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Originally posted by CS119laCoS
I'm not religious, but the Sagan answer is not very compelling. It assumes that just because you can't prove something by critical thinking, it doesn't exist or isn't true.
What does Shermer say, basically?
The answer to me seems to be religion is and has been (1) a way to control people, and (2) appealing to people because it's a way to explain the unexplained. There seems to be an innate human need to have an answer for everything. Don't know why the sun rises every morning? "We don't know" isn't satisfying enough, so "The Sun God pulls it up." When science finally catches up and figures it out, Sun God is discarded.
And, (3) fear of death. It's nice to think your loved ones have gone to a "better place" rather than simply ceased to exist, and that you'll go there too when you die. (3) is also the primary tool for (1), it's both the carrot and the stick.
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Well, I'm still reading the book, but basically there are a lot of reasons why people believe things and many of them have nothing to do with whether or not the particular thing they believe in is true. That's the interesting part. Why do people believe in things for which there is no evidence? Why are 9/11 conspiracy theories believed by so many people (36% in a recent poll). Why do people think the moon landings were faked? Why do people believe in Scientology?
One thing I am learning is that people believe in god for reasons that transcend logic. And I don't mean that in a bad way, necessarily. But what it does mean is that trying to appeal to their rationale side to *prove* that their belief is flawed is futile. Pick any religious thread on PPOT as evidence.
When polled, most people claim belief in god for what they feel are rational, logical reasons (the design of the world around us, etc), but when they are asked why *other* people believe, the response is typically that other people believe for emotional reasons (comfort, meaning in life, etc.). Interesting.
Mike