what is the reason for religion?
812710
to control peoples lives with a fairy tale about fake gods and fake devil to get money to run corupt churches start holy wars brainwash people hold back mankind take over outher contrys with your fairy tale and destroy there way of life
87135
Because many many people see the horrors of religion in general, the absolute lack of reason in involved with "faith" and are not afraid of death.  \n\nThe world is a teeny tiny place in the realm of the universe and whatever is beyond what we can see.  Many people need to be comforted by believeing that there is something "out there" taking care of the human race.  \n\nMany feel the need to have something to guide them (could it be that their moral principles are not strong enough, or that they just need SOME kind of purpose to not feel like a waste of flesh?).  \n\nFor some, it is just easier to be blind to reality and accept a made up god than to actually use their brain to ask the questions which might be able to actually provide any comprehensible answers.
419132
good question religion "hides" alot of stuff under its "wing" so i think thats why.
395136
For many people living in a Globalizing world is a pretty frightening idea. Traditions that people held on to tightly are slowly unraviling, family values are apparently breaking down, jobs are becoming harder and harder to hold and so on. When you find situations like this it becomes easy to see why people feel empty, or feel like they need somewhere else to turn because life is confronting them with challenges that they are unsure they can handle. One of the better things about religion is that no matter what your belief system you find religion empowers the believer (though you could argue whether or not this is for better or for worse). Religion often provides not only a legitamation of a lifestyle but also a community of likeminded individuals satisfying our needs to be social. For these reasons religion is as important as ever in a secularizing world.
1067599
I think you've correctly identified the fact that religious belief is not based on reason (since there has never been any valid argument or evidence for the existence of gods), but rather it is based largely on emotional needs, i.e. it's wishful thinking.
254420
The same reasons people practice any religeon. It's what they prefer to believe in. It makes the most sense to them.
123810
Personally, I don't believe in a religion. Religion is man searching for his place in this world. Religion can be anything - money, success, power, family, and even church - that helps give a person a feeling of purpose. Most of these purposes are misguided and misdirected, even some of the good ones humans tend to worship as their religion.\n\nI don't believe in a religion that was created thousands of years ago. I believe in a faith that has been tested thousands and thousands of times by billions of believers before me. I believe that the way I worship God is not through a movement that was created thousands of years ago. I worship my God the way I feel led to worship him - by honoring him in my day-to-day life and sharing my faith in him with others.\n\nFor those that believe science over God, that's fine. That is your choice. But I just wonder, does it make you feel good that your life is the result of an accident? And that everything around you is an accident? Life must have a purpose. If all we are is just here momentarily then we are gone, what is the point in being here? All things must have some sort of purpose. By placing your faith in something beyond the power of your science, you can find that purpose for your life.
1031875
Definetely no. When you act as Religion orders you to do and think exactly what religion shows you to think, you'll never progress because you wouldn't wish to discover things, because, for every thing you wanted to know, there would be someone saying "because of God". When you use the Logic you can be both, a good person and a person who knows lots of things
868320
Yes, religion encourages reason relied on authority. Consequently clouding objectivity.
318833
Religion isn't based off of proof.\nIt's based off of faith.
1028220
Because religion is what is used to explain what we do not understand.  From the beginning of time people have created religions and Gods to compensate for the unknown.  \n\nOriginally, eclipses, stars, and pregnancy were all seen as works of a God.  Now we understand these sciences and can rationalize them in our common knowledge.  If you expand this to today, we have a whole belief system setup to explain what we don't understand in today's world.  And it doesn't take a genius to think, "Well, these seems to be a process... ...I wonder what happens when we know a bit more, and a bit more, and...".  \n\nSo to me, a belief in God or a religion is nothing more then an acceptance of intellectual laziness. It's an excuse to look at something you don't understand and say "God did it" instead of "Let's find out how that came to be and why".\n\nDo I think that there could be a God?  Sure.  But I also believe that there could be life on another planet.  Which one do you think we will have quantifiable proof of first?
1084344
well it's all connected with history, and when jesus walked the earth, and when god would talk to prophets to deliver his message to the people. the reason why there are so many religions is because with time people have decided to go their own way and come up with what they think the RIGHT religion should be, but in reality there is only one, and that's CHRISTIANITY.
622736
Well really, in my opinion, you shouldn't. However I think I understand why religion exists. It started to give answers to difficult questions (what happens when we die, why do storms occur etc.). People liked it because they were afraid of being mortal and by becoming religious they could believe that when they died they simply went somewhere else. Religion then began being used by intelligent people to control large amounts of people (i.e. attack that tribe, they're evil or work hard to avoid hell). In christianity, when the bible was translated and publicised, some people took religion into their own hands and used it to give themselves confidence and give meaning to their lives.
931699
Religions come from people representing\nGod.  Creation comes from God.\n\nFor the most part, religions are tools that\nmankind uses to nail down something, that's\nnot supposed to be nailed down, to begin with.\n\nWorship life in Truth and in Spirit.
914652
Logically speaking there could be many reasons for this. If God exist the most probable answer to this question would be entertainment. I have seen no active involvement from this being in our lives, which is one of the reasons that I am Agnostic, one of the most rational answer would be that we are nothing more than entertainment.
131736
Religion sets out certain social rules and procedures which are essential for a civilized society. But the interpretation of these by individuals narrows the overall sphere to their knowledge on the religion. It is essential to follow the religion but not to the intrepretaions.
370739
No. Religion is based on faith, not proof. If you were to prove the existence of God, the entire universe would spontaneously vanish in a great puff of logic.