DESPARATE NEED

have you ever heard of a PK? Preacher's Kid?
total rebellion

Until what stage in life though?

All "kids" rebel.

from.. ooohh.. lets say 12-25? Good estimate?

Now, not ALL of them return to church. We know that.
But for the most part, they do later on in life.

And my thought behind that is, it is because that is what they were taught.

if you go to another country.. like.. south africa..
People there practice diffrent religions.

According to THEM, thier religion is the one true religion .. and thier god/dess is the one creator, and what the earth revolves around
so to speak.

When they seek religion later on in life , or early on, they seek what they were taught MOST of the time.

there go them nuts again..

I think of religion as a safety blanket for a lot of people, this is why I was so interested in the 'If there were no promise of Heaven/paradise after death, then would you still believe?" thread. I can remember when I first began questioning Christianity, I constantly was bombarded by fears of going to hell and being damned for eternity. It was a struggle though, because I no longer believed in such things, merely my subconscious and years of being threatened scared the living day lights out of me (regardless of my newly-found knowledge that hell didn't exist, I was still afraid of going there).

This makes me understand that many people, especially younger adults to children, grasp whatever was taught to them out of fear and habit. They may never even question it because of what the consequences may be, and so many never wander off. I was close to being confined, but then again, I had to make my family pissed off somehow

It's either for their own convenience (the ability to pray when in need, always having something to fall back on, etc.) or out of fear. In my opinion, those of us who can stand on our own feet without the idea of 'something more' out there, are the only ones with any hope of true survival in this world. If you're in the middle of a Nuclear war, logic has to kick in sometime. You just can't sit around waiting for God's plan to be unveiled... but that is a different thread, a different day.

Thank you for a thoughtful response.

When i was a liddlie, i bought into all that Hell crapola, but it just made me angry that i was, essentially, being threatened with eternal damnation for being ignorant--a natural state in children. That was why, before ever i reached what churches are pleased to call "the age of reason," i had already rejected religious dogma as a load of fear-mongering and hatefulness. I was unimpressed by and unconvinced by arguments based upon dubious assertions of "god's love." That kind of love is what one might expect from some ond bastard who professes to dearly love his children, and then throws a foot out to trip them, laughing uproariously at such an example of bucolic and dull-witted humor. I distinctly recall, when about age six, thinking that if that was the kind of joker who had set up and was running things, i wanted no part of him.

I dont know if it is a "need" to believe or not. I just do. That's faith, you either have faith God is or you don't.

Noting the wide desparity of comments. . .

Setanta,

"Need to believe" is a function of

1. Mankind's cognitive leaning towards "prediction and control". He looks for pattern and design in a mostly chaotic universe. A "purposeless existence" is a frightening no go area.

2. Pattern or "hierarchical order" is also a property of "socialzation". Religion is an authoritative factor within such socialization and operates through language such that what is "natural" social expediency and empathy becomes codified as "morality".

3. Stability of "self" implies maintenance of "boundaries" by reinforcement of "others like me". The "self" is essentially a social phenomenon and to a large extent "tribal".

So a hermit essentially has no self?

neologist.....correct !

A hermit probably indulges in much "internal conversation" which indicates the fragmentation of "self".

For many, I think the "desparate need" label does apply.

I took a religious history course in college, and the Prof merely laid out how religious teachings had changed over the centuries.

Hoo boy, were some of those kids threatened.

Re: DESPARATE NEED
...

very good approach.. and good question...

That's just ducky.

How about a good answer?

Okay, are we talking about desperate or desparate?

Take your pick, you've got nothing to say that interests me, so it hardly matters.

neologist,

My comment above implies a distinction between a "hermit" and "a secluded monk". The latter indulges in an experiment in "death of self" within the safety of an enclosed community of like-minded thinkers. Ironically this community is itself the epitome of "a social self".

Well, at least we're on the same page. :wink:

Have a nice day, Setanta.

I applaud the subtlety of your point.

Re: DESPARATE NEED


Well this is an interesting question. I have my theory's about this. But please keep in mind these are only my opinions from what I have observed about people over a long period of time. Religion is a funny thing. It offers a whole variety of need fillers. If offers a form of acceptance that is rarely found outside of itself. Well, it's presented that way anyway. The funny thing I've realized about people is that no matter what they believe or why, they just are what they are. While religion might be a "cloak" of sorts, it really is not all together too different from anything else in the world. Just another "clique" to fit into, if you will.

There are those who are just brought up within a certain belief system . They really don't know any better. They are taught through-out a period of time to not not listen to or hear anything outside of their belief system lest they succumb to the "evil's" that surround them.

Speaking from the angle of one who was abused, this is the part with the most clarity for me. When someone has been abused it does a whole range of damage to that person that goes beyond simple understanding. It changes the perception they have of the world, of people, of themselves. It can leave them feeling empty and powerless. It even changes how they hear things. For example a long time ago when I first got "saved" I was counseling with a pastor. He said to me one time, "Heph, God doesn't need you. If you aren't willing to do things His way, He will find someone that will."

That's not what I heard. I heard, "Heph, God does not need you. He knows you are going to fail so He has someone waiting in the wings to replace you as soon as you do." That is how I internalized that messaged because I filtered it through the shame I was living in at the time. People are very complex and religion offers answers to things that sometimes couldn't be answered any other way to the person involved. I don't know how much of this has to do with personality types and such, but I think that definitely has an effect as well.

Someone who does not feel important, cared about, accepted, will easily go for what religion presents because there are needs that are not being filled in their life and they have yet to find a way to fill those needs. God answers a lot of questions for people who are hurting. It gives them a sense of well being, importance, purpose. It takes really bad things that have happened and makes them seem not quite so bad because now... as unjust as they might have been... they can serve some sort of purpose. To help others who have experienced the same thing.

For some, life is a whole complex thing and upbringing can have a definite effect on how one functions in the world they are surrounded by. If needs were not met at home it is natural to look to meet those needs somewhere else. Religion offers to meet so many different needs on so many different levels that it is hard to resist. However religion is not the only thing that can meet needs, and religious people are not the only ones who have needs to be met. It's just a matter of how once chooses to go about meeting those needs.

That's the kind of answer i was lookin' for, Miss Eppie. Thank you for your candor.

You are welcome.