I will preface this entry with stating that I do not believe that religion inherently makes you a bad person.
Now, having gotten that out of the way.
Ego. Religion teaches the religious to be humble to a degree, but only to a falsehood. The contradiction comes about once you delve into the belief that the religious is going to a heaven while the non-religious are going to hell. This will inherently lead one to believe that, due to the sacrifices they've made in their lives for the religion they so choose to be a part of, they are better than those who have not made the same sacrifices.
Of course, this also must fall back on the faith in the religious themselves that they are correct in their religious perspective. If the faith gets shaken at all, or they fall into a different religion - even a different sect of the same religion - then one must alter their lifestyle to accommodate that new system of beliefs. So the faith that they are correct in their personal religious choice then also adds to the concept of their superiority.
The two fundamental ways in which Western religions choose to persuade their believers are through either happiness - typically by creating a sense of community between those who have joined, usually through song and events that cater to making people feel more connected - and through fear - the crowd in which strict lifestyles must be maintained or the threat of eternal damnation will be the most assured result.
In the case of happiness, it leads one to feel superior in that they have a connection with those who they share their religion with whereas those outside of that bubble may appear to have less of that happiness. Even though these people tend to have a significant less emphasis on eternal damnation, their community spirit leads them to believe that they have something others don't have. This will obviously lead to a feeling of being better than others.
In terms of the fear strategy, these are the primary groups that sacrifice the pleasures of life more readily as a means to not offend their God. Of course, when you sacrifice things like alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, cursing, and even to such great extents of healthcare for prayer then it is very easy to look at people who do these things as significantly worse off. Add in that those people, at least in their minds, are going to Hell to burn for all eternity then it is clear to see how they would believe the religious perspective is has the higher ground, and thus must be more valuable as humans,
Going back to the faith aspect, however, it is also easy to see how the shaking of one's faith in their own perspective of their chosen religion would also be so offensive to their ego, which is fundamentally attached to the religion they are a part of. It creates a very frail balance of believing to fill a meaning in one's life and keeping that belief structure just to support the individuals own ego. Of course, the harder these people's lives get then the harder they can potentially grasp onto their religion. A desperate clutching to ensure that their ego doesn't get damaged - a means to ensure their life's value doesn't slip away in the process.
-Dustin S. Stover
Now, having gotten that out of the way.
Ego. Religion teaches the religious to be humble to a degree, but only to a falsehood. The contradiction comes about once you delve into the belief that the religious is going to a heaven while the non-religious are going to hell. This will inherently lead one to believe that, due to the sacrifices they've made in their lives for the religion they so choose to be a part of, they are better than those who have not made the same sacrifices.
Of course, this also must fall back on the faith in the religious themselves that they are correct in their religious perspective. If the faith gets shaken at all, or they fall into a different religion - even a different sect of the same religion - then one must alter their lifestyle to accommodate that new system of beliefs. So the faith that they are correct in their personal religious choice then also adds to the concept of their superiority.
The two fundamental ways in which Western religions choose to persuade their believers are through either happiness - typically by creating a sense of community between those who have joined, usually through song and events that cater to making people feel more connected - and through fear - the crowd in which strict lifestyles must be maintained or the threat of eternal damnation will be the most assured result.
In the case of happiness, it leads one to feel superior in that they have a connection with those who they share their religion with whereas those outside of that bubble may appear to have less of that happiness. Even though these people tend to have a significant less emphasis on eternal damnation, their community spirit leads them to believe that they have something others don't have. This will obviously lead to a feeling of being better than others.
In terms of the fear strategy, these are the primary groups that sacrifice the pleasures of life more readily as a means to not offend their God. Of course, when you sacrifice things like alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, cursing, and even to such great extents of healthcare for prayer then it is very easy to look at people who do these things as significantly worse off. Add in that those people, at least in their minds, are going to Hell to burn for all eternity then it is clear to see how they would believe the religious perspective is has the higher ground, and thus must be more valuable as humans,
Going back to the faith aspect, however, it is also easy to see how the shaking of one's faith in their own perspective of their chosen religion would also be so offensive to their ego, which is fundamentally attached to the religion they are a part of. It creates a very frail balance of believing to fill a meaning in one's life and keeping that belief structure just to support the individuals own ego. Of course, the harder these people's lives get then the harder they can potentially grasp onto their religion. A desperate clutching to ensure that their ego doesn't get damaged - a means to ensure their life's value doesn't slip away in the process.
-Dustin S. Stover
