Reasons why humans seek religion

What are reasons that we human beings seek faith?

According to studies I have yet to cite sources of, being religious is humanly normal and being irreligious is humanly novel.

I believe humans have sought faith for the following reasons:

-To seek strength and guidance because they feel weak and misguided
-To explain the unexplained such as how humans and trees were created and how the solar system, galaxies and space were created
-It could be what their conscience tells them
-They believe there is a place we go after we die

But, let us ask this question, "What is faith?"

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith?s=t

Generally, it is defined as a belief held without evidence. Yet, why do humans have faith and why do they believe in something that has not been proven yet?
 
As the most religious people live in the poorest parts of the world I'd say "hope".

If your life is completely hopeless then a God might improve your life in the end if you believe strongly in it?
 
There is a natural instinct in human soul to lean on a greater power, as we can't control everything because of we are weak and small in this huge and filled-with-danger universe.

You can see that there is no civilization without a background religion or myth. I think, even people who claim to be atheists, worship to something. Either money, science, a famous person, cars, f1, sim-racing etc etc...("I religiously love that, i worship that person, i would die for that football club, science is answer to everything" bla bla...) Look at the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, people act as if that fire is divine or something. Championship League chorus; doesn't it reminds a religious chant? In Communist China and N. Korea, leaders are nearly worshipped. Some strange girls love Justin Bieber more than themselves.

We always love and want the infinite, and as we are mortals, we need religion. No one can truly love something mortal, something which will be disappeared after a time. We can't even take pleasure from the things completely in our lifes, because there is always a disturbing thought that thing will be gone. But when you know that the soul lives forever, and there is a power which has unlimited power, you can also enjoy more.

I don't think it has anything related to material wealth which states that poor people tend to worship in a god to find hope. A popular example would be Mr. Romney :D. And look at the old religious kings, lords, sultans who had mountains of wealth and land. Yes, rich people tend to feel like a god instead of worshipping one, but they are not happier with it. Look at the suicide rates of rich-and-poor.

Finally, thousands of people, dozens of prophets, pointed out to a greater being which governs all. I find no reason to disbelief such a thing. Of course in time, and in transportation between the cultures, descriptions, ways, and methods are changed. But there is always a notion of omnipotent administrator. You can't just throw this away by saying "i don't believe in spaghetti monster!". No one wrote or talked about the spaghetti monster. But there are 100s, 1000s, maybe 100.000s of books written on Christianity, Islam, Buddhism etc...

Sorry for the long, and crappy Englished post :x3:
 
Think you are forgetting that most do not actually seek it.
It´s been chosen before they even can speak their first word.
When your whole family is Christian (or any other religion) then the chances of you being a Christian is close to 100%.

There´s no surprise the poorer a place is the higher the chance it´s a very religious place.

I don´t need a god watching me, wanting to please him/her/it and i don´t think a god would spend his days looking after petty humans living on a piece of dust out in nowhere.
To feel the urge of having some higher power deciding what will happen with you after your life is moronic and is called scare-tactics and it obviously doesn´t work as most poor places have very high crime-rates.

It´s like death penalty. If you do this, you will get the death penalty.
There´s no correlation that the tougher the punishment, the lower rates of that crime.

violence breeds violence, so saying that you will burn in hell for doing something wrong has the opposite effect actually.

I am my own god, i am the universe, i did not come into this place, i came out of it.
I can honestly look at the sun and say that´s me. Just as you are me and i am you because we are all one.
 
What are reasons that we human beings seek faith?
-
-To explain the unexplained such as how humans and trees were created and how the solar system, galaxies and space were created

This is false and a blatant lie. It´s not even a theory at best.
It´s a mere guess printed in a book.

EDIT:

Also, when speculating about "why" the universe exists and then saying "well god made it of course"
i can´t understand how anyone could be satisfied with that type of explanation.
What you are doing is complicating the situation or the problem tenfold.
 
Many people are born into a family which follows a certain religion and they dont have a choice. But I think the main thing is death. Humans are scared of the unknown and death is a huge unanswered question in life. Especially if someone close to you dies, then you obviously will want to think or believe that he/she is going to a good place.I honestly think that if humans were immortal, religion would be near non-existent.

To be honest, I'm sick and tired of religion and you can disagree with me but thats just my opinion. Seeing the amount of violence, pregudice, biased opinions and hatred because of it annoys me. Sure, in a lot of cases it might make a persons life better but following a certain religion is close-minded I think.

Life is good. No need to follow any religion or believe we are going to a "better place" after we die. Just let it all happen. Be good to people and learn from your mistakes. I could write for ages on this topic but some of the guys above me have have already hit the nail on the head.
 
Religion is like a cave-man cloth, no offence, because it's soooo outdated. In the old times, people were afraid of thunders, earthquakes, floods, wild animals. So they created gods to feel safe. Now we have technology, so we can leave these supersititions :thumbsup:
 
Interesting thread with interesting opinions. First off, let me start by saying that opinions don't exist at all. Whatever we ''feel'' or ''think'' is right or the truth, it doesn't matter. I myself am not a religious person, and I don't believe in the existence of a god. But you would be ignorant if you think that makes me an atheïst. What irritates me most is that atheïsts, or generally people wanting to prove the non-existence of a god, are just as blatantly ignorant as religious people. Yes, we were born in a society which is all about using and applying science and technology to prove things and advance our technological developments... but does that mean that science is better than religion? No. Not at all. All scientific laws and rules invented by people in today's technological society only fit within this system and it doesn't mean anything. Religion is an as valid explanation as science for the existence of a god, because for all we know both are complete bullshit. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a perfect example which proves that everything people believe in, including science, is complete rubbish.

But let's go a bit more on topic now... People don't seek religion. Not specifically. People seek acceptance and a group to which they can belong. Nobody wants to feel left out, because the entire point of ALL animals' natural behaviour is working together and belonging to a group. It doesn't even matter what that group thinks or does. It could be a group who invents a nice story about 13 guys having a meal n all, but it just as well could be a group of people who.. let's say... think banana with mayonaise tastes good. Eventually you start believing the story about the 13 guys or you actually start liking banana with mayonaise, even though you don't. It's all the same. Religion is there because people feel connected to and accepted by eachother, just like the bookreading club of your neighbour.

Does that mean that I think religion is wrong? No. If religion is bullshit and should be banned, so should bookreading clubs, school and even RaceDepartment. Religion also isn't the base cause of any war in this world. Interaction and communication between different groups is. Continents and countries are an enormously stupid idea. If every group or tribe with different beliefs, likes or rituals would have been left alone in the past then everyone would live in peace and there would be no conflicts at all.

Please feel free to disregard any of what I said, because in the end nobody's ''opinion'' has any value. Anarchy is how this world began and anarchy is how this world will end. There is only one quote in the entire universe which sums up every single discussion ever held, which applies to me as well as everyone else: ''Shut the f*ck up.'' Just think about it for a long time.

I'm going to get some sleep now :D I'll come back to this thread in 2 years' time and realise what a complete idiot I was writing this, and so will you. Above all, nobody ever writes anything that makes any sense.
 
What irritates me most is that atheïsts, or generally people wanting to prove the non-existence of a god, are just as blatantly ignorant as religious people.
That´s not an atheist. You are talking about an anti-theist.

All scientific laws and rules invented by people in today's technological society only fit within this system and it doesn't mean anything. Religion is an as valid explanation as science for the existence of a god, because for all we know both are complete bullshit. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a perfect example which proves that everything people believe in, including science, is complete rubbish.
Well first of all, science did not "invent" the laws of nature.
The laws of nature were here before we came and they will be here after are dead.

As far as science being complete rubbish, explain yourself,
Science is not a belief-system....

Seems to be a BIG mis-conception on what science is.
Science do not set out to prove no god exists.
That´s not the goal of science.

And Religion is NOT a valid explanation for how the world was created, it never will be a valid explanation and never was a valid explanation.
 
I'm a deist but I do believe in intelligent design and my reason for believing that is phi. Pythagoras said all things are numbers, the most basic breakdown of anything can be expressed mathematically. Look and see how often you find phi in nature, sacred geometry and even the human body. We can't understand everything but that doesn't mean it can't be explained, we just may not have the tools to measure and quantify yet.
 
Sacred geometry is nothing but simple geometry used for churches, or other religious things.
There´s nothing sacred about sacred geometry other then the name.

Why would Phi be a testament to a god? Why does that allude to intelligent design?

Also, do you mean "god" created the universe then everything in it is according to his design or has evolution taken it´s course how things look today?
 
Sacred geometry is nothing but simple geometry used for churches, or other religious things.
There´s nothing sacred about sacred geometry other then the name.

Why would Phi be a testament to a god? Why does that allude to intelligent design?

Also, do you mean "god" created the universe then everything in it is according to his design or has evolution taken it´s course how things look today?
google the golden ratio and see how often it appears. You can find the number almost everywhere and not jus limited to this planet.
 

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