Why would anyone be religious?

[John Dibble]

There are many reasons.

I suppose the most prevalent is that children are inclined to believe what their parents tell them, and if their parents are religious there's a good chance they'll keep to the religion of their parents. Compound this with living in a society in which most of the people adhere to that religion, or at least some kind of religion, and the notion isn't necessarily going to pop out as being odd. But that's only one component. I can think of plenty of other reasons:

It can give you a sense of belonging.
It can make you feel like you have a purpose in life or a defined place in the universe.
It can make you feel like you understand reality.
Some people believe they've had a religious experience and are religious because of that.
Some people might just be afraid that it's true and not want to suffer the possible consequences of not being religious.

There are others of course, but ultimately it's just complicated - reasons will vary by individual and likely be a combination of multiple factors that reinforce each other.

[John Dibble]

The strongest rational reason I can give for not being a soulless atheist is that if the premise were true, then people would be nothing more than clumps of biochemicals seeking to self-replicate.  That is not an appealing notion, so even if being a theist were delusional, it is a delusion that makes biochemical clumps happier and more likely to self-replicate. As Voltaire put it: «Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer» (“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him”).

As someone who recognizes that I'm likely only a physical being, that recognition in no way makes me in any less happy or less wanting to have kids. If anything the notion that "I" will only exist as long as my physical body holds out makes me value what time I have here on this Earth and witht the people I care about even more, because it becomes infinitely more valuable. One could say that the notion of eternity cheapens every moment you spend with them.

[John Dibble]

Religion is like a casino. Once you win, you repeat the same strategy to win again and losing streak bets are never repeated.

Jmfcst once won 10000 on the Jesus line and he's gonna stick to that and if he loses his shirt its because he made a mistake in applying the system (or the casino is cheating).  At the same time, Dibble learned from a young age that the highest odds are on the colors and he's going to double down on his losses because there's a 48 percent chance of recovery. 

No use convincing them that the house always wins.

Out of curiosity, who exactly is the house in this situation?

[John Dibble]

Fellowship for her son, I suppose. 

Does Jesus love him any less if his parents are not Christians?

Depends - does sending his parents to hell for not being Christians count as loving him less?

[John Dibble]

Really, though, we're just looking to give the boy a good upbringing.  I don't get into the exclusivity contract.  I guess if I were hiring a realtor to sell my house then I'd consider such things, but I don't want to make any claims about Ultimate Reality just to be popular with the girls.  The boy is free to choose his own destiny.  He may, like you, find his way to Christ.  Or he may, like Muhammad, find his way to Allah.  Or he may, like the Buddha, find his way to enlightenment.  Or he may, like most of us, just do well enough by not ever becoming an asshole.  And that's okay too.

If he's free to find his way you might want to take him to some other types of services - you know, show him there's more than one religion, that people who believe other religions aren't necessarily bad, etc. Tolerant people tend to be less likely to be assholes, in my experience, and cultural exposure is good for tolerance.

[John Dibble]

Oh don't get all hot and bothered - it's just friendly advice, ya git.