People abuse religion like any other drug, and, like other addicts, will say anything to justify their heavy usage

I think people are people and knowing that there are many possibilities but it's not easy climbing into someone's head.

I do not think you are correct at all...there is great joy in "ecstasy" akin to a really good drug high...enjoyable and addicting. That is why it is Impossible to reason with the most religious among us....like trying to wean a meth head with statistical recitations.

I think some do, some are afraid not to, and some don't but will not admit it for different reasons.

I believe many have varying levels of "faith" (belief without evidence) Some believe, yes. Look at the (insert expletive here) people that blow themselves up so they can make it to the holy lands and receive their virgins. . etc. For those peddling ((faith) belief without evidence) trash as "Truth", Some. Not all. I've run into priests (about half of those I have taken the time to talk to for extended periods of time) that admit their religion is not based on truth.

I don't care what the religious believe.

My take is this: There is much propaganda on their camp on the promise of what to expect in the afterlife. That is religion's main weapon. Sin, Hell, Salvation. Let us take all three right now: Sin cannot exist because we were created by the universe and it does not have a mindset called sin. Hell, is that a planet? Not likely. And Salvation, salvation is born with you and it is created in your mother's womb. You are saved by the time you come out. This is because your destiny is to gain experiences here on Earth (good and bad) so you can share them with the Universal Intelligence when you pass. This is the reason why the flesh must die. This is because we are born with an electromagnetic neuronal soul-pair spirit whose only mission is to record all your experiences so as to deliver our minds to the dark of night and the bright stars. That is the idea of Nacrea, your creator, nature. For the most part, religious folks live a totally confused life. But have little choice because, for them, what's the alternative? Stop believing? Some do, but must remain in doubt even here with us. The only way to change that - and to eliminate our own doubts too - is to show that nature is the god we all seek. That is my mission.

It takes all kinds. There are always people out to take advantage of others, and I expect that there are plenty of them involved in religion. Many people just go with the flow, some are authentic, and some aren't. Just like everything else about humans, really.

That actually sounds pretty reasonable, I guess I never thought about it that hard before. I wonder if that goes along with the overall victim/martyr mentality of most Christians, and the whole "the ineffable is testing me" attitude.

"I think people who get "possessed" or the holy rollers that throw themselves onto the ground or those that hear voices... they must know they are acting. Right?" Not the one's I've known...including my past self.

Yes. As a former believer, I was passionate about it. I always had questions about faith and knowledge and was very confused that so many people seemed to think they were the same thing. Their statement, "I KNOW God lives and loves me!" would be how their faith was strengthened, just creating an endless cycle of using faith and knowledge interchangeably.

If they really believed that "God is in control and everything that happens is His will" they wouldn't buy insurance, or take their children to the doctor when they're sick.
They wouldn't want to thwart "God's will."

I don't need to go to weekly atheist meetings to reinforce my world view. But the religious need the constant reaffirmation of their shaky beliefs by attending church every Sunday. They tend to shun the company of those who do not believe as they do out of fear, I think, of being exposed to ideas that might buoy their secret misgivings. Threats of crucifixion or being burned at the stake make them cling ever tighter to their irrational thoughts as admitting to their doubts would be a more difficult situation with which to deal. For some irrationality is easier to live with than acknowledging there are no concrete answers.

Some believe it, some do not. The cynic in me says that the non-believers use it as a means to power and money.

I could be wrong, but I think a majority of religionists 'believe' because it's what they were told and simply do so out of fear.

I think most do believe. With that being said, what modern neuroscience is showing is that the brain is more of a Congress and different parts win at different times.

I read about a study where they audio recorded people during a game. The game was rigged from some to lose and some to win. When the researchers played back the recording, people had trouble recognizing their own voice when they were in the losing conduction, but not in the winning conduction. That is pretty interesting in and of itself, but then they tested them with a skin galvanic test, which responds in a special way when you hear your own voice. The skin galavanic test showed that somewhere they were aware it was their own voice. How much is conscious is the question.

I don't remember where I read the study... Maybe "The Morale Animal". It was many years ago.

There are some who may have normal doubt and are in denial about that doubt. They are afraid if anyone really discovered their doubt, or the doubting individual may hate their doubt because they may see it as a weakness in their faith or it may indicate to them that they are evil (you know, like those evil non-believers ).

I don't think people who get wealthy using religion believe at all...I would bet they are all atheistic confolk. As for the insecurity of faith, it has to be insecure at some level or you get zealotry, whatever the faith that you have.

The human mind is a funny thing. People can convince them selves of almost anything. Even with glaring evidence to the contrary. This gets compounded when you have institutions that reinforce that belief system. Those institutions can easily become corrupt in order to support the power and influence of those in charge.

I have family that truly believes everything that they have been preaching for years. They pray for me even as their children abandon there beliefs.

I have wondered that too. It is difficult to believe that people really believe in a book about talking donkeys, talking snakes,and flying chariots. I think the culture of religion is the big influence. Most don't even know what they believe. I think it is all cultural heritage and pressure.

I think that many get/stay involved with religeon, especially Christianity is because they want/need to believe in something/one more powerful than they are.
Someone to dump on when they pray or from whom to ask for the varsity team's victory, or when they do something wrong, to beg forgiveness from... Then they group up with those of the same mind and try to bring others in to their group. Those not in the group are damned. The damned go to hell. Those not in hell yet are the enemy who may recruit from them or create other non-believers and must be stopped. Change laws to make sinning illegal, incarcerate them...
Do they really buy this? I think they have themselves convenced that they do and if not, they can be forgiven over and over.
It's like a club where they all believe in the same lie, support one another and have an "expert" to tell you how to interpret their book and pamphlets and dogma and collect their money and build churches ever bigger and imposing to draw in more sheep, to explain how hate is a form of love...

Many believe, absolutely. The guys who flew the planes into the towers were believers, believe me!!!

I think it's convenient after a while. They may have believed as children because of fear or as newly converted because they needed purpose in their life. Once that initial fear or high wants, then they hold on to it because they are supposed to and that somehow makes them a good person.

Nobody has the personal experience of everything there is to know. In fact, if you think about it, MOST of what you "know" is not personal experience at all. In the modern age, we have television and the Internet to show us things we have not, or will not, personally experience. So, when I "believed" in god, it was like something I never personally experienced, but by authority of my parents, I was told it was true. It never made sense to me, that you would have a "personal relationship with Jesus". You could talk to him all you want, but never is he to answer back. The concept is total BS, under those circumstances. So, at some point, I came to the realization that what I was told, was complete nonsense. There were also so many other things wrong with religion. Like how people who were supped to be religious, didn't act in a completely moral way. And there was the phrase "true believer" being spoken. I got the impression that lots of people didn't take it so serious. Fact is, I think it's taking it serious, is why I don't believe. I think a lot of people are just going with the crowd and don't really take it all that serious. Not unless their life is in danger or other such trauma.In that case, they HOPE it's real. I think most people don't really believe. Their actions show it. It's peer pressure and culture, that pushes them to say they believe. Of course, that is not everyone. Some do believe, and act accordingly, most of the time.