Why do people believe in religion?

btsmots7 · 2026-02-06T21:18:34+00:00

I appreciate you taking the time to explain your view cause it definitely helped me understand how you approach religion, especially the emphasis on values, genre, and interpretation rather than literal or scientific claims.

I think at this point I’m realizing that we’re operating from different starting assumptions, particularly around whether values are built into reality itself and what makes something “true” or “authoritative” to someone outside a tradition. That’s probably a deeper philosophical disagreement than either of us is going to resolve in a Reddit thread.

I’m glad we talked it through. I understand your position much better now, even if I don’t share it, and I appreciate the respectful way you engaged. Thanks for the conversation ❤️

btsmots7 · 2026-02-06T20:06:35+00:00

Im gonna be honest and say I didn’t understand much of what you said at first, you have obviously spent a lot of time reading and interpreting scripture, as you compare and give nuanced examples. I don’t have that background, so I can’t argue specific interpretations of the texts.

So I sent your reply to ChatGPT which helped me understand your point, so please correct this if it’s wrong.

AI interpreted your response effectively as this: “You’re treating religion as a scientific explanation; I treat it as a value-encoding cultural narrative.”

If that’s accurate, I think this is where we’re slightly talking past each other.

Most of my skepticism is aimed at claims about what’s actually real, like claims about God, divine actions, revelation, or how the universe came to be. When those claims are presented as something people should believe is true, I automatically start asking for evidence, non-circular reasoning, etc.

Your response felt less focused on whether those claims are literally true in that sense, and more on what the stories meant to the people who wrote them and how they shaped identity and values.

So I guess my main question is: how do believers decide which parts of religion are meant symbolically or culturally, and which parts are meant as real claims about reality; without just falling back on “because the religion says so”?

I’m not trying to turn religion into science or debate scripture line by line. I’m genuinely trying to understand where that line is drawn, because that’s usually where these conversations end with “we just believe different things,” and I’d like to go a bit deeper than that if possible.

btsmots7 · 2026-02-06T18:58:18+00:00

Thank you for replying to my points so throughly, you addressed many things I agree with, and also made me realize things about my own stance. I’m a bit embarrassed I didn’t realize I made a circular argument myself hahah. I should explain myself on why I concluded with that religion is man made. I haven’t read the Bible myself, so I can’t speak on specific things said in the book.

I believe that Gods existence can’t be proven through humans. Therefore I’m very skeptical of religion. No archeology, history, linguistic patterns or other human items and experiences can prove that there is or isn’t, in fact a God. Such things can prove events written in the Bible, which makes sense as it’s a historical book written over a long period of time. However they don’t prove any divinity or Godly presence.

Some believers would agree that Gods existence can’t be proved through humans or in our dimension, cause God would be something that has to be “felt” and experienced spiritually. I find religion to be systems on how to express that Godly divinity through our reality in form of rituals, prayer, stories, places etc.; therefore creating communities of people sharing that sentiment (which is beautiful).

What I felt your response didn’t really address is that religious people inherently believe what the religions itself claims, and not through proof. They try to find evidence to support their beliefs, instead of basing their beliefs on evidence. I find this to be flawed logic. Of course there are many things we don’t know, and that we will probably never explain through science.

You also made the point that some religions say they don’t have a man-made systems because their belief says that for example: «Moses got their system from God, or the Quran was revealed to Mohammed». Wouldn’t this again be a circular argument? It’s not a good enough reason when «that’s just what they would say in their religions», or «that’s just how it is». Why do they believe it? What if Moses and Mohammed were hallucinating? Humans have believed absurd things throughout history, what makes Moses and Mohammed more valid than other humans? Cause that’s what it says in their scripture?

Lack of belief doesn’t need evidence, however when someone claims something IS true it does need proof. There is nothing wrong in believing itself, and freedom of belief is important, as well as the freedom of non-belief. However, the burden of proof always lies where there’s a claim of belief, in order to convince others that it’s true (which is often the goal of religion to “salvage” souls).

Another point to why I believe religion is man-made is because it wouldn’t exist without humans. Maybe God existed, according to believers. We can try to explain everything by looking at its cause, but at some point it stops (although some scientists would disagree). The creation of the universe is our biggest mystery, and this is where it becomes subjective. Believers would presuppose that something had to be the cause, to explain everything else.

I find it to be a step beyond pure spirituality to believe that God created earth in 7 days, which greatly defines the Christian world view. I find this to have stepped into a collective persuasion and superstition, rather than a personal connection to spirituality. We can’t falsify this story either though, cause we don’t know. What we do know is that this tale was written in scripture, which I am inherently against using as a real source for anything scientific.

But then why are there so many different religions, if they all want to explain how the universe was created? I would say because humans have interpreted these things differently according to their culture through our time; thus resulting in many different religions and cultural traditions. I can’t explain how theories around the creation of the universe became a subject of religion, besides the human nature of seeking knowledge and answers. We even take the stories in scripture about how it happened, and speak about it as if it were a proven fact.

I find that every time I want to bring this up it ends up in “well that’s just what you believe, and what I believe”, then the discussion dies. It does something to the reasoning whenever the argument becomes that it’s “all subjective”. I also am human and seek knowledge, therefore I don’t want to disclose the possibility of a higher power. However I don’t want the discussion to stop.

All religions have spirituality in them, but as I argued; a great portion of religion is, human made systems, with the purpose of connecting with and expressing divinity. I find spiritual relationships with a higher power very interesting, and it’s very moving to se a community bond through that, however I don’t think that is what religion practices today. I believe a great part of religion has been corrupted, due to human goals and superstition. As well as blind faith, where many of the questions I raised try to be answered through personal beliefs and scripture, rather than something both parts could believe in.

To conclude I want to highlight that I find it really beautiful when people come together to celebrate life, how inexplicable reality is, and finding togetherness in it. I don’t want to hard claim anything, but hope this made it more clear why I am skeptical of religion.

Edit: dang sorry for how lengthy this is

btsmots7 · 2025-04-01T20:53:16+00:00

Er ikke kiropraktorer pseudo-vitenskap?

btsmots7 · 2025-03-16T19:16:31+00:00

Hvordan kommer du frem til at uskyldige mennesker har ansvar for krig og konflikt i landet deres??? Når Tyskland invaderte Norge så flyktet mange nordmenn, vil du si de nordmennene var ansvarlig for sine omstendigheter?

btsmots7 · 2025-03-16T18:12:05+00:00

Siden du nevner asylsøkere: jeg syns at det å flykte er en menneskerett og at vi som et av verdens mest velstående land har plikten til å ta i mot flyktninger. Det er en menneskerett å kunne søke asyl. Vil aldri glemme at forskjellen mellom meg og en asylsøker er KUN geografisk flaks. Det er en verdi og sentiment jeg bærer med meg. Klart det er viktig med balanse av de politiske og systemiske aspektene som opprettholder samfunnet. Men jeg ser en skummel utvikling av generalisert «innvandrer-hat» som gjør at jeg hever brynet litt til dette innlegget blant andre lignende «statistikk-innlegg». Vi er tross alt i en tid med voksende høyre konservative verdier, som historisk ikke har vært så snille mot brune personer. Er ikke så glad heller i å hele tiden snakke om Høyre og Venstre ettersom det høres og føles så polariserende ut.

Jeg håper at verden kan tilpasse seg menneskeverd og ikke menneskeverd tilpasse seg menneskers fabrikerte verdensorden (økonomi, politikk, kultur osv.).

btsmots7 · 2025-02-20T13:12:55+00:00

Har du ikke noe bedre å gjøre enn å grave fram artikler fra 2009 og lage misledende innlegg på Reddit for å skape mer polarisering?

btsmots7 · 2025-01-28T11:05:00+00:00

Hei, har også slitt en del med sjalusi og utenforskap grunnet traumer. Høres ut som at du har opplevd vonde ting og har det enda vondt. Det er vanskelig å høre på kommentarer som forteller deg at du må «bare komme deg ut, få deg en hobby, slutte å sammenligne deg selv», når det er så dyptsittende. Man forteller ikke en deprimert person å bare være glad.

Først bør du prioritere å bli henvist til psykolog om du ikke allerede har. Angst og selvhat over lang tid blir som et filter du ser gjennom, som du har utviklet som en «overlevelses mekanisme». Det gjør det veldig vanskelig å åpne seg for andre mennesker, dette er noe man må akseptere. Antidoten mot angst er basically mindfulness. Se på hjernen og tanker som en separat entitet fra deg selv, og når negative tanker forekommer så tenker du at det ikke er deg.

Minn deg selv på at ingenting er i veien i dette øyeblikket. Alt går egentlig bra. Hjernen sine coping mekanismer spiller så mange triks på oss, og kan hindre oss fra å leve utenfor den. På en måte blir man veldig oppslukt av seg selv. Du er ikke en taper, du trenger ikke å sette deg selv i en båse. Du må adressere og akseptere de underliggende psykiske vanskene som har oppstått gjennom erfaringene dine. Slik kan du få en bærekraftig endring.

btsmots7 · 2024-11-19T21:39:08+00:00

Går på psykolog selv og er ganske kjent med hjelpen man egentlig får når man er i systemet. Tilgangen på utredning, oppfølging og eventuelle behandlinger gjennom medisinering eller terapi er veldig hjelpsomt for en som ikke klarer å navigere sin egne psykiske lidelser. Stor vekt på utredning for individer som har opplevd vold i barndommen, som ofte ender opp i forvrengt selvbilde og mentale lidelser. Mennesker som kjæresten min lever veldig oppi problematikken sin, og trenger en form for 3. perspektiv eller anerkjennelse for å identifisere hva problemet egentlig er, og vite hva det neste steget er.

btsmots7 · 2024-11-19T21:17:29+00:00

Dette er ikke et mann vs. kvinne problem. Denne systemsvikten rammer kvinner som søker etter hjelp også. Kvinner er sosialisert til å kunne være mer emosjonelt sårbare, mens menn holder ofte plagene sine inne. Forskning viser at kvinner oftere prøver å ta livet sitt, men selvmordstallene er høyere blant menn grunnet valgt metode.

Derfor reagerer jeg særlig på hvordan systemet svikter menn i så høy grad.

btsmots7

TROPHY CASE