Why religions start?

. . . Here's some thoughts I have.

Near Death Experience may be one of the things that spark religion. It matters little if you believe in NDE, the fact is it happens. Those who experience NDE believe it to be real. NDE tells us there is a body and soul. It tells us there is a Divine-like being, called The Light, that is of pure love. . .

xingu wrote:

. . . Here's some thoughts I have.

Near Death Experience may be one of the things that spark religion. It matters little if you believe in NDE, the fact is it happens. Those who experience NDE believe it to be real. NDE tells us there is a body and soul. It tells us there is a Divine-like being, called The Light, that is of pure love. . .

Have you any thoughts on why we exist first on earth? Can your 'Light of pure love' explain why we have war and crime and sickness and death?

Hi Xingu

I'd never thought about near death experiences. I can see how such things could influence people to start preaching about what they believe they saw.

I also understood the group identity nature of religions, but as the 'group identity' is based on a set of beliefs, it is the factors surrounding the founding of those beliefs that I was curious about.

ENUGU, Nigeria - Ejike Mbaka is telling a story. The 20,000 Nigerians gathered around him in the red-dust lot have gone quiet.

"Last week, there was a man who was mad, insane," he begins, standing on a rickety stage. "For years, the doctors attempted to heal him. But the infirmity continued. He came to me for help.

"I gave him some healing water" - and here, some in the audience hold up the small plastic packages of water he sells, 45 cents each - "and told him to pour it in his ear on Sunday. Then pour it in his other ear on Monday.

"He did exactly that. And on Tuesday, a large frog crawled out of his ear. And he was cured."

Appreciative cheers from the audience. "Such are the things God can do," he says.

It's about 10 p.m. When the sun comes up in the morning, the crowd will still be here - except for those injured thrashing on the ground under the Holy Spirit's spell.

What's remarkable about the scene isn't what Ejike Mbaka says. It's who he is. He's not a witch doctor. He's not a Pentecostal preacher. He's an ordained Catholic priest.

Since European contact, indigenous peoples have often combined their religions with nonindigenous religions. Indigenous religions coexist, and sometimes blend, with Catholicism. Most, if not all, indigenous people have at least some knowledge of Christianity, but most also conserve indigenous worship practices of pre-Hispanic origin. Literate Maya increasingly see a sacred testament in the Popol Vuh, an ancient Maya account of the creation and history of the world. Most Andean highlanders receive the main Catholic sacraments, such as Communion, but also make sacrifices to the deified mountains whom they feel own their land and water. After the Vatican II reforms (1962-1965), many Catholic clergy took a more positive attitude toward such combinations, in conjunction with Church support for the social justice claims of oppressed peoples. Peru's spectacular Qoyllur Rit'i (starry snow) pilgrimage includes both a ritual climb in which costumed dancers bring sacred ice from the heights, and a mass in a chapel under a peak.

I often wondered if religion is simply a way people invented to explain (and connect with) our spiritual side...

I mean, to me, there has to be something that is 'spirit'...all you need to do is take a close look at mob mentality, six sense, twins who know what the other is feeling, close couples who know when the others died, team spirit, the will to live even as the body is dying...etc etc etc. To me, science can't properly explain this stuff...and I wonder if many religions started as an attempt to explain this (aside from all the many things that were unexplanable to them before science really took off)

What do you think?

You say science can't explain this stuff, but assume "this stuff" is real.

It's like saying "My monster trap is obviously faulty, I left it out all night and all I caught was a few stray cats and a peeping tom."

there has to be something that is 'spirit'

...all you need to do is take a close look at mob mentality, six sense, twins who know what the other is feeling, close couples who know when the others died, team spirit, the will to live even as the body is dying...etc etc etc.

None of these things prove the existence of a "spirit".

Sure, there are things science does not yet understand. That does not mean that all things not understood by science exist by default.

Assuming a "spirit" is akin to saying "well, I guess it's just magic, there's no explaining it." It's lazy thinking.

The way I see it, anecdotal evidence is a good starting point to determine the parameters of a study to acquire actual evidence.

Anecdotal evidence has always suggested (until quite recently) that the earth is flat.

. . . there is a lot about this subject I don't know about, that is the reason I suggest you look for yourself.

xingu wrote:

. . . there is a lot about this subject I don't know about, that is the reason I suggest you look for yourself.

Excellent sidestepping of the issue, xing. If you know so little about it, why are you convinced it is the truth?

Just an idea: Perhaps God revealed Himself to mankind and justly demanded that we repent and turn to Him and follow Him. Perhaps people are decieved by themselves and their own sinful nature. Perhaps people could be decieved by demons. Perhaps people could make things up to gain power and control.