I am a year late to this article. Thank you for your thoughts. I have 3 siblings who were born again in the 70s 80s. Two have since more and less come to their senses but one is still all in and is regularly witnessing to our family. I have two theories: 1) fear of dying/fear of the unknown; 2) wanting to have the answer/wanting to be in the know/getting that A grade on the test of life. Thanks again for your thinking on this subject. I look forward to reading more.
I'm a fundamentalism evangelical missionary kid as far as that goes. Over my five decades on the planet, I have slowly morphed from a doubter into an agnostic into an atheist, and now I am a cautious anti-theist.
You are definitely right that one function of religion is to explain the purpose of being here, being alive, and defining our place in the universe. Unfortunately, most of it is pure bunk. There are some good moral bits woven in here or there, but that is almost always subsumed by the hogwash and the purely evil things that religions have perpetrated such as justifying genocides, wars, and the systemic physical and sexual abuse of generations of children.
A lot of people are uncomfortable looking into that reality. Thank you for not looking away.
The "need" to have a religion is probably driven by many factors. I love that you are examining them.
Peer pressure blended with a lack training for independent critical thinking are my top two. For those of us who don't need a club to be happy, we can look at the peer pressure somewhat objectively. Most need a club. Most need a large portion of acceptance.
I am not sure when the critical thinking piece kicks in...or not. I just remember dinner table chats with my sister and parents. My folks were quick to fill me with facts and correct my inaccuracies. But they never attacked my opinions.
Good morning Bill. First of all, you sound like you had good fortune in regard to the family you found yourself a part of! I think it is accurate that most of us need a tribe to belong to. I will likely examine that idea in more depth in the future. I also tend to agree with the observation that a lack of critical thinking capacity is a key factor in why people accept dogma in the face of zero evidence that supports its tenets.
I found it helpful to read this fine post but the thought of " babies and dirty bathwater" came to mind. I fully agree with your comment - " While it is possible to believe in gods and operate within the spectrum of normal human mental health, I think there is a correlation between religiosity and mental illness." As I read it nodding yes, the word Balance came to mind. Religiosity has distorted the wisdom of great spiritual thinkers over the ions but I haven't given up on the observation that there are wonderful ideals set forth within enduring religious writings. A cynical read I think we would agree, is where the money is. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
If by great spiritual thinkers, you mean all the humans who have pondered the questions: why are we here, and what does it mean? Yes, those folks have given me a great foundation on which to build my life.
It's the dogmatic power brokers who insist I follow their rule books and pretend to respect their imaginary leaders that I have major issues with. It's fascinating that their gods never reveal themselves to me directly, but only through the pomposity of various other humans claiming divine authority. Not having any of that, please and thank you.
I am a year late to this article. Thank you for your thoughts. I have 3 siblings who were born again in the 70s 80s. Two have since more and less come to their senses but one is still all in and is regularly witnessing to our family. I have two theories: 1) fear of dying/fear of the unknown; 2) wanting to have the answer/wanting to be in the know/getting that A grade on the test of life. Thanks again for your thinking on this subject. I look forward to reading more.
I'm a fundamentalism evangelical missionary kid as far as that goes. Over my five decades on the planet, I have slowly morphed from a doubter into an agnostic into an atheist, and now I am a cautious anti-theist.
You are definitely right that one function of religion is to explain the purpose of being here, being alive, and defining our place in the universe. Unfortunately, most of it is pure bunk. There are some good moral bits woven in here or there, but that is almost always subsumed by the hogwash and the purely evil things that religions have perpetrated such as justifying genocides, wars, and the systemic physical and sexual abuse of generations of children.
A lot of people are uncomfortable looking into that reality. Thank you for not looking away.
The "need" to have a religion is probably driven by many factors. I love that you are examining them.
Peer pressure blended with a lack training for independent critical thinking are my top two. For those of us who don't need a club to be happy, we can look at the peer pressure somewhat objectively. Most need a club. Most need a large portion of acceptance.
I am not sure when the critical thinking piece kicks in...or not. I just remember dinner table chats with my sister and parents. My folks were quick to fill me with facts and correct my inaccuracies. But they never attacked my opinions.
Good morning Bill. First of all, you sound like you had good fortune in regard to the family you found yourself a part of! I think it is accurate that most of us need a tribe to belong to. I will likely examine that idea in more depth in the future. I also tend to agree with the observation that a lack of critical thinking capacity is a key factor in why people accept dogma in the face of zero evidence that supports its tenets.
I found it helpful to read this fine post but the thought of " babies and dirty bathwater" came to mind. I fully agree with your comment - " While it is possible to believe in gods and operate within the spectrum of normal human mental health, I think there is a correlation between religiosity and mental illness." As I read it nodding yes, the word Balance came to mind. Religiosity has distorted the wisdom of great spiritual thinkers over the ions but I haven't given up on the observation that there are wonderful ideals set forth within enduring religious writings. A cynical read I think we would agree, is where the money is. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
If by great spiritual thinkers, you mean all the humans who have pondered the questions: why are we here, and what does it mean? Yes, those folks have given me a great foundation on which to build my life.
It's the dogmatic power brokers who insist I follow their rule books and pretend to respect their imaginary leaders that I have major issues with. It's fascinating that their gods never reveal themselves to me directly, but only through the pomposity of various other humans claiming divine authority. Not having any of that, please and thank you.
Dogmatic power brokers and spiritual leaders in my book are as different as night and day, but only the former is doing it for personal gain.
I had never heard this before! Citation?
"Praying activates the same brain areas that are engaged when thinking about or interacting with authority figures. '
Hi Nancy, the source is linked in the beginning of the paragraph and I'm happy to provide it here again: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/12/believe. :)
Wow! Very informative. Thanks for taking the time to refer me. Very appreciated.
I am happy you found it informative.
Fascinating. I will definitely follow this series.
Thank you for being interested! Part 2 will be posted Pacific time before 9 p.m.