Home > Spirituality > Search for Truth > Page One

Why People Believe What They Believe

By Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT

Page Two of Three Pages

Turning Away From the Faith of Our Parents

There are numerous reasons why we fall away from the faith of our parents or, if our parents didn't observe a particular religion and we went with a friend to their church, from a faith we believed when we were children.

First of all, in observing the state of the world today, it's not surprising that we can feel like Dorothy in the Land of Oz. The landscape has changed and the old answers that seemed so comforting to us as children don't seem to apply as readily as they once did. This can be especially true when death of a loved one, near-fatal accidents, and loss of an important job can strip away the illusion of security we might have previously attributed to faith in a particular religion.

Then, too, when a busy life places so many demands on us, going to church can be just one more thing in a schedule that already has too many commitments clamoring for attention. Gradually the "importance" of faith becomes less and less. And if you haven't experienced your faith wholeheartedly, but swallowed it whole, believing only because your parents believed, then the tenets of faith may not have had a chance to "grow deep tap roots." Then beliefs can vanish in the pressure of daily life and the call of a culture that places power, beauty and appearance above commitment to ideals.

Further, as you can read in the Stages of Life section, different kinds of growth and maturation seem to arise when we reach different ages and stages in life. For example, as you shift from the tasks of young adulthood, such as getting yourself established in a career, finding a mate, and raising children, you move into the less-pressured years of middle-adulthood. It is then that you may find you naturally begin to think of issues of faith you hadn't thought of before. You may sense something is missing and begin searching for it by returning to your old faith or searching in a new direction.

When Religions Meet Basic Psychological Needs

Recently there has been much laughter and derision of the Raelian group, the sect that claims not only to have cloned a human baby, but to believe all humans on earth were created from a clone of extra-terrestrials. Why do people accept such beliefs? To most of us, this seems just plain silly, yet the group attracts followers.

When pondering why people choose to join fringe or apocalyptic sects, even relatively new religious movements such as Mormonism and Scientology (or choose to remain in such organizations if they were raised in one), I have an hypothesis. I believe these groups find converts because they do a good job of meeting two basic psychological needs. One is the need to belong. The other is the need to feel special. Thus, affiliating with a religion that sets itself off from the mainstream to a significant degree—and particularly if that religion also has a strong structure of brotherhood and sisterhood—allows one to meet these needs easily and effortlessly. A person doesn't have to do anything other than accept the precepts of that religion and he or she can believe they are a very special person and are part of an important (superior) group.

By saying this, however, I am not implying that anyone who ascribes to religious or spiritual practices that are unconventional does so for this reason. There are many nuances to the reasons we join one faith or another (or choose not to join any church, temple or mosque). I merely notice the power that belonging offers members of a group. Even very traditional, conventional faiths offer a sense of community that can be an extremely important component of mental health. We all want to belong, to feel we are part of a loving group. To the extent that a church or belief provides that support, we are more likely to remain believers and not question the tenets of the faith.

Interpreting Scripture to Support a Worldview

Once we have joined a church or accepted the creed on which a religion is based, it becomes important to study the teachings of that faith. The more we understand why certain scriptures are interpreted a certain way, the more likely it will be that we'll remain faithful to that religion.

That is why Bible study is a focal point of many churches. Yet if you take a moment to think about it, every church interprets scripture in such a way as to reinforce the basic beliefs of that church, temple, or mosque. And as I said earlier, there are a hundreds of potential interpretations.

CONCLUDED on Page Three

© Copyright 2002, Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT