THE PLAUSIBILITY OF RELIGION

How do religious belief systems continue to survive in spite of their groundless claims? 
How do any weird ideas last in today's world of Internet explosion of information, scientific knowledge and technology?
Peter Berger, a sociologist who extensively studied religious institutions, found that belief systems must be rooted in a plausibility (or believability) structure. They must be nested within a social/affiliative community.
The community of believers makes the difference between an idiosyncratic spoof or delusion and an established religion.
 People willingly accept bizarre ideas as long as enough other people do.
 They especially look to others to define ambiguous and uncertain situations. 
 The 'meaning of life', 'the beginning and the end', 'good and evil' are taken by sacred belief systems, as well as 'what's right and wrong' and 'relationships to others'.
 The absoluteness attributed to religious beliefs gives special relief to those who can't tolerate a high level of  complexity and uncertainty.
Plausibility is reinforced by "sacredness" and by tradition. music, rituals and a variety of highly arousing emotional experiences act as 'absorbants", or as hypnotic means to enhance a sense of realism or "truth"and mystery at the same time.
Tradition and rituals are repetitive experiences which make those beliefs increasingly familiar, therefore believed as true.   
Once those belief systems are "hammered" into one's mind, they take a strong hold, reinforcing themselves with persistent inertia.
 They will hold on to validating explanations and company, will defend their closed boundaries and will reject unfamiliar data that may challenge its absoluteness.
And finally, the shepherd and the sheep. If the belief system defines the "self" and the community becomes ones collective- self, religion gets the strongest assurance to its survival.