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Originally Posted by Paul  I find it interesting to read other people's point of views, whether I agree or disagree. It stimulates the mind and forces me to reflect on what I believe, but more importantly why I believe it. |
Why people beieve what they believe has become a subject of some interest to me over the past few years.
Some 20 years ago, I began asking myself some of the same kinds of questions you seem to be asking yourself. I admit that my reason for doing so had a lot to do with disillusionment with the church I'd grown up in and attended for the first 40 years of my life. But that was simply a catalyst that led me to disregard my pastors' and the bible's warnings against questioning my faith.
With regard to why I believed in christianity, I realized that it had primarily to do with where and to whom I was born, which were respectively, a so-called christian nation and parents who were christians. Other fellow christians had come into the fold as a result of their relationships with christian friends and lovers. Not once did I encounter a fellow christian who had adopted christianity just because it made sense.
It was only at the point where I realized that my motivation for believing, while understandable, had nothing to do with whether my beliefs made sense to me; and where I had already begun to grapple with the implications of rejecting those beliefs on my familial and societal relationships, that I could truly take my blinders off and objectively consider my beliefs.
What I discovered was a series of very fundamental contradictions in bible scripture, and even more teachings that simply didn't square with my own knowledge and experiences. And my subsequent studies of other world religions convinced me that none of their texts were any more acceptable to me on an intellectual basis.
I hope you find what you're looking for. It may or may not be congruent with the conclusions I came to, but unless it's the product of sincere and open-minded reflection, you're just wasting your time.