You say, “We naturally believe that our mind, soul, or spirit continue to live after our physical death.”

I have never ever believed that. Nor has my sister. I know friends who have grown up in secular homes, and they never have either. We most certainly don’t ‘naturally believe that our minds, soul or spirit continue to live after our physical death.” I find the entire concept absurd.

We absorb our beliefs from our parents, our peers, and our societies around us. I took a look at the supposed ‘science’ that proved that people ‘naturally’ believe in god. It was conducted by an ardent Christian believer, Dr. Justin Barrett, and he is a psychologist. His work is based on other papers, and the methods used are questionable. It’s simply confirmation bias.

Well, um, yes, as you were born in Nigeria, you would naturally have absorbed all the different superstitious beliefs around you. I was born in South Africa. I have seen the same thing. It drives me nuts. However, I was also born to a German father so I was never influenced to believe those things, and having lived in several secular societies where beliefs is gods, etc. are not the norm, I have never seen children ‘naturally’ believe myths to be the truth.

People turn to god for several reasons.

Reason Number One.

They have been brainwashed or socialized since birth to believe in Gods as they live in a society where those beliefs are dominant. This is demonstrated by the fact that if you live in America, Africa, or South America, you are more likely to believe in god, but if you live in Northern Europe or, for instance, Australia, then you are unlikely to be socialized to believe in god. Consider also, the following about Jews in Israel. (from Wiki)

“Among Israel's Jewish populace, while only 20% or so identify as religious. The other 80% identify as traditional (30%-40%), or secular (40%-50%). Regarding other supernatural notions, 28% of respondents to the Guttman 2009 survey denied efficacy to prayer, 33% disbelieved that the Jews are a chosen people, 35% disbelieved that the Law and the precepts are God-given, 44% rejected the notions of a World to Come and afterlife, and 49% disbelieved in a future coming of a Messiah.”

Now consider the fact that Israel is founded by a religious people, yet even in that society, disbelief is mainstream.

Reasons Number two

People turn to religion (gods) when they are desperate, face loss, can’t resolve something through normal channels, etc. There is a direct correlation between countries which have good social support systems and disbelief in gods and countries where there are very poor social support systems and belief in gods. This is why supernatural beliefs are virtually nonexistent in northern Europe. They have outstanding social support systems.

Reason Number Three

People are universally stupid. Einstein said it, therefore it must be true. There is a direct correlation between belief in god and average intelligence and disbelief in god and genius. The higher one’s intelligence, the more likely the absurdity of gods, life after death, etc. appear.

Here are some videos from commedians who are atheists.

The first one is by Tim Minchin on religiosity in America. He is Australian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uib-q-JY8a4

The other two are by Ricky Gervais. He’s a Brit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA36LVEUvb4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZOwNK6n9U

I once went to a talk by Sam Harris in San Diego. I was not impressed.