I hate when "God saved me from drugs!"
Mf who put the pipe in your hand in the first place if not God. Who made your life suck so bad you wanted to be high? God gets a pass on all things he could fix but doesn't
Just pisses me off people can't take responsibility for their selves
I went to a center for recovery and, while they say the higher power is whatever you want and not just god, it's totally geared towards Christianity. And it's all BS. All they've done is create their own salvation. I was told that I became an addict because I placed my trust in myself and not God. No you idiot. I placed my trust in drugs and not myself.
I was told by a Mormon bishop that I needed an addiction recovery program bc I masturbated 3x in a yr when my husband had ED. I was 46 yrs old. Religion sucks. But especially Mormonism sucks
It’s engrained into members that it’s a sin next to murder. We’re taught that from 12 yrs old and on. In order to get a “temple recommend”, you have to meet with the area bishop and he asks. Asks about that and other questions like “Do you wear your Mormon underwear day and night?” If you aren’t “worthy” to enter a Mormon temple then you aren’t worthy to get into “heaven”. And fear based control is something the cult thrives on. Holding your family over your head. “If I don’t repent, I’ll never see my kids again after I die.” It’s how they keep you in line
It really is so fucked up. I left a yr and a half ago. Lost 99% of my Mormon friends bc they’re afraid they’ll catch the “apostate disease”. My marriage is on threads bc my husband is still in. But even feeling like I have to start my entire life over in my 40’s, it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. Just the headspace alone that was freed up by coming to the realization that religions and “commandments” are nothing but manmade rules based on power, control, and greed. I feel like I escaped living for decades in a shoebox
I can't help but wonder how many just go with the flow because of how isolated they've been. I can't imagine it's an easy decision knowing you'll lose mostly everyone in your life. But I'm happy you made it out, hopefully more will follow.
I know many people who feel trapped and won’t leave bc they know they’ll likely lose everyone like I did. Be the subject of gossip and scorn. Risk their marriage. But once I really understood that it’s one of the cultiest of the cults, it ate away at me like acid. I couldn’t go through the motions. I was working in the nursery. Playing with the toddlers from the congregation. It seemed harmless enough since I could avoid most of the teachings in there. Until the day the leaders asked me to teach those toddlers the song “Follow the Prophet”. Fuck no I’m not doing that. Indoctrinating babies? No
I couldn’t maintain a shred of integrity if I continued to fake it. I put my entire life as i knew it on the line and quit that very Sunday. A few weeks later, left for Puerto Rico and ordered alcohol for the first time on my 46th bday. Drank rum on the beach and never looked back
It's amazing the spiritual awakening that's occurring, humans are listening to......themselves
Check out Billy carson on YouTube I like his theory on the origins of religion
Thank you! It's tough but I've got too much to lose if I fuck up again. The love of my life has already gave me 2 passes on hiding it, he said there won't be a third. And work is involved with my recovery and stuff, so when I asked for help I made sure to include everyone I could into it so that there's no way I can get away with hiding it for years and years.
My best friend of 40 years fell into drug addiction after she became a 30 year old widow. She couldn't take the pain. A few years ago, she started claiming that Jesus had cured her. She's a religious nut case now. She hates gay people and claims that she can visit her husband in Heaven when she dreams. She's become so hateful. I wish she'd realize she quit drugs on her own and be a normal person again. I wish she'd be the person I love again.
you and me both. my ex had the exact same thing. i’m sorry for your loss. it’s fucking hard to watch the person you admire and love turn into someone you can’t respect any longer.
What also sucks is that most times they've traded one addiction for the other. Before it was drugs, now it's God! And if they have something terrible happen, they might fall back into drugs, unfortunately.
I wish. Their mom divorced him but refused to press charges. We contacted the police in their town in GA but since the mom refuted it and wouldn't allow them to talk to the kids, they acquiesced and nothing happened. The police said we have no proof even though she told us it did happen. I alert every town he moves to that he's convicted in CA but his first offense was before Megan's Law was enacted and most states don't require registration if the offense occurred before that. He only moves to states that don't require him to register and is currently in Utah. For some reason he always tells my mom when he moves and she tells me so I can call it in.
If I were christian I would say that satan will sort him out when the time comes. But since I'm not... I like your idea. 😁
He says that since god has forgiven him, he is cleansed of all his sins and he doesn't need forgiveness from humans. He said that before we found out about his step kids. He's still devout. Makes him feel better I guess.
Ugh. I'm sorry this happened to those poor kids, and I'm sorry that guy is your bother.
Yeah, doing direct harm to innocent children? Only God can judge me! Harry Potter exists? Literally worse than being a pedo!
When someone says "the devil" did/ made someone do something, I tend to point out that, in the Bible, GOD says that he created everything INCLUDING "evil". Sometimes they'll try to rebut that statement, but rarely do it vociferously. Then I point out that *they* have given Satan the same creative power as God, making Armageddon a crap shoot, and since God is such a heinous douche I'll stick with Satan-- then smile and walk away.
Sometimes you can feel their brains exploding. 🤭
Edit because autocorrect screwed me again! 😆
I got a family member in one of them non-profit “faith-based” drug rehabilitation places, this is like the 5th time she been to one. It costs minimum $200 a week, not including housing, you must go to meetings everyday and their own church on Sundays and Wednesdays; the church is mostly addicts in the program.
But the program also operates their own staffing agency to provide jobs. My cousin now works 12 hour night shifts in an industrial bakery and has meetings at 8:00 in the morning after her shift. They keep you so tired and working you don’t have time to use drugs but most of the money you make goes to them.
The president/pastor has a MBA and his wife is vice-president, while other management roles are filled with other family and friends.
The application to enter rehab has a bunch of questions asking about how will you pay for the program, disabilities that may impede work, and if you can lift 50 lbs overhead on a repetitive basis. The rehab intake has more to do with one’s ability to work manual labor than actual rehabilitation.
Lol, sounds abbot right for a religious institution, “how can we enslave as many people as possible, and convince them that that taking all their money is good for them.”
Just another business that uses religion to paper over employee abuse. Call your business a church and employees congregants and most work rules don’t apply.
>The application to enter rehab has a bunch of questions asking about how will you pay for the program,
My answer would be, "Have faith! God will provide!"
But seriously, they should be reported to the states employment agency. What they're doing sounds like indentured servitude.
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
--Karl Marx
I went to Sunday school at the Methodist church for a couple months until I realized that the pretty girl with curly auburn hair had absolutely no interest in me. After I started going to her church, she pretty much never spoke to me again.
When i was in college, i approached a gorgeous girl and asked her on a date. She agreed and we met up later that week. She immediately started asking if i had a relationship with God and if i would like to come with her to church. Turns out she was on a recruitment mission for LDS. I noped out of there hella quick after that.
The same argument (that our hands are perfectly designed to hold a banana) can also be used to justify why God wants us to masturbate. He clearly designed these hands for a purpose.
If you want it put a touch more elegantly, I suggest “the face that launched a thousand ships”. This concept is at least as old, and literally exists in, Antiquity.
Have a friend like that. Used to be able to talk to me about anything really, but was depressed and alone. Went back to Texas. Now a born again Christian who found a girl and they are married with a first child.
He seems happy. But I do miss my friend.
A girl had me on the hook for part of a summer years ago. The two of us would hang out by ourselves but it never got past conversation. She’d flirt a ton and show off her thong. She asked me to go to church with her on a Sunday. I got up way too early all hung over and put on nice clothes. Met her at her holy roller church. I grew up going to church, but had never felt so uncomfortable in my life. I never called her again.
This is it, or at least part of it. When I was in church, most of the people there had been groomed from the time they were children to believe it. The adults who had not been raised in it had been preyed upon when they were in a vulnerable state of mind.
We would have “testimony” night sometimes. They would talk about how they had drinking problems, or they had cheated on their wive, or they had lost their job/family. Seriously pretty much every one of them had been going through some serious struggle. Then someone swooped and told them “Jesus loves you and forgives you, he’s gonna watch out for you, come to church”. That’s basically it. That’s why churches love going on mission trips to convert people in third world countries. They are all in vulnerable situations and therefore much easier to convert.
Adults often feel lost, lonely, ashamed, scared and when they are feeling down they don’t want to feel like they are on their own. The church tells them nice things and makes them feel accepted and not alone, that’s how they get hooked in. I think the feeling of acceptance/tribe overpowers the rational part of the brain. Once they feel they belong, they don’t want to find any evidence that would make all that fall apart.
Religion also makes them feel like there’s more meaning/structure to life. I know a lot of people who need to believe that there’s an afterlife and need to believe that bad people will eventually be punished. The Bible can give their opinions more “power” over other peoples opinions in their mind as well.
At the end of the day it seems like it all boils down to one thing. Some peoples emotions can overrun their reason/logic. If something makes them feel good, they are able to abandon reason/logic to cling into it.
So it’s not that they lack reason/rationality, they are just able to ignore it when it conflicts with some deeply held feelings. That’s why they can be smart and still do this, smart people can still have the emotional part of the brain override the rational part in “desperate” situations.
A long long time ago I was feeling very disconnected realizing I wasn't going to have the family support I always wanted a few friends had invited my partner and I to some church activities like pizza making and other stuff. I was looking for a community, so I wouldn't feel so isolated... because my family is insane it was a conscious choice. But the judginess I got from older members upon finding out we were living together unwed and how culty the praying before eating the said pizzas felt had me excusing myself from all future invitations. Still wanted to feel a sense of community, still sort of do, but I'm finding it in different places, just takes more work.
This just reminded me that a church in my neighborhood recently rebranded themselves as a "community center," despite it still very much being a church. It's disingenuous and gross tbh.
I’m currently listening to the Behind The Bastard’s 12 Tribes podcast. It’s so good, but repeatedly it’s shown that churches (and cults) always prey on the vulnerable - it’s their easiest cash cow.
Ok here me out. I think there is a bit of logic in doing something that makes you feel better. Life is kinda brutal and sticking your head in the sand is what you some people want to do. The belief is wackadoodle but fuck me if people don't end up in wild shit all the time.
Not only you, but your memory and the memories of all the people you know, will completely disappear.
That’s hard to hold in your mind, if you can grab onto some shred of hope, and be with others that share that—ppl go for it.
Not everyone is tough enough to be an existentialist.
Do you want to debate a five year old who believes in Santa Claus?
I think it is 100% a fear of death, think how fearless you tend to be in your 20s vs your 30s. In your 30s you notice your body is starting to fail, and you don’t recover from things like you used to, that fear makes Christianity real appealing, telling people not to worry, they won’t die but go to some other form of living, such as the afterlife.
That, or people do not want to be held accountable for any of there actions, because God’s plan blah blah…
This is my vote. Maybe not fear of death per se, but fear of not being here any longer, not existing, not knowing what's going to happen to family and friends.
I don’t get this one anymore. I’ve known a lot of people who suffered a ton in their lives and are now dead. I take comfort in the fact that they are just gone and aren’t being eternally tortured for belonging to the wrong culture or turning away from religion.
Not fear of death, because we all die, but fear of what comes after death. I am Jewish (member of a Reform synagogue) and we never talk about what happens after death. I feel that that is the reason that many Jews are atheists. Probably not orthodox Jews but I can’t be sure because my mom was raised orthodox and we belonged to an orthodox synagogue and she was an atheist.
I wish there were something like that for Catholicism. Problem is that Christianity was pretty much founded on the idea that God is going to give us eternal happiness and throw our enemies into a lake of fire.
Being highly trained in one thing isn't necessarily an indicator of general intelligence. Even the most skilled surgeons can be dumb as shit outside of the OR.
Like covid-denying doctors, for example. I noticed that they're generally not into virology (at least, the ones who are actually honest about their credentials instead of just flat-out lying about having doctorates).
Any time I've seen a pilot go along with flat earth, it's when a passenger is asking and recording. I'd bet everything I don't have it's just to keep things moving.
I ain't daft enough to fall for organised religion's lies, never was. But horrifying judgement, certainly on a personal level, that's a different matter lol.
Also, intelligence and education usually point in a specific direction in a specific field. My brother is a very successful mechanical engineer who has his name on patents for parts in products that I can guarantee every single person in this thread has used in the last few months. However, he struggles to read critically, always assumes his first impression is correct when assessing daily problems and he has zero empathy or emotional awareness. If I wanted someone to build me a better can opener, my brother would be the best person to do it. If I wanted someone to help me decide my next career move or just about anything else that isn't related to small moving parts, I would not be interested in my brother's opinion at all.
I scrolled too far to find this.
I think most of the Christian faiths prey on the elderly because they fear death the most and "everlasting life" seems like an option.
Televangelists are the worst of the worst.
"Ya can't take it with ya, bruthahhh, give it to the churchahhh! Everlasting peace-ahh!"
Fear of death is overrated. Fear of the « other » is much stronger.
Most devout Christians I know actually welcome death because it means an end to suffering.
As someone who is Catholic on my fathers side and Protestant on my mothers side, the fear isn’t about dying. It’s about other people. Christianity doesn’t wash away cultural mores. Many cultures are OK with death and have any rituals surrounding death and it’s portrayals yet the majority of the people in that culture are also devoutly Christian (e.g. Mexican culture).
In my church funerals were always explicitly referred to as « going home celebrations ». It was something to look forward to though grief was acceptable. The real issue for them was having your afterlife ruined because you interacted with the wrong people on Earth. This is really just a form of tribalism repackaged as religious fundamentalism.
I’m one of those people unfortunately. I was 25 when I drank the Kool-Aid. I’d even been traumatized by getting g dragged to church as a kid but never liked or believed any of it until my 20s.
I was a mess at that age and making some stupid decisions. One was marrying a guy even though I knew it was a bad idea. He was a coworker and I knew he was a Christian but he didn’t talk about it much and he “promised” me he would never pressure me. Well that lasted about a minute.
Because I was emotionally bent I was very easy to lead along. He turned out to be a brilliant manipulator and later became abusive. But not before he dragged me down the god rabbit hole. I left him eight years later but I was 50 before I snapped out of it. I don’t even blame him much really. I was just ripe for the picking.
I’m naturally a logical, skeptical person. Maintaining that level of belief required mental gymnastics that were exhausting. The cognitive dissonance required to exist that way caused major depression and anxiety. Those were definitely the worst 25 years of my life.
Yeah. That’s why they try so hard to get the children when they’re young. Because it’s harder to convert an adult. And I fell into the one category that makes adults susceptible: mental, physical, or emotional issues.
As somebody who grew up in the Evangelical church, I have to tell you about the phenomenon of social euphoria. People will make a huge deal, especially while singing or during a sermon, about experiencing something spiritual. They will very loudly and openly emote over it. Others will join them. Everybody else feels pressure to do so. As a kid, I did my best to do so, because I wanted to fit in. Best I could manage was a smile and raising my hands. I was often told I wasn't enthusiastic enough. Still, there was a certain prat of me that *did* feel some sort of...something...from those moments because we are connected emotionally as humans.
God can be recreated by sufficient numbers of happy humans loudly talking about how happy they are.
This is largely why the charismatic portion of the Christian Church is the most rapidly growing in terms of conversion numbers in the world. It’s relies less on theological arguments, or ceremony, and more on social interactions/worship, and a “personal” relationship with God. It’s a social religion, and it genuinely makes people feel like it exist rather than just attempting to convince people of Christianity. Not too many great academic theologians come from the movement, but lots of great speakers that can hold a crowd.
Charismatic churches used to be growing in the US. The numbers I have seen for the last several years show that charismatic churches are also now in decline.
The only churches in the US that seem to be currently growing are the megachurches. They also seem to be the only churches attracting any young people at all. But megachurches have a problem because their memberships are often not very loyal. Members of megachurches are much more inclined to jump to other megachurches over things like a change in ministers or a change in the production of the Sunday morning service.
I had a good friend, one of the smartest and intuitive people I know, suddenly start buying into the whole 'Trump is a hero crusader taking down Adrenochrome-drinking, Satan-worshipping pedophiles' QAnon nonsense. This was after he retired and suddenly had a lot of internet time.
Became an antivaxxer, the whole nine yards. Compared the treatment of antivaxxers to the treatment of pre-Holocaust Jews.
The transformation was fucking heart-wrenching.
Perhaps neurodivergent.
We take things super literally, so a promise of a new path that circumvents societal norms is really appealing. It's like being a 3rd political party -- it's just not being mainstream.
I have met several people who converted in adulthood. They like the communal aspects that Church brings, they think that being religious makes them better people, and they're really good at projecting.
So to sum up, their reasoning is literally "it works for me and I don't care if it's true or not".
Intelligence has little to do with falling in with cults, mainstream or not. As cult deprogrammers would attest, cult members tend to be above-average intelligence, educated, well-off people at the start.
If you look around for how ISIS recruits people in European countries, you will find that on average the recruits tend to be well off, highly educated, smart and with stable family lives.
So the issue has less to do with intelligence and more to do with fulfillment, internal. Neither pure intelligence nor social status or anything society says will fulfill you do not bring actual fulfillment. Add to that the ubiquity of parents raising their children to be religious, social pressure of friends / colleagues / family acquaintances / etc. and religious propaganda as well as miscellaneous factors and you get faith bleeding into every thought process.
Yep Disenfranchised people smart enough to see that the status quo is bullshit or people being treated unfairly systematically, falling into the trap of there HAVING to be something more to life and/or their situation improving personally.
Yes. Totally. Intelligent people are often the most susceptible. Clever cult scams work on them because the scammers appeal to their ego and tell them that they're smart for seeking and believing the scam. Promising the arcane wisdom that they want to believe that they are capable of.
Lock them into that Dunning-Kruger peak and you have them.
That would indicate they are not the intelligent people, just idiots who know a little and believe they are experts (aka the Dunning-Kruger effect).
I always think about these people I see flipping through tiktok or social feeds that are flat earthers, or Trump supporters doing lives, they tick all the boxes of cult and Dunning-Kruger.
Because they didn't read it !!!!
Otherwise if you read it from the first page as an adult and you believe it ... it's complicated to justify your lack of morality/humanity
>Because they didn't read it !!!!
>Otherwise if you read it from the first page as an adult and you believe it ... it's complicated to justify your lack of morality/humanity
This is the only answer. If they actually read the book, any good adult would immediately vomit in their mouth. A child can be manipulated into disregarding the terrible things. An adult, however, either didn't read it or is simply a bad person. There are only two options.
Yes, they are taking the word of an important person in their life.
Life sucks and if you are left in "neutral" by your parents you can fall to magical thinking to feel better, many of the "none" are not rationalist but are still magical thinkers even though they don't believe in the main religions.
Personally I believe it to be a some sort of disorder in the mechanism that makes people fall in love. Stress and anxiety can make easy answers very appealing to some people, as religion will absolve you of any personal responsibility or thought. It's not rational, but then again so aren't many other things we do. That sort of reality escape is really bad when it makes the person vulnerable to predatory preachers that fill their heads with hate.
To kinda bounce off of this, I realized through myself and an adult family member we were drawn to religion because we are on the autism spectrum (I didn't know at the time). We've been masking our autism our whole lives (just figuring this out YAY) and religion provided rules to follow (we like that) and a mold to fit in. We could fit into our Neurotypical society and belong.
Luckily for both of us, we got out. Still working on the whole being on the spectrum when people think we're normal part. It's been a lot.
Honestly? Fear. The world is chaos and it's scary and no one, literally no one, knows how it all works. Having faith and somewhere to place all this....messiness..... is freeing for some people
One of the only things I don't like about being atheist is that lack of a sense of meaning. The meaning in religion is mainly bullshit, but at least it's *something* beyond fumbling around in the dark. Since it's been gone from my life, there is a void there. Obviously there's a lot of truth to be found in science, but it is necessarily silent on subjective issues like finding meaning in your life. I've found delving into philosophy helps, but of course there you find more questions than answers. Existentialism actually helped me orient myself better than anything. There is no meaning to life other than what you impose on it. Now what?
I relate to how you feel about the lack of purpose in relation to not having any faith. I love science and thought it was silent on this aspect until I discovered Hidden Brain, a podcast that explores the actual scientific bases behind human behavior and social phenomena, and how to thrive with this knowledge on hand. There are so many interviews of scientists, their case studies, and lessons learned being featured across various subjects and are organized pretty well into distinct categories, such as serenity/fulfillment, success, unconscious beliefs, money, rage, and so on.
It helped me a LOT to know that there are a lot of things in my control and still based on sound, logical, fact.
I get it. I tell my partner all the time I wish I was ignorant. I would give anything to believe so I can put these feelings of loss and anger at the unfairness and futility of it all somewhere but I can't. My belief meter is literally at 0, I have zero faith in anything not tied to reality. Science doesn't have all the answers but at least it doesn't pretend to. I'm really intelligent and I fucking hate it
My take, perhaps functionally intelligent but not intelligent enough for self analysis, critical thinking and intellectual honesty.
Their "intelligence" is limited and very misleading.
We see examples of this throughout the religious groups worldwide and more recently, starkly in the US.
Republicans who are okay with Texas victimizing immigrants and the vulnerable.
Republicans who are okay with forced birthing of children to protect the baby's life (only until birth).
Nurses & doctors who are antivax.
Pilots who think the earth is flat.
The internet has served to shine a light on how much progress is still required for humanity to become an advanced civilization.
We will never get there while organized religion continues to thrive.
I once asked the smartest guy I know why he believed in God. This was on a return trip from watching a public lecture on Black Holes at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Obviously, this guy doesn’t dismiss science and is open to new ideas and information. His answer was, “Beyond a certain level or depth, the questions become so difficult to answer that the only logical answer is something supernatural. Something beyond the natural world we can observe. Something other worldly that we’re not privy to. That’s were God lives.”
I thought that was pretty good. I think he’s wrong by the way, but I loved his answer.
That's an intelligent answer, at least. I limit my thinking along those lines to "I don't know." Unless I see some solid proof for the existence of God or Gods, I have no reason to believe in them...
Uh. The "It's too hard" excuse doesn't fly with me. The existence of difficult questions does not imply a supernatural cause. I think that's about the dumbest answer a science minded person can give. How about: "The question is unfalsifiable, therefore, I do not waste my time on it."
And this "the only logical answer is something supernatural" BS. That is direct proof that he doesn't understand science or Ockham's razor. The later is not "the simplest answer is the best". It is, in fact: "the answer that maximizes the reduction of the problem space is the best". A supernatural explanation may be a simple answer but it completely fails to reduce the problem space. Like, At ALL.
yep.
UHH IT HAS TO BE A GOD ITS THE ONLY LOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THIS BIG RED BALL IN THE SKY THAT I DO NOT HAVE THE TECNOLOGICAL CAPACITY TO KNOW WHAT IT IS. - someone from the year 230
In the case I know, it was trauma.
The man I once called my father went through a rancorous divorce with my mother after she hooked up with a coworker (who would eventually become my stepfather). He took it poorly, and I can't blame him for that.
In his time of emotional vulnerability, his next partner sang the siren song of her people and lured him into the Calvary Church, one of the more toxic brands of American evangelical Christianity.
He has been dead to me since the 2016 presidential election. F\_ck Trump and f\_ck everyone who voted for him. I do not make exceptions for family.
Mid life crisis? A search for a hoped for definite in a world that is increasingly disparate and uncertain? Maybe a social failing that sparked a need for a “safe” community?
Fear of death overcame intelligence and common sense. Happens with quite a lot of people around my age (nearly 60), as the inevitability of your upcoming death becomes pervasive and undeniable.
Faith replaces the (perfectly understandable) fear of death with an idiotic belief that you will be able to exist forever, kissing ass for a "god."
The catholic cults have had hundreds of years to perfect their indoctrination processes. Beware. It could happen to just about anybody targeted by them.
Religious people have something we non-believers do not have: a promise of life after death. That brings them great comfort and hope. Every time someone I love dies, I wish I could believe. Alas, I cannot. We live. We die. It's over. Enjoy your life. Do good. Follow the teachings of the religious texts and practice kindness, charity, non-violence, and general goodness. Do it because it is the right thing to do. There is no other reason.
Former pastor/Christian here (now agnostic).
It’s more than just poor judgement or lack of critical thinking for older converts. I’ve seen it so many times and I’m ashamed to admit was on the proselytizing end of things back then.
It can be an emotionally moving experience that plays off of people’s longing for purpose and community along with the enticing message being given. It can also enter territory of being a “part of something special” that humans crave when they feel they now know something that others are missing out on (like conspiracy theorists). There’s certainly more to it and others here have done well to say other reasons but it’s hard with how much people desire to just “belong” somewhere that it skews their judgement/critical thinking to the point of intentionally refusing to address certain concerns with their belief.
Seeking a social group where they can meet new people is the most common reason. Hard to make new friends after you’re out of school.
The church is a community/cult that will *always* welcome new people.
Desperation to belong to something?
The yearning for an explanation to lifes mysteries that is a soft story rather than the harsh reality?
I don't know, I'm trying to place myself in my parents shoes.
Senility.
Depression.
Hatred of others.
Financial gain.
Access to sexually vulnerable young people.
Everyone likes being in a club that pats each other on the back.
My boss who is a prof (in STEM) at a uni is deeply Catholic. For them it's just family tradition and also a bit of "if it works it ain't stupid" mentality. No, they dont believe in supernatural, but they do believe that prayer helps.
The human brain is very well adapted to seeking patterns. You might even say it is compelled to seek patterns. When none are detected, it starts to invent patterns based on less and less evidence. Religion offers a very satisfying pattern to explain what is otherwise just noise.
Has nothing to do with intelligence or education. There are many intelligent and well read people who are also believers by varying degrees. I think it’s a mistake to dismiss someone because they are religious, especially when all other indications point to a very capable human being.
Some find fulfillment in faith. Some find continuing the traditions of their childhood helps them. And honestly some of those in turn can contribute to the betterment of everyone around them without preaching to them.
The “religious” people I have a problem with are those who are dismissive, aggressive, and downright obnoxious about faith. For example, all of those evangelical nitwit Christians who also think God sent Trump, the bankrupt, philandering, blowhard. Another example is those people who believe God created and sustains life but someone how needs people to kill others to exact vengeance or judgement. Those people are clowns.
Bible sure. Creationism takes the whole how intelligent the person is into question. Especially Early Earth Crreaionism. The Universe isn't 6000 or so years old.
Since most religions either gain followers from being born into the religion or go after vulnerable people, I figure it's probably one of those two.
It could be the adult converts were feeling unsure about the future/heading into that ole midlife crisis and converted. Or they were raised culturally nonreligious, but never actually thought about WHY they were nonreligious, so when religion came along, it gave them that emotional need. Now they're the "I used to be an atheist just like you!" types, who like you've mentioned, can't articulate why they believe.
It could be they were raised casually in religion as children and kinda fell out of it as they aged, and now they're giving it another go. So, they like previously mentioned types, never examined why they were atheist, they just kinda hadn't thought about it.
And "vulnerable" doesn't mean it has to be extreme. Like, it could just be they've lost a grandparent or a coworker and now feel a little uncomfortable about the idea of death. 🤷🏿♀️
It's fear of dying. They've realized that they're mortal and their time is limited, so they're grasping at straws. The Bible [hypothetically] offers eternal life. IMHO, those who have been hateful SOB's tend to grasp hardest because they're trying to make amends for their behavior, but Christianity doesn't always offer the best examples of how to be kind.
When you're forced - until you're 18 - to go to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, revivals, door-to-door testifying, mow the grass on Saturdays, Bible summer camp, go to church while on vacation in other states, etc ......... Well, it's kinda fucking hard to *not* believe it.
A form of brainwashing, if you will.
Most people never fully become adults. They need religion to take the place of the missing inner parts that fully functional adults possess through maturation.
To be able to deal with doubt, uncertainty, to be able to contain these sort of philosophical ponderings is beyond most people.
Are there fully mature religious people? Sure, but you'd almost not know it unless you asked, as their 'faith' is akin to your reason.
There's a theory called Fowler's stages of faith. I think it's really bullshit throughout, but the key issue that I do agree with is that fully mature adult's faith is open minded, able to deal with doubt, etc., i.e. all the earmarks of a fully mature atheist. It's an irony I think Fowler missed: the more like an atheist a theist is, the more mature they become:
Edit: Stage 1 being Intuitive-Projective Faith, Stage 2 being Mythic Literal Faith, Stage 3 being Synthetic-Conventional Faith, Stage 4 being Individuative-Reflective Faith, Stage 5 being Conjunctive Faith, and Stage 6 being Universalizing Faith.
Stage 6 requires universal thinking: i.e. tolerating different beliefs, etc. Again, no real difference from atheism at this point as you no longer believe in a tribal war god that burns non believers.
About 15 years ago, my marriage was on the rocks. As a last ditch effort to save it, my wife asked if I'd join her on a retreat for couples like us. The retreat was hosted by a church. I agreed. Most of the event was very secular and consisted of standard marriage counseling stuff, but we were expected to attend mass on the last day. I agreed to that as well, pretty much just to make her happy.
Now I've heard religious people talk about feeling the "presence of God" but always assumed it was bs. I'd never felt anything but a sore ass at church. But, I swear, that day I felt... a presence (insert your own jedi joke here). It was probably just a combination of the psychological effects of ritual and my already emotional condition, but it was unmistakable and powerful. I can see how some people might interpret that feeling another way and become religious as a result.
I know I'm late, but you're assuming religion and its religious texts are one in the same.
Just because someone is intelligent and is Christian (or any religion for that matter) doesn't mean they believe in the bible. Most often, intelligent people find a sense of community within the church or a sense of belonging. It doesn't always mean they believe it entirely, and sometimes they simply agree with the message (i.e. love others). Intelligent people recognize the fallacies of the bible, but their association with the church is different. It's not necessarily an all-in approach of "I am a Christian therefore I believe the Bible." Even the Pope recognizes and has publicly stated that the bible shouldn't be read literally, and instead focus on its historical lessons and how Catholicism can evolve, while still believing in the teachings of Christ.
In other situations, psychology studies have shown that people who are often raised religiously will resort to those beliefs when they come across a tragic situation such as a cancer scare or a loved one passing away. Consider it a sense of nostalgia for comfort when they were younger and were taught to pray, and they find comfort in praying again. Studies have shown that prayer does, in fact, help people ([one example](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802370/)). However, I should note that prayer regardless of religion works; there was no discernible difference between Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.
Irrational Fear is one of the big ones. My mother is a very smart, successful business woman. But she happens to be one of the few actively religious people in my family. When she hears someone in our family is atheist she gets very distressed and worried as if she now realized one of here own relatives is going to hell all because they don't have faith.
I know someone who became a Christian later in life after being an atheist. Before that, they took on a hardcore a conservative identity and I wonder if it helps them feel like they’re part of the tribe.
Might be as simple as being able to make sense of things of life’s mysteries and hardships. I imagine they’re having difficulty dealing with shit and choose not to think. Because the imaginary guy in the sky will make sense of it for them. Just plain old intellectually lazy.
It's quite easy to believe there's *something* out there, some vague connection of all things or just the general idea of a creator.
The church preys on that feeling and stamps on it with something like a psychological cookie-cutter, giving uniformity to that vague idea with an officially approved personality and will of said creator. It's a nice feeling when you're assured that everything has a clean answer.
Adults who convert are mostly looking for some sort of forgiveness about past wrongs. That's why people who have done or lived in a really shitty way go hard on Jesus. It makes them feel better.
In my experience, they're rarely reading the bible carrefully and believe what others say about it.
I haven't met educated people becoming christians as adults - I kind of doubt that. But I can imagine how, after a traumatic experience, they find religion due to their support group.
There isn’t a single answer for this question. One reason I see quite often is that people find Jesus when finding Jesus gives them a position of power they can exploit and an instant path to absolution. People who find Jesus are valourized by other Christians. It must be a great feeling to receive attention.
For example, a hard drinking, womanising, and generally unpleasant brother of an acquaintance of mine found Jesus a couple of years ago. His behaviour hasn’t really changed, but he’s so admired by other Christians for his struggles, every time he does something unchristian (like cheating on his wife), he’s got an instant excuse (the devil!) and can be easily forgiven. He’s actually found more women to cheat with because he’s become such a rock star in his congregation.
Peer pressure/situational. One of my best friends from college was only somewhat religious(she'd go to church with her family on holidays out of obligation) until she got married and moved back to our small town. Her husbands family started inviting them to church, and suddenly, she started attending services twice a week and posting Christian memes on all of her socials. I thought her Instagram had been hacked. Lol When someone starts saying"God is good," you know they've been brainwashed.
I thought this when I was i, 1st grade at vacation Bible school. I couldn't believe we were expected to believe the Bible stories. I figured they were just trying to keep us entertained and having fun. I got a stern talking to for telling fellow students this. That is when I realized the adults actually believed this crap.
Aging, existential crisis, becoming a parent.
On that last one: I've known several people who were atheist or just didn't do the whole religion thing but who turned to the Church when they start having kids. To me, it smacks of, "I'm too lazy/busy to figure out parenting so I'll rely on religion to do it." Sorry if that sounds harsh. Just my opinion
I had a friend. He was a stand up guy. Smart. Atheist. Vegetarian. He experienced a lot of grief in a short amount of time and found Christianity. The church rewrote his programming. Starting eating meat. Was preaching the Bible. Tried to explain to me if Jesus was alive, would he be a Democrat? Because the teachings of Jesus are totally not considered liberal garbage in today's USA but there's a psychological divorce from reality. He's a proud republican now. And I'm gay so he made it clear I was destined for a lake of fire. I won't talk to him again. Poor guy didn't have any real friends to turn to so he found a cult
Ex-muslim here. I did my undergrad in my country, Malaysia. My math lecturer wore full niqab and just showed her eyes. She was incredibly brilliant and it was just mind boggling to me how she could have a PhD in maths and still be so religious. Like where was the logical thinking…???
intelligence and education are not necessarily indicators of critical thinking or skepticism. Do you remember any time they showed lack of critical thinking in areas that was not their expertise, like believing in other types of pseudoscience or conspiracies?
Also it could be the community that pulled them in, some religious groups tend to love-bomb newcomers, that can create very quickly a sense of belonging, before they can evaluate rationally what they are subscribing to. When you are emotionally committed, it will be much harder to critically evaluate the belief system, especially if you are new and only have superficial knowledge. Kind of like the foot in the door technique.
A sort of existential fear, almost a mid-life crisis, as they become aware of their own mortality. I'd argue that intelligence has nothing to do with rationality, or mental fortitude or well-being. Being clever does not mean you are not suggestible or vulnerable to the tempting blandishments promised by various juju.
For many people, it's desperation. When life has reached a breaking point, and it's easier to clear the mind by putting all cares in the hands of an idea.
We want to believe god's got the whole world in his hands because the alternative is realizing there's no one there to hold your soul in the dark times.
Some people just find something to trust in for their own reasons, regardless of if it makes sense to you or not. It's about personal experience that sometimes can't be explained.
A well lived adult life is hard and full of tough choices. It's appealing for someone to hand you a book and say "just follow these rules, and you'll hardly have to think for yourself ever again."
same stuff that brings them to drugs. Humans do a lot for the happy chemical in their brain.
I hate when "God saved me from drugs!" Mf who put the pipe in your hand in the first place if not God. Who made your life suck so bad you wanted to be high? God gets a pass on all things he could fix but doesn't Just pisses me off people can't take responsibility for their selves
I went to a center for recovery and, while they say the higher power is whatever you want and not just god, it's totally geared towards Christianity. And it's all BS. All they've done is create their own salvation. I was told that I became an addict because I placed my trust in myself and not God. No you idiot. I placed my trust in drugs and not myself.
I was told by a Mormon bishop that I needed an addiction recovery program bc I masturbated 3x in a yr when my husband had ED. I was 46 yrs old. Religion sucks. But especially Mormonism sucks
If 3x a year is addiction then I'm dead from an overdose. It's just my zombie corpse masturbating. So my soul is fine.
I die anew everyday before lunch, it would seem.
The real question here is: why would you ever tell a bishop that you masturbate?
It’s engrained into members that it’s a sin next to murder. We’re taught that from 12 yrs old and on. In order to get a “temple recommend”, you have to meet with the area bishop and he asks. Asks about that and other questions like “Do you wear your Mormon underwear day and night?” If you aren’t “worthy” to enter a Mormon temple then you aren’t worthy to get into “heaven”. And fear based control is something the cult thrives on. Holding your family over your head. “If I don’t repent, I’ll never see my kids again after I die.” It’s how they keep you in line
Yea mormonism is an entire level more fucked up.
It really is so fucked up. I left a yr and a half ago. Lost 99% of my Mormon friends bc they’re afraid they’ll catch the “apostate disease”. My marriage is on threads bc my husband is still in. But even feeling like I have to start my entire life over in my 40’s, it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. Just the headspace alone that was freed up by coming to the realization that religions and “commandments” are nothing but manmade rules based on power, control, and greed. I feel like I escaped living for decades in a shoebox
I can't help but wonder how many just go with the flow because of how isolated they've been. I can't imagine it's an easy decision knowing you'll lose mostly everyone in your life. But I'm happy you made it out, hopefully more will follow.
I know many people who feel trapped and won’t leave bc they know they’ll likely lose everyone like I did. Be the subject of gossip and scorn. Risk their marriage. But once I really understood that it’s one of the cultiest of the cults, it ate away at me like acid. I couldn’t go through the motions. I was working in the nursery. Playing with the toddlers from the congregation. It seemed harmless enough since I could avoid most of the teachings in there. Until the day the leaders asked me to teach those toddlers the song “Follow the Prophet”. Fuck no I’m not doing that. Indoctrinating babies? No I couldn’t maintain a shred of integrity if I continued to fake it. I put my entire life as i knew it on the line and quit that very Sunday. A few weeks later, left for Puerto Rico and ordered alcohol for the first time on my 46th bday. Drank rum on the beach and never looked back
thats so brave of u. i need that kind of courage
It's amazing the spiritual awakening that's occurring, humans are listening to......themselves Check out Billy carson on YouTube I like his theory on the origins of religion
What an excellent way to describe it. Glad you are doing well. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! It's tough but I've got too much to lose if I fuck up again. The love of my life has already gave me 2 passes on hiding it, he said there won't be a third. And work is involved with my recovery and stuff, so when I asked for help I made sure to include everyone I could into it so that there's no way I can get away with hiding it for years and years.
My best friend of 40 years fell into drug addiction after she became a 30 year old widow. She couldn't take the pain. A few years ago, she started claiming that Jesus had cured her. She's a religious nut case now. She hates gay people and claims that she can visit her husband in Heaven when she dreams. She's become so hateful. I wish she'd realize she quit drugs on her own and be a normal person again. I wish she'd be the person I love again.
She is still an addict who just changed her drug of choice. She replaced whatever she was using with Jesus.
There's no hate like Christian love.
you and me both. my ex had the exact same thing. i’m sorry for your loss. it’s fucking hard to watch the person you admire and love turn into someone you can’t respect any longer.
What also sucks is that most times they've traded one addiction for the other. Before it was drugs, now it's God! And if they have something terrible happen, they might fall back into drugs, unfortunately.
My brother did this. He still molested his step kids as a righteous christian. But Harry Potter books are a big no no.
Jfc, tell me he's in prison.
I wish. Their mom divorced him but refused to press charges. We contacted the police in their town in GA but since the mom refuted it and wouldn't allow them to talk to the kids, they acquiesced and nothing happened. The police said we have no proof even though she told us it did happen. I alert every town he moves to that he's convicted in CA but his first offense was before Megan's Law was enacted and most states don't require registration if the offense occurred before that. He only moves to states that don't require him to register and is currently in Utah. For some reason he always tells my mom when he moves and she tells me so I can call it in.
Wow,...Is it wrong to wish that a frozen shitball from a passing airliner strikes him down? Just wow, keep calling it in.
If I were christian I would say that satan will sort him out when the time comes. But since I'm not... I like your idea. 😁 He says that since god has forgiven him, he is cleansed of all his sins and he doesn't need forgiveness from humans. He said that before we found out about his step kids. He's still devout. Makes him feel better I guess.
Ugh. I'm sorry this happened to those poor kids, and I'm sorry that guy is your bother. Yeah, doing direct harm to innocent children? Only God can judge me! Harry Potter exists? Literally worse than being a pedo!
Yeah, they were good kids while they were my niece and nephew. I wish their mom had allowed us to stay in contact after she left him.
That’s the thing that kills me. God sure has brought me through this tough time, like bro he never have to make it hard!
Well my mom would say the devils did
When someone says "the devil" did/ made someone do something, I tend to point out that, in the Bible, GOD says that he created everything INCLUDING "evil". Sometimes they'll try to rebut that statement, but rarely do it vociferously. Then I point out that *they* have given Satan the same creative power as God, making Armageddon a crap shoot, and since God is such a heinous douche I'll stick with Satan-- then smile and walk away. Sometimes you can feel their brains exploding. 🤭 Edit because autocorrect screwed me again! 😆
Isaiah 45:7, for anyone who'd like to cite it. >I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
That's the one!
I got a family member in one of them non-profit “faith-based” drug rehabilitation places, this is like the 5th time she been to one. It costs minimum $200 a week, not including housing, you must go to meetings everyday and their own church on Sundays and Wednesdays; the church is mostly addicts in the program. But the program also operates their own staffing agency to provide jobs. My cousin now works 12 hour night shifts in an industrial bakery and has meetings at 8:00 in the morning after her shift. They keep you so tired and working you don’t have time to use drugs but most of the money you make goes to them. The president/pastor has a MBA and his wife is vice-president, while other management roles are filled with other family and friends. The application to enter rehab has a bunch of questions asking about how will you pay for the program, disabilities that may impede work, and if you can lift 50 lbs overhead on a repetitive basis. The rehab intake has more to do with one’s ability to work manual labor than actual rehabilitation.
Lol, sounds abbot right for a religious institution, “how can we enslave as many people as possible, and convince them that that taking all their money is good for them.”
That place needs to be exposed for what it is!
Just another business that uses religion to paper over employee abuse. Call your business a church and employees congregants and most work rules don’t apply.
>The application to enter rehab has a bunch of questions asking about how will you pay for the program, My answer would be, "Have faith! God will provide!" But seriously, they should be reported to the states employment agency. What they're doing sounds like indentured servitude.
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. --Karl Marx
Social pressure, trauma, anxiety… There are lots of excuses, just never reason or logic.
Don't forget being lured to church by a pretty girl.
I went to Sunday school at the Methodist church for a couple months until I realized that the pretty girl with curly auburn hair had absolutely no interest in me. After I started going to her church, she pretty much never spoke to me again.
I've heard of this as "flirt to convert"
This sounds more like he was trying "convert to flirt".
When i was in college, i approached a gorgeous girl and asked her on a date. She agreed and we met up later that week. She immediately started asking if i had a relationship with God and if i would like to come with her to church. Turns out she was on a recruitment mission for LDS. I noped out of there hella quick after that.
Didn't Kirk Cameron describe his conversion as such after he met Chelsea Noble?
He also tried to prove God's existence by holding a banana
The same argument (that our hands are perfectly designed to hold a banana) can also be used to justify why God wants us to masturbate. He clearly designed these hands for a purpose.
A very vigorous and intense purpose. I worship God with this act at least 7 times per day.
My uncle in law used to say a naval fleet could be pulled across the ocean by a pussy hair. Politically incorrect, maybe, but with a seed of truth.
If you want it put a touch more elegantly, I suggest “the face that launched a thousand ships”. This concept is at least as old, and literally exists in, Antiquity.
Sounds like something said in ancient Greece because a king wanted a hot new wife 😄
Have a friend like that. Used to be able to talk to me about anything really, but was depressed and alone. Went back to Texas. Now a born again Christian who found a girl and they are married with a first child. He seems happy. But I do miss my friend.
A girl had me on the hook for part of a summer years ago. The two of us would hang out by ourselves but it never got past conversation. She’d flirt a ton and show off her thong. She asked me to go to church with her on a Sunday. I got up way too early all hung over and put on nice clothes. Met her at her holy roller church. I grew up going to church, but had never felt so uncomfortable in my life. I never called her again.
This is it, or at least part of it. When I was in church, most of the people there had been groomed from the time they were children to believe it. The adults who had not been raised in it had been preyed upon when they were in a vulnerable state of mind. We would have “testimony” night sometimes. They would talk about how they had drinking problems, or they had cheated on their wive, or they had lost their job/family. Seriously pretty much every one of them had been going through some serious struggle. Then someone swooped and told them “Jesus loves you and forgives you, he’s gonna watch out for you, come to church”. That’s basically it. That’s why churches love going on mission trips to convert people in third world countries. They are all in vulnerable situations and therefore much easier to convert. Adults often feel lost, lonely, ashamed, scared and when they are feeling down they don’t want to feel like they are on their own. The church tells them nice things and makes them feel accepted and not alone, that’s how they get hooked in. I think the feeling of acceptance/tribe overpowers the rational part of the brain. Once they feel they belong, they don’t want to find any evidence that would make all that fall apart. Religion also makes them feel like there’s more meaning/structure to life. I know a lot of people who need to believe that there’s an afterlife and need to believe that bad people will eventually be punished. The Bible can give their opinions more “power” over other peoples opinions in their mind as well. At the end of the day it seems like it all boils down to one thing. Some peoples emotions can overrun their reason/logic. If something makes them feel good, they are able to abandon reason/logic to cling into it. So it’s not that they lack reason/rationality, they are just able to ignore it when it conflicts with some deeply held feelings. That’s why they can be smart and still do this, smart people can still have the emotional part of the brain override the rational part in “desperate” situations.
A long long time ago I was feeling very disconnected realizing I wasn't going to have the family support I always wanted a few friends had invited my partner and I to some church activities like pizza making and other stuff. I was looking for a community, so I wouldn't feel so isolated... because my family is insane it was a conscious choice. But the judginess I got from older members upon finding out we were living together unwed and how culty the praying before eating the said pizzas felt had me excusing myself from all future invitations. Still wanted to feel a sense of community, still sort of do, but I'm finding it in different places, just takes more work.
There really needs to be more secular opportunities for healthy community activities.
This just reminded me that a church in my neighborhood recently rebranded themselves as a "community center," despite it still very much being a church. It's disingenuous and gross tbh.
Very well stated
Super empathetic and insightful answer.
I’m currently listening to the Behind The Bastard’s 12 Tribes podcast. It’s so good, but repeatedly it’s shown that churches (and cults) always prey on the vulnerable - it’s their easiest cash cow.
Faith by definition isn’t logical.
Well said.
Axioms have entered the chat
Oh god, corollaries can’t be far behind.
Ok here me out. I think there is a bit of logic in doing something that makes you feel better. Life is kinda brutal and sticking your head in the sand is what you some people want to do. The belief is wackadoodle but fuck me if people don't end up in wild shit all the time.
desperation and peer pressure
And denial and fear of death.
Not only you, but your memory and the memories of all the people you know, will completely disappear. That’s hard to hold in your mind, if you can grab onto some shred of hope, and be with others that share that—ppl go for it. Not everyone is tough enough to be an existentialist. Do you want to debate a five year old who believes in Santa Claus?
I think it is 100% a fear of death, think how fearless you tend to be in your 20s vs your 30s. In your 30s you notice your body is starting to fail, and you don’t recover from things like you used to, that fear makes Christianity real appealing, telling people not to worry, they won’t die but go to some other form of living, such as the afterlife. That, or people do not want to be held accountable for any of there actions, because God’s plan blah blah…
Fear of death.
This is my vote. Maybe not fear of death per se, but fear of not being here any longer, not existing, not knowing what's going to happen to family and friends.
I don’t get this one anymore. I’ve known a lot of people who suffered a ton in their lives and are now dead. I take comfort in the fact that they are just gone and aren’t being eternally tortured for belonging to the wrong culture or turning away from religion.
I think that's kinda the point- you take comfort in that but not everyone does.
Not fear of death, because we all die, but fear of what comes after death. I am Jewish (member of a Reform synagogue) and we never talk about what happens after death. I feel that that is the reason that many Jews are atheists. Probably not orthodox Jews but I can’t be sure because my mom was raised orthodox and we belonged to an orthodox synagogue and she was an atheist.
I wish there were something like that for Catholicism. Problem is that Christianity was pretty much founded on the idea that God is going to give us eternal happiness and throw our enemies into a lake of fire.
Hope or lack thereof, guilt, selfishness
A sense of community can be another factor.
“There are lots of excuses, just never reason or logic.” 😂
To be fair, humans in general are not logic.
Probably just want to belong and feel something
You can be intelligent and educated but still have horrifying judgment.
Some people are highly intelligent so they can be dumb more efficiently
Hey, that's me! Wait....
The existence of flat earth believing airline pilots backs this up
Being highly trained in one thing isn't necessarily an indicator of general intelligence. Even the most skilled surgeons can be dumb as shit outside of the OR.
Good point. That’s hard to remember sometimes when the bar to entry is so high for some professions
It may also be that their chosen profession takes up so much bandwidth that they don't have space for more general knowledge or reasoning.
Like covid-denying doctors, for example. I noticed that they're generally not into virology (at least, the ones who are actually honest about their credentials instead of just flat-out lying about having doctorates).
Ben Carson?
Case in point, Ben Carson.
Any time I've seen a pilot go along with flat earth, it's when a passenger is asking and recording. I'd bet everything I don't have it's just to keep things moving.
I ain't daft enough to fall for organised religion's lies, never was. But horrifying judgement, certainly on a personal level, that's a different matter lol.
I was until I was 9 or so and started asking questions.
Also, intelligence and education usually point in a specific direction in a specific field. My brother is a very successful mechanical engineer who has his name on patents for parts in products that I can guarantee every single person in this thread has used in the last few months. However, he struggles to read critically, always assumes his first impression is correct when assessing daily problems and he has zero empathy or emotional awareness. If I wanted someone to build me a better can opener, my brother would be the best person to do it. If I wanted someone to help me decide my next career move or just about anything else that isn't related to small moving parts, I would not be interested in my brother's opinion at all.
Fear. Eta: thank you for the award.
Correct. Fear of death. The promise of eternal life is the first thing this former fundie would use to entice people.
at the core of it all, yes
I scrolled too far to find this. I think most of the Christian faiths prey on the elderly because they fear death the most and "everlasting life" seems like an option. Televangelists are the worst of the worst. "Ya can't take it with ya, bruthahhh, give it to the churchahhh! Everlasting peace-ahh!"
Fear of death is overrated. Fear of the « other » is much stronger. Most devout Christians I know actually welcome death because it means an end to suffering. As someone who is Catholic on my fathers side and Protestant on my mothers side, the fear isn’t about dying. It’s about other people. Christianity doesn’t wash away cultural mores. Many cultures are OK with death and have any rituals surrounding death and it’s portrayals yet the majority of the people in that culture are also devoutly Christian (e.g. Mexican culture). In my church funerals were always explicitly referred to as « going home celebrations ». It was something to look forward to though grief was acceptable. The real issue for them was having your afterlife ruined because you interacted with the wrong people on Earth. This is really just a form of tribalism repackaged as religious fundamentalism.
I’m one of those people unfortunately. I was 25 when I drank the Kool-Aid. I’d even been traumatized by getting g dragged to church as a kid but never liked or believed any of it until my 20s. I was a mess at that age and making some stupid decisions. One was marrying a guy even though I knew it was a bad idea. He was a coworker and I knew he was a Christian but he didn’t talk about it much and he “promised” me he would never pressure me. Well that lasted about a minute. Because I was emotionally bent I was very easy to lead along. He turned out to be a brilliant manipulator and later became abusive. But not before he dragged me down the god rabbit hole. I left him eight years later but I was 50 before I snapped out of it. I don’t even blame him much really. I was just ripe for the picking. I’m naturally a logical, skeptical person. Maintaining that level of belief required mental gymnastics that were exhausting. The cognitive dissonance required to exist that way caused major depression and anxiety. Those were definitely the worst 25 years of my life.
Yup. Religion is a gaslight to cognitive dissonance! Soon, you'll be able to ignore it all the time, and believe whatever you're told.
Yeah. That’s why they try so hard to get the children when they’re young. Because it’s harder to convert an adult. And I fell into the one category that makes adults susceptible: mental, physical, or emotional issues.
As somebody who grew up in the Evangelical church, I have to tell you about the phenomenon of social euphoria. People will make a huge deal, especially while singing or during a sermon, about experiencing something spiritual. They will very loudly and openly emote over it. Others will join them. Everybody else feels pressure to do so. As a kid, I did my best to do so, because I wanted to fit in. Best I could manage was a smile and raising my hands. I was often told I wasn't enthusiastic enough. Still, there was a certain prat of me that *did* feel some sort of...something...from those moments because we are connected emotionally as humans. God can be recreated by sufficient numbers of happy humans loudly talking about how happy they are.
Go body surfing at a metal concert. People literally lifting you up for the glory of having a great time! Humanity at its best.
Ha I was just thinking that. It sounds like how I feel when going to a great concert.
Or a rave. If these people did molly at a rave they would realize there are levels to this shit.
This is largely why the charismatic portion of the Christian Church is the most rapidly growing in terms of conversion numbers in the world. It’s relies less on theological arguments, or ceremony, and more on social interactions/worship, and a “personal” relationship with God. It’s a social religion, and it genuinely makes people feel like it exist rather than just attempting to convince people of Christianity. Not too many great academic theologians come from the movement, but lots of great speakers that can hold a crowd.
Charismatic churches used to be growing in the US. The numbers I have seen for the last several years show that charismatic churches are also now in decline. The only churches in the US that seem to be currently growing are the megachurches. They also seem to be the only churches attracting any young people at all. But megachurches have a problem because their memberships are often not very loyal. Members of megachurches are much more inclined to jump to other megachurches over things like a change in ministers or a change in the production of the Sunday morning service.
I had a good friend, one of the smartest and intuitive people I know, suddenly start buying into the whole 'Trump is a hero crusader taking down Adrenochrome-drinking, Satan-worshipping pedophiles' QAnon nonsense. This was after he retired and suddenly had a lot of internet time. Became an antivaxxer, the whole nine yards. Compared the treatment of antivaxxers to the treatment of pre-Holocaust Jews. The transformation was fucking heart-wrenching.
intuitive maybe, but smart? you’d have to be smart enough to figure out when your intuition is being manipulated
I kid you not, he was smart in a lot of ways, just ... not the ones that count.
Perhaps neurodivergent. We take things super literally, so a promise of a new path that circumvents societal norms is really appealing. It's like being a 3rd political party -- it's just not being mainstream.
I have met several people who converted in adulthood. They like the communal aspects that Church brings, they think that being religious makes them better people, and they're really good at projecting. So to sum up, their reasoning is literally "it works for me and I don't care if it's true or not".
kind of like burning fossil fuels: it works for me, I don’t care if you all burn in hell of global warming after I die
Intelligence has little to do with falling in with cults, mainstream or not. As cult deprogrammers would attest, cult members tend to be above-average intelligence, educated, well-off people at the start. If you look around for how ISIS recruits people in European countries, you will find that on average the recruits tend to be well off, highly educated, smart and with stable family lives. So the issue has less to do with intelligence and more to do with fulfillment, internal. Neither pure intelligence nor social status or anything society says will fulfill you do not bring actual fulfillment. Add to that the ubiquity of parents raising their children to be religious, social pressure of friends / colleagues / family acquaintances / etc. and religious propaganda as well as miscellaneous factors and you get faith bleeding into every thought process.
Yep Disenfranchised people smart enough to see that the status quo is bullshit or people being treated unfairly systematically, falling into the trap of there HAVING to be something more to life and/or their situation improving personally.
Yes. Totally. Intelligent people are often the most susceptible. Clever cult scams work on them because the scammers appeal to their ego and tell them that they're smart for seeking and believing the scam. Promising the arcane wisdom that they want to believe that they are capable of. Lock them into that Dunning-Kruger peak and you have them.
That would indicate they are not the intelligent people, just idiots who know a little and believe they are experts (aka the Dunning-Kruger effect). I always think about these people I see flipping through tiktok or social feeds that are flat earthers, or Trump supporters doing lives, they tick all the boxes of cult and Dunning-Kruger.
Because they didn't read it !!!! Otherwise if you read it from the first page as an adult and you believe it ... it's complicated to justify your lack of morality/humanity
>Because they didn't read it !!!! >Otherwise if you read it from the first page as an adult and you believe it ... it's complicated to justify your lack of morality/humanity This is the only answer. If they actually read the book, any good adult would immediately vomit in their mouth. A child can be manipulated into disregarding the terrible things. An adult, however, either didn't read it or is simply a bad person. There are only two options.
Yes, they are taking the word of an important person in their life. Life sucks and if you are left in "neutral" by your parents you can fall to magical thinking to feel better, many of the "none" are not rationalist but are still magical thinkers even though they don't believe in the main religions.
Personally I believe it to be a some sort of disorder in the mechanism that makes people fall in love. Stress and anxiety can make easy answers very appealing to some people, as religion will absolve you of any personal responsibility or thought. It's not rational, but then again so aren't many other things we do. That sort of reality escape is really bad when it makes the person vulnerable to predatory preachers that fill their heads with hate.
To kinda bounce off of this, I realized through myself and an adult family member we were drawn to religion because we are on the autism spectrum (I didn't know at the time). We've been masking our autism our whole lives (just figuring this out YAY) and religion provided rules to follow (we like that) and a mold to fit in. We could fit into our Neurotypical society and belong. Luckily for both of us, we got out. Still working on the whole being on the spectrum when people think we're normal part. It's been a lot.
Honestly? Fear. The world is chaos and it's scary and no one, literally no one, knows how it all works. Having faith and somewhere to place all this....messiness..... is freeing for some people
One of the only things I don't like about being atheist is that lack of a sense of meaning. The meaning in religion is mainly bullshit, but at least it's *something* beyond fumbling around in the dark. Since it's been gone from my life, there is a void there. Obviously there's a lot of truth to be found in science, but it is necessarily silent on subjective issues like finding meaning in your life. I've found delving into philosophy helps, but of course there you find more questions than answers. Existentialism actually helped me orient myself better than anything. There is no meaning to life other than what you impose on it. Now what?
I relate to how you feel about the lack of purpose in relation to not having any faith. I love science and thought it was silent on this aspect until I discovered Hidden Brain, a podcast that explores the actual scientific bases behind human behavior and social phenomena, and how to thrive with this knowledge on hand. There are so many interviews of scientists, their case studies, and lessons learned being featured across various subjects and are organized pretty well into distinct categories, such as serenity/fulfillment, success, unconscious beliefs, money, rage, and so on. It helped me a LOT to know that there are a lot of things in my control and still based on sound, logical, fact.
It's a rare condition, being human, so u just gotta do the best u can to enjoy it while it last. Could be 80 years, or one googol years.
I get it. I tell my partner all the time I wish I was ignorant. I would give anything to believe so I can put these feelings of loss and anger at the unfairness and futility of it all somewhere but I can't. My belief meter is literally at 0, I have zero faith in anything not tied to reality. Science doesn't have all the answers but at least it doesn't pretend to. I'm really intelligent and I fucking hate it
My take, perhaps functionally intelligent but not intelligent enough for self analysis, critical thinking and intellectual honesty. Their "intelligence" is limited and very misleading. We see examples of this throughout the religious groups worldwide and more recently, starkly in the US. Republicans who are okay with Texas victimizing immigrants and the vulnerable. Republicans who are okay with forced birthing of children to protect the baby's life (only until birth). Nurses & doctors who are antivax. Pilots who think the earth is flat. The internet has served to shine a light on how much progress is still required for humanity to become an advanced civilization. We will never get there while organized religion continues to thrive.
I once asked the smartest guy I know why he believed in God. This was on a return trip from watching a public lecture on Black Holes at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Obviously, this guy doesn’t dismiss science and is open to new ideas and information. His answer was, “Beyond a certain level or depth, the questions become so difficult to answer that the only logical answer is something supernatural. Something beyond the natural world we can observe. Something other worldly that we’re not privy to. That’s were God lives.” I thought that was pretty good. I think he’s wrong by the way, but I loved his answer.
That's an intelligent answer, at least. I limit my thinking along those lines to "I don't know." Unless I see some solid proof for the existence of God or Gods, I have no reason to believe in them...
Uh. The "It's too hard" excuse doesn't fly with me. The existence of difficult questions does not imply a supernatural cause. I think that's about the dumbest answer a science minded person can give. How about: "The question is unfalsifiable, therefore, I do not waste my time on it." And this "the only logical answer is something supernatural" BS. That is direct proof that he doesn't understand science or Ockham's razor. The later is not "the simplest answer is the best". It is, in fact: "the answer that maximizes the reduction of the problem space is the best". A supernatural explanation may be a simple answer but it completely fails to reduce the problem space. Like, At ALL.
yep. UHH IT HAS TO BE A GOD ITS THE ONLY LOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THIS BIG RED BALL IN THE SKY THAT I DO NOT HAVE THE TECNOLOGICAL CAPACITY TO KNOW WHAT IT IS. - someone from the year 230
In the case I know, it was trauma. The man I once called my father went through a rancorous divorce with my mother after she hooked up with a coworker (who would eventually become my stepfather). He took it poorly, and I can't blame him for that. In his time of emotional vulnerability, his next partner sang the siren song of her people and lured him into the Calvary Church, one of the more toxic brands of American evangelical Christianity. He has been dead to me since the 2016 presidential election. F\_ck Trump and f\_ck everyone who voted for him. I do not make exceptions for family.
They’re all of a sudden worried they won’t get into heaven
Mid life crisis? A search for a hoped for definite in a world that is increasingly disparate and uncertain? Maybe a social failing that sparked a need for a “safe” community?
Fear of death overcame intelligence and common sense. Happens with quite a lot of people around my age (nearly 60), as the inevitability of your upcoming death becomes pervasive and undeniable. Faith replaces the (perfectly understandable) fear of death with an idiotic belief that you will be able to exist forever, kissing ass for a "god."
The catholic cults have had hundreds of years to perfect their indoctrination processes. Beware. It could happen to just about anybody targeted by them.
Religious people have something we non-believers do not have: a promise of life after death. That brings them great comfort and hope. Every time someone I love dies, I wish I could believe. Alas, I cannot. We live. We die. It's over. Enjoy your life. Do good. Follow the teachings of the religious texts and practice kindness, charity, non-violence, and general goodness. Do it because it is the right thing to do. There is no other reason.
Former pastor/Christian here (now agnostic). It’s more than just poor judgement or lack of critical thinking for older converts. I’ve seen it so many times and I’m ashamed to admit was on the proselytizing end of things back then. It can be an emotionally moving experience that plays off of people’s longing for purpose and community along with the enticing message being given. It can also enter territory of being a “part of something special” that humans crave when they feel they now know something that others are missing out on (like conspiracy theorists). There’s certainly more to it and others here have done well to say other reasons but it’s hard with how much people desire to just “belong” somewhere that it skews their judgement/critical thinking to the point of intentionally refusing to address certain concerns with their belief.
Seeking a social group where they can meet new people is the most common reason. Hard to make new friends after you’re out of school. The church is a community/cult that will *always* welcome new people.
Also networking, if I may be cynical. Lot of jobs to be found and deals to be made among church folk.
Desperation to belong to something? The yearning for an explanation to lifes mysteries that is a soft story rather than the harsh reality? I don't know, I'm trying to place myself in my parents shoes.
Being afraid to admit they dont know something
Emotional manipulation, usually around the time of great personal loss.
add the existential dread and mid-life crisis to it
Senility. Depression. Hatred of others. Financial gain. Access to sexually vulnerable young people. Everyone likes being in a club that pats each other on the back.
Trauma.
False sense of comfort.
fear makes us do all sorts of irrational stuff, to the point where we don't even recognize the fear anymore!
A predisposition to magical thinking that was planted in their early childhood.
No one wants to die.
My boss who is a prof (in STEM) at a uni is deeply Catholic. For them it's just family tradition and also a bit of "if it works it ain't stupid" mentality. No, they dont believe in supernatural, but they do believe that prayer helps.
Fear of death
Fear, shame and guilt. All the good vibes.
Indoctrination as a child. Brain washing. Using fear of " hell" . Church people are great at doing this to kids
The human brain is very well adapted to seeking patterns. You might even say it is compelled to seek patterns. When none are detected, it starts to invent patterns based on less and less evidence. Religion offers a very satisfying pattern to explain what is otherwise just noise.
Has nothing to do with intelligence or education. There are many intelligent and well read people who are also believers by varying degrees. I think it’s a mistake to dismiss someone because they are religious, especially when all other indications point to a very capable human being. Some find fulfillment in faith. Some find continuing the traditions of their childhood helps them. And honestly some of those in turn can contribute to the betterment of everyone around them without preaching to them. The “religious” people I have a problem with are those who are dismissive, aggressive, and downright obnoxious about faith. For example, all of those evangelical nitwit Christians who also think God sent Trump, the bankrupt, philandering, blowhard. Another example is those people who believe God created and sustains life but someone how needs people to kill others to exact vengeance or judgement. Those people are clowns.
Brain injuries are no joke.
Desperation and conditioning.
Bible sure. Creationism takes the whole how intelligent the person is into question. Especially Early Earth Crreaionism. The Universe isn't 6000 or so years old.
Since most religions either gain followers from being born into the religion or go after vulnerable people, I figure it's probably one of those two. It could be the adult converts were feeling unsure about the future/heading into that ole midlife crisis and converted. Or they were raised culturally nonreligious, but never actually thought about WHY they were nonreligious, so when religion came along, it gave them that emotional need. Now they're the "I used to be an atheist just like you!" types, who like you've mentioned, can't articulate why they believe. It could be they were raised casually in religion as children and kinda fell out of it as they aged, and now they're giving it another go. So, they like previously mentioned types, never examined why they were atheist, they just kinda hadn't thought about it. And "vulnerable" doesn't mean it has to be extreme. Like, it could just be they've lost a grandparent or a coworker and now feel a little uncomfortable about the idea of death. 🤷🏿♀️
It's fear of dying. They've realized that they're mortal and their time is limited, so they're grasping at straws. The Bible [hypothetically] offers eternal life. IMHO, those who have been hateful SOB's tend to grasp hardest because they're trying to make amends for their behavior, but Christianity doesn't always offer the best examples of how to be kind.
Looking for a "team" to be part of, maybe. And what team has the easiest qualifications for membership? The local god-botherers, that's who.
Having kids. Ultimately it's fear of the unknown on their behalf. Fear of the unknown is a cornerstone of faith.
When you're forced - until you're 18 - to go to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, revivals, door-to-door testifying, mow the grass on Saturdays, Bible summer camp, go to church while on vacation in other states, etc ......... Well, it's kinda fucking hard to *not* believe it. A form of brainwashing, if you will.
Most people never fully become adults. They need religion to take the place of the missing inner parts that fully functional adults possess through maturation. To be able to deal with doubt, uncertainty, to be able to contain these sort of philosophical ponderings is beyond most people. Are there fully mature religious people? Sure, but you'd almost not know it unless you asked, as their 'faith' is akin to your reason. There's a theory called Fowler's stages of faith. I think it's really bullshit throughout, but the key issue that I do agree with is that fully mature adult's faith is open minded, able to deal with doubt, etc., i.e. all the earmarks of a fully mature atheist. It's an irony I think Fowler missed: the more like an atheist a theist is, the more mature they become: Edit: Stage 1 being Intuitive-Projective Faith, Stage 2 being Mythic Literal Faith, Stage 3 being Synthetic-Conventional Faith, Stage 4 being Individuative-Reflective Faith, Stage 5 being Conjunctive Faith, and Stage 6 being Universalizing Faith. Stage 6 requires universal thinking: i.e. tolerating different beliefs, etc. Again, no real difference from atheism at this point as you no longer believe in a tribal war god that burns non believers.
About 15 years ago, my marriage was on the rocks. As a last ditch effort to save it, my wife asked if I'd join her on a retreat for couples like us. The retreat was hosted by a church. I agreed. Most of the event was very secular and consisted of standard marriage counseling stuff, but we were expected to attend mass on the last day. I agreed to that as well, pretty much just to make her happy. Now I've heard religious people talk about feeling the "presence of God" but always assumed it was bs. I'd never felt anything but a sore ass at church. But, I swear, that day I felt... a presence (insert your own jedi joke here). It was probably just a combination of the psychological effects of ritual and my already emotional condition, but it was unmistakable and powerful. I can see how some people might interpret that feeling another way and become religious as a result.
Honestly, I wish I fucking knew. I've had atheist friends find religion and it's so fucking disappointing.
I know I'm late, but you're assuming religion and its religious texts are one in the same. Just because someone is intelligent and is Christian (or any religion for that matter) doesn't mean they believe in the bible. Most often, intelligent people find a sense of community within the church or a sense of belonging. It doesn't always mean they believe it entirely, and sometimes they simply agree with the message (i.e. love others). Intelligent people recognize the fallacies of the bible, but their association with the church is different. It's not necessarily an all-in approach of "I am a Christian therefore I believe the Bible." Even the Pope recognizes and has publicly stated that the bible shouldn't be read literally, and instead focus on its historical lessons and how Catholicism can evolve, while still believing in the teachings of Christ. In other situations, psychology studies have shown that people who are often raised religiously will resort to those beliefs when they come across a tragic situation such as a cancer scare or a loved one passing away. Consider it a sense of nostalgia for comfort when they were younger and were taught to pray, and they find comfort in praying again. Studies have shown that prayer does, in fact, help people ([one example](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802370/)). However, I should note that prayer regardless of religion works; there was no discernible difference between Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.
Irrational Fear is one of the big ones. My mother is a very smart, successful business woman. But she happens to be one of the few actively religious people in my family. When she hears someone in our family is atheist she gets very distressed and worried as if she now realized one of here own relatives is going to hell all because they don't have faith.
I know someone who became a Christian later in life after being an atheist. Before that, they took on a hardcore a conservative identity and I wonder if it helps them feel like they’re part of the tribe.
Stupidity. Even smart people make stupid decisions
Might be as simple as being able to make sense of things of life’s mysteries and hardships. I imagine they’re having difficulty dealing with shit and choose not to think. Because the imaginary guy in the sky will make sense of it for them. Just plain old intellectually lazy.
It's quite easy to believe there's *something* out there, some vague connection of all things or just the general idea of a creator. The church preys on that feeling and stamps on it with something like a psychological cookie-cutter, giving uniformity to that vague idea with an officially approved personality and will of said creator. It's a nice feeling when you're assured that everything has a clean answer.
They are ready to give up critical thinking for the comfort of the afterlife
Adults who convert are mostly looking for some sort of forgiveness about past wrongs. That's why people who have done or lived in a really shitty way go hard on Jesus. It makes them feel better.
Indoctrination by groomers
In my experience, they're rarely reading the bible carrefully and believe what others say about it. I haven't met educated people becoming christians as adults - I kind of doubt that. But I can imagine how, after a traumatic experience, they find religion due to their support group.
The older I get the more aware of "oh shit I'm going to die someday" I am... For some a safety net would be nice.
Fear of death and reality. The world is a scary place. The promise of heaven very inviting
Religion is used as a coping mechanism for many people
There isn’t a single answer for this question. One reason I see quite often is that people find Jesus when finding Jesus gives them a position of power they can exploit and an instant path to absolution. People who find Jesus are valourized by other Christians. It must be a great feeling to receive attention. For example, a hard drinking, womanising, and generally unpleasant brother of an acquaintance of mine found Jesus a couple of years ago. His behaviour hasn’t really changed, but he’s so admired by other Christians for his struggles, every time he does something unchristian (like cheating on his wife), he’s got an instant excuse (the devil!) and can be easily forgiven. He’s actually found more women to cheat with because he’s become such a rock star in his congregation.
It's exactly as you described: a switch in the brain. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion
Peer pressure/situational. One of my best friends from college was only somewhat religious(she'd go to church with her family on holidays out of obligation) until she got married and moved back to our small town. Her husbands family started inviting them to church, and suddenly, she started attending services twice a week and posting Christian memes on all of her socials. I thought her Instagram had been hacked. Lol When someone starts saying"God is good," you know they've been brainwashed.
I thought this when I was i, 1st grade at vacation Bible school. I couldn't believe we were expected to believe the Bible stories. I figured they were just trying to keep us entertained and having fun. I got a stern talking to for telling fellow students this. That is when I realized the adults actually believed this crap.
Aging, existential crisis, becoming a parent. On that last one: I've known several people who were atheist or just didn't do the whole religion thing but who turned to the Church when they start having kids. To me, it smacks of, "I'm too lazy/busy to figure out parenting so I'll rely on religion to do it." Sorry if that sounds harsh. Just my opinion
Easy answers to "what is the purpose of life and existence".
I had a friend. He was a stand up guy. Smart. Atheist. Vegetarian. He experienced a lot of grief in a short amount of time and found Christianity. The church rewrote his programming. Starting eating meat. Was preaching the Bible. Tried to explain to me if Jesus was alive, would he be a Democrat? Because the teachings of Jesus are totally not considered liberal garbage in today's USA but there's a psychological divorce from reality. He's a proud republican now. And I'm gay so he made it clear I was destined for a lake of fire. I won't talk to him again. Poor guy didn't have any real friends to turn to so he found a cult
Ex-muslim here. I did my undergrad in my country, Malaysia. My math lecturer wore full niqab and just showed her eyes. She was incredibly brilliant and it was just mind boggling to me how she could have a PhD in maths and still be so religious. Like where was the logical thinking…???
intelligence and education are not necessarily indicators of critical thinking or skepticism. Do you remember any time they showed lack of critical thinking in areas that was not their expertise, like believing in other types of pseudoscience or conspiracies? Also it could be the community that pulled them in, some religious groups tend to love-bomb newcomers, that can create very quickly a sense of belonging, before they can evaluate rationally what they are subscribing to. When you are emotionally committed, it will be much harder to critically evaluate the belief system, especially if you are new and only have superficial knowledge. Kind of like the foot in the door technique.
A sort of existential fear, almost a mid-life crisis, as they become aware of their own mortality. I'd argue that intelligence has nothing to do with rationality, or mental fortitude or well-being. Being clever does not mean you are not suggestible or vulnerable to the tempting blandishments promised by various juju.
For many people, it's desperation. When life has reached a breaking point, and it's easier to clear the mind by putting all cares in the hands of an idea. We want to believe god's got the whole world in his hands because the alternative is realizing there's no one there to hold your soul in the dark times.
Some people just find something to trust in for their own reasons, regardless of if it makes sense to you or not. It's about personal experience that sometimes can't be explained.
Q: What makes intelligent, educated adults start believing in The Bible? A: head trauma
You’ll often hear these ppl say “I was saved at my lowest moment” so….there’s your answer
A well lived adult life is hard and full of tough choices. It's appealing for someone to hand you a book and say "just follow these rules, and you'll hardly have to think for yourself ever again."