The reasons I have identified so far are :
1 - Because people are born into a particular religon/culture and so are raised simply following their parents/society beliefs, which then become ingrained.
2 - Because people find it difficult to accept that "this is all there is"
3- Because people are so amazed by the beauty of the world (including "how it all started") they believe it must have been created by a supreme being
4 - Because people are so down/weak/vulnerable in their life they need their religon to help them cope.
I'm working on a book at the moment about why people believe in gods (and other supernatural things) so I want to start by asking a reader to ask themselves where their belief originates. Can anyone think of any other geenral reasons why people do believe in god, because I don't think there are many more (but would appreciate any feedback)
I don't think there are any more reasons either, but to expand on this: People who fall into groups 1 and 3 are the most likely to convert to atheism. Certainly I used to be a member of both groups, until I realised that all religions cannot be correct, and that the "beauty" of the world is really the result of a combination of our human mind and the natural laws of the universe. Michael Shermer explains it well. Human beings are constantly looking for patterns in everything, even nature.
tonypbx those are all good and valid reasons why people believe in God or gods.But I can think of one more reason.I believe firmly that religion aside from bieng not only societal,and cultural in nature are at the same time a regression to mans primitivism.Old habits die hard and religion has certainly proven that.From the beginning of time man has always wondered what his place in the universe and the entire scheme of things might be.As a result of this curiousity to know they have created religion as an explanation for the unexplained.
This is most evident in Greek mythology and even some ancient tribal religions where all things unexplainable were attributed to a god.For example in Greek mythology all the gods had a function in nature and in their relationship towards man.Poseidon(god of the sea),Eros(god of love),Thor(god of thunder),and Zeus the god of lightning.Primitive religions always tried to appease the gods in times of trouble via human or animal sacrifices etc.
To sum it up religion is one of many of mans quests to know of his and the universes origins.To this day most unexplainable phenomenon is attributed to God in the Western world and in some of the more under developed countries.
i would like to xpand on point no. 4. this is more of a freudian view. people are very scared of the harsh environment, the world, and they need protection from this 'god' they created plus they want to possess this power themselves (my interpretation of, made in god's image). In their minds they feel protected,astraying from reality.
They are made in god's image? they see themselves as pwerfull devine beings who can overcome any circumstence, with god's assistance of cause. They dont see that they are desparate in acquiring power to overcome circumstances.
They project their thoughts into the outside world. in the world that has everyone including us, they want to feel better than us, they want to up their self-esteem using other people.
when someone feels divine, he feels like a god, he wants attention,wants everyone to notice the good he's potraying
a divine person live in his circle,they not even in the same circle as other divine people
There are also the people that are convinced by religious experiences-weather you belive they are real or halusinations is beside the point-that spirituality is real. I don't think they fall into any of the categories.
So called spiritual experiences I have attributed to psycho emotional causes.I once spoke in tongues and believed I felt the spirit of the Lord with me at all times.I felt shivers up my spine and prophesied and seemingly cast out demons and healed the sick in my ministry days.But when I left the church the first thing I did was to try and find explanations to my experiences.And guess what?I found them.There is a formula that most charismatic churches follow whether they do it purposefully or not.
1.You cant feel the holy ghost whithout first being mentally prepared by great oration and inspirational music.Don't forget you most dire need or problem.
2.Then you must let your emotions take over without feeling no shame.After all you are worshiping God and there should be nothing to be ashamed of.
3.Once you have recieved the subliminal message to let the lord take over your being.You too will speak in tongues and dance in the holy spirit with joy and uncontrollable laughter.
As for faith healing I only have two words for you and suggest you look it up if you are not familiar with the term. Psycho-somatic disorder the relationship of the power of the mind to influence the body.
Chatpiloit1969, I'm not arguing with you, I am mearly stating that it does not appear to fit in with the 4 categories.
I agree Dagda spirituality is one of those mysterious grey areas which we know very little about. I am specifically referring to the phenomenon of ghosts,spirits and other things related to the supernatural. Outside of the religious circle I too do not think it fits into the categories stated above.
The reasons I have identified so far are :
1 - Because people are born into a particular religon/culture and so are raised simply following their parents/society beliefs, which then become ingrained.
2 - Because people find it difficult to accept that "this is all there is"
3- Because people are so amazed by the beauty of the world (including "how it all started") they believe it must have been created by a supreme being
4 - Because people are so down/weak/vulnerable in their life they need their religon to help them cope.
I'm working on a book at the moment about why people believe in gods (and other supernatural things) so I want to start by asking a reader to ask themselves where their belief originates. Can anyone think of any other geenral reasons why people do believe in god, because I don't think there are many more (but would appreciate any feedback)
I believe in God because I cannot fathom the universe being created without a creator or designer. Albert Einstein said, "We see a Universe marvellously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws.. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations." -- To me this statement is telling us that Einstein believed something extremely intelligent created this useful structure we call a Universe. However, Einstein did not believe this "Intelligence" was a dictator of the Human race. I believe it is. This is where we differ. I was raised to believe God exists, but my family did not shove it down my throat. I chose to believe in God through my own personal relationship with him. I did not need anyone (including family members) to push their belief onto me. I didn't find God until I was in my early 30's. I don't know what made me turn religious all of the sudden, but I know there must be a reason for it.
Dear Friends
In order to understand why people blieve in God we must first of all think who created God and why.There are people who blame science for not being able to explain a lot of problems of the surrounding nature,where is the universe going?,are we the human kind an accident of the nature or perhaps we where sent by a superior force whis purpose on earth?,and so on.
Those people seem to forget that our species 'Homo sapiens" dwells on the earth for only 40-60 thousands of years which is if you think of it a merely perceptible time compared to milions
of years since the appearance of live on earth.
Yes there are lots and lots of problems which science is not able to solve.But look back ,not far,only 100-150 years ago what did we knew then against what do we know now about nature.
We are as human beings are a link in the great evolution of nature .
For sure there are problems which we don't know to day but we will know them tomorrow or next year or next 100 years or ,may be never.
But before we tend to seek the solution in the existence of superior being called God let's think WHO CREATED GOD AND WHY.
The answer is as simple as it could be:God is a creation of man.
All believers of the three monotheistic religions when asked about any religious problems will refer to Holy scriptures.O.K.
But who wrote those scriptures? We do know to day with great probability when the Old Testament whas written.About the New Testament and the Coran their authors are verry well known.
If we look to day why a man sits down to write a book we know verry well that he has a purpose in writting it
Why should we think that two thousands years ago a man woud sit down to write something without any purpose even if it would be said of him that he wrote being inspired by God
That is only a part of the problem ,the real one being why man created back down in history the believe in a superior force and more of it why does he do it now . The space is here too little in order to elaborate on it so I am only ennouncing it:man created God as a most efficient tool in his dayly struggle for survive.
Ironically God is a link in the Darwinistic struggle of the human species
Hoping for more discussions
Josef