Comments on: Reasons for my de-conversion (2 of 4)

By: Neil C. Reinhardt

Neil C. Reinhardt — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:14:42 +0000

Helio Phil,

Sorry, only you totally missed the reason WHY most religious people are religious in the first place, As it is so simple & obivious, I am amazed it is not common knowledge.

As the Catholic Church states & ALL religions
do very effectively is GET THEM YOUNG!

“GIVE ME A CHILD UNTIL THE AGE OF SIX AND THEY ARE MINE FOREVER!”

SO, the MAIN REASON most are religious is very simply, THEY WERE PROGRAMMED to BELIEVE IN the SAME God and Religon as those who raised them!

Now most of those who are still religious will deny they ever were programmed in the first place much less they still are.

While MOST of the million and millions of FORMER Christians NOW realize they were programmed.

they

By: Quester

Quester — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:19:01 +0000

I’m really impressed by the thought that went into this. A great analysis of the “god-shaped hole”!

By: joshua

joshua — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:22:59 +0000

Once again, a brilliant post.

One thing I would like to point out, though, is that I see guilt as a direct result of a person who realizes that they have devalued something. It extends from a simple fear of retribution or social isolation at the hands of the community. That understanding helps me a lot when considering how guilt is used by all human institutions.

Religion adds to the weight of guilt by bringing in tertiary agents – like gods – who can bring about retribution when no humans can.

By: mikespeir

mikespeir — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:19:06 +0000

I agree with your dealing with Pascal’s “infinite abyss,” although I think all of the yearnings you mentioned can be comprehended beneath the broader umbrella of our need to feel secure. It was also good to point out that these yearnings might never be satisfied. (There is literally no way we can we can feel absolutely secure, because we know we can never be absolutely secure, but that’s what drives us to seek for an absolute Guarantor of security–or invent one if necessary.) It is, in fact, hard to deal with that sometimes, but that doesn’t justify living in a fantasy world.