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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Maybe because they like it.  It feels good.  Most everyone else they know does it.

Do they really believe?  I doubt it.  I can see why people believed it 2,000 years ago, but how can anyone these days possibly believe that long ago, a guy who was actually God, had a mother who was a virgin.  He was later died by hanging on a cross, then came back to life and ultimately went up to the sky (heaven) to live with his father (God) and if you believe that, you’ll get to live forever just like him.   If you don’t, then you’ll burn forever, instead.

It’s a story, obviously.

There’s a great new 15 min video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdgVM0WGKg  on “Why intelligent people are leaving religion”. You can play it at high speed.

Here’s how it starts: “It’s becoming more common now.  You meet people who followed every rule and custom and they tell you ‘I don’t really believe anymore.’   They’re not angry about it.  They just tell you:  ‘I just left.’ Many are well read and curious people. People who ask questions.  People who listen carefully to the answers.”  
[/quote]

For me personally: my religion is a system of values and beliefs about how to move through life that has yielded better outcomes for me than other things I’ve tried.

And I really tried other things, including a period of secularism/Humanism from age 15-20.

For me: the appeal is not about a fear of burning in hell, it’s about how to —at minimum— not harm myself, others, and the planet in the here and now. And hopefully do a lot of good. Because we could all use more good in the world.

I’ve figured out that religion doesn’t have to work for everyone to work for me. I’d still follow it even if it became the alternative lifestyle.

As for intelligence, I have multiple advanced degrees (including one in a science) and know many intelligent people who are religious, including those who were raised in largely secular societies and converted as adults.

When it comes to asking questions, my religious upbringing prized wrestling with the tenets and didn’t punish doubt. [/quote]

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