06-14-2011, 10:09 AM
"Ludwig Feuerbach set out the idea that the process by which religion was invented was wish-fulfillment. God, according to Feuerbach, is a projection of the strongest desires of humanity.
Much of the appeal of Christianity or other religions lies in its promise of immortality. Human beings have many fears, but most of all they fear death. Christianity (or other religions), in promising eternal life, offer to take this fear away from us. If we are willing to buy into religion, then we can escape from our fear, and live in blissful ignorance of our mortality. This accounts for the attractiveness of religion, the strength of its grip on human minds.
Of course, for this process to work we cannot consciously decide to adopt a religion as a means of escaping from our fears. No, the decision must be unconscious; it is the unconscious mind that drives us to religion. Therefore a religious man will be firmly convinced about his beliefs, and won't accept the fact that to understand God, on this view, one must understand human psychology; theology is anthropology."
That's pretty much the most interesting theory I've read on religion and it was really similar to my initial thoughts, that's what made me change my mind about religion in high school.
Much of the appeal of Christianity or other religions lies in its promise of immortality. Human beings have many fears, but most of all they fear death. Christianity (or other religions), in promising eternal life, offer to take this fear away from us. If we are willing to buy into religion, then we can escape from our fear, and live in blissful ignorance of our mortality. This accounts for the attractiveness of religion, the strength of its grip on human minds.
Of course, for this process to work we cannot consciously decide to adopt a religion as a means of escaping from our fears. No, the decision must be unconscious; it is the unconscious mind that drives us to religion. Therefore a religious man will be firmly convinced about his beliefs, and won't accept the fact that to understand God, on this view, one must understand human psychology; theology is anthropology."
That's pretty much the most interesting theory I've read on religion and it was really similar to my initial thoughts, that's what made me change my mind about religion in high school.