why do people believe in god?

^^ I dont believe in god. I believe more in the devil if anything because theres evil all around us
 
I think its just another stage in our evolution to figuring "it" out. Whatever "it" is.
 
^^ Also Pillish, maybe its more of a balance thing. Look around everything is balanced. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. Eat then Shit. Black and White. Swim then Walk. God and Devil. Theres a balance to it, and in that balance we find out that we are in fact God. Every1 is God. Anyway thats one way to look at it.
 
a great question indeed,
sigmund freud(who was atheist i believe) would argue that it is an illusion that people use as a function to stay positive about life, if things are down, pray, go to a fellowship,
many people use religioin as a function, whether it be for social support, comfort, impression management, etc
religion now seemingly has manifested itself as an institution that makes the rules, as a justification for everything,
why is something wrong? because the bible says so, however, the bible is still up for interepretation and unfortunately some passages have been taken literally by the authorities and has been etched in stone as a justification for certain laws,
the debate about gay marriage, for instance, probably stems mostly from religious presuppositions; there are numerous passages in the bible that bring up homosexuality, one in romans talks about certain people that worshiped idols and how they became homosexuals, so it can be easy to interprete that the bible is trying to communicate that all homosexuals are sinners that worship idols, its absurd to assume that all homosexuals worship idols,

i believe in god, sometimes i don't know why, i have gotten myself to pray everyday and i honestly have to say it gives me a sense of reassurance, there is this vastness about the world that makes me think there is more to life than a finite existence as a human being on earth, i remember times when i was more religious than other times and i remember the confidence it gave me,

what i am struggling with is the passage of time in light of all this relgious stuff, how did these stories make it all the way from supposedly 2 thousand years ago, and why does it still seem beleivable in spite of all the discoveries that science has revealed suggesting that the world is not a mere 4000 years old?
i would like to convince myself that i believe in god not just because my parents raised me that way, sometimes i feel like the only way i can truly say that i believe in god is if i was not raised to be religious at all, thus my discovery of god would be due to my own initiative rather than my parent
i believe that relgion is more than a mere function, but sometimes i have my doubts
freud does sound very reasonable with his argument about religion being an illusion, nevertheless, i will continue to pray
 
the human mind has a hard time believing that we all sprang from nothing and had no `first cause'; that the universe multiverse always existed without a definite beginning, and that there isn't some all-powerful, all-knowing, ultimate, higher power and cosmic father figure maintaining order in the cosmos and drawing the moral lines between right and wrong for all of us self-aware entities.
 
kocher said:
the human mind has a hard time believing that we all sprang from nothing and had no `first cause'; that the universe multiverse always existed without a definite beginning, and that there isn't some all-powerful, all-knowing, ultimate, higher power and cosmic father figure maintaining order in the cosmos and drawing the moral lines between right and wrong for all of us self-aware entities.
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i can agrre with you as far as us being created but as far as "all-powerful and "all=knowing" i beg to differ...no one knows we can only put our heads together to figure it out but honestly i ask why..we've gotten so far on our own i figure that if we as people where to unite together and put aside all biase we have toward one another we could do amazing things...but thats just my opinion.:\
 
Short and sweet...... I have seen my christian wife come to terms with the heartbreaking loss of her 7 year old daughter in an auto accident. No matter how I see things (agnostically), she couldnt bear to hear of any faith that tells her anything other than, she will see her daughter again in the hereafter.

Even though my views are different....I sincearly hope shes going to see her again....
 
I saw this special on the hurricane katrina disaster. Many of the stories were just the people getting their houses destroyed and trying to find their other loved ones. But one of the stories really got me thinking...

This kid who was 8, was living with his mom, he was the only child, his father passed away when he was 3.

Their home was being destroyed and flooded on the inside. The water was approaching the ceiling and they didnt have too long till they were going to go under. Both of them could not swim.

When the water reached the ceiling, himself and his mom knew they werent going to make it. He said they just held eachother close together and prayed that they would see gods heavens, and for comfort.

Finally, the water reached almost the top and his mom all of sudden started to go under, she was too exhausted from holding on to her son. As soon as she started to go under, he said to his mom that hes going with her too. When she finally was under water drowning, he basically just said "fuck it" and didnt even hold his breath. He went to the very bottom and held onto his moms body, hugging her.

After he said was about 1 min 30 sec, he saw a very BRIGHT light in his mind, with clouds that were filled with light, basically blinding his vision. He said he felt a feeling of warmth, and comfort. Then all of sudden, his mind showed him a window that had been broken in other room. He swam to the window and made it to the top of the water and started to get pulled down stream.......He also stated that his courage came from knowing that it wasnt his time to go, and if it wasnt for that, hed think there was no reason for him not to die...

He eventually ended up grabbing a tree and holding on till someone came and rescued him.

Finally he ended up reuniting with his aunt after a month of staying/living in a disaster facility. He never visited his aunt before, and didnt know her at all.....

What really made me think this story is unbelivable is that he is only 8 years old (i dont think an 8 year old would lie about seeing heaven), and he doesnt even have anywhere to go, and basically nothing to live for. But he carried out his strength, even when the only one he truely loved to death was his mom, and shes now vanished and not apart of his life anymore. It just really amazed me that he had so much courage......and this story really restored my faith in the lord.....
 
I did'nt have time to read everyones posts but I really have no clue. I sure don't. It gives people something to believe in otherwise they'd be lost?
 
His brain may have panicked and showed him whatever he needed to see to motivate him enough to move. Either that or the media is just twisting the story.

People that believe in a definite religion are morons. If you're willing to believe in a specific religion just based on faith. Why is your religion right and all other religions wrong? I bet 90% of catholics couldn't tell the difference between Buddhism and Hinduism.

People that just believe in a greater force in general are just scared. They can't accept that after life is nothing.

Only sheep need shepherds.
 
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