Does religion consist of things we want to believe in simply because we think they will be helpful to us?

[Frank Buffalo]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[The Hammer]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

I don't want to believe in the Sun, Moon, Stars and Animals. They just kind of are.

 

[Martin]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

I think there's a lot of wishful thinking involved in religious beliefs, a need for comfort.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

I think this is an overgeneralization.

 

[McBell]

Does religion consist of things we want to believe in simply because we think they will be helpful to us?

Yes it does.
But then, it is not limited to religion

 

[Nakosis]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

IMO, there is also cultural imprinting going on as well. You get exposed to certain religious ideology at an early age and it becomes part of your thinking. You absorb ideas of right and wrong beneath your conscious awareness which you never think to question.

I doubt it ever comes the the conscious awareness of a trade-off. Many accept their religious ideology as right/true because that is how they been programmed through their cultural experience.

However, I can see folks justifying their acceptance of religious ideology as a trade-off. Rationally they may think this but deep down it never gets to the level of actually questioning their cultural programming.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

I think you're missing the community or in-group/out-group aspect of religion.

Some aspects of religion exist not because they're directly beneficial, but because they're costly. This helps to ensure that people in the group are committed to the group.

 

[George-ananda]

Any thoughts on this?

For me it's taking the best understanding out there on metaphysical things and finding a way to best experience happiness, peace and love.

 

[Frank Buffalo]

I feel my question has been misunderstood.

As a former evangelical Christian, I used to believe in Jesus as someone who offered access to a pleasant, everlasting life. But this belief came with a lot of lifestyle demands and restrictions. It required praying, reading the bible, going to Christian gatherings for worship, and it did not allow for sex before marriage, the enjoyment of alcohol or marijuana, or experimenting with psychedelic drugs—among other things. As a sensuous unmarried young man curious about various pleasures in life, I found these restrictions hard to take. For years I felt there was a trade-off I was willing to live with: a promise of a nice everlasting life while denying myself various life pleasures. And then came a time when I didn’t think the trade-off was worth it, and I scrounged around for viable reasons to no longer believe in Christianity. And these reasons were easy to find.

I see the same trade-off in Islam, where people hoping for a nice afterlife are required to pray toward Mecca five times a day, take a trip to Mecca at some point, give alms to the poor, and refrain from the pleasures of premarital sex, alcohol, and eating pork.

In Buddhism, depending on the sect, people may follow the eightfold path, which Wikipedia describes this way: “right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness)”. It doesn’t sound specific about what you can and can’t do, regarding daily lifestyle choices, but it seems to demand a lot in order to achieve nirvana.

Hinduism, full of different traditions and mythologies, puzzles me as to what to do and not to do for some hoped-for spiritual outcome. But I get the sense from Hindus I’ve met that there are trade-offs here, too.

In most religions I’m aware of, what a believer has to consider is whether the requirements of the religion’s beliefs are worth the hassle in order to achieve the hoped-for religious goal. To say a religion is simply “true” is always debatable, as it’s usually based on invisible, unverifiable evidence.

So let’s try again:

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this? Yes? No? Why or why not?

 

[Trailblazer]

I think there's a lot of wishful thinking involved in religious beliefs, a need for comfort.

There may be a need for comfort, but that is not all there is. I think there is also a need to know the purpose of life and what happens after we die.

 

[Trailblazer]

In most religions I’m aware of, what a believer has to consider is whether the requirements of the religion’s beliefs are worth the hassle in order to achieve the hoped-for religious goal. To say a religion is simply “true” is always debatable, as it’s usually based on invisible, unverifiable evidence.

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

I come from a completely different perspective than you do, as you described your life experience in the OP, because I do not desire any of the things that religion teaches we should not indulge in, e.g. premarital sex, alcohol, recreational drugs.

Not only that, but I think these things are harmful to us, which is why there are religious laws that prohibit them. In my mind, it is not logical to indulge in activities that are harmful to me, just because they might give me physical pleasure.

I want to live my life according to the purpose of my existence, and I certainly do not believe that purpose is physical pleasure.

 

[Quintessence]

I'm not sure the elaboration in post 9 really changes my thoughts on this - many religions (my own included) are not really about what is believed. As @The Hammer said, the gods some of us honor just are, it's not about beliefs. The things that are helpful to me are way less about beliefs than actually doing things. It's a way of life interwoven with everything of who and what I am. Religion is who I am, what I belong to, the relationships I have with that-which-is-greater. There is no "trade off" involved - I am who I am and I can't be anything other than who I am. Or, I suppose, the "trade off" would be living a lie and being utterly inauthentic to who I am, probably because I am forced by slavers or tyrants.

 

[Frank Buffalo]

Thanks for all your interesting responses!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I feel my question has been misunderstood.

As a former evangelical Christian, I used to believe in Jesus as someone who offered access to a pleasant, everlasting life. But this belief came with a lot of lifestyle demands and restrictions. It required praying, reading the bible, going to Christian gatherings for worship, and it did not allow for sex before marriage, the enjoyment of alcohol or marijuana, or experimenting with psychedelic drugs—among other things. As a sensuous unmarried young man curious about various pleasures in life, I found these restrictions hard to take. For years I felt there was a trade-off I was willing to live with: a promise of a nice everlasting life while denying myself various life pleasures. And then came a time when I didn’t think the trade-off was worth it, and I scrounged around for viable reasons to no longer believe in Christianity. And these reasons were easy to find.

I see the same trade-off in Islam, where people hoping for a nice afterlife are required to pray toward Mecca five times a day, take a trip to Mecca at some point, give alms to the poor, and refrain from the pleasures of premarital sex, alcohol, and eating pork.

In Buddhism, depending on the sect, people may follow the eightfold path, which Wikipedia describes this way: “right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness)”. It doesn’t sound specific about what you can and can’t do, regarding daily lifestyle choices, but it seems to demand a lot in order to achieve nirvana.

Hinduism, full of different traditions and mythologies, puzzles me as to what to do and not to do for some hoped-for spiritual outcome. But I get the sense from Hindus I’ve met that there are trade-offs here, too.

In most religions I’m aware of, what a believer has to consider is whether the requirements of the religion’s beliefs are worth the hassle in order to achieve the hoped-for religious goal. To say a religion is simply “true” is always debatable, as it’s usually based on invisible, unverifiable evidence.

So let’s try again:

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this? Yes? No? Why or why not?

Like I got at before, requiring a cost or sacrifice to be part of a group is pretty common in groups that maintain an in-group/out-group dynamic. It helps to ensure that members are committed to the group.

 

[Madsaac]

I think there is definatley a trade off. It's like everything you commit to, there has to be some sort of 'reward' or return.

It's purely a subjective experience

 

[Twilight Hue]

I think religion consists of things we want to believe in because we think they will be helpful to us. The things we believe in may or may not bring us daily pleasure, however, because they may include things that are extremely demanding on our thoughts and lifestyle. But we continue to believe because we feel the trade-off is worth it.

Any thoughts on this?

Yeah people just like having their superheroes whether they're real or not.

I think it's just something that can enhance ones own confidence, not unlike wearing uniforms , invocation of imaginary beings, having a little good luck charm or talisman to boost the psyche. A little hand made wooden buddy that stands by your side through thick and thin.