Delusions are not based on fact. God existing is a fact, provided you believe in Him. A delusion is not a fact just because you believe in it. I am not saying God is a delusion. I am saying God is real, but God decides only to be real for those who believe in Him.
God doesn't exist for the atheist?
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for god's wanting to have such an impact, it would mean he actually exists outside of our issues of faith in the first place
I was going to mention that; Isn't the concept of something only existing to the person who believes in it, the very definition of delusion?
In which case I completely agree with the poster.
Enmos
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Interesting..
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
delusion
"act of misleading someone," c.1420; as a form of mental derangement, 1552. See delude. Technically, delusion is a belief that, though false, has been surrendered to and accepted by the whole mind as a truth; illusion is an impression that, though false, is entertained provisionally on the recommendation of the senses or the imagination, but awaits full acceptance and may not influence action. Delusions of grandeur attested from 1909.
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"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
..........Philip K. Dick
..........Philip K. Dick
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M*W: Again, you're hypothesis is flawed. First, you need to prove there is a god as an entity that resides outside of your own mind. When you can do this simple thing, get back to us and we'll talk. Until then, there is nothing left to be said. Buh-bye.
If God is omnipotent, you say he can wish himself out of existence. How does he wish himself back into existence if he stopped existing? Can he wish himself entirely out of existence permanently, and let the universe evolve as it will alone? Maybe he already did.
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M*W: Surely, you must want to prove god exists for your own belief?
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M*W: If god truly existed, I and others of like mind, would know that a god exists. If there were a god, he would have never left me when I was a christian. So where is that god now?
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M*W: That sounds like a failure of your deity belief. Surely, if you believed in a god, you could prove it. I have my doubts that you are a believer. Sounds to me like you might be a latent atheist. Are you ever afraid that god is not listening to your prayers? Do you doubt your communication gets throught to your god? Do you see other christians you know who may have a closer line of communications than you do with your god? Do you worry that god has forgotten about you? I could go on, but I know this is falling on deaf ears. Can you actually hear god speaking to you? What does he tell you? More importantly, what does he tell you about your being on sciforums? A lot of christians come here, but less of them leave. What if god brought you here in the first place? Who would you listen to then?
I've given you several things to think about. When you are ready to discuss them, let me know.
How can a quantum particle both exist and not exist? Yet, science tells us this is so. Why should God not have the same quality as a messly quantum particle? First explain how particles can behave this way, and maybe I can guess at how God performs a similar trick.
Quantum superposition means the particle exists in two places at once. Only when measured does it resolve itself into one position or the other.
If God only exists for the believer, I cannot prove God exists using any scientific technique known to man. I do not need scientific proof, nor demand it - knowing such proof is impossible if that's the way God wants it. God only leaves those who do not believe in Him. You obviously left God. Ask yourself why faith was so important to Jesus? Perhaps God simply blinks out of existence for those who don't believe in Him.
I do have faith that we are part of something larger than ourself, I think that's what Jesus meant. He didn't know God either, he didn't know what it was, what he really meant by the "father". God is just a word, a symbol for all the things Jesus didn't know.
Why,
What seems most likely, and what we observe, is that any chosen religious belief generates a popular meme, more often culturally centered, that becomes difficult to dispel through a rational perspective, even though inane. Such faiths seem to take hold so easily because of an inherent human trait to follow others, and an overwhelming desire to believe something better than what reality offers.
Omnipotence cannot circumvent logic. Existence is independent of perception/belief/faith. I.e. something cannot concurrently exist and non-exist. In other words there can only be a single truth.
If somehow faith did have such mystical properties (i.e. revelation only to those with faith) then the issue would not be one of paradoxical existence and non-existence but of what the god chose to offer/deny to each group. They cannot be both right concerning existence.
What seems most likely, and what we observe, is that any chosen religious belief generates a popular meme, more often culturally centered, that becomes difficult to dispel through a rational perspective, even though inane. Such faiths seem to take hold so easily because of an inherent human trait to follow others, and an overwhelming desire to believe something better than what reality offers.
I find this to be an argument similar to that posed by believers of other various paranormal and supernatural concepts. Very often ghost believers will state that "spirits don't appear to skeptics;" channelers claim that "spirits are turned away by skeptics;" and ESP/Telekinesis believers claim that "skeptics taint experiments" -each because of some sort of "skeptical energy" that exists that prevents us from seeing what they believe.
Its all so very childishly convenient. I use the word childish without a pejorative context, since this is precisely the kind of argument children present (often very playfully) about their imaginary friends, tooth fairy, magical fantasies, Santa Claus, etc. The difference is most children do not genuinely believe in many of these things or they eventually grow out of them.
I've oft wondered if the childish tendency to assert that belief is a cause of existence isn't something that creeps back into paranormal and supernatural beliefs.
While we can all laugh at and ridicule those that are victim of such delusion, it *is* a very real phenomenon that is deserving of scientific inquiry.
Its all so very childishly convenient. I use the word childish without a pejorative context, since this is precisely the kind of argument children present (often very playfully) about their imaginary friends, tooth fairy, magical fantasies, Santa Claus, etc. The difference is most children do not genuinely believe in many of these things or they eventually grow out of them.
I've oft wondered if the childish tendency to assert that belief is a cause of existence isn't something that creeps back into paranormal and supernatural beliefs.
While we can all laugh at and ridicule those that are victim of such delusion, it *is* a very real phenomenon that is deserving of scientific inquiry.
Virtual particles pop in and out of existence. Why can't God?http://www.sciam.com/physics/article/id/are-virtual-particles-rea
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