Why people are religious

[jcvamp]

I think it's patronizing to assume what someone's reasons behind their worldview are, especially if it's done in a way that makes them sound emotionally weak and/or damaged and that different people have different reasons to believe different things

I think that everyone can be emotionally weak; we're all human. I think that everyone has things about themselves that is due to some kind of weakness or other, and we all have things that are due to our strengths. My emotional weaknesses, for example, make it difficult for me to sustain relationships.

It wasn't meant to be patronising or insulting. My experience is that generally when religious people are presented with facts that contradict their beliefs, they tend to react emotionally rather than logically, which leads me to believe that the basis of their beliefs must be emotional.

In short, ask them.

If you ask a religious person why the believe what they do, they'll tell you why they think they believe what they do, but it's not necessarily the full answer. I used to say that I believed what made sense to me, but it was only when I stopped being religious that I realised that I was clinging to ideas that I wanted to be true. I wanted the universe to be divine, and I wanted there to be something beyond this life, but I found myself making illogical justifications for my beliefs that seemed logical at the time.

I would say religious is usually due to family/parents or society. That is a different reason to be spiritual (ie. believe in God, afterlife, soul).

I think that accounts for the particular religion they follow, and why they're initially religious, but not necessarily why they keep their religious beliefs.

However I wouldn't try to explain the vast majority of people. Rather try to see the few people who have searched and came to conclusions. The people who thoroughly thought about the issue.

It maybe you may find no one who is justified in believing in religion, but it maybe that there is a true religion out there. It maybe you don't know anyone who can guide you, but there is a person who can guide you. It maybe you don't know any proof of any person being guided, but there is proof of a certain person being guided who is meant to guide you as well due to that proof they have.

I'm not sure what you mean, sorry.