Why do people have religious beliefs?

[randix]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

As for myself, raised as a Christian but now not affiliated with any religion, I try to examine and question my own beliefs periodically, and to learn instead from my own experience.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

Probably not.

I think a good reason to accept a particular religion is if one comes across a religion or philosophy that aligns with their worldview, personal experiences, and their own philosophies.

 

[Hellbound Serpiente]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

No, these are never acceptable reasons, at least not to any person with a strong sense of justice [and truth]. I'd rather hear a painful truth than be hurt worse by uncovering the truth behind a lie, and every individual with integrity is most likely the same [at least according to my judgment]. A good criteria to accept particular religion [or ideology and such things] should be how overall pragmatic/beneficial the particular religion is to the individual practicing it as well to society as a whole, and how much factually align it is with the world we know [i.e. fact tests], and are the values it is proposing promotes peace. At least that's my ideal criteria.

Which is why I am not religious anymore. As an ex-Muslim, I think Islam is an outdated ideology. It is no longer applicable in our modern era. I personally feel like Islam was only for 7th century Bedouin Arab society. It falls short according to my criteria. Which is why I renounced it [although I am open to the idea my judgment is false, but this is the most reasonable stance to take at this moment]. I think the same about EVERY Abrahamic religion.

The only religion I feel drawn to is Sanatana Dharma. And although I hate diety worshiping, Kali Maa is the only diety I revere. So, this is the only religion which I respect for the moment.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs (despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence), because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

Well, as religious I am weird because I am also an agnostic and cognitive, cultural and moral relativist, so I don't fit the "standard" model of being right about what reality really is. I don't know that and in practice for the everyday life I am a pragmatist. If it appears to work that is all I need to know.
If you want it in terms of God. I don't know what God is or if God exists. There could be no way to God for any humans, there could be many ways to God including that they appear contradictory or only One Way to God, and in the end, if there is a God, only God knows if there is no way, many ways or only one way.

Regards
Mikkel

 

[SalixIncendium]

The only religion I feel drawn to is Sanatana Dharma. And although I hate diety worshiping, Kali Maa is the only diety I revere. So, this is the only religion which I respect for the moment.

As I understand it, bhakti yoga (worship) isn't a requirement of Sanatana Dharma. There are many Hindus that do not worship, self included. The closest I come is the statue of Nataraja in my meditation spot.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

As for myself, raised as a Christian but now not affiliated with any religion, I try to examine and question my own beliefs periodically, and to learn from my own experience.

They don't see their beliefs as beliefs, they see them as facts. So, some feel it's silly to analyze some facts. I think its more to do with the personal investment they put into the religion. To challenge that emotional and long term investment, is like taking the rope one is using to balance life and death on.

I notice those who challenge their belief and change them most likely did not see their beliefs as facts. You go away from a fact, even deny it, but you can't change it. That's the idea.

As for the nature of god and evidence, that's irrelevant. Non-believers focus more on that than believers to tell you honestly. It only comes out when they're trying to prove a point that their faith is the correct one: when their faith is challenged.

A good reason?

Some people need structure. It's not bad in and of itself. Just asking one to do it "on their own" is probably a bit frightening for them. But they MUST be a creator. How could we come here from nothing? Rather than there is a creator-this is how there is a creator-so we did not come here from nothing. It's the god of the gap. Helps bring security.

 

[MNoBody]

from what i have seen over the years, beliefs are a coping mechanism,
for when there is no knowing, one will form an idea, make speculations....
sure, ....such might be based on witness testimony, might be an educated estimation....
but it is still an unknown and that just doesn't do for people
particularly since our species is labelled homo sapiens [the knowing ones]
so apparently, if we don't know something we make something up to fill in the blanks.
and worse still after a few more years slide by that gets considered to be somehow factual, just because so and so's great grandpappy wrote it out and puzzled over it, it must be important.
I am not being cheeky or making a flip comment, but people seem to get touchy when they hear that their cherished beliefs are merely coping mechanisms which the human mind generates,
like an immune response mechanism responding to a condition of ignorance

[edit-add- *Ignorance is the biggest disease of humanity, the biggest source of disaster, suffering and death....Ignorance, man's number 1 adversary]

 

[Vinayaka]

Some folks get their religious beliefs from personal experiences, which may be something that is unexplainable by logic to them, or direct insight. Not always about fear, or childhood indoctrination.

 

[crossfire]

My approach to religion is based on the classic sociological approach of defining religion: the separation of the sacred and the profane (secular.)

My religious practice entails withdrawing from secular things in my own private holy space to meditate, observe my mind, identify any psychological hangups I find via meditative observation, contemplate a strategy to deal with them, and develop further practices to deal with them.

The Buddhist Eightfold Path is a good checklist for developing an effective practice to overcome psychological hang-ups and develop a clearer mind. However, I will also employ techniques from outside of Buddhism if the need arises, or develop my own.

 

[PureX]

People don't have "religious beliefs". They have theological beliefs that they use religion to help them implement in their lives. Theology is the proposition that God/gods exist, and that it/their existence effects our existence in some significant way. How people conceptualize and characterize God/gods, and how they react to or interact with the presumed existential effect of their God/gods is usually shaped and defined by their religious practice. Religions are collections of ideals, stories, rituals, images, and so on that are intended to be used to help their theological adherents actively live according to their theological beliefs.

 

[Heyo]

Probably not.

I think a good reason to accept a particular religion is if one comes across a religion or philosophy that aligns with their worldview, personal experiences, and their own philosophies.

If you can't stand on your own, it becomes important to rely on the tribe. And with that it becomes more important to share the tribes beliefs than to see reality as it is. This is so ingrained that some people will deny reality even when "the tribe" are just the other (unknown) people in the room. See:
Asch conformity experiments - Wikipedia

 

[MNoBody]

If you can't stand on your own, it becomes important to rely on the tribe. And with that it becomes more important to share the tribes beliefs than to see reality as it is. This is so ingrained that some people will deny reality even when "the tribe" are just the other (unknown) people in the room. See:
Asch conformity experiments - Wikipedia

lord of the flies comes to mind
peer pressure, conform or be cast out, is a powerful 'magik' [wot, did he say magik...lol]

 

[crossfire]

People don't have "religious beliefs". They have theological beliefs that they use religion to help them implement in their lives. Theology is the proposition that God/gods exist, and that it/their existence effects our existence in some significant way. How people conceptualize and characterize God/gods, and how they react to or interact with the presumed existential effect of their God/gods is usually shaped and defined by their religious practice. Religions are collections of ideals, stories, rituals, images, and so on that are intended to be used to help their theological adherents actively live according to their theological beliefs.

Actually, theological beliefs are not really relevant to my religious beliefs or practices.
Other people's mileage may vary, however.

 

[pearl]

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

Faith is belief in a greater than to be the ground of all being, and this greater is Mystery beyond any correct or absolute definition. Religion attempts the continuing unfolding of this Mystery.

 

[randix]

People don't have "religious beliefs". They have theological beliefs.

Or perhaps we could dispense with "religious" and "theological" and simply say that people have beliefs (of whatever nature) about the context in which their experience occurs.

I'm guessing that most of us are programmed with beliefs during our early childhood, as we absorb and "take as fact" the beliefs and worldviews of our parents and those around us. But such assimilation of beliefs can cause us to have beliefs that conflict one with another, or which are problematic or unhealthy in some way, all of which seem to often cause us to question those beliefs as we compare them to the reality we experience. In my case, this process caused me to eventually discard the Christianity-inflected beliefs of my childhood, and I began to look at reality from a fresh perspective and to learn from my own conscious (not just physical) experience.

Beliefs seem both pragmatic and problematic to me. Pragmatic in the sense that our daily experience and our wide-ranging perception is (or can be) too complex and detailed to completely absorb or adequately respond to. We can be overwhelmed with the data available to our senses and consciousness at any one time, so our beliefs cause us to notice (or to ignore) certain aspects of that data, and to interpret it or attribute meaning to it according to our preexisting beliefs.

On the other hand, if our beliefs don't actually correspond to reality, they can (and in my opinion often do) distort our perception, causing us to misinterpret various data, to ignore facts, and to derive meaning from sources that don't actually contain the meaning we think we perceive (such as hearing voices or patterns in random white noise or radio static).

So I personally think it is wise to examine and question our beliefs from time to time, and to strive to look at reality from a fresh, unbiased-as-possible perspective.

 

[George-ananda]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

As for myself, raised as a Christian but now not affiliated with any religion, I try to examine and question my own beliefs periodically, and to learn instead from my own experience.

I think in modern times we are seeing an ever shrinking role for the 'traditional' religions that you seem to be speaking about. People nowadays also require intellectual satisfaction in their beliefs as most everyone is fairly educated and prides themselves on thinking for themselves.

Basically, I don't think your comments apply well to this century,

I just don't see much of the type of religionist you are talking about anymore. I was raised Catholic and am now Advaita (Hinduish) in my beliefs. I think for myself and follow the evidence. Again, I no longer see the masses holding on to their family's traditional religion and defending it.

 

[sayak83]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

As for myself, raised as a Christian but now not affiliated with any religion, I try to examine and question my own beliefs periodically, and to learn instead from my own experience.

My beliefs stem from my spiritual experiences which have been refined (i.e. made explicit) through reading, reflection and meditation.
I admit that many people have very poor beliefs motivated by poor reasons and habits and instincts. But that is more of a statement about our own limitations as individuals and as societies. Just because most people (including me) play the violin very badly does not mean that the violin is a bad musical instrument. Excellence in anything is quite rare (in that only a fraction of people are excellent in any specific thing), but that in no way negates the truth or the beauty of the thing.
My own beliefs are expressed broadly within the Hindu spiritual monism tradition, but I would say that I have come across many people from other traditions (even atheists) whose beliefs and attitudes are quite in resonance with my own., though they will express their attitude within the language of their preferred tradition.

 

[paarsurrey]

It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture.

Many others seem to adopt or adhere to religious beliefs as a result of fear, including fear of death, of the unknown, and fear of their own ignorance (with the realization or understanding that they don't know everything).

Admittedly, some seem to adopt some kind of religious beliefs in order to cling to the idea of some type of benevolent force in the universe, or something in control or guiding them during times of great personal need, desperation or confusion.

Are any of these good reasons to accept any particular religion and its beliefs?

I tend to be suspicious of people who ardently defend their religious beliefs despite evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence, because it often seems to imply that at some level of consciousness they are aware that those beliefs might be wrong, might not conform to reality.

I suppose however that when there are so many competing religious belief systems, it seems natural to feel challenged or threatened by all of them other than one's own.

As for myself, raised as a Christian but now not affiliated with any religion, I try to examine and question my own beliefs periodically, and to learn instead from my own experience.

"It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture."

It is a political assertion of the non-believers, it is not a scientific expression.Right, please?
The parents did what was their natural duty to do. Right, please?

Regards

 

[Mock Turtle]

"It seems to me that most people's religious beliefs are those they assimilated as children, or were indoctrinated with by their parents, peers, community and culture."

It is a political assertion of the non-believers, it is not a scientific expression.Right, please?
The parents did what was their natural duty to do. Right, please?

Regards

Like to produce some evidence for this? Natural duty being what? To uncover the truth or what - to just pass on what one believes is the truth?

 

[paarsurrey]

Like to produce some evidence for this? Natural duty being what? To uncover the truth or what - to just pass on what one believes is the truth?

"The parents did what was their natural duty to do."
"Natural duty being what?"

The parents care for their children and provide for them for everything out of their natural love of the children, why shouldn't they help them with the truthful religion, please?

Regards