Why would anyone be religious?

[justfollowingtheelections]

I could try and answer the question of why I am not religious and why others I have talked to either are religious or not.

I was raised religious by my mother.  Both me and my brother were.  My father was an atheist and anti-religion, and he was rather vocal about it, but for some reason he didn't really mind us being taught about religion.  As I grew up and went to college I had the opportunity to interact with people of different beliefs.  By seeing all these different views on the supernatural and morality I realized how arrogant it is for a certain religion to claim that they are the ones who know what is right.  I am now agnostic, not because I believe that all religions are necessarily wrong about (there's probably some truth in all of them) but because I think that as a species we haven't evolved to the point that we are capable of understanding the world's greatest mysteries .  And well if anyone can provide answers to theological answers it's science, not some book written centuries ago in an era when the earth was believed to be flat and the center of the universe.
Also regarding morality, I soon came to the conclusion, that I would rather make my own rules than trust a religion's outdated moral code.  I think I am educated enough and certainly more educated than people who lived thousands of year ago to make up my mind on what is right and what isn't.

Other people I have discussed this issue with have told me different stories.
My mother has told me for example that she doesn't really give any thought to whether what the religion's holy books say are true because religion to her is what brings the community together.  Even my atheist father has come to accept that belief now that he's getting older.
My brother was of the same opinion until recently, but now he is really bothered by the entanglement between church and state and is beginning to reject religion.

My brother used to be in a relationship with a girl from Eastern Europe who had grown up an atheist in her communist religion and she simply didn't understand the concept of religion and why some people feel it is so necessary.  My mother was thoroughly confused by the fact that there are actually people who have not grown up with religion.  I am sure some of the uber-religious people here feel the same way.

I have also had girlfriends from countries where spirituality is a really big part of the culture, but not religion.  My Korean ex-girlfriend for example had told me that she really wanted to read the Bible.  When I asked her why, she said that because she never had a religion, she wanted to get a better understanding of how religion has shaped western culture.
Another ex-girlfriend of mine whose parents were Japanese would like to visit churches.  I had mentioned to her that churches bring out all these bad childhood memories and she couldn't understand me because to her religion was something really exotic and mysterious.

So yeah, there are many different perspectives on religion.  We all have different stories and I try not to be too judgemental when I meet someone who I think has funny beliefs because I don't know where they're coming from.