A bit of philosophy, I suppose. I wrote this in light of my country's government passing a bill to protect the good name and legacy of the late Polish pope who evidently protected the pedos within the church, as well as in light of a certain Polish metal musician facing criminal charges for "blasphemy". Apologies for any flaws in the writing below. I did my best.
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Religious allegiance is often explained on the basis of assumptions inherent to the religion in question itself. To refer to the example most familiar to the Western world, I've been told by people that they believe in the Christian God because he is real (which is used also as a reverse statement: "I don't believe in God because he isn't real). Neither statement makes any logical sense, but it reveals a pattern -- a pattern of belief. Belief differs from assumption in the sense that while it most commonly (by definition) requires no proof just like an assumption, it requires an unwavering 'acceptance' of the subject matter, meaning that it can serve as an important factor in decision making. Healthy belief should involve some degree of doubt, but religious belief has a strong tendency to encourage complete abandonment of doubt (see the Gospel and the story of the Doubting Thomas for examples), so much so that such belief pretends to be a state of 'knowing'. Such belief, on top of being foolish, can be predatory to the other-thinking members of society if it serves as a foundation of a political state's legislation.
Perhaps the real reason why people believe in God (one or another), or conform to any polytheistic or nontheistic religion is not at all self-contradictory. I think confidently that religion's primary purpose is provision of comfort, especially with regard to some particular subjects: immortality, meaning, purpose, justice and togetherness (among others, of course). Let's stick to the Catholic example.
1.Catholicism promises immortality upon meeting particular criteria, therefore comforting the believer.
2.Catholicism comforts the suffering by insisting that all suffering has meaning.
3.The conditions required for immortality constitute the Christian purpose of life.
4.Catholicism attempts to affirm that all wrongdoers are brought to justice in the afterlife, even if they escape punishment on earth. Let's call that postmortem karma.
5.Catholicism comforts the Catholic by instilling a sense of community and promising the eternal company of loved ones.
It's all about comfort. Religion at its bare core seems to be an ancient evolutionary mechanism which people ages ago used to supplement their mental health before they knew exactly what they were doing and before the world could be understood comprehensively through science (mind you, even today religion remains not only prevalent but also potentially useful). And one can notice that these 5 statements, true or false, are not malicious, but that they are by no means Christian 'property'. They can be inherent to a myriad of other belief systems, but Christianity has the reach, and together with the other Abrahamic religions a near-monopoly on these hopeful views. Replace Christianity with 'a tombstone'. One cannot assume a tombstone's truthfulness doubtlessly, but insofar as we remain in the range of healthy belief, one can assume that the existence of a tombstone ensures these principles (let us keep in mind that a tombstone is more credible than God in the sense that it is palpable).
I assume the mighty tombstone will unify us and immortalize us (without having to confess our sins biweekly), will provide purpose and meaning to our existences, and will necessitate the delivery of justice to all wrongdoers. In fact, there are many (more than many) tombstones in the world. Should one give in to destruction, there are plenty more to choose from. The imminent death of every individual is one of the most reliable bets in the universe. The difference between Christianity and Tombstonery is that the latter does not subjugate us to perform daily or weekly rites, doesn't threaten us with the horned baddie, and is based on belief and an individual search of inner peace as opposed to unfounded certainty and the peer pressure of being born into a 90% Catholic country such as Poland in which (believe it or not), there is such a thing as "religious feelings", and you face prison time if you offend them.
