The Logical Flaw of Religious Practicing

[Dodece]

@The1

I will explain it to you succinctly. People are religious, because it gives them the impression that they are in control. Humans like to be in control of their situation, and are uncomfortable when they are faced with something that they cannot control. To be blunt when someone doesn't have control they are usually afraid. So it is understandable why a person may buy into any explanation that would alleviate that fear. Even if they know it to be fabricated.

God is basically humanity anthropomorphizing the uncontrollable aspect of nature. By giving things like death a face and mind. Humans believe they can control their circumstances by making an appeal to another person that may have control of such things. This isn't actually a bad assumption. It is actually the only rational option given the situation. In life we learn that if we cannot do something ourselves. We can always ask for help from family, friends, or community to help us out. We have only two valid options in dealing with fears.

We can follow our instincts to deal with it internally, or deal with it externally be seeking the help of others in our community. It isn't a great leap to see how people who failed to find help in the community would make the very rational deduction that there is one person they could reason with that they couldn't reach. Once you place the fear back under control by saying since I control so much there must be someone who controls it all. Your fear is then sated. It stops being your problem sort of.

I mean sort of, because humans think in terms of reciprocity. We don't genuinely expect to get something for not doing anything. We cannot accept that our imaginary friend is just going to save us from mortality or cruelty out of pure altruism. We expect that we need to compensate that person. It goes deeper then that however. You see we need to do something, because we want to control the relationship. If we are giving the imaginary person any kind of reward then we are of a right to expect a reward ourselves. Thus you get religious practices. A structure that we use to negotiate rewards.

Religion is the opiate of the masses. It lets a lot of people go through their lives without dealing with the fears, and doubts that accompany a life that doesn't play by our rules. Nature doesn't value human lives, and death will take us all. Religion lets us have a sense of control. When we may not have any control at all. Religious practices allow us to negotiate with our reality. Which is what we are hardwired to do.

Let me be clear this is not in itself a stupid thing to do. Everyone does this whether they are religious or not. The truth is we all need a way to grapple with the arbitrary nature of reality. Some want to go with some structured well contrived faith, and some people just create their own system. Personally I am an Atheist, but I am no less guilty. I work under my own system that is no less rational then a imaginary friend. I always find myself working under the delusion that there is something like Karma balancing the books.

So I often go out of my way to help people that I don't know, and are going to place a burden on me. In the vain hope that maybe I can bank some good Karma. I don't know what I am going to buy with my fake cash, or who is going to come to collect on my debts. Intellectually I know there is nobody going to do either, but I need to do it, because I need to think what I do matters. That my life does have meaning, because it would be pointless to live the other way.

Anyway don't tell me that you aren't playing the same games in your own head, because I am not going to buy the notion that your purely nihilistic. I have yet to meet anybody who doesn't believe in anything at all. Even if it is just the blind roll of the dice.

P.S.

I am getting real tired of the discussion involving circumcisions. I don't know what the deal is with Europeans, and this obsession some of you have. Personally I suspect a lot of you are just insecure. You are too scared to have it done, and feel inadequate compared to those who have. I really don't care what it is either way. There are many good reasons to have it done, and it almost never has anything to do with religion. Don't make me bring out the laundry list of why it is better to have it done then not. In other words don't go there.