doG, of course it is insecurity.

Insecurity due to fear of death is the main reason. Insecurity due to fear of the unknown. Insecurity due to lack of intelligence to truly understand science. Insecurity for the safety of one's family. Insecurity for the fear of one's own safety.

The list goes on. Any person who just cannot understand any fear is doomed to the failure of the mental virus and mental disorder that is religion. It is mainly due to the fact that the person lack the intelligence for truly understanding rationality, critical thinking, logic, deduction, analytical thought.

Also think of the Bell Curve. ≅98% of the world's population fall into the area to the left of the rightmost vertical line. That represents the percentage of people who CAN be influenced by religion. The second right most vertical and leftward represents the percentage of people ≅85% who WILL BE influenced by religion. Thus, the reason at least 80% of the world's population IS religious to some degree.

Think Critically about it.

rmfr

(Sorry if this is a little long, folks...)

Ahhh... Finally getting the chance to sit down and actually have time to respond to this thread with the story I have been waiting for an opportunity to relate. A bit of background first, if I may...

I have a cousin. She is a year or two older than me, and she is VERY religious. Totally immersed in it. She grew up on a farm out in the sticks under the roof of a stepdad who was an abusive, narrow-minded, bigot and bully who believed women should be "kept in their place" within the household. In other words, cooking, cleaning, and having babies were the only things women should be concerned with doing. (Side note: I am happy he was my uncle by marriage and not by blood. Just sayin'...) Anyway, my cousin is not very well educated, having been taken out of school at the age of 15 or 16. And she lived a very isolated/sheltered life (along with her Mom, two sisters, and two stepbrothers) in a sparsely populated rural area where only the major thoroughfares near the tiny town area (several miles away) were paved. And, yes, religion/church was paramount out there. And, again, very strict household ruled by the abusive stepdad.

Now, fast forward a few years, and my cousin is finally away from the farm, but not anywhere close to escaping from her childhood indoctrination. Incredibly low self-esteem and even lower self-confidence. At the age of almost 20, tried returning to school at one point in an attempt to graduate. Kept getting chastised so much by the stepdad while trying to study sometimes, she finally gave up and dropped out again. Fortunately, it was not very long after that she met a guy who was able to take her away from all of that. (Okay, at this point, I will start referring to my cousin as Sue, and I will call her husband Joe.) They got married, and Sue was now free from the clutches of the stepdad. And, thankfully, Joe was truly a great guy. Yes, he was also very religious and very deeply involved in the church. But he came from a good family, and he had a good job, and (more importantly) he was a truly decent man. Matter of fact, I always had a great deal of respect for Joe and genuinely liked him. He treated my cousin with true love and respect, and since they were both equally immersed in the church, they had a very happy life together. So much so, they eventually adopted a baby girl and raised her in a healthy and happy home. Sadly, Joe had several health problems, but he never let them slow him down. He was a very productive and genuinely charitable guy who was incredibly well-respected by his community, his employers, and most anybody he ever encountered. And he SINCERELY LOVED God more than any person I have ever known. ABSOLUTELY believed in his faith WITHOUT question. Oh, and the daughter loved that man as much as any daughter could ever love her father. He meant to world to that child.

Now, fast forward again, to a time a little over a year ago. The daughter is now a teenager. She and Sue and Joe are all at home one day just relaxing and being a family. When, suddenly, she and Sue hear a commotion coming from the bedroom. Severe coughing and hacking and other disturbing noises. And just as they are getting up to go investigate, Joe comes stumbling from the bedroom covered in blood that seems to be coming from his mouth, and as he approaches the living room, a cough from him sends a fountain of blood spewing across the carpet. Then he collapses, gasping for breath while slowly and agonizingly drowning on his own blood that continues flowing from his mouth. The teenage daughter reacts first and begins to attempt CPR, while Sue finally regains her senses and calls 9-1-1. But there was absolutely nothing they nor anybody else could have done to save him. Even if he had been standing in the middle of a hospital emergency room, it is doubtful that even the doctors with all their equipment could have prevented his death. Ruptured esophagus as a result of his various other health problems. He never stood a chance. However, try explaining that to a young teenage girl who was covered in her own father's blood while desperately trying to save his live. I think it goes without saying, the young lady was traumatized in a way that is difficult for most of us to comprehend.

Okay, I imagine at this point you are wondering why I shared this story on this thread and how it could possibly apply to the OP. Well, to do that, I need to take you back to just a few weeks ago to when I had a conversation with Sue regarding her faith and her daughter. As you might expect, they had moved out of the house in which Joe died and had it up for sale. I was at the house using the front-end loader of Sue's brother-in-law to fill in a pit the inspector said needed to be filled in order for the loan to be granted to the couple wanting to buy the house. Anyway, as the daughter was still having difficulties recovering from the horrible event above, Sue had asked if I would be willing to talk with the daughter to try to help her cope with the situation. (Oh, and I should mention now that the daughter turned out to be not nearly as "religious" as Joe and Sue had hoped. Matter of fact, she claimed to be a lesbian and openly admitted to them her lack of belief in God long before Joe died. Interestingly enough, both Joe and Sue totally supported her, despite all the flack they took from family and fellow church members who did not agree with the daughter's choices.) Anyway, Sue asks me to talk with the daughter, because Sue got really really really concerned and worried when the daughter got upset one day and told Sue she was starting to get involved with Satanism. Well, naturally, my response was, "Absolutely! You know I would be more than happy to help you and that young lady any way I can." At the same time, though, I told Sue, "Just to be perfectly clear, however, you DO know I am an atheist, right? And I will tell you right here and now I will not pull any punches with her, and I will not lie to her about what I believe and how I feel about the bible and religion. YOU are her mother, and it is up to YOU to make the decision about whether or not you want her to hear what I have to say." Sue said she understood and agreed, but that led us to another conversation regarding how Sue's faith was shaken by the death of Joe.

In a nutshell, I asked Sue if she was angry about what happened to Joe, and had she yet had a chance to express that anger? Sue confessed to being angry, but was also confused/uncertain about "questioning why God allowed Joe to die like that." She further admitted she had started to have doubts about God over the past few months since Joe's death, but she was always afraid it would be "disrespectful to Joe" if she were to turn away from believing in God. I brought up several key points, contradictions, and inconsistencies in regards to religion, and she actually AGREED with every one of them. (Some of the points I made she had never even considered before.) And then I very bluntly told her, "You believe your God is so loving and caring. And Joe was beyond any shadow of a doubt one of God's biggest and best followers, right? Yet, this 'loving and caring' God of yours somehow thought it would be a wonderful idea to allow one of his most faithful subjects to DIE in a fucking brutal and horribly cruel manner IN FRONT OF HIS TEENAGE DAUGHTER, who will likely be traumatized for life as a result. And THAT is the type of God you want to worship???" Sue's response, "Yeah, I know. I have actually thought about all of that and I totally see what you are saying. But I just don't know if I can get by without the church and all of the people there who are my friends. I love going to church and being around everybody and all the singing and fellowship. I'm just not sure what I would ever do without it." And there you have it... *shrugging shoulders*...

To end on a possible happy note... My wife and I did finally get a chance to talk to the daughter recently, and I think we actually made some progress. I went and got her and brought her to our house to spend the day. We went out to eat for lunch, and then came back to the house where my wife taught her a few things about the gardens, and I was able to show her a few basics with my sewing machine. (She likes making costumes for the Comi-Con events.) During that time we had some really good conversations where she was allowed to open up and express herself without fear of judgment or upsetting us. We hope to have her over again soon.

The most painful pain known to man is a burn. It sodding hurts... fortunately most burns are minor, but most people know the feeling. I reckon Paul burnt himself at some point and thought Aha.. That'll do it.

I think atheists often find the idea of atheism comforting. There is no higher power holding them accountable and as far as they know, humans are the smartest minds in the universe. It makes atheists feel powerful and at the same
time gives them freedom.