How Do People Find Religion

You presented the statement as if I was claiming the opposite, or thought the opposite, it was at best just some random deepity.

You say you applaud critical thinking but then you stand against it when it is being encouraged? What gives?

The "...or other beliefs" part of my question was in response to the criticism on Christianity. You have pretty strong biases Asmo, that much is clear.

 

I agree of course that religion and politics are often mixed. The facts are so well known they hardly need repeating here.

I've said before that I don't like this black and white discussion about religion. It's generally neither all good or all bad. Religion has produced monsters in the past, but also many people of great genius and vision.

I feel that there is a difference between being religious and being spiritual. Many non spiritual people embrace a particular religion, and some people are spiritual without need of a formal religion, and there are those who are both spiritual and a member of a religion. Generally, people who are closer to the 'core experience' of a particular religion are the least dogmatic and prone to be more open to different forms of spirituality. Those who take an entrenched position based on a literal interpretation of their scriptures are probably the most difficult cases.

However, experience shows that atheists can be every bit as narrow and dogmatic.

 

What Asmo said was 100% correct.

 

In some areas, alternatives to organized religion are quite unappealing. People have strong social incentives to make it work. Social isolation is no fun.

Tonight got bad too, but I cleaned some of it out.

 

I rarely come to Christian forums but it seems there is a disconnect in standards held between what can be said by believers and what can be said by non-believers.

I'll give a response to op and probably make my peace here...

The other day at the library, yes the same place where the courteous custom is to be fairly quiet, some guy started talking out loud about finding God for several minutes. I got the impression there is a sense of empowerment to it. The idea That there is power in the notion of eternal life and having morally reprehensible behaviors all forgiven by dedication to the religion.

A sense of comfort and unexamined validation may make religion appealing at subtler levels.

 

that is true.
All one has to do is read the stickies Skip put up and it is very clear that Christians are at a very distinct disadvantage when discussing their religion here.

 

... except in the Sanctuary subforum. Nonchistians aren't supposed to post in there.

Would you really want to read "come to Jesus" spam all over the forum?

 

I pray, I don't really know what I actually pray, I don't know any of that.. I really focus on the positive energy and personal connection with me, it's so beautiful. And it's really emotional and I cry tears of joy and peace like a huge load is lifted off my shoulders, so much weight and I am always happy and crying because I'm so happy.

I believe there's magick in pyramids, stone henge, crop circles and black eyed kids. Ghosts? I seen about ten myself you could attribute that to my mental health but I don't want to fear death and I don't want to fear Hell, I want to rest at night knowing my soul is well. I'm not an atheist, I believe in the magick, my life right here I know the gods let me have it! I found my missing link and I'm shining while others fall down to hell I keep climbing and I know my soul is content and free, how can I have worry when I hold the key? How can I not see the planets glow, wildlife grows and the rivers flow. Whatever I was missing I ain't missing it now.. And it hit me like POW!!

 

in the yellow pages? under "r"?

 

Most people simply join the religion that they are born into, the religion into which they are indoctrinated on mother's knee. This alone should prove highly suspicious for all religious systems.

The rest is said better by one who was better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfm0GCvsIVA

I find this video to be profoundly spiritual, and it generates many powerful emotions within me. I hope it does the same for you

 

I wasn't raised religious -- I never went to church -- but I did turn to God for a while there. I prayed every night. Then I decided it was dishonest to pray to something that knew my heart.

I don't really like to call myself a theist anymore. I can't really tell if I believe in God or not. I'm not sure what classification I fall under. What is someone who exists in a Schrodinger's Cat like state of simultaneous belief and disbelief? Some people will say it isn't even possible to exist in such a state, but I assure you it is. I am an atheistheist.

I'm not a big fan of religion. I don't know what to do about it, though. I know it's pointless to argue with some people. And I don't really like trying to change people anyway. I like being just "some guy", and religion sort of interferes with that. They try to tell me I'm not just "some guy", that I'm a child of Christ or some such complication.

 

I can't but think the title of the thread "How do people find religion" is a different question than believing what you're reading is true.

A lot of time the believing part is according to which particular "religion" you're reading at the time. For instance, I think John Smith with his magic glasses is hooey, and I sincerely hope they don't believe that. However, many do.

I "found" religion when (desperately) seeking answers, not inside church. I was raised in the church and I would NOT say I found (true) religion there at all. I no longer go, if that tells you anything. Yet I put my faith in God and in the bible as a whole. Although I have my own interpretations of it, I don't "pick and choose" what I want to believe...but I have certain ways I do interpret various part of it. I am also quite familiar with the Apocrypha and the Lost Books and Texts of the Bible. Its very interesting reading but I do not attend a church and would be found by many to have "no religion". Yet I and He know this is not true. Anyway...

I think a person finds religion (spirituality) when both the need and sincerity of the quest is true. That would be the beginning to finding "religion", which I prefer to call it finding one's spiritual answers. The most vile human beings on this earth can claim they have "found religion"...yeah, they walked into the door at such and such an address. They found where religion was, they didn't find it within. And I would bet anything that is the way it is way too often...a person knows where it is, and that is as far as it goes.

 

Maybe if one has the conviction that only one religion is the right one. If not, what is so suspicious? It is only logical that different cultures develop different rituals, concepts etc. In fact, it is quite remarkable how many cultures across the world have similarities in certain concepts without ever taking notice of eachother (highly suspicious! )

Also: when a kid is brought up with cultural norms and values like in our society would you say it is indoctrinated as well?

 

Are you on some level aware that this is actually the conviction held by most religious people in the world? That most of their primary holy texts explicitely spell this out? Do I need to give you quotes from the Torah, Bible, and Quran which explicitely outline how only they are correct and the others are mistaken?

No, I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you actually know this plain fact about religion and are just stirring the pot. You know that most people feel this way. The idea that every religion is a little bit right and a little bit wrong is a post-modernist liberal interpretation which has become popular in recent times and has no actual bearing on the vast majority of theology out there.

All cultures took notice from each other, because we all extend back to a common ancestor. We are all cousins, and so are our cultures; we know for a fact that many religions were plagiarized off many other religions. I know you must know this as well; I give you the benefit of the doubt that in your studies you discovered this fact. So why are you posing the question like this as though the reality were opposite?

Absolutely.

 

Were you not born into the knowledge of Science on your mother's knee also, Writer?

 

So then the problem would seem to be fundamentalism, just like the Pope says.

 

The actual thing is BELIEVE. This is the essence of everything. I respect all the religions because all the religion exist, never teached you wrong thing. [SIZE=12pt]Its an undeniable fact that all the religions on this earth claim to be from GOD. Hadhrat Muhammad (SAW), Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Baba Nanak and every religious leader taught people to believe and worship GOD. Although all religions have slight differences in the attributes they ascribe to God, but all the religions hold the common view that there is a God who has created this universe. History tells us that even those ancient religions that no longer exist in this world, they also held the view of God, whether they were in ancient America, or in jungles of Africa or in England, or in Java or Sumatra, or in Japan and China or in Siberia or in India. It is an important point that what's the reason for this thought provoking unity among so varied religions? In the ancient times people were not linked together through any means of communication or transport, then how is it possible that people living in isolation thousands of mile away from each other, held the common view about the existence of God? Come to the topic, people find religion about their believes.[/SIZE]

 

You're right. Belief is the key and belief in "Something Big Out There" has been a universal among humans for most of history. If I were trying to explain it naturalisticly, I'd focus on psychology and socio-political factors that are common to humans. We may not be biologically "hard--wired" to believe in gods or spirits, but our psychological makeup makes doing so easy. Cognitive psychologists and anthropologists tell us we are pattern seekers, and have a tendency to attribute agency to unfamiliar things we encounter in the environment. Behavioral psychologists and social learning experts tell us also that we're inclined to believe what trusted authorities (parents, elders,etc) tell us. And depth psychologists, have made us aware of the unconscious needs to cope with what anthropologist Scott Atran calls "existential anxieties" surrounding our mortality and vulnerability. All of these characteristics have powerful evolutionary support in helping us to survive in a rough, competitive world. There are also the socio-political factors: the rise of religious specialists (shamans and clergy) with a vested interest in keeping and spreading the faith, political authorities in need of divine legitimacy, and societies in need of social control. There night be supernatural supports as well, but the naturalistic ones seem powerful enough to account for the universal appeal of religion, as well as its diversity.

 

Ask your mom...moms have an uncanny ability to find everything.