Fear of the unknown inc. death and the perpetual question 'why are we here?' Even physcology lecturers who reject organised religion speak of a sense of spirituality within the human psyche leading to all sorts of bogus substitutes like angels or charms or puesdo intellectual memes from internet gurus. If you have been indoctrinated into a state religion from childhood, before even being capable of cognitive thought and then on growing up and realising you've being duped by those most responsible for your care then of course you will feel a sense of loss. That's grief, not spirituality. ????

It may be how we are wired, biological. For me, things just need to make sense. I just can't seem to be comfortable with things that don't make sense.

I think that people who subscribe to faith-based systems such as organized religion have found it acceptable to switch off their brains and choose to believe things that don't have any empirical evidence to back them up. Their imaginary unicorns in the sky give them comfort - Jesus strokes them like a puppy dog. If that works for you, congratulations - you've learned to switch off your objective brain. I choose to leave my brain switched on - the state it was in when I was born.

I’m not really sure it’s part of their psyche simply because religious people are indoctrinated from infancy that they must believe in something outside themselves.

For me, I never fit in. I’m not a genius but I could see all the holes in their stories. I tried to believe, because what they promise for belief is so wonderful. In the end I just couldn’t reconcile the illogical, fact less beliefs with the hard truths of reality.

Many people are comfortable with lies. Maybe you aren’t.

Cultural ignorance, on their part. A social hierarchy that discourages questions and denies answers. There is no excuse for modern humans, at least 95% of us, not to have sought and acquired modern knowledge regarding the origin of both man & universe.

Apparently feeling more comfortable within an ignorant bliss, the religious refuse to seek honest answers. If any of the past or current ‘god beliefs’ were real, we’d not need to ‘learn of them,’ they’d be hardwired into humanity. They’re not, and you’re honestly admitting that within yourself. In short, they are weak - and you are strong.

I used to believe, until my atheist friend saved me. Lol.

Specifically, the answer to your question can be found in socio-culturalism and biology.

Among other factors, where one lives can impact hugely on one's chances of believing in a higher power. And how they react to it. For example, in poorer countries religious groups are more likely to foster and care for those in need than the state is whereas in richer countries, the cult of the leader, or the cult of the state, is more likely to promote and encourage adherence to a socially accepted definition of religion. This allows the casting out of the marginal, the non-adherent/non-believer, and goes some way to explain racism, attitudes to disability and homelessness (it alsoo explains why the moneylenders were not, in fact, cast from the temple and were instead given the best seat in the house). It suits the status quo and is a field for manipulation. It explains why those in charge of religious institutions are gold covered millionaires - what they offer the common man or woman is always out of reach and keeps them coming back for more.

We are creatures of huge energy. From an electro-chemical perspective we are 100% switched on, 100mph until the moment we die. They key to success is maintaining that energy with the least possible effort (something we're not cognizant of in the west, generally, because we take our basic needs for granted). One of the best ways to save energy is by way of cognitive assumptions - we are pattern seeking by nature. Once we accept a truth we can put it aside and focus our valuable energies elsewhere. The way we do this biologically is through consensus via pattern recognition - why we see faces in tree bark and burnt crumpets. We know it's not a face but our brains can't unsee them. We even ascribe such events a monetary value: in 2004 a ten-year-old grilled cheese sandwich, with a bite taken out of it, sold for $28,000 on e-bay because it purportedly looked like the virgin Mary. And this is why religion is such a great tool of manipulation - it's counter-intuitive but fills in the gaps, particularly when the person doing the manipulating also ticks the socio-cultural and temporal boxes (authoritative delivery; a uniform; articulation; perceived success; embraced by the tribal chief and so on).

People with religious belief are different from you, but that doesn't mean you don't have beliefs and biases of your own - in fact I guarantee you do. Assumption is part of the human condition, otherwise we'd never have gotten anywhere (back to consensus via pattern recognition. We don't need to understand internal combustion in order to drive to work). Your biases and beliefs will just be more subtle, more acceptable to your social group. Or invisible to you (there are 180+ cognitive biases, not including ego defense mechanisms). Another important factor in this regard is developmental experience. At some point in your childhood, perhaps long-forgotten, a single incident or interaction may have been enough for your developing mind to critically question the attitude required to maintain, or blindly accept, what someone with institutional authority was telling you (that's what happened in my case). Then there's no going back. When we reflect on it, childhood is more like an exercise in social adherence than education - we're essentially taught what to think, rather than how. And that's not far away from religious dogma at all.

Have a great day

My mom was a non-religious person when I was growing up. But she wanted me to make my own decisions in life, so she sent me to a bunch of churches (probably to get me out of her hair, which is more likely) and church camps. What a nightmare those camps were. One camp wouldn't let me eat because I didn't want to say grace. Sent me to my cabin without food...and I ran off into the woods and promptly got lost. Haha. But I quickly discovered that I didn't like being told I was going to hell....I didn't understand why this guy was 'better than me' because he had some robes and a collar (which probably had nothing to do with religion, but more an authority issue). I actually got kicked out of church once for involuntarily saying,"Why?" when the congregation was being told they were sinners. Good times, good times. I think some people never develop that 'Faith' thing. It is probably why I am not an Atheist, either. I find that takes the same type of Faith.

I was fortunate my buddhist parents allowed me to have free choice. I converted to Christianity for my first born to be a part of a community. After I got a divorce, I just chose Spirituality. To me, most were just indoctrinated from the day they were born and don't know any other choice or options and prevented from knowing other beliefs. There is a truth in the bible, something that can be felt, but it is surrounded by accepting their bullpoopy.