Why do people feel they need religion in their life ??? (page 3)

LouBelle

Most humans have the need to belong to something & religion is one of those things. They kinda use their religion as a crutch. Humans want to be accepted & many confirm to rules & regulations of whatever religion they belong to. Being religious does not make one spiritual, doesn't make you better than anyone. In fact, as we've all exprience with the JW religion it can be harmful, warped and insincere.

I'm not religious, I do not belong to any denomination, or attend any church on a regular basis, simply because no one but myself knows what I need on a spiritual level. I do not over complicate God, I truly believe it doesn't matter if he is One in Three, three in one, two heads, seven arms.. as that is not really the issue.

zagor

I don't know really. This may be only a very simplistic look at it but the way I see it is that as babies and children we need protection of our parents. Very thought that we are not alone and that there's mom or dad few steps away or phone call away is very reassuring.
As we grow older we start wondering if there's anything out there in a cold dark universe. Thought of being alone is very scary and depressing for many. We have a nostalgic subconscious feeling of needing a security and hence a need for a big daddy up in heavens.

Then again I might be completely wrong. Perhaps we do have something in our DNA that predisposes us to religion; after all there were very few societies ever that weren't religious in some sense.

LittleToe

James:I love that article. Thanks for posting it.

Paul:

Quantum physics seems on the verge of explaining many previous unknowns, such as how miracles occur, as not the workings of any god so much as a natural function of consciousness and of the universe. The realm of the gods shrinks further.

That would be a belief that helps reaffirm your mental map that usurps the need for a "God".

Terry:

The act of worshipping is an act of self-debasement.
A lack of self-esteem comes from a neurotic view of one's own worth.
...

That would be one view, and is also a belief that helps support your worldview that despises all religion.

My belief would be that religion is a tool that allows people of a similar mindset (albeit rarely identical) to enjoy sociological benefits - something similar is seen in other grouping, like the workplace. There's also something about the "peace" that's often found in places of worship, that is condusive to spiritual "work", solitary or communal.

Unfortunately some see it as an end in itself, and are often enslaved by it. It's potential for misuse by the power-hungry is also well documented, albeit rarer than often proclaimed

sweet tee

To answer the subject question, I believe God created humans with the need to worship something/someone. This is why there's some type of religion in all human societies.
DY

I don't understand why people keep saying this. If you were born in the middle of a jungle and raised by apes I bet you wouldn't worship anything. We are taught to be religious. If religion weren't in the way we'd just be our true selves without putting on any air of superiority because of an imagined connection with a supposed higher being. If there is a God he is not talking to ANYBODY! (tamtam of the 'I'm over it' class)

sweet tee

I mean, who the hell has a whole society built around bibles and tracts?

That is so funny! I never thought about it like that gringojj .

upside/down

It's a "business"...the marketers and managers of this "business" won't let it die... their very livelihood is dependant on it.

(Most) people like to be led... "religion" uses this inborn tendency and tells you it's a "spiritual hunger etc"... when in reality it's just a desire to belong and be led...(peace & security)...

"Religion is a snare and a racket"

Spiritual people inspire me...Religious people frighten me...- Bumper Sticker.

u/d (of the Life of Brian class)

William Penwell

Spiritual people inspire me...Religious people frighten me...- Bumper Sticker.

I like your quote. Religion has nothing to do with God; it is all to do with control. All wars have been fought over a God. That is the only way governments can get their peons to go and kill someone else is pushing a belief in a God. "Why it is OK to die for your country as you will have a hope for a life here after." I believe in reality. This life is reality and enjoy it while you got it. What ever you want to believe as a life after that is up to each one of us individually but don't push it on others as gospel truth. Will

Sirona

I've not read this entire thread yet, so I'll just take each post addressed to me and respond one by one.

Mankind began from a position of ignorance. How could he explain the universe he perceived without current knowledge of it? He guessed. He created gods. He created stories about how man came about. He created laws for what he thought was the best way to live and claimed the gods' authority, through him. It may have been to man's benefit, but it was still fantasy.

Firstly, I agree that man effectively created their gods. They put a face on what they believed to be "divine", for many different reasons. However, I don't agree that it was all purely fantasy. I think that our placing names and faces to the divine doesn't necessarily mean that gods do not exist. Throughout history there have been examples of people having experiences of GOD and some of these have been extreme and significant experiences which cannot be put down to pure hallucination or delusion.

Just because certain people call God buddah, allah, yahweh, diana, isis etc. doesn't mean that this rules out the original god's existence.

Its like saying if I met someone one day who only spoke to me once but had a profound effect on my life, and I didn't know his or her name so I made one up to represent him / her, then that person didn't exist at all. Moreover, if I told my friends and they chose their own name for the person, that again doesn't mean that the person didn't exist or the meeting never took place.

Sirona

greendawn

Man has a spiritual dimension and an innate instinct and need for the divine. If some crooks exploit that need to their own ends and turn religion into an opium for the people that's a different kettle of fish. Man came from above from the divine not from the animal world below. So he looks in the direction that he came from.

Terry

My religous and repulsively pious relatives (shudder to think) used to say that all human beings were "created" with a god-shaped hole and a inner desire to have it filled.

If we bend over far enough and look in a mirror we can see God staring right at us!!

Why do people feel they need religion in their life ???

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