Why would you want to believe in god?

[Angrboda]

Our brains seem predisposed to benefiting from religious belief and religious ritual. I think it's a mistake to look for 'reasons' why people might convert later in life because reason isn't the main effect religion has upon the brain. It's the non-rational effects of belief and ritual which lead to later life conversion, and trying to explain them with a rational 'story' will just leave you confused. We evolved to attribute personhood to invisible entities in others (minds), why is it so difficult to imagine us using this same skill to imagine invisible entities other than other people? Raising your hands, touching other people, singing, chanting -- all these have profound effects on the emotional environment of the brain. It doesn't take much to see that a brain is going to be attracted to staying where it receives strong emotional stroking, within religion.