Where i live in sheltered accommodation A lot of people go to church and mass as something to do - a reason to get out of the house and socialise with someone who they know from outside here. Its only my thinking but the familiarity of it must seem comfortable - When I am with old friends we slip into old ways of being and its comfortable, all the edges are known.

As a child, I attended because I was threatened with bodily harm.

The pole is missing a voting category. Because of the Social interactions.

Probably because it is a force of habit they got from being brought to church by their parents (at least for the majority).

Some are zealous devout believers however I think that indoctrinated habits are harder to break than zealous worship.

I would attend only to find a girlfriend. A lot of church girls are hot.

I just wanted to say I went with my aunts and they are pretty up there in age- it didn't cost me anything to give them a good memory- my aunt cathy pulled me aside and said this was the day my unkle John passed a few years ago- so I looked at her as she had tears in her eyes and said this is for him to- it doesn't cost me anything if I do it once in awhile- as long as im not doing it every time lol

Unquestioning compliance to authority. I'm always amazed by how many people never realize that their parents didn't have a clue and were just pulling things outta their asses to get'em to shut up.

the singing , the camaraderie and the support are valuable attractions provided by the temples. if only we had an alternative to cold hard governance ?

BTW, good question!

I still go to church sometimes with my Catholic parents, and I think the key difference in the perception of church is the element of faith. Just about everything preached during a service hinges on a belief in god. To me as an atheist, there is no other reason to go but to appease my parents, as they's ostracise me if they thought I was "negatively" influencing their children with atheism.

However, I think that element of faith opens the believer to rushes of dopamine. I remember feeling that way when I was a kid. The music gave me goosebumps as it swelled, and the pastor's homilies would put me in awe of the supposed unbound love that god had for me.

mix of both, i have gone to midnight mass because of the show and incense

Now, I may be wrong, & the numbers may go the other way, but I think for many church attendance is more tradition, habit & a social event, not necessarily a whole-hearted involvement. Too many people know that too much of their holy-books is just myth, so I think "true" belief is the exception rather than the rule. That being said, even the "closet doubters" may vote along religious lines for many reasons, protective coloration being one of them.

I believe that most modern "Christians" attend church events as a form of social experience. They want to see and be seen. It's a part of their social identity that they want to cultivate. They want to be surrounded by people whose behavior they find predictable, and want to avoid people that are different. I think that most religious people are caught up in a social system.

Not part of that clan so... how would I know?

Because I love to make fun of gullible people.

It really doesn't matter what I believe, they do what they do for the reasons they do it and only they know what that reason is. I think that pretty much applies to everyone.