Why believe in religion?

People who are religious are more happy and tenacious.

Why not be religious?

The only way to ever have world peace would be for everyone to stop following religion.

That's the origin of most problems the world faces.

I believe in miracles you sexy thing.

Says who ?

Religion should be personal to the individual.

Why does everyone believe this? Before religion was invented man was killing each other, taking each other's territory, and committing acts of atrocity. Religion just gave people more righteous reasons to do this is all. The origins of problems faced by man is man...simple as that.

you have to be very tenacious to cling to your belief despite overwhelming non-evidence :P

Maybe it's because some people find satisfaction and joy in the belief that their life has a meaning, for example, that they were created to somehow glorify their god, or that their god loves them.

Where do you get that they're happier?

Why are you concerned with what others choose to believe?

I suppose ignorance really is bliss. That explains the happiness.

And a fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. That explains the tenaciousness.

@still_vicious: Because I could never be content with ridiculous fallacies. It's like choosing to believe in Santa Clause. I just can't do it man...

Religious people are more happy http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2886974/Study-Religious-people-happier-life-satisfaction-others.html

I learned the tenacity thing in the military, couldn't find a reliable study.

Artificial people make me feel uneasy and unhappy because I feel like they don't want to open up and be honest about anything. I can't value their feedback. That's the experience I've had with religion.

People fear the nonexistence of being dead. I don't fear being dead, it's getting dead (dying) that scares me.

But if you believe a person is the sum of their experiences, then The Bible gives no comfort because it says in the afterlife you won't remember this life. "The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." -Isaiah 65:17

People try to say we atheists have nothing to live for, and I think just the opposite: we have everything to live for because this is it, our one experience at existence. If more people thought that, I wonder how different things would be?

The fact that your religious beliefs make you feel happy has nothing to do with the truth of the propositions the religion makes.....

Your argument is essentially saying "Hey, a drunk man is happier than a sober man!"

@still_vicious: People can be religious, but I would rather be spiritual. When I think of the term "religious." I think of the Greeks who had a god for everything imaginable to the point that they even had an unnamed god just in case.

I would rather focus on the facts than suppositions.

this is a good point. everybody should drink!!

The Greeks grew up, and essentially retired their Gods once Socrates, Euripides, Aristophanes, made mockeries of the Gods with logic and rhetorical skill. The USA has not yet done that, along with other hotbeds of religious prejudice.

Um...you believe something because you believe it. Whether you're an atheist or a theist, it's not just as if you can suddenly decide to believe something that you think is flat-out moronic just because "people who believe the opposite are statistically happier". Have you ever tried to believe that 2+2=5? No matter how hard you try to believe it, you're still gonna know that you're wrong.

@MrGeezer: it's either that or alcohol lol.

the difference between the 2+2 example, and religion is that religion is almost entirely opinion/faith based; beliefs are subjective, while math is objective.

Either way, it's still pretty damn hard to take something that you absolutely believe to be true, and then just decide to believe the opposite instead. And even when it does happen, it typically isn't the result of of stuff like, "statistically, people who believe the opposite of what I believe tend to do better than people who believe what I believe." Beliefs generally don't work like that. One's beliefs definitely may change over time, but it's not like one can generally deliberately change his beliefs overnight just because he thinks that different beliefs would be advantageous. You could even PRETEND to have a drastic change of beliefs, but more often than not you're just gonna be pretending. A KKK member can successfully pretend to be tolerant because he needs a job, but it's not like his need for a job is going to ACTUALLY make him suddenly think that the blacks and the jews and the gays are okay.

If you're an atheist and you're unhappy, you're not atheistic enough.

If you're religious and you're happy, you're not religious enough.

This is the fact: Religion invites one to a more pessimistic life.

And I'm saying that as a religious person. Take whichever religion you want, each one diverts your attention from the current world. Each tries to convince you that this life isn't all that is. If you do dearly take on that belief then you can surely not be happy in this world when you know you could be in a heaven of otherworldly delights. If all religions were truly lies, then they would most likely be products of someone unsatisfied with life. You know 'the grass is greener on the other side' is quite the consolation.

Religion can serve as escapism and allow a person to at least feel more at ease concerning the finality of death.

But I prefer an objective reality over superstitious unprovable myths. Assuming that this is my one and only shot at living makes this life a lot more meaningful. Gotta make this one life count.

Religion diverts your attention from the current world? I would tend to disagree...at least with most popular monotheistic religions. Those things are chock full of love your brother, doing good works, being righteous, evangelizing to the world, etc. etc.

Either that or the opposite, join us or die...but both viewpoints are VERY concerned with the current life. It isn't just live now waiting for the afterlife.

It is funny that you would say that about Socrates considering he believed in gods and was what could be considered a pious person. In fact, that was the main point of his argument about what the best way to live is. Then, you say people today have not "grown up" because of prejudice. I think there are some things that you would have to work out, first.

I know this is OT, but really. We can do better than this.

Religion really dose not factor in as a cause only as an excuse for violence. The same as the outcome of a sporting event like world soccer. All religions teach peace.

be religious or don't be religious.

just don't shove it in other people's faces

And this is the reason why I'm not even a religious person.

I literally can't think of any good reason to believe in stuff like that. Religion has done so much more harm than good; I really think we've started to outgrow it as a species.

Unless you can provide with a reliable study what you are saying is a matter of opinion, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one.

did you see my post in Broken Rabbits Thread lol

Exactly! Even if society does get rid of religion, evil people have many other platforms(politics,education,economics, race) to justify their wrong doing.

I focus more on spirituality over religion.Religion and spirituality are similar, but different at the same time. Religion is made of up of rules and customs which can either be good or bad. The followers of these religions believe that in order to be in good standing with the deity of their belief, they have to maintain those customs. At the core of most religions,they share the same belief, respect the creator, yourself and mankind.

Spirituality is similar, but it doesn't solely rely on traditions to feel connected to the divine and humanity. And most people who focus more on spirituality are more open-minded IMO!

I'm a firm believer that whether you're spiritual or religious, if you are truly happy and are at peace with yourself, you don't have to talk about it, because your daily life will reflect it.

Nope. Not even close. But believe the fallacy. Shows your education.

Socrates was a diest at most. He was not pious. That is an absurd claim. He was sentenced to death for promoting skepticism. He constantly told people that Gods did not meddle in human affairs, as they would be smart enough to avoid unnecessary pain. He did take oracles seriously, especially the Oracle of Delphi, but calling him a pious man does not fit at all. Piety typically revolves around thinking you know the will of a supreme being, and therefore can act in line with its rules. He made no such concessions, as again, he did not think Gods played any part in our lives. "I know only the extent of my own ignorance." That does not sound like a pious man, as they typically betray their charge by then trying to prove their god to be real.

Socrates took moral instruction from what he called the Daemon in his mind. It told him what was right. Whatever that is, he did not deem it to be a god, or a holy spirit.

@hillelslovak: I would recommend that you read Euthyphro in which Socrates describes what he views as piety and the part where Plato writes that Socrates defended himself against the charges of impiety, and he did so by clarifying his belief in and respect of the divine.

Belief in God is something extremely broad, as Socrates said in The Clouds. He believed in Gods through introspection and contemplation. He however, did not rely on truth of revelation, nor savage bloodlettings, or eternal punishments for those who did not believe. Pious in a sense, maybe. Pious in the way religions have been since? No way.

god is a lie ... in case no one has noticed it yet, hes modeled after a 'father', he represents 'patriarchat' and everything we know about relegion is something we are told to never question the 'father ... its all a big lie, invented by old and lazy men who just wanted to have all the women without ever moving a finger ...

it runs for a few thousand years now ...

Which is why so many religious people are always so angry about non-religious people, gays, transsexuals, atheists, etc, etc, etc.

@hitomo said:

what is that?

True, but those people are not happy because they're religious, rather they are both happy and religious for the same reason, and that's because they have a simple way of looking at things. Tenacious? Pretty arbitrary that one.

As for why not be religious, who ever asks that anyway? People are either indoctrinated with religion in childhood, or they are not. I think it's hard to accept religion after finishing school and being able to reason like an adult.

I do not think that you have been giving credit where it is due.