Why is your religion the right one (I prefer to argue Christianity but anything goes here)

I won't quote mine your text but thank you for posting about the origins of mankind's devotion to various deities. Though I feel you missed a few marks on the idea of several religious prospects. For example the pagan religion of Wicca doesn't revolve around a particular deity "caring" or supporting an individual. Having been Christian, Catholic, Pagan, and even doddering idly in two cults I can say plainly that many individuals who endure religion started doing so because of those around them. They believe because their parents believe, their neighbors believe, and that those around them believe or worship a particular deity or god, so I'm going to argue this point by point in my rebuttal. o: "Many people find deep devotion to their faiths after meeting with an unfavorable scenario" I claim this as false. Many people only turn to religion under the promise of salvation. In fact, most of every religion focuses primarily on what will happen to you after you pass away rather than how God will help you in the meantime. Many forms of religion give you a set rule and code that clearly states what you should and should not do and if you do these things you shouldn't do, your God will be angry at you, and take away your right to a happy afterlife. To earn that title back, you have to appease your God through acts of repentance, sacrifice, and devotion. o:"Due to these ideologies being based upon internal thought and emotion, there is no fundamental way to determine the validity of any religion. Thus, the traditional idea of a single religion being correct is simply impossible to substantially defend" Again, I have to point out that most of these ideologies are given through text, such as the Koran and Bible. These claims state that these are the teachings and the workings of God. This is how God created the Universe an this is what will happen to it and "you" in the end. Each religion is vastly different in its approach to salvation. This is purely external, this is a codex of rules and laws given that if one hadn't been exposed to wouldn't play an impact on a sane and rational person. For people like Kent Hovand and others who claim "I would be in jail if I wasn't a Christian." are the select few "radicals" who joined a religious dogma as a means of basic self control. They have to be presented rules and something to follow, ideologies are based upon the acts of a deity and subsequently the power of that deity and what that deity intends for you in the future. Not purely internal thought and emotion. Note: Empathy does not play a role into the religious foreground. It's good to do something that's good to your self that is good for yourself and bad to do something to yourself that is detrimental to yourself. People already know how they think and feel and since feelings like empathy can't and aren't clearly covered and explained in any religious dogma, that means simply that people innately know what is right and wrong and how they feel. Even if it's "I feel confused about this" the ideology doesn't display nor control how you feel, but tells you simply how you should feel. "Killing someone is bad and you shouldn't do that." Most people who are mentally equipped to deal with such things innately know that ending the life of another human being or is a negative thing, no body goes to church to learn that, and an individual who refrains from killing someone because "God wouldn't like it" isn't mentally healthy to begin with. o: "Suppose the scenario where a man whose friends and family have both turned his back on him. This man finds comfort with an internal idea of a deity that cares and loves for him. This new support system comforts him in a time of depression and lonesomeness. This man has become enlightened to his way of thought and becomes more proactive in his life to attain his spiritual salvation." I'll note simply that there have been plenty of individuals who have pleaded for a sign from their deity who receive nothing. Often when people believe something they want proof it exist, "just show me a sign!" is an example of an "accusatory-plea" where the exclaimer desires some sort of "proof" that a deity is really there and watching over them. How many times has it come into the fold where someone is abandoned by family members and friends just to find out that things will continue getting worse until they change their actions. In one way or another it is often the individual "taking control" of their own situation that gets them out of it. o:I declare that every religion is the wrong religion. Wherein those who would otherwise seek a healthier more proactive way to better their lives instead waste their energy and resources on an "afterlife" instead of improving their current existence in the present and alleviate those issues. Many (instead of just fixing the problem or dismissing it) instead choose to hope and pray that something else will come along and fix it. Or give them the strength to fix it, and unless they feel this change coming they will continue to endure their situation instead of making their own opportunities. That is the major fault in religion I feel is happening today. o:"The very fact that these ideas are internally based and fowwwwunded on faith supports the fact that each and every one is right." This would be true if your first premise was proven to be accurate but it wasn't so this statement is plainly false. Again, the ideas of almost if not every single religion have to deal primarily with the afterlife. The are founded (again in almost every instance) on claims from an old text that says "this happened like this, and this is what it was like." I understand that the corner stone of religion is faith and to endure religion one must follow the dogma presented to them doesn't mean it is the correct faith. If your assertion is that each one is right because it makes a person feel better, than I bring up a simple phrase "God fearing" If it were internally based emotion and predisposition that helped create a deity and holy book from essentially nothing because of faith. Then why do so many different religions focus on torture and fear rather than love and acceptance. That is a method of control, and the fear is kept in different ways which again brings up why religion basically a very bad thing. If one person sees salvation one way, and another sees it another way, but both religions dictate that their followers should try to convert others to save them, then only more fighting and suffering would occur in what would otherwise be a non-confrontational issue about two separate individuals.