Do you think some people just find religion morally comforting but know its not actually true?

Is that fair and do you think it could apply to a hell of a lot of people?Do you think some people just find religion morally comforting but know its not actually true?
There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dares not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed.


- Bertrand RussellDo you think some people just find religion morally comforting but know its not actually true?
personally, i don't really see how anyone would derive comfort from something they know not to be true. think about it, take someone whose belief arises out of a fear of eternal torment, how could they possibly find any sort of consolation in some notion of eternal peace or heaven if they did not genuinely believe it? the fear would not even be there in the first place (and pascal would have wasted his time formulating his famous wager).





your choice of words is interesting, 'morally comforting' - what does that mean? are you talking about people who go through the motions of going to church not because they have a spiritual or religious dimension but because they have a fear that without religion there would be descent into chaos and immorality and are happy, therefore, to preserve the status quo? or are you talking about some sort of cognitive dissonant scenario?





i think lucid's quote can be said to be true of many, but as i have pointed out frequently in this forum, you are going to get believers who are thoughtful and introspective and you are going to get believers who are less so, just like you get good and poor practicioners in every field.
How does someone ';know'; something?





No, I don't think some people find it morally comforting, but I'm inclinced to think they do it out of tradition more than anything else.
I think some people find comfort in religion without making the 'leap of faith' that some believers make in order to accept evident falsehoods as 'religious truths'.
The structure and traditions can be comforting to a lot of people.
I think that may be a fair statement.
Yes, I have wondered this myself, I think you maybe right.
Yes, people are emotionally weak, but I don't think they're that stupid
We all know that not all religious people are moral, so NO.

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