Why would anyone be religious?

[Redalgo]

So far as I can tell there are no moral absolutes, human beings have no higher purpose in life, and despite their best efforts are creatures mostly inclined to scheme up and then rationalize imperfect theories about the world around them for practical purposes. With our minds we are inclined to fabricate structures of knowledge, symbols, and understanding to substitute for the unknowable, mysteries, and uncertainty. Doing so can compel one to embrace all sorts of flawed perspectives, ignorant attitudes, and ridiculous superstitions. None of us are above such tendencies. It is not my position that I or folks like me are somehow more privy to The Truth than anyone else.

To be quite frank and echo some of the sentiments expressed by the True Federalist, I suspect it would be unhealthy for one to actually try to transcend basic limitations of the human condition. Though I disagree with Voltaire that God needs to be invented people do have a need of sorts to invent one sort of belief system or another. Being religious is no more an objectionable way to cope with some of the troubles of human existence than would be getting wound up in a political ideology, secular philosophy, a set of moral principles, being more narrowly fixated on ones family or career, or finding some other satisfying cause by which one intends to promote their wellbeing.

I do not believe in souls, deities, or an afterlife. I'm hard-pressed to think of many things that deserve being treated by me in a reverent manner. Nonetheless, I pursue truth in as rational and sincere a way as I know how, and have a deep respect for those who do the same even when the conclusions we reach vastly differ. So far as I can tell, there is little good for one to achieve by trying to persuade others to abandon their views unless those ideas compel them to treat others in a way considered immoral, in which case there is a cultural conflict to settle. Even then, I would rather "lose" such a conflict than act ruthlessly to have my vision prevail.