Quite simply because religion offers strength and support when people are under stress. They come when they need God to help them, then leave again, once he has.
Who says? You? Hardly an expert on the subject of religions. Having a preconceived bias on religion only makes you prejudice against religion, not expert on religion.
Decades of casual religious studies and speaking with the religious has convinced me that for most of them, they choose relegion because it makes them more comfortable. It allows them to believe they are special, that a being of good is in charge of their destiny, that death is not the end. And more than all that, many of them are naturally fearful people (not just the religious though, we all are, which is part of the widespread popularity of religion.) They often feel out of control, so when chaos hits, they want desperately to believe that SOMETHING is in control, and will not let them come to harm. And that when they face their inevitable demise, they will be eternally comfortable.
This isn't bias, this is observation of human nature. Religious people are terrified of a godless world. And to their credit, it CAN be scary.
Subjecting yourself to those that fits your point of view doesn't support the notion that people need God.........for the reasons of fear. We already live in a Godless world in regards to how people treat people. Most people don't need God, they want God. Fear is not the motive. To believe that this miserable existence we have as human has some purpose higher than what can be fathomed, is not fear but hope.
And what would happen if one had no hope? Generally fear. The draw is the fear of feeling hopeless. Which is dumb, since God and other supernatural occurrences can't be demonstrated to be a genuine reason to HAVE hope. I'd rather place my hopes in demonstrable phenomena, should I feel the need for hope to begin with.
The lack of hope doesn't cause fear, only desperation. Fear is what scares you, not what you need.
......., should I feel the need for hope to begin with.
You should always have a need for hope, hope for others, hope that the hungery will be fed, hope that wars are avoided, etc. What are you, completely heartless?
When you get addicted to hope, its lack causes fear. Or experiencing the desperation you mentioned.
Hope doesn't feed the hungry or end wars, and it certainly doesn't change the reality that there will always be hungry people and wars. Hope is nothing but false promises that may never come to fruition. Not heartless, just realistic.
I stopped believing in God over the past year. No trauma or tragedy brought about the change. I would describe it more like an awakening.
I say that to say this, though having been addicted to hope, I am not now fearful. What feels different, is that I miss the comfort. But at the same time fear does not fill its place. If anything is changing about fear, it's that I fear death no more. Desperation to cope using hope, is not what I'm feeling, but rather a certain relief that I'm not accountable to something that will punish me for my faults and failings.
I should clarify that my prior response was a) highly generalized, b) mildly exagarated and c) written while in a bad mood.
I DO accept that different people will have wildly different experiences. Also, from the beginning I said abrogation of fear was a main reason for religion, but it is FAR from the only one.
Hope is nothing but false promises that may never come to fruition. Not heartless, just realistic.
And yet people vote and expect a change knowing that those running do so on false promises. Do you vote? Why? If you don't believe in hope, then aren't you the biggest hypocrite in the world? Just being realistic.
How is my statement exaggerated? Do believe what canidates say? There is no such thing as hyper-simplified, one cannot make something too simple and/or have too much of a simple thing.
Since you don't vote, in my opinion you should have no say. All you want to do is bitch like a little whiny woman. Grow a pair of balls and do more than bitch.
Surely even you realize you just set yourself up to lose. If you vote, your being a hypocrite, if you don't, you are the same "whiney bitch" I am. You just killed any credibility in this argument. Not that you ever had any with me to begin with.
Also, you made a sexist statement along the way. Quite the winner we have here.
You just killed any credibility in this argument. Not that you ever had any with me to begin with.
This is the trouble with people like you, I never had any credibility with you because I never say what you want to hear. The only way that somebody can be credible to you, is to agree with you. I have balls and can stand just fine without the need for a butt buddy. If you would ever pull your head out of other people's ass, you might find the truth different then that black hole you've been stuck in.
Of course I made a sexist statement. I don't intend to be politically correct, ever. There are those who pussy foot around and those that do things, I'm the latter.
I never had any credibility with you because I never say what you want to hear.
No, its because you caught yourself in a linguistic trap and are too much the fool to realize it. I'm not even sure what your point is anymore, and I doubt you are either. Just arguing to argue at this point. And failing even at that low goal.
All this coming from a bed wetter. Grow up and stop thinking you are the God you claim doesn't exist.
"He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom." James Huneker
Where do you get your wisdom from? I forgot, you have none. You only side with what is popular, because you lack many things. Among that list is balls, brains, and the ability to see anything because your head is still up somebody's ass.
See? Arguing to argue. Namecalling to make yourself feel better. Twice my age but half my maturity level. Do you even remember our initial point of contention here? You calling me out for not voting while at the same time calling voting useless? I don't claim to have an especial amount of wisdom. I simply claim to make more sense than you do. And where have I sided with what is popular. I'm an atheist in America. An American who doesn't believe in democracy. I'm rarely on the popular side of any standpoint. Try again you witless nit.
An atheist on a debate site that has mostly atheists, and you claim you're a minority. HaHa.
There are many Americans that don't believe in American democracy, because there isn't a democracy in America. What the people want is not what government does. This is because only the rich can be elected and the rich will only work for the rich.
As far as the initial point goes, not voting as no chance of changing anything. Voting has at least a small chance, a very, very small chance of changing things. When one bitches and does nothing but bitch, get use to be called a bitch.
Now about not arguing on a debate web-site; Why are you here? Go to Facebook, Twitter or some other site to socialize with your atheists friends.
There's a difference between being "politically correct", and speaking like an adult. It isn't that you are being "politically incorrect", it is that you are speaking like a child.
We live in a godless world in regards to how people treat each other? Charity is increasing, education is increasing, violence GLOBALLY is down, poverty is down, racism is down (with an unfortunate hiccup in Europe right now), discrimination is down, I could go on.
So what is your evidence for saying that about how people treat each other?
And many people fear there is no purpose to life, and thus hope there is. Fear and hope in this case go hand in hand. Religion can give hope to assuage the fear.
Godless Liberals or Atheists truly think Government has all the answers to their lives. When trouble comes and they see how inept Government is at fixing any problem, they have no place to go. Their daddy Government has abandoned them and they start understanding the power of faith in God. But they will never admit it.
People have been conditioned into dependance on society, rather than independance on themselves.
If you are wondering why a few examples would be...
1. Mainstream media portrayal of the perfect man/perfect woman. Not only does this create insecurities in the populace but they run out to the shops to buy make-up, clothing etc etc all to try and conform to the presumed 'trend'.... obviously this is exponential and it self reinforces... 1 person does it and then others follow upon seeing them.
2. Men that are cuffed and collared. We no longer fight, hunt for our food and the such like...we have lost our ability to be 'masculine' our instincts have been driven out by the mind which is cultivated through education and again, societal expectations.
Of course when shit hits the fan people have noone to turn to and so they turn to god.
I personally don't see a problem with this other than the fact it doesn't fix the goals long term, it may sustain your faith in the world for a few days, but alas you soon forget about it when it blows over.
Instead i would try to value, appreciate and trust myself, realize the freedoms i have and from my own perspective, i don't conform unless it benefits me. After all this is a game, to be played.... good and bad are just a perspective... experiences dont care which they are why should you? look at the awareness you can gain through your experience instead. (can offer an example if asked)
