Why do people believe in religon? Does anyone believe in the..........

Through out time, I think, especially when the world was full of new cultures who were trying to stablize and thrive, it was necessary to explain things through a belief. It was also a good way to govern people through manufactured fear. As time progressed, you can see how religion was always instrumental with controlling the masses, but it also was a good way to bring people together and give them hope, and a connection with something more in life. However, religion was also used a tool of division. Look at early Christianity. If you still believed in polytheism, you were considered a heathen even though religions like paganism flourished and thrived in many cultures before Christianity. We also know that many of the Christian customs and traditions were indeed taken straight from paganism. I grew up in a unique environment, where my mother's family was Jewish and my father's family Catholic. It was a wonderful experience as a child, because I learned early on about harmony and what faith in a religion should be about. Like my Jewish Great-Grandfather did not shun me because my parent's chose to raise me Catholic, no, he enlightened me and taught me to appreciate both religions I inherited. However, as I got older, I didn't feel a connection to any religion, I also did not like how religion could divide people, and how often those who claim to practice religion are so intolerant, and hypocritical. I did not want to be part of that, and I have my own common sense, which inspires me to be a good person. So, I feel no connection or need for religion in my life. I respect those who do, and those that do not abuse religion, but use it to bring their own life personal spirituality.

I believe in God and Jesus yes because I believe that there has to be something bigger than myself, and God and Jesus fit my ideas. I feel a peace and tranquility when I am reading, praying, at church, worshiping and praising. I don't believe the conspiracy theories. I don't know what this "evidence" is, but I don't believe any of it.

I've read some of these other gospels, and they compare kinda like Moses account of the flood and Gilgamesh's. Gilgamesh, as you likely know, wrote his nation's handed down version before Moses wrote the account which was "inspired" (not dictated but) inspired by God. Moses account lacked the many sensational things included in Gilgamesh's account of cyclops, etc. These gosepels, too, are somewhat outlandish. Whereas the four traditioanl gospels include everday details which lend very much to their claim of having been written testimonies of "eye witnesses". And yes they do differ in some minor details, as all eye witness accounts do, and we are very cynical when they don't. I believe the words of Jesus written in these accounts, there is no wisdom to compare to them. The voice behind the spurious gospels is a completely different voice.

No, these are fiction written 200 years after the fact. Have you read one of the gospels? One of the traditional ones, that is, written shortly after Jesus' life? By people who actually witnessed his life. Actually, Chrisitnaity has one or two important things wrong, or mistranslated/misunderstood. These are what make the world dislike christianity, that and some bad apples, which occurs with all groups of people.