For me, i think it's a matter of life experience whether you believe

[toddzilla]

I've been groping with how an otherwise intelligent person can believe in an invisible friend that lives in the sky and watches over them.

I think sometimes, but certainly not always, it comes down to what type of life they led. I know someone who basically has had life handed to them, has parents that have issues, but overall are good to him, has a kid, and basically no real major issues or signifigant problems you can point to in his life. These type of people i can easily see how they can believe someone is watching out for them, even if that someone is called "born to a good situation." No matter how much you try to explain depression, or what it's like to watch your mother get the shit beat out of her when you're 8 years old, or whatever traumatic events you lived through, they can't comprehend it.

Maybe i'm just trying to make allowances for some of the people i know so i don't have to think of them as complete idiots, but i think there is some truth to this type of situation that can lead to faith. the individual is the largest factor in how far that faith can be pushed until you realize nobody is looking out for you except you and your immediate circle of family/friends.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. It's the "god gene". Some people are predisposed to having the

"divine experience." And that experience, for those who have it, needs to be explained. Religion provides a context in which to place that experience.

But explaining lightnting by inventing a guy with a hammer sitting up in the clouds wasn't such a hot idea either. :)

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. "God gene" could be right. And it is recessive. That's why

it is reinforced by marriage within the religious community.

My dad was content to ignore religion, while mom drifted in and out -- she discovered new age stuff before it was fashionable. I am an atheist, two of my sisters are UU, my third sister is, quite unaccountably, fundie. Always has been, to my recollection. The recessive gene just popped up in 1/4 of the kids. She is now married fundie, and is raising a brood of fundies.

[Synnical]

8. Criminey, NO!

There is no damn "god gene", it's all conjecture right now. A rabbi on MSNBC, while "discussing" the topic suggested that atheists would want to abort any fetus that was determined to have the "god gene".

They survive on fear tactics, don't give them ammunition - that's what I'm thinking, for what it's worth.

[fshrink]

2. Believe me!

You have no idea what people's issues are... What you see is a facade painstakingly kept up. "Problems" are what you see on the outside when a crack appears here or there, sometimes the whole thing just collapses, sometimes it stays there, all shiny and everything but if you dig a little...

[toddzilla]

3. i know everyone has issues..

most are pretty transparent once you get to know them. What i'm saying is that if your life is absent of serious trauma or the like, it's much easier to believe that theres an omnipotent supreme being that gives two shits about what happens to you.

[Az]

4. Our beliefs are derived from our experiences

Every event. Every lesson learned. They all carry with them an emotional significance. Our mind collects these and uses the emotional significance to evaluate the relevance of the events to our life. Its a simple evolutionary development.

The things that impact us the strongest are likely to have the most impact on our lives. Our understanding of these events and the facts of the matter are of secondary importance in terms of pure survival.

Our species however has developed in ways that evolution had not built for. Science was never part of the plan when cave men were wandering around being startled by saber tooth tigers. The advances we made through harnessing reason have created a soceity increasingly dependent on reason and understanding the machinations behind the scenes in nature.

But this has not changed our basic mental structure. Our reliance on emotional responses to things still drives our beliefs. Reason and other rational tools can only be brought to bear on problems in our mind when there is an approximate balance between emotionally conflicting positions. This is doubt. And reason is only brought into play when doubt is present.

Unfortunately for us skeptics reason is not the only tool brought into play when doubt arises. The mind has found other ways to boost one side or the other through various means. Looking for signs is a favorite (and originator of many superstitions). Communing with percieved voices from inside (another neurological anomaly). The social ties we make in various institutions may serve to tip the balance back in favor of a belief system as well. And even reason can draw a blank on some subjects if it does not have anough information to work with.

Great minds have struggled with the idea of god. It has survived for millenia. It is not exactly an easy battle. It is a very infectious meme. Very difficult to be rid of entirely. If we can project the notion of identity onto other people the mind is quite ready to project the notion of identity onto the cosmos. Its hard to beat.

[fshrink]

7. One point again though...

The massive change we went through is... language. Which resulted in such an increase in grey matter that we had to evolve the skeletal structure to let our huge heads go through. It slowed down our growth towards maturity as well, because it takes learning to fully develop. That made us more vulnerable because our youngs were easy (and savory!) preys. Hence the development of more complex social structure, which in turn increased development of of language. Reason is just what we do with language. Without language, no reason. This guy, the name of whom I'm blanking on right now, came up with the "triune brain", an almost topographical model: the reptilian, at the base of the skull and comprising some more sophisticated structure just above, the emotional brain, at the center, comprising a number of complex structures and the cortex (i.e. the "bark" in Latin) all around. The latter is mainly the locus of inhibition, therefore of attention, and complex processing, abstraction etc... So that in the end, we have a little bit of everything globally managed by our cortex. Beliefs are as complex constructions as theories. The only difference is that they are "interrupted" theories, not because of brain defects but because of psychological problems. These problems, clinically, comme very close to the definition of psychosis. It always reminds me of this part in Jodi Foster's movie about aliens where the (of course!) trendy, laid-back dude-priest asks her during the hearing if she thinks that a 1/3 of humanity is deluded. Good question. The character backs down. But the answer is a loud and clear "yes".

[progressoid]

6. I think it's also biochemical

I started toying with this idea a few years ago while trying to figure out how such a varied group of people can have nearly identical beliefs. Conversely, how can similarly varied group of people essentially believe in nothing. Religion doesn't seem to attract a specific race, wealth, class, etc. Intelligence and education seems to weaken it somewhat. But, we still see very intelligent people believing in cherubim and seraphim. What gives?

I'm beginning to think that it's not unlike alcoholism. Many people have an emotional AND physical needs that religion fills. The rest of us have either conquered this need or just never had it to begin with.

Certainly, there are traditional, social, & family pressures (I suppose political too) to join or stay in the fold. And, once one is part of the fabric of religion, and it feels OK, it's difficult to tear oneself free, regardless of how irrational it may be. Indeed, it is sometimes dangerous to do so. But if this belief system keeps the serotonin levels up (or some such physiological effect), then the irrational parts are easily ignored.

Perhaps somewhere down the road, a religion blocker will be developed by an enterprising pharmacy company!


I haven't read the "God Gene" yet. But maybe it's time for me to check it out.