Why doesn't a person believe in God?

September 10, 2018
Psychology of Personality
Epifantseva Anna

According to recent studies, the share of believers in the world is 45%. While 55% of the world's population does not believe in God. This fact often puzzles people. Relatives are perplexed why their son does not believe in God. Believers are surprised at the existence of atheism. Why is this happening?

About atheists

How does it look from the perspective of an atheist? Throughout human history, people have believed in different cults, different gods. According to research, religion appeared among our distant ancestors during the Middle Paleolithic - a period between 300,000 and 30,000 years BC.

Who are believers? People who believe that there is a supernatural being above them. In Christianity, modern and the religion closest to the Russian-speaking population at the moment, this is a god who monitors a person’s actions and makes a decision about where he will go after death: to heaven, where he will experience bliss, or to hell, where he will face until the end of time. experience terrible pain. This concept of Christianity is stated in the "Bible", the holy book for Christians.

The dogmas accepted in this religion are shared by a minority of the world's population. People who don't believe in God are called atheists. This word comes from the Greek “theos” - “god” and the prefix “a” - “without”. People who do not believe in God are called agnostics, unless they deny his existence. "Agnosticism" is translated as "unknowable" from Greek.

Many times the concept of Christianity has been sought to be refuted by supporters of atheism. To the question: “Why don’t I believe in God,” everyone answers differently.

A person who does not believe in God is called an atheist

Atheists get their name from the Greek language. “A” is a prefix of negation or opposition and “theos” - that is, “God”. It turns out: “God-denier” or, more precisely, “atheist.”

Don’t make the mistake of equating the meaning of “a” with the meaning of “anti.” An atheist is not a fighter against God. To fight something, you need to believe in its existence. If you don’t believe, then there’s nothing to fight against. Atheism has gained serious proportions in our time. We shouldn't be afraid of this.

Pious believers remain so, and people who are not devoted to religion are eliminated.

Atheism is a kind of filter. But it is not so important what an unbeliever is called. What's more important is why he doesn't believe.

History of religion

Almost every European knows the lines of the main Christian book - the “Bible”, which from the very beginning reveals the secret of the creation of man:

“And God said: Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness ‹…› and God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.

[Gen. 1.26-27]

“And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”

[Gen. 2.7].

In theory, it was these lines that drew the line between a human being and other animals that are not the “image and likeness” of the creator.

After the most cruel and dark time, the Middle Ages, when Christianity dominated Europe and religious dogmas were strictly observed, more and more people appeared who did not believe in God. The reasons were, among other things, the iniquities committed by the Church during this period. History has recorded the Bloody Crusades carried out under the name of Christ, indulgences that allowed money to buy God’s forgiveness for any terrible act, and much more.

Wanting to crush the dogmas of religion that dominated the dark Middle Ages, the heyday of religion, the enlighteners of the 18th century argued that people descended from the animal world.

And the excavations really brought new amazing facts. Thus, in 1908, the Swiss Otto Gauser found Neanderthal burials near the Veser River in France. Religiously minded scientists pointed out that the presence of a burial ritual indicates the presence of beliefs among people. Supporters of the lack of religion among ancient people insisted that this was just an accident. But over the years, more and more Neanderthal burials were found, about 90 of them were found in total.

The first version of atheism is those who could not be convinced that God exists

Previously, there were no difficulties: the rain came, which means it was by God’s will. Thunderstorm - God is angry. A volcanic eruption is another manifestation of Divine power.

Some peoples approached such phenomena thoughtfully - they say, this is all the material world, but behind its scenes there is a spiritual reason - a certain Deity.

More primitive peoples looked at it more simply: it was raining, therefore, somewhere in the sky an old man was running around with some kind of watering can and watering the earth.

Atheists are not at enmity with God, they simply do not recognize His existence.

The first glance is unprovable. You can only believe in him. But few people look at divine phenomena so deeply. In the mind of the average person, God is an old man in the sky, and the entrance to heaven is the golden gate on a cloud.

Such people claim: “Gagarin flew into space and did not see any God.”

This is, of course, a profanation of religion. But what can you do about it? Some people are simply unable to look deeper.

The book "The Funny Bible" by Leo Taxil is one of the most complete and thorough lists of questions to the Holy Scriptures. Photo: kob-media.ru

Atheism is based on logic. All these questions are valid, and no theologian has been able to find answers to each. And there are those who are capable, but require “iron” evidence. Let's say:

If the Universe could have arisen on its own, as science claims, then explain why God is needed?
If God is love, then why does He allow evil in our world?
If God needs me to believe in Him, why doesn't He prove His existence?
If God is disgusted by atheism, why doesn't He destroy all atheists, as He did with the unrighteous nations in the Old Testament?

Leo Taxil "Funny Bible" read online

And we must admit that theology does not have ready answers to these questions. For centuries, outstanding minds of preachers and philosophers have been searching for answers to these questions. And they find it. But everyone's answers are different.

And if there is no agreement in the religious world, how can we expect to convince an atheist? Of course not.

Bottom line

As a result, the confrontation between the 2 camps ended with the fact that the fact that these people had beliefs was recognized when the data that appeared could no longer be denied. It is now reliably known that the Neanderthal, an ancient species of man who lived a hundred thousand years before the modern one, had religious ideas.

With the discovery of numerous strange human bones, declared to be the remains of an extinct species, the question arose: “How does this find reconcile with the belief that God created man in his own “image and likeness?” After all, the discovered type of creature was a primitive form of a person who had speech, but also transitional features from a monkey, which significantly distinguished him from modern Homo sapiens. Some of the scientists who did not believe in God rejoiced with the discovery of evidence that humans descended from apes and not from God, while the other part was confused.

In 1861, after the first skeleton of a special type of Homo neanderthalensis was discovered and described by King, the authoritative professor Rudolf Virchow expressed the idea that the remains belonged to a person who suffered from rickets and then from gout. This explained the obvious deformation of his bones.

However, the argument was soon defeated when, in 1887, several more remains of exactly the same type were found in a cave near Spi in Belgium by Marcel de Puid and Jean Frapon. Near them, primitive tools were found with the bones of long-extinct animals - mammoths, cave bears. If these people also suffered from rickets, it was tens of thousands of years ago, when the climate on Earth was completely different. With the discovery of several finds, it became clear that there would be too many patients. After careful research and a number of new discoveries, it was proven that a hundred thousand years ago in Europe there lived people who differed from us in features that, in their anatomical characteristics, were closer to animals than to humans.

It was a triumph for supporters of the natural origin of man. How could an ape-like Neanderthal also be the “image of god”? If not, then the person now living has no relation to God.

In addition, even if we admit that there was no tribe on the planet that served as a transitional stage between the absence of any faith and the creation of religion, it is impossible to seriously assert that a separate, more primitive species of the discovered types of man could have faith. Their brains were small, they had no families, no property, they were guided by the needs to warm themselves and prolong the race. Obviously, the brain simply did not have the ability to reach such a high abstraction as religion. They didn't need her.

Atheism in assortment

Anti-religious poster

Why don't some people believe in God? Really? Why? Every Orthodox Christian sooner or later encounters unbelievers. And if these people mean something to him, he tries to understand the roots of their disbelief. The roots are different. Let's try to trace them together.

Residual atheism

Atheism in the form of a residual phenomenon is quite common among us. So to speak, a legacy of Soviet times. This type of godlessness is characteristic of the older generation, who were taught from school: “Science has proven that there is no God.” Universities taught “scientific atheism.” Doctoral dissertations were defended on atheism and professorial titles were awarded.

The entire huge educational system worked for state atheism. And the results were consistent. In order to escape from the field of attraction of “scientific atheism”, a Soviet person was required not just intelligence and erudition, but much more - unbending independence of thinking. After all, people were constantly told: “Religion is the lot of backward people. An educated person is ashamed to believe in God.” Some, out of inertia, believe so.

The venerable scientist spoke about faith in God at the level of pioneer chants and anti-religious posters

I remember a public atheist speech by one academician. It was specific; the venerable physicist spoke about the church’s faith in God at the level of primitive pioneer chants and anti-religious propaganda posters. The words of the gray-haired scientist reeked of childish helplessness in the face of the grandiose machine of state atheism. He was never able to move forward in his understanding of religious problems from the junior high school level.

Atheism renamed

Not everyone is ready to profess Soviet atheism in its purest form. Some middle-aged people understand that this worldview has lost its relevance and needs to be revised. The name is also under revision. Instead of the old-fashioned: “I am an atheist,” they now say in a new way: “I am a skeptic.” Or in another version: “I am an agnostic.” What is the difference between an atheist, a skeptic and an agnostic? An atheist is convinced that there is no God. A skeptic, as he should be, is skeptical of any belief in God. An agnostic believes that it is impossible to rationally justify belief in God. Judge for yourself how fundamental the difference is.

It’s easy for a skeptic and an agnostic to live: doubting something is always easier than defending something

It is easy for a skeptic and an agnostic to live: doubting something is always easier than defending or proving something. The main thing is that skeptics are not asked to justify their skeptical attitude towards everything in the world except their beloved all-pervasive skepticism. Post-Soviet skeptics have already written off Marxist-Leninist philosophy as unnecessary. They have new authorities (although there should be no authorities for skeptics). They discuss the ideas of Richard Dawkins, speak out about genes, memes, and the illusory nature of Christian beliefs.

Anti-religious poster

Oppositional atheism

The desire to “be different” usually awakens in adolescence. For many, it retains its remarkable strength for a long time, constantly changes, and finds new points of application. It is not so rare to find atheism out of a desire to feel in opposition, in a select minority, to recognize oneself as an elite.

This type of atheism was clearly visible in the late 1980s, when a religious revival began in our country and many came to the Church. Then the opposition atheists consoled themselves with the thought that the “fashion for religion” would soon pass. Now we can sum this up and say: “Of course, all fashion is fleeting. But your desire to be in opposition is not stable, justified or deep. I know those who laughed at the “fashion for Orthodoxy” in the late 80s, began going to church in the 90s, and now tell everyone they know about how Orthodoxy disappointed them. I also know those who started with superficial fashion and gradually came to serious religious convictions, to conscious deep faith.”

You cannot build any fundamental understanding of our life by protesting against the “mood of the majority.”

Semi-religious atheism

This type of godlessness recognizes some positive role for religion in public and personal life. Some atheists agree that church prayers, the Sacraments of confession and weddings help a person. How do they help? With their help, a person maintains calm in a difficult life situation, establishes a prosperous family life, overcomes psychological problems, and takes his responsibilities more responsibly.

Atheists can also notice the positive contribution of the Church to cultural life. Such atheists attend church services and then share with satisfaction: “Icon painting and sacred music have a calming effect on a person. Art elevates us above all vanity. This is wonderful. I say this openly, even though I am an atheist.”

Semi-religious atheism is a curious subject for separate study. This half-heartedness and iridescence of semi-religious atheism can take on the most bizarre forms. In the West, “atheist churches” have been appearing for decades, where you can come to Sunday meetings. They practice their own sermons (about humanistic ideals), their own counseling (psychotherapy), their own quasi-religious rituals and charity. In general, their life is somewhat similar to the everyday life and holidays of a Christian parish. Only without God.

Perhaps similar “post-Christian” communities will spread among us from “burnt out”, lost faith, disillusioned enthusiasts... For a religious scholar, this is an interesting subject: “virtual churches” for “virtual people” who are either atheists or not.

Atheism is forced

This refers to those cases when a person is burning from the inside with pain: “I would be glad to believe in God, but I can’t.” He wants to believe, but he “has nothing to believe in.” This variety of atheism is close to the previous variety, and yet differs from it. Forced atheism presupposes a much greater internal integrity of a person, adherence to principles and the internal conflict associated with it: “I sincerely want to believe in God, but I have no right.” In this case, conversations with a believer can have an impact if the interlocutors have enough mutual respect, awareness and the ability to reason consistently to conduct such a difficult dialogue. The Orthodox Church has a rich historical experience in apologetics.

Sometimes a person who is forced to consider himself an unbeliever is just one step away from living faith

Finally, we note that a person who is forced to consider himself an unbeliever is sometimes only one step away from living faith. Remember the voice from the Gospel: “I believe, Lord! help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). And the Lord helped the unbeliever.

Believers' reaction

Adherents of the biblical picture of the world ignored the discovery of these remains and tried to deny their significance in evolution, saying that these were only a people who lived a couple of thousand years ago in Europe, and the bones of ancient animals turned out to be near them by chance. A number of others argued that they were apes similar to humans. The position of believers was also precarious due to the fact that, according to the Bible, the world was created just 5000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. And it made absolutely no mention of the evolution and development of the human species. More and more people did not want to believe in God.

How did religion appear?

Thus, it was proven that the history of man is much older than any religion. People created it as part of culture and modified it throughout their existence. Many religions appeared, lived for several thousand years, and then died. Each cultural layer in human history believed in something different. Completely different beliefs were created in their place. Whatever anyone wants, Christianity plays the same role. Each religion remains with a person as long as he needs, and after centuries, perhaps a dozen of them, it turns out to be extinct and passed on to descendants as part of the history of semi-wild ancestors. Just as people now study the gods of Ancient Greece, in whom those people sacredly believed for millennia, so in the future I will study modern religions. There is nothing left of those gods except myths, and for millions of people they were their whole life, someone shed blood and gave their lives for them.

Reasons for the existence of the Church

Initially, all people are born unbelievers. Every child doesn't believe in God. From birth, he does not yet have time to master the stereotypes imposed on him by the society where he lives. In some corner of the planet, over time, they will convince him that there are several gods, and they require sacrifices; in some society, they will say that using a telephone is a sin, and those who do this should be stoned; somewhere, what if he does not pray something will happen. This is why frequent requests on the Internet arise: “I don’t believe in God, but I pray.” But initially everyone is an atheist.

Believers are people who recognize a supernatural higher being above them.

The Bible directly stated that God created man “in his own image and likeness.” The Apostle Matthew, the messenger of Jesus, wrote that the creator requires people to be perfect like himself. Christians should try to be like him, to reach his level. But if we should strive to think like him, and he ordered us to be believers. What does God himself believe in? If he is an atheist, then a person should try to be an atheist. This is the fundamental basis of thinking - to admit higher beings or not.

If we imagine that the creator is a believer, then what? The concept of God's omniscience as described in the Bible dictates that he does not have to believe in anything: he knows everything. Just as an auto mechanic does not believe in the presence of pistons in a car, he knows what they look like, knows their properties and how they are created.

Every believer recognizes God as the highest creation, he worships him. Worship includes prayers, real and symbolic sacrifices, glorification of him and constant requests for something. This is always present in the behavior of any believer.

But what could the deity itself worship, which is higher than it? Who should he send prayers to if, according to the concept of monotheism, he is alone and knows about everything. Therefore, he knows that he is alone. He does not need to worship anything, and in the monotheistic religion that is Christianity, believers did not give him such an opportunity. Thus:

God does not recognize supernatural beings above himself.
God doesn't send prayers to anyone.

Conclusion: God is a pure and unwavering atheist.

If we return to the beginning of the argument, one thing becomes clear. If God is an atheist who created man “in his own image and likeness” and everyone should try to become as ideal as him (to know, not to believe), then neither faith nor religion is needed. Everyone should strive for knowledge, not faith, that is, for atheism.

Then who needs to have believers? Churches. Why? This is a big business built on human ignorance.

Faith can be the result of both spiritual search and simple gullibility.

True faith is the result of spiritual quest. You need to try it on yourself, like clothes, experience it, understand that this is your path, without which you cannot live.

Faith is not something that you take, try, forget, and then come back. It's a full-time job. Even the most steadfast priests sometimes suffer from periods of doubt.

Immanuel Kant is a famous agnostic. He philosophically argued that it is impossible not to prove or disprove the existence of God. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

But there are a number of other “believers” - nominal ones. These are those people who were born somewhere in a religious family, grew up all their lives according to religious rules, but never appreciated or truly comprehended what they had. This is faith out of habit, a given. It's empty.

And some even take everything on faith: they listened to the first preachers they came across and were baptized into any religion that came their way.

Many dubious religious movements are assembled from such stupid things: they have never heard of God in their lives, they saw a brochure about the Bible - and that’s it, they are already Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, you tell them? Why, now they won’t even listen, although they don’t know what they’re talking about.

There are 2 types of “believers”: those who have suffered through faith and those who believe out of habit.

Every believer is obliged to ask himself at least once in his life the question: what if there is nothing, if I am wrong, why do I think that everything is this way and not otherwise?

Only after an honest answer can we call ourselves a true believer.

And we shouldn't condemn atheists. Of course, among them there are many who also “don’t believe” out of habit, because their parents were not from a religious family.

But a true atheist is one who remains honest with himself. His choice is not ours, but we need to treat each other with respect.

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Is church about good?

At all times, there were people who subjected loved ones to death for their beliefs when it was necessary for those who had power. They were killed because they were once convinced to believe in one or another god.

People believed in idols, and killed each other in the course of someone's struggle for power. They believed in the gods, and continued to rob, frame and start wars with thousands of victims. Today, those who call themselves Christians continue to kill their own kind. There are wars going on right now in all parts of the globe.

And all this was often approved by the Church. This is because history is not about religion, it is about power. To those who go to kill and die, religion says that this is honorable. Nobody sees the honor, but people are convinced of anything. To those who live their lives in utter poverty and hopelessness, the Church says that this is not a real life, then there will be another, where they will be rewarded for their torment. No one sees retribution and another life, but again, people can be convinced of anything.

In addition, from the Middle Ages to the present day, the Church has been the richest structure, which always receives funds from people. How?

Manipulation is carried out on a person’s main fears. Every Christian knows that if he does not keep the commandments and does not pray in churches, then eternal torment awaits him. And this dogma is instilled in many people from childhood and becomes the cause of strong fear, which turns out to be stronger than the person’s logic. This is where the search engine queries “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him” come from. According to official data, in this one month, 83 people typed this phrase into one of the search engines.

Hypocrisy

The argument of a person who does not believe in God against religion often sounds like this: “doing good out of fear of punishment is hypocrisy.” The Bible clearly states that those who do not act in a certain way will be punished. One popular view on this point points to a paradox in the concept of Christianity. Namely, that God monitors actions and sends people to hell, where they will spend their entire eternal life in terrible torment, but at the same time he loves them. Reading the Bible, people begin to not believe in God because they do not feel his love. This process occurs after familiarization with the “Old Testament” to a greater extent.

This leads to another common position: “I don’t believe in God, because he couldn’t be so cruel.” After all, the Bible states that God is an ideal entity.

Ancient people

From the perspective of a person who does not believe in God, it also looks very strange that man has been living on Earth for more than 300,000 years, and, according to the Bible, only those who believed in God will be saved. In today's world, most of the population is guided by completely different beliefs. Why are the Christians who appeared recently right? And where do they put most of the people who have ever existed, who could not know about the existence of Jesus and the canons and did not believe in God? In hell? For what?

Before modern religion, people lived and worshiped their deities for many thousands of years. Each generation considered its gods to be real, the only true ones. Ancient religions are tens of times older than Christianity. Christianity is only a couple of thousand years old, but ancient religions are over 300,000 years old. And the foundations of each cult changed along with the development of man, depending on his needs.

It is also easy to explain why Christianity arose. It's all about people's thinking, about human psychology: a person always has someone in his head whom he is afraid of. If you look at those who have power in this world, you will notice significant differences in their thinking from those postulates used by other segments of the population that make up the backbone of believers.

There are conventionally religious people who would be better off being atheists

Some believers like to elevate all religious issues to absolutes. There are Orthodox Christians who believe that atheism is a great sin, and that someone who does not believe in God is a lost person for society.

But it's not fair. A person may not live in thoughts of God, but this remains his personal matter.

You can be a good atheist and an extremely bad Christian. Just assigning oneself to one or another “camp” does not make a person unambiguously bad and unambiguously good.

Candles, prayers, bows, etc. are attributes of religious life. The main thing is what a person has inside. If priorities are set incorrectly, such a person’s faith is hardly more pious than atheism

What atheists can be praised for is their honesty. After all, he admits his denial of the Almighty. And there are many Christians who tell everyone around them about their piety, but themselves behave rudely and ill-mannered.

Remember the embittered old women that are in every temple. A girl in jeans will walk into such a place and catch sidelong glances at herself - and this is in the best case, otherwise they will also make comments and insult you.

And all because they are the ones who are so righteous. In fact, no one in the church has the right to make comments to anyone. There cannot be a more experienced believer; we should not even attempt any kind of church hazing.

History of the adoption of faith

It is reliably known how in Rus' Prince Vladimir chose a new faith for the country. The chronicles of that time indicated how he sent messengers to different countries. Everyone had to study the tenets of religions in neighboring countries - Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. All this was done to choose the most beneficial religion for Rus'.

The choice of belief did not decide his spiritual question, but the one that gave specific advantages in power. So, he used Christianity to unite with the then powerful Byzantium. Religion was an instrument of power.

Basic principles of an agnostic

To finally understand who an agnostic is, let's look at the basic principles that proponents of this philosophy adhere to:

objective knowledge of the surrounding world is not possible;
The existence of God cannot be proven, but it certainly cannot be refuted;
there is no clear division between the concepts of good and evil, these concepts are subjective;
knowledge that is accepted as absolute truth today will be refuted over time;
proof or refutation of the existence of higher powers is a matter of time, but today it is impossible to give a definite answer.

Psychology

Another argument in favor of not believing in God is the following position.

The whole point is that religion, from childhood, shapes a person’s thinking in a certain way so that he is convenient for management. Anyone who believes is afraid of his natural needs, afraid of everything around him. He doesn’t value his life because he believes in the next one, which means he won’t fight for anything in this one. All this also turns beliefs into convenient means of manipulation for those in power.

Those who act on the principle “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him” put fear at the forefront of their lives. A person thinks the same way in all spheres of life, and begins to act one way or another, fearing the boss and other people in power. Such a person will not become strong, he will not be able to become a threat to power. Just as someone who constantly repents and looks for his sins and defects in everything will not become one. He is humility, which is so convenient for those who want to live beautifully in this life. The whole system is built on using others in a way that they don't understand.

Agnosticism in philosophy

The German philosopher of modern times I. Kant studied the phenomenon of agnosticism and developed a coherent and consistent theory of this direction. According to Kant, agnosticism in philosophy is the impossible cognition of reality or reality by the subject, because:

Human abilities of knowledge are limited by his natural essence.
The world is unknowable in itself; a person can only know a narrow external region of phenomena and objects, while the internal remains “terra incognita”.
Cognition is a process in which matter studies itself with its inherent reflective ability.

D. Berkeley and D. Hume, other prominent philosophers, also contributed to this area of philosophy. Briefly, who is an agnostic and the general features of agnosticism from the works of philosophers are presented in the following theses:

Agnosticism is closely related to the philosophical movement - skepticism.
An agnostic rejects objective knowledge and the ability to fully understand the world.
Knowledge of God is impossible, obtaining reliable information about God is difficult.

Intermediate position

Someone doesn’t believe in God, but prays not to slide down. This is often done by psychologists who are confident that beliefs are necessary for a person to survive. They point out that it is religious ideas that explain to a person what he cannot understand and what he fears. Death is an unknown that frightens. And faith eases this fear, making it clear what will be waiting there. Therefore, psychologists often do not believe or deny God. This helps them live a happier life.

The following grammatically incorrect query “I don’t believe in God, but I hear his whisper” was also found on the World Wide Web. It should be noted that it has been officially proven that convincing yourself that there is communication with supernatural beings, and clearly hearing voices in your head means being mentally ill. Someone begins to believe that in this way he communicates with God. But the opposite proves that this syndrome is easily treated with drugs that cure schizophrenia. Only a psychiatrist can select them.

Gnostic and agnostic - the difference

Atheism and agnosticism have united in such a direction as atheistic agnosticism, in which belief in any deity is denied, but the presence of divine manifestation as a whole is not denied. In addition to agnostics, there is also the opposite “camp” - gnostics (some philosophers consider them true believers). What is the difference between Gnostics and Agnostics?

Agnostics question the knowledge of God, Gnostics simply know that he exists.
Followers of Gnosticism believe in the truth of human knowledge through the knowledge of reality through scientific and mystical experience; agnostics believe that the world is unknowable.

Where are the most believers?

Over the 20th–21st centuries, 63 studies were conducted in which scientists looked for the reasons why people believe in God. Many of them were surprised that 45% of the world's population are believers. Despite the fact that modern man has been in space, climbed deep into the atom, made discoveries regarding the origin of man, which showed the true history of the appearance of people on Earth. Which, by the way, did not coincide with the biblical one. How was such a number of believers possible?

In the course of research by Gregory Paul, it was revealed that in the first-tier countries there is one curious relationship. The higher the level of religiosity of the population, the worse the quality of life in the country. Thus, the United States of America was recognized as both the most religious country in the world and the most disadvantaged of them.

From the point of view of the scientist himself, the relationship between these phenomena is explained as follows. A person’s confidence in the future and peace of mind leads to the fact that he does not need additional psychotherapy. He does not need protection and consolation from religion.

Thus, this points to the psychotherapeutic role of belief. Scientists explained this mechanism this way.

Everyone knows that many unfair events are happening in the world: children die a painful death, someone commits lawlessness and remains completely unpunished, good people suffer a lot. But faith explains everything, it provides a cure for the pain that these situations cause. She says: “everything will be rewarded in the next world.”

Believing that one day justice will come, a person gets rid of the need to struggle and worry in this world. A logical explanation for everything appears: “if someone died, it means it’s good for him, since the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.”

A person has a strong fear of uncertainty built into him. When a person gains faith, he thinks that he can control his life and predict the outcome. At least for your posthumous life.

In addition, religion solves the most pressing question that faces a person: what will happen after death? The thought that one day he will die causes him a lot of suffering. However, the answer to this question, which states that man will not die, inspires him. It becomes clear to him what to do to live happily and forever: to go to heaven. Faith also provides the tools with which to get there: pray, keep the commandments, communicate with priests and go to church. This explains the high popularity of the Church today.