Why does man believe so easily? -2

Because of the promises
A better life after the terrestrial life.
To meet again the dear departed.
The eternal salvation.
Paradise.
Virgins of the Allah's paradise (in fact it's mistranslation; Koran promises only white fruits or dry grapes).

By fear
The pangs of death, the existential anguish.
Hell promised to those who are not good believers.
To face our ignorance: To explain what we do not know by a divine intervention makes possible to calm the anxiety generated by the questions without answers.
In period of distress and misfortune, to believe in something which exceeds us, may bring comfort.

By intellectual idleness (or early indoctrination)
Conformity within its family or social sphere: "if everyone around me believes in God, so what religion says must be true"
"Ready for use" beliefs, to explain the universe, the life, the man...
To believe makes possible to take our desires for realities.
Incapacity to control our impulses, without a supernatural parapet, without the fear of the divine punishment and of the eternal damnation.
Moral values presented like existing a priori, universal and absolute.

Because he has met God
Some people claim, that God appeared directly to them and that he illuminated them of his presence. One can call that an apparition, even if the phenomenon is purely interior. Was this apparition God or the Devil? A reality or a hallucination? No one will be able to have the knowledge.

For the positive contribution of the religions
Their appeasing capacity in relation to the existential anguishes, to the fear of the naught. They show the way to followed for happiness on Earth (what is nevertheless rather exceptional) or for the eternal salvation. 
For charitable works
The man, who is a gregarious animal, feels well in the religious community to which he belongs.
For the emotions he gets from the ritual in a group (to belong to the same spiritual community).
To shiver listening Chorus in a church.

For the positive contribution of the faith
To give courage in front of death and infinite.
To give hope in facing misfortune.
To cure, transform life, to give strength that moves mountains, by placebo effect.

Because man needs "spirituality"
What is spirituality?

For unconscious or symbolic reasons
God is the outward manifestation of the father (Sigmund Freud).
God is the symbol of the community (Emile Durkheim). Consequence : religious rites organize the social life.
The religious concepts have the characteristic to be very easily transmitted from generation to generation, without being modified, because they are perfectly adapted to the cognitive processes of man (Pascal Boyer / Man Creates God).

Why does man believe so easily?

The method of the "why" to the power of 5 (or more) 

It is a very effective method to know the primary causes of an event or of a human phenomenon.
The answer to the "why?" is often the consequence of another cause, that is itself the consequence of an other upstream cause....
The why of the why of the why of the why... of an action or of an attitude makes possible to be approaching the primary explanation.

Example :
1 - Why did I have a car accident?
     Because I did not respect the red light.

2 - Why did I not respect red light?
     Because I was drunk.

3 - Why was I drunk?
     Because I drank too much alcohol.

4 - Why had I drunk too much?
     To forget my bad results of the competitive examination.

5 - Why did I have bad results?
     Because I had not revised enough.

We could continue so on... and be nearing more and more the original cause.

WHAT IS ATHEISM?

No one asks this question enough.

The reason no one asks this question a lot is because most people have preconceived ideas and notions about what an Atheist is and is not. Where these preconceived ideas come from varies, but they tend to evolve from theistic influences or other sources.

Atheism is usually defined incorrectly as a belief system. Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as "a belief that there is no God." Some dictionaries even go so far as to define Atheism as "wickedness," "sinfulness," and other derogatory adjectives. Clearly, theistic influence taints dictionaries. People cannot trust these dictionaries to define atheism. The fact that dictionaries define Atheism as "there is no God" betrays the (mono)theistic influence. Without the (mono)theistic influence, the definition would at least read "there are no gods."

Why should atheists allow theists to define who atheists are? Do other minorities allow the majority to define their character, views, and opinions? No, they do not. So why does everyone expect atheists to lie down and accept the definition placed upon them by the world’s theists? Atheists will define themselves.

Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion. While there are some religions that are atheistic (certain sects of Buddhism, for example), that does not mean that atheism is a religion. Two commonly used retorts to the nonsense that atheism is a religion are: 1) If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color, and 2) If atheism is a religion then health is a disease. A new one introduced in 2012 by Bill Maher is, "If atheism is a religion, then abstinence is a sexual position."

The only common thread that ties all atheists together is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. Some of the best debates we have ever had have been with fellow atheists. This is because atheists do not have a common belief system, sacred scripture or atheist Pope. This means atheists often disagree on many issues and ideas. Atheists come in a variety of shapes, colors, beliefs, convictions, and backgrounds. We are as unique as our fingerprints.

Dangerousness of religions

At the individual level, believers cannot perceive the negative aspects of religion. It is the syndrome of the lobster when it is cooked alive. One places it in cold water and raises gradually temperature until boil. The lobster is numb, then dies and is cooked without realizing it. This may be called conditioning. Only those who are "unconverted" are able to feel, a posteriori, the harmful character of religions for individual: stifling, alienation, submissiveness, resignation, intellectual lethargy...

At the collective level, there is only to look at around oneself and in books of history: wars of religion, inquisition, fanaticism, intolerance, misogyny, check to progress, confiscation of the political power... 
Monotheism, by its conception of a single god, carries the germ of intolerance. "The good God (i.e. the true one), it is mine". All is said. 
As in the market economy, the worst is the monopoly of religion. 

With that, may be added other characteristics, specific to each religion, that nothing do but increase its dangerousness:
- the chosen race on a reserved country (Judaism);
- universality (Christianity) that leads to evangelize those who does not require anything;
- religious States (Islam).

What is religion?

Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human being and sacred or divinity. A given religion is defined by specific elements of a community of believers: dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship, sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts, organization. The majority of religions have developed starting from a revelation based on the exemplary history of a nation, of a prophet or a wise man who taught an ideal of life.

A religion may be defined with its three great characteristics:

• Believes and religious practices
• The religious feeling i.e. faith
• Unity in a community of those who share the same faith: the Church. It is what differentiates religion from magic.

The study of disappeared or existing religions shows the universal character of this phenomenon and a very large variety in the ritual doctrines and practices.
One generally distinguishes the religions called primitive or animists, the Oriental religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Taoism...) and the religions monotheists derived from the Bible (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). Christianity has itself given birth to several religions or Christian Churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelic...)