Absolutely. Are you a sociologist?

I like what Montaign said, "Religion started when the first scoundrel met the first fool"

@julietrue No, not at all. I've studied primate nature and I've learned a lot about human habits.

This difference is the hard part. We may still have strong human bonds with the people we grew up with & came to love. But once we get rational & scientific awareness, once you are a pickle, you are never a cucumber again. Many of us stay in the closet around our relatives & friends. To be exposed as an intellectual would cause grave division..

We also have to be careful not to slide into arrogance & pride, which is easy to do. Just because you are a thinking person doesn't mean you can't be an elitist asshole

It's strange how the Goddies are unforgiving of atheists whilst we are mostly polite about their delusions.

Agreed. I know Phds and Mds who sre kind, thoughtful and therapeutic. Science based. Yet they believe in the invisible.
It defies logic and yet it is so.
I go back to our "prelogical times" and try to remember why I believed what I was told.
Generally before the age of 7.
Why, when my parents and theirs were so important. Why they didn't question?
GOOD OLD SURVIVAL.
Only now can we admit why we endured despite the illogic of it, and that's okay. We were just kids. We were trusting the people we were conditioned to trust.
Forgive yourself. Forgive them. They were doing their best?

@julietrue Many of us grew up with parents & other authority figures who believed the old myths. We grew into a community who also believed the old myths. Our survival depended on thise people & we had to trust them.

We experience pain in leaving the old beliefs, for it leaves a void. We no longer have the comfort of knowing our place, or what will happen to us when we die, or what right really is, or many other concerns that previously seemed so settled..

We often have the human connections we formed at war with our awakening rationality. Sometimes we want to retreat to the comfortable bedroom of old belief, but the force is strong in us.

As psychologist Linda Lynaham said, "People are doing the best they can with what they have"

Good, but the problem is most people have little capacity for rational thought & are more likely to believe fantasies that suit their emotional needs than evidence based fact.

But I'm glad you're trying to educate people about science. Not everybody is a nincompoop.

@Remiforce Only yesterday I said " I believe a duck can be made to do algebra (with enough reward)" Do you agree?

I have known many Ph'ds who are , as Alexander Pope said, "Bookful blockheads-Ignorantly read". Just because a person has a Ph'd doesn't mean they are really intelligent or free from illusion.

When I was younger, I had a job for a "research" firm that cribbed graduate papers & Ph'd theses for rich kids who had more money than brains. It gave me a healthy skepticism about some people with advanced degrees.

Religion is a very powerful drug. Formal education is not always the antidote to irrational silliness

People CAN. partition their minds just as we partition computer discs.

Anyone can become a Phd if they have a good memory, having a good memory does not make you a good thinker!

@Austin-Cambridge To get a Ph'd, a person needs a good memory or enough money to hire a research firm like I used to work for

Science will never find absolute truth, for every proof is only a matter of probability. Science will also never find absolute proof because every answer leads to more complex questions. This ambiguity is disconcerting for many people. They want easy & certain answers in a very mysterious & uncertain world..

So the majority of people will always be easy marks for religious con artists

Please see my science teacher group on this site . You do not have to be a teacher only interested in science education. Amongst other things we start at a very basic level i.e. What IS science? Lots of people have misconceptions.

Science can only tell is how because it is not equipped to tell us why. The mechanisms of things are often clear, but the reasons & purposes& ultimate outcome are a profound mystery. The why is the realm of metaphysics, which religion feels free to rush into with myth & storytelling.

There is a lot of truth in the old saying, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tred"

"Science answers how. Religion answers why". This is a false statement . Even though we may NOT get an ultimate answer with science it is continually deepening the search into why.

@Mcflewster Science may be creeping along the road to why, but it is very far from getting to any real answers. Religion doesn't really answer why either, as its fantasies are wish fulfillment, not real answers. So we are left with the eternal question, "Why?"

@Mcflewster, @OwlInASack The false claims of religion have provided some comfort to the suffering of humanity, but they are not neutral or benign. They have mislead people for untold centuries & caused much more trouble than they're worth--religious wars, crusades, pogroms, inquisitions, parochial school

@Remiforce If you mean by "real answers" the ultimate answer, have you not accepted yet that in science there isn't one. Every existing answer can be improved. It is a continual spiral but TOWARDS the truth - until YOU tell me I am going in the wrong direction.

Sam Harris says that if one looks at all the suffering in this world, one would have to realize that God (if there were one) either cannot do anything about it, or he chooses not to. Sounds reasonable to me.

Mmm God’s favourite angel became the devil, perhaps an omnipotent being would have seen that coming. You can’t reason with stories can you? But children grow up and hopefully understand as adults that most of life isn’t as cut and dried as saying some things are good and some are sins. Plus the Christian scripture contradicts itself.

@girlwithsmiles I agree that some kids find there way out of accepting things on faith and don't allow the threat of Hell stop them, but being as active as I am in talking to people, I can tell you that most don't.

Children can be molded to belief before the age of 7, but who is this "Devil". It is said he is a fallen angel who was driven from heaven & now is a rebel who apparently is conducting guerilla warfare against "god". He is evil. But if god is all powerful, all knowing, all powerful, how is that possible?

Is it that "god" has a Jungian shadow & outsources all his demonic impulses to this Devil so he can preserve deniability. "I'll take the high road, Satan, & you can do the dirty work. You'll be well rewarded with god like power for preserving my reputation."

So the devil becomes a co-god, a silent partner in the operation.

@Remiforce The story of the Abrahamic God is of an infinitely powerful and maximally wise deity that keeps blundering throughout the Bible. He blunders with Lucifer, Adam & Eve, and in the mythology of Noah's flood. These blunders are incongruous with an absolute and maximally great God. This incongruency would exist if we assume they are in fact, blunders and if we believe Gods intentions were loving. Maybe this God needs most of us to burn in Hell like coal as a source of energy, and he keeps the sheep as his pets

Polluting young minds should be punishable!

The Jesuits said if they could get to the child before the age of 7, they could mold the child to their view of catholicism.Young children are totally dependent on their parents & are imprinted, usually, with their parents religious beliefs, so belief is a social habit passed down from generation to generation in a group. Fortunately some, like most of us, rebel

Religions, like the catholic church, have made a great deal of money selling indulgences, Get out of Jail Free cards to get into heaven no matter what you have done'

The church also has confession. You can sin like hell, but as long as you go to the priest, confess it, & say a few hail marys, you are good to go & sin some more.

People are naive enough to believe these clergy apparatchnics of a decadent power structure have the power from god to forgive sin. This belief absolves people from taking any real responsibility for their actions.

The whole concept of "sin" is an anodyne. If people believe suffering comes from "sin", then they feel they have control they don't really have. They feel if they can stop sinning, they can stop suffering. Or perhaps if they get the priest to absolve them of their "sins" for a small fee, they will stop suffering & be in the good graces of The Big Guy

On average, perhaps. But in the big picture, not all Rep's are dimwitted religious nuts. I am a registered Republican, and I'm always the first to focus on how much BS religion. And I know many more like me. And just to be honest, there are quite a few Dems, that are religious as well. Just saying.

You are right. I was generalizing @TristanNuvo

Al Gore is a devout Baptist.
Hillary Clinton is a Methodist.
Joe Biden is a Roman Catholic.

The list goes on.

@TristanNuvo

Hi. I am new here.
My Dad is a republican. For financial reasons he says. As he gets older he seems to become more conservative. It is very divisive. I see him fearing death and becoming more concerned.
Not to get too personal but may I ask?

@julietrue In my perception, we have very few true Republicans anymore. Real conservatives have some importent values &, while I don't always agree with them, I think they have an instructive point of view.

Many who call themselves Republicans are being brainwashed by Fox News & similar sites, that spew propaganda sponsored by sinister billionaires & un American multinational corporations.

This brainwashing can be very divisive in families. I feel for you

Many politicians tell people they are religious to get votes.@WilliamFleming

Sure ...ask me anything....send me a PM if you want to ask a private question. @julietrue

As Tevya sang in Fiddler on the Roof, "Tradition, Tradition". The majority of humanity is terrified of change, because change is threatening & makes their lives uncertain. So they cling tenaciously to the traditions of their group, no matter how disfunctional & stupid they are.

As Machiavelli said, the majority of people are mired in the status quo & fiercely resist change, even when conditions change. Only the Prince can foresee change & adapt, which makes him the Prince.

People prefer the illusion of tradition, even though life & circumstances constantly change, even for the most traditional