.  I would be interested in you opinion of my thoughts.

I think thats part of it. I think another major factor would be if you think about the different versions of "the other world" (the equal of heaven in whichever religion your talking about.. nearly all of them have one afterall) ..

anyway.. if you look at the other world everything that is wrong in the earthly world... is not wrong there.

desire to have something better than the life one knows.

anxiety/fear of simply dying and ceasing to exist in any form

Using religion to guide your choices/life. I won't lust after supermodels because it is a sin, AND i will be a better person because of it. ..

etc.

I think those are probably my 3 favorite ideas about it.

my wife said it was because when situations are beyond our personal control we have to atleast feel like someone/something IS in control and can intervene if he/she/it so desires.

,, ya know.. loved one diagnosed with killer cancer and praying for the miracle or something along those lines.

I liked that one pretty good too.

 

[MoosesBusa]

I think "religion" is a necessity in any society. Religion offers a commom set of behavioral standards that can be applied to all within a specific geographical area. The majority religion sets the standards by which all must conform. When the US was founded Christianity was the masses choice of religion so the laws were made to reflect that. a couple hundred years later fewer and fewer people were "Active" or "Practicing" Christians and the stardards were compromised little by little until you have the society we are faced with today. The masses are not happy and IMO a return to our Christian roots is on the horizon.
To boil it down to my expressed thoughts simplest form... Religion = crowd control

 

[Rocketman]

Guess I'm one of the 'religious' goofs on earth - so I'll share my 2c. (Weak-minded though I may be - according to so many.) This is a totally dangerous post since a motorcycle forum isn't exactly a spiritual place to air this kind of question. But hey...

For me, life doesn't make any sense without meaning and purpose. What's the point of being a good person if you're just gonna die and be nothing anyway. I do not believe that people are here on this planet for 'no reason'. That is a pretty lackluster end to an awesome beginning. I spend my whole life raising a family, falling more in love with my wife, learning, expanding my understanding and for what? To just die and ba-bye family, wife, knowledge, etc? I don't buy that for one minute.

People look to religion, in my opinion, because there is an innate feeling of something bigger than just turning into dirt. Something spiritual. Where did I come from, why am I here, and where am I going after I die. Questions many, or most want answers to.

And since we have various historical records that teach us about the answers to these questions and many more, there is religion in the world. It's not about control. It's not about weak minds. It's about trying to understand the purpose of this planet and what we're doing on it.

Pretty deep topic...

 

[Wag]

Wow. I could go on about this ad infinitum. Sometimes, I do!

I think people are religious because it gives them answers. The veracity of the answers may be debatable but that's a different thread altogether. For some reason, NOT having answers is troublesome to people, if not downright terrifying. Throw an inherent fear of the unknown into the mix (after death answers) and you have just the right recipe for people following religion.

I used to be religious until it was apparent that it's okay not to have answers to some questions. Really. Not knowing what's going to happen to you when you die is not going to affect my life. Not knowing how the universe was created has no impact on me. Indeed, when I kicked my childhood cult religion to the curb, the quality of my life improved dramatically and immediately. I have great concern for people who believe that if you don't have something to look forward to in the next life, you have no purpose to life.

Au contraire, my friends. Believing as I do that there is nothing after this life makes my life that much more of a treasure to me. I make the most of it BECAUSE I believe there is no afterlife and for that reason alone, I live life to the fullest, as much as possible. I know too many religious people who are living out a miserable life because they believe it will all be made better in an afterlife. They fail to reach their full potential which is truly sad. Never make the mistake of believing that just because a person believes there is no afterlife that they have no reason to live!

Granted, there are exceptions on all sides and I speak only in generalities and from personal experience and person opinion.

Of course, I could be wrong but one thing I refuse to do is be dishonest about my beliefs. I'm NOT going to go to church and pretend to believe. If I did so, I doubt that any god would accept that as a legitimate life of "belief." The heart would speak loudly.

That statement by Moosesbusa that religion = crowd control is right on target. Marx had it nailed.

At the risk of offending many, but being completely honest here, it seems that many people who are religious are religious because they want answers. The problem is, religion is lazy and gives people easy answers for which they do no work and put forth no effort. That's the primary reason, in my never-to-be-humble opinion that the flock is so often fleeced, mentally and materially. They listen to a minister who gives them authoritative answers and go their merry way without trying to determine for themselves if they even agree with the minister, much less if he's right or wrong.

Science, on the other hand will A) admit that they don't know and B) work hard to find their answers.

This is a very complex subject. Way moreso than 50 words will explain but I wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes.

--Wag--

 

[Lamb busa]

This topic is awesome!  crowd control,  fear of death,  something to do with our time?  All great thoughts!