"It sounds like your assumption is that people who ascribe to a system of religious beliefs are uncomfortable with not knowing and believe they have the "final answer." Is that your premise, or am I reading something into your post that is not there, or is unintended?"


Janie...that's a delicate line to walk. It is not something *I* can prove or test. When you make suppositions about folk's internal motivations or presume to guess what they are thinking, you always tread on thin ice.
   I am though, willing to compare my own assiduously analyzed attitude (for about 35-40 years) of NOT needing "final answers" with apparently different needs in others....and, I have heard some say specifically say that they "can't imagine" a universe without a 1st 'cause'.(This is a major premise in the 'intelligent design' community). I therefore conclude that it is at least common attitude, even if not always the one presented.
   Is it possible that some may have an alternative basis for their basic beliefs? Sure..some simply rely on authority, some on certain aspects of 'history' which they feel has been tested...others make claims about personal experience, (which, of course, I cannot confirm OR deny)....etc.

I guess the only answer is that I know there can be several possible reasons for any individual's beliefs...perhaps a combination.
All I can say is that because there are so many variables, I would bet that a totally neutral analysis (as in reducing the claims to symbols and letting a computer rate the internal consistency), would show no good reason for picking one over another.

Not an easy answer, huh? And that's part OF my point. Any time it looks obvious, it's time to be suspicious and examine just what the hidden premises and assumptions are.

....and as I typed that, I realized that I was paraphrasing a famous aphorism/saying by Alfred North Whitehead. "Strive for simplicity, but learn to mistrust it!"
...and he followed his own dictum by some extremely complex and arcane theories about what must be done to even approach a reasonable analysis of the nature of reality. (my master's thesis was to be on Whitehead's Metaphysics as the only possible type of approach to certain questions...I wish I had managed to finish my OWN thought processes on all that in detail).

Is that enough too much? *grin*