This question is like a Rorschach into which people project themselves.

There is nothing even approaching an (empirically verifiable) explanation for the ubiquity of religion. Of course everyone is entitled to a belief on the matter.

Because Gods real, hes just a schizophrenic.

theist [/thread]
atheist [thread]

because water dripping off rocks (primordial soup) just isn't a reasonable explanation for us

we all know Gods real, therefore religion

Careful... Gods going to mad if you keep making fun of his primordial soup.

Reasonable explanation doesnt mean what you think it does if you think the alternative theory of the invisible sky man makes more sense.

An absurd strawman argument.

because physics is hard for uneducated people.

couldnt have said it better. it's just like how we all know elves and fairies are real, therefore fantasy novels.

No argument from me.

Peace

Humans with a propensity for religious belief survived and reproduced more than those without

in order for there to be anything, there had to be something that always was. We call it God, therefore religion

Religion exists for one simple reason. CONTROL.

If god was a real thing/being there isn't any reason for him to have ever left this paradise that he/it created.

Why is it that almost everything we thought we knew about science, medicine, etc. has been refined and in most cases completely changed in the past two hundred years except the idea of some all knowing all present creator that loves us so much that they just sit back and watch babies being strapped into the back seats of cars and driven into lakes because they need to respect our 'free will'.

The very idea of god is so backward and dumb that if it didn't already exist and you tried to start the idea today you'd probably end up in an institution, which by the way is where anyone dumb enough to believe the nonsense organized religion wants you to should be IMO.

If god wants me to worship and obey him let him take five minutes from his busy schedule (although if Earth is the only place in the Universe with life IDK WTF else he's had to occupy himself with for the last 2k years) and come out from whatever rock he is hiding under and tell me WHY.

While he's at it maybe he can explain to me what higher purpose was served when that 4 year old started the family minivan today and ran over and killed a three week old baby.

Or maybe he can shed some of that eternal light of his on why any number of horrific things that we read about every day are permitted to happen.....ohh yea...I forgot about the convenient built in excuse of 'god needed them' or had plans for them somewhere else. Really? Then why didn't he just pluck them from the measly surroundings of this tiny earth....why did they have to die in sheer terror and agony in order to become part of the bigger plan that no one seems to know anything about OTHER than the fact that it exists and we don't understand it...lol


You may not believe this but this post was way longer than this and I deleted the last three paragraphs...lol

Religion is the single worst idea that man kind has INVENTED (and that includes the Studebaker and the Alternative Minimum Tax!).

Even if this be true, the thing that always was does not have to be a god. It could have been the universe, for example.

What a magnificent contribution, bravo

This. /thread

Human beings are just hard-wired to do some things, and searching for patterns is one of them. The control and supporting the priesthood stuff is just people taking advantage of this fact. Some other things are the sex drive, nurturing, and the Inconsistent Reinforcement effect (why some peeps play slots).

"Why does religion exist?"

Mainly to empower clergy - or, at least, that's my take on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVbnciQYMiM

some people are just intrinsically savage (raw intellect, law of the jungle types), therefore no religion (secretly satanists?)

Us non believers do fill up the jails and prisons.

they run the jails and prisons

All the stats do show thats true.

Any atheist who thinks there's a simple reason for something as complex and diverse as "religion" is deluded, in my opinion. If there's no God, then I suspect it's the result of a huge number of different factors.

They haven't changed the model all that much over the centuries. It gets renamed a lot though.