Why religion is appealing (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 14:21 (5093 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

Alert alert!! Matt's mask is about to come off....-> While I would agree that the 'flavor' of religion is a matter of culture, I tend to think that the idea of a UI is nearly instinctive. If not the actual belief in, than at the least the speculation about.-I think that this is an untenable position as from the time weare born, we absorb the surrounding culture of our parents and the community we live in. I tend to the opposite hypothesis, that modern man would never conceive of a deity without cultural and social pressure. To date I find no practical need for religion beyond my aforementioned observation of American institutions.-I must also point out that what is universal is pondering about existence. For me, my great pondering isn't that, because I already know the question is insoluable. It's how to cope in a world of religious people during a time when the notion is dying. -To be more specific, since I can't pin the meaning of my existence on a creator, how do I create that meaning for myself--without alienating the religious people I grew up with and live around.
I know this might not make sense, but for me I have long ago relegated a UI to the permanently unknowable file; i still find the thought alien and disturbing and honestly wish I could live in a world that did not treat the question with such seriousness. It's entertaining but I think it misguided for the reason of its insolubility.-I study religion because it has guided man, and has its place in the history of human civilization.

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"