Religion, what of it?

[Raple]

So, yeah.

Religion, what of it? What makes it so appealing that millions even billions of people worship it.
I never got it, and I doubt I ever will.

Here's the thing, why waste so much time reading old books and going to your place of worship when you
could be doing more productive things. Just think of all the time a person wastes and the things people miss
out on because of it.

That's not my only argument, however. How does it make any sense? Like, take christianity for a spin.
They believe we all just appeared on Earth, is what I'm understanding. How can that make any sense?
There is absolutely no logic in quite a lot that the Bible has to say. Man walks on water, splits oceans,
controls animals? That is physically impossible to do, unless magic was and is a true phenomenon.

Also, where is Heaven and Hell exactly? Is Heaven in deep space? Because it certainly isn't in the clouds
above us, as we fly in and above them each and every day. I'm sure we would have found it by now.
Also, what of Hell? If it was deep underground in the earths core, wouldn't we have found it? And if a person's soul who
has sinned plenty of times in his or her life goes to Hell, how could billions, possibly trillions of people fit
in such a confined place as the Earth's core? It makes no logical sense.

People always say that the Bible is full of this so-called truth, but how can a simple book be the complete
fact and truth? There is no one alive today to tell us of Jesus and any photographic proof to prove that any of
the events described ever happened. For all we know, some lunatic could have wrote up the Bible and spread it around
the world, as such for many other religions as well.

What I mostly don't understand, is how so little people meet eye to eye with me on this very subject. How can you
worship and praise something you have no idea if it is there or not? How can you waste so much time, effort, and expense
towards a cause that literally does nothing but have you believe in a legend or book? This has baffled me for such a long time,
and I wish to hear your thoughts and opinions on this as well.

[noob555]

All religions operate on the same principle. Knowledge -where does knowledge come from?> Sensation -where does sensation come from?> God -where does god come from?-> knowledge
It all sounds great right? Until you realize that it's circular and there are other factors.
This is known as the Cartesian circle.

[-Lame]

These days, nothing seems interesting as far as religion goes.

[Aborted]

Obedience through fear.

One generation passes on their beliefs to the next. They are raised and indoctrinated from the moment they are entered into this world. They are taught about supposed consequences for not following what is taught to you. In most religions, even questioning the faith is considered a sin, and therefore holds consequences. They don't want their children to suffer the "punishment", so they then pass on the faith. Repeat this for a few thousand years and you achieve what you have today, an astounding mass of people afraid of the unseen. It then turns in to Pascal's Wager which states that you should live life as if there is a god, even if you don't believe one is to exist, to avoid possible unending torment. Though this argument is flawed. For example, should I spend my entire existence searching for Kryptonite, on the off-chance that Superman exists and wants to kill me?