[A_C_Slater]

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Do folk generally come to their beliefs out of some P need (to feel all warm and fuzzy, as Dr. kidluckee likes to say)

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I'd say so.

Consider this: Take a smart, healthy young person. There's an awful lot he or she can do with his life. There are some phenomenal pleasures to be experienced, be they athletics, partying, love, art, music, learning, games, etc. etc. etc. There's also a darn lot of personally fulfilling career things someone can experience, and a lot that one person can do to help society, and to help others live a higher quality of life.

Now suppose you were taught from a young age that this amazing experience that we call life DOESN'T MATTER...because afterward you go to some magical world that's infinitely better if you do this one silly thing that takes absolutely no effort and even the most useless person in the world can do, and if you don't do it, you are punished infinitely.

So now, since life doesn't matter, all there is to do is to believe that a dead carpenter came back to life, and maybe try and get some other people to do the same thing.

*believes*

w00t. I believe in a dead carpenter. Wow. I've just accomplished more than I can ever do through hard work, compassion and academic passion.

I think this is a pretty good way to get the losers of society to feel like they've done something worthwhile, and honestly, it's pretty demotivating.

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This post is very accurate in describing the "Jesus saves" mentality.