What makes your (dis)belief better?

[Provita]

What makes your (dis)belief [enter religion here or athiesm] better than all other beliefs? What made you come to believe that you belief ... or disbelief.. was supreme to all other beliefs? *The* truth?

Many theists claim their religions to be true, but how do they know? What makes them right? What makes you right? Keep in mind what your religion offers and what other religions offer. (i.e. Holy texts arent proof, for other religions have it.) I was just wondering... what makes you believe what you believe?

Many athiests claim their belief that there is no god(s) ... or disbelief in any such thing... to be true. But what made you come to this conclusion? Dont just say logic. Explain a bit. Compare and contrast if you can. What makes you not believe?

For both of you... were u raised that way? Do u follow the belief... or disbelief... you were raised in? Or were u a rebel? Were you exposed to other religions and given a choice? Or were u indoctrinated? Were u told they were all wrong and urs was right? Or that none were right?

What made you come to believe what you believe. Or disbelieve.

Just wondering really, kind of like the topic "who believes and who doesnt" but a little more on... why?

Just wondering

I think it would be a good way to find out why people are what they are.

 

[KennyJC]

What makes your (dis)belief [enter religion here or athiesm] better than all other beliefs? What made you come to believe that you belief ... or disbelief.. was supreme to all other beliefs? *The* truth?

Just follow the evidence, and know superstitious tradition when you spot it.

For both of you... were u raised that way? Do u follow the belief... or disbelief... you were raised in? Or were u a rebel? Were you exposed to other religions and given a choice? Or were u indoctrinated? Were u told they were all wrong and urs was right? Or that none were right?

I went to a Catholic school... where they somehow think that mixing worship and education is a healthy mix. So, obviously no choice was given, and I had to endorce catholicism. No other religion was taught so it wasn't required of them to say that theirs was right and others were wrong.

I have always been an atheist since about 11 years of age, but it got stronger when I took an interest in reading up on certain scientific topics... and so I took offence by religious numpties who dismiss evidence and contradict it by spouting shit about their futile fantasies.

 

[scorpius]

What makes your (dis)belief [enter religion here or athiesm] better than all other beliefs?

religious people pray and WAIT and hope for their god to do things for them,while atheists know they can only rely on themselves in life.
so who do you think is more practical?

spare me the stories where god interfered and saved or healed someone,b/c people like to see god behind everything good that happens while they always have whole pile of silly exuses for all the bad shyt that happens.

BTW ...atheism is NOT a religion!

 

[Diogenes' Dog]

What makes your (dis)belief [enter religion here or athiesm] better than all other beliefs? What made you come to believe that you belief ... or disbelief.. was supreme to all other beliefs? *The* truth?

[...]I think it would be a good way to find out why people are what they are.

What a good question!

I don't believe anyone has access to *The* truth. Not that truth is totally relative, but we all have to work it out for ourselves. So, I've been round full circle. I tried dogmatic religion - rejected it, and became disinterestedly agnostic for about 15 years.

I have come back to it to test out some of the claims of theism. I wasn't content despite having a happy marriage, nice house etc. - so it was worth an experiment. I started by experimenting with prayer - with interesting results that indicated 'further research'.

I am searching for Eudaimonia: Peace of mind, love, self acceptance, forgiveness, contentment, fulfillment, freedom and joy. The pearl beyond price...? Will christianity deliver, or is it all an elaborate con-trick? Ongoing personal research project in progress.

John10:10 ...I am come that you might have life, and have it to the full.

 

[S.A.M.]

I was an agnostic theist until almost 26 years of age when some changes in my life gravitated me towards religion. I had some interesting experiences with prayer, which led me to explore my beliefs in the existence of God. I have reevaluated my faith several times in the 10 years since then and I have constantly found reaffirmations which have strengthened these beliefs.

edit: I come from a mixed family; we have Muslims, Hindus and Zoroastrians in our family. I gravitated towards Islam for several reasons: I was familiar with it and it is the only religion which encompasses all other religions, is a religion for the individual rather than the group and is based on the pursuit of truth and knowledge.

 

[stefan]

What makes your nonbelief/disbelief/lack of belief better than all other beliefs?

mine is no better than yours, if yours make you happy then it would be wrong for me to change that, my reasoning is there, because I was, as you, born that way, it is the natural way of things.

What made you come to believe that your disbelief.. was supreme to all other beliefs? *The* truth?

never thought that, it is the natural way of things.

Many theists claim their religions to be true, but how do they know?

they dont.

What makes them right?

nothing.

What makes you right?

mine is the natural way of things, (an abundance of evidence), to have a belief in something without any evidence is irrational.

Keep in mind what your religion offers and what other religions offer. (i.e. Holy texts arent proof, for other religions have it.) I was just wondering... what makes you believe what you believe?

atheism is not a religion, but to answer this one, I'd say common sense, use all your senses to define your place and dont divert from that path, least you be lead of in the wrong direction, to cloud cuckooland/neverneverland.

Many athiests claim their belief that there is no god(s) ... or disbelief in any such thing... to be true. But what made you come to this conclusion?What makes you not believe?

there is nothing to compare one is objective the other subjective they are mutually exclusive. but in answer common sense.

were u raised that way?

yes for the first year or two, then indoctrinated in religion, but now I've gone back to normality,( pre-indoctrination)the natural way.

Do u follow the belief... or disbelief... you were raised in?

no, gone back to normal.

Were you exposed to other religions and given a choice? Or were u indoctrinated? Were u told they were all wrong and urs was right? Or that none were right?

yes I was exposed to other religions,yes I was indoctrinated, all religious children are, none do it out of choice, and yes I was told theres were wrong and mine right, it was through my own common sense, that I found none of them were right.
thus I went back to normality, the natural way.

What made you come to know what you disbelieve.

you keep asking the same question, answer again common sense.

 

[KennyJC]

Diogienes dog & samcdkey:

Funny how both of you 'experimented' with prayer and had interesting 'results' that prompted further 'research'.

Care to divulge?

 

[S.A.M.]

Diogienes dog & samcdkey:

Funny how both of you 'experimented' with prayer and had interesting 'results' that prompted further 'research'.

Care to divulge?

That is interesting. I had not read DD's post.

 

[KennyJC]

It's not interesting to me until you state what results you got from prayer.

 

[S.A.M.]

It's not interesting to me until you state what results you got from prayer.

Guess I don't give a rat's ass, then. My personal life is not fodder for this forum.

 

[KennyJC]

That's alright. I'll just pray for you to tell me.

 

[S.A.M.]

That's alright. I'll just pray for you to tell me.

You have a sense of humor.

Sorry about the earlier post; I'm upset today. No offence meant.

 

[Provita]

lol

I know athiesm is not a religion.

I never stated it was.

2nd paragraph went the Theists

3rd went to Athiests

And when I said [enter religion here or athiesm] thats not stating athiesm is a religion... i thought the "or" kinda pointed that out.

And again, dont just say "common sense" (to the athiests) ... try, altho i can see that its sorta hard to explain common sense sometimes, to explain.

And about these "prayer" expiriments, yes, please do elaborate.

 

[Cris]

I was indoctrinated by Christianity throughout my entire British school life - left school in 1969. Became an active Christian for a few years and studied it far more intensely. Since my background to that point was math and science, which needed a significant degree of critical thinking skills, I found all answers to my religious searching profoundly unconvincing. I came to find Christianity as unsatisfactory waffle that had absolutely no substantive substance to it. That was a major epiphany in my life and by my early twenties I had completely rejected Christianity and became atheistic. That was over 30 years ago. My continued search for answers to life the universe and everything simply deepened my knowledge about the absurdity of religion.

 

[Lawdog]

Simply recieve what your ancestors have passed down to you. Otherwise the only way of knowing is to follow your heart. Christ is the Son of God. Search the scriptures with humility and prayer, then these mystic truths will be revealed to you by Christ himself. He may even appear to you. In ancient times, the reason the Faith spead is because people from heavan were actually visiting the human race and preforming miracles. Man has become so wicked now however that this is very rare.

 

[Cris]

Lawdog,

So you initially believed what you do because you were told to, is that right?

In ancient times, the reason the Faith spead is because people from heavan were actually visiting the human race and preforming miracles.

LOL. They believed more easily in the past because they lacked the knowledge we have now to know better.

 

[Provita]

Dont preach... Answer the Questions Lawdog. You've done long posts before, this wont take long.

 

[LiveInFaith]

I was raised in devout muslim family.
You may say I was "indoctrinated" by religion, which I would say the same way I was "indoctrinated" by general education (I attended both schools: religion and common school). I was a blank paper when both system came into my brain.

Question of God several times came into my mind, and always left unanswered. I concluded faith has its own roles in my life, irrationality then, is part of my life. I just keep sharpening the borderline, when ratio or faith to be prevailing. Consider this situation : after all efforts (in rational way) you had done, then you should take decisions/actions, the rest will be hopes; hoping your decisions/actions resulted in advantage appropriate to expectation you set. Before taking decisions/actions, was fully rational; the moment you act was based on partially rational partially faith (since you never know the whole variables influencing and influenced by your acts), and after decisions taken, all will be fully hopes (then theists do pray).

Do I say my religion/belief is true? Yes I do.
Do I say others are not? No I don't.

I believe God sent messengers to all humankind to pass It's message. Reasonable enough to say that different human / society will accept and interpret God's message differently, according their society environments (time and place when they received the message).

How do I know my belief is true?
I don't know, I just feel it right, which directs me having faith. That's it.

What makes it right?
The teachings of my religion could be rationalized, at least by me. You may say it is "selective justification" (take good hide bad, and justify), but the complete set of my religion teachings direct humankind to be the leader of the world. Thus leader should act as leader: lead oneself and all human kind to live in harmony with natural.

 

[Crunchy Cat]

What makes your (dis)belief [enter religion here or athiesm] better than all other beliefs? What made you come to believe that you belief ... or disbelief.. was supreme to all other beliefs? *The* truth?

Reality supports my 'disbelief'.

Many athiests claim their belief that there is no god(s) ... or disbelief in any such thing... to be true. But what made you come to this conclusion? Dont just say logic. Explain a bit. Compare and contrast if you can. What makes you not believe?

Tens of thousands of years of claim that 'God' exists, zero supportive evidence of 'God's existence, and a mountain of contradictory evidence to 'God's existence (usually resulting from science).

For both of you... were u raised that way? Do u follow the belief... or disbelief... you were raised in? Or were u a rebel? Were you exposed to other religions and given a choice? Or were u indoctrinated? Were u told they were all wrong and urs was right? Or that none were right?

I was indoctrinated with religion... born and raised. I honestly don't remember what message I was given about other religions.

What made you come to believe what you believe. Or disbelieve.

At some point in my life I chose to value truth more than the emotional satisfaction of religion. Truth tends to greatly contradict religion and religion tends to retard the effort of discovering truth. So it boiled down to a conflict of values.

 

[LiveInFaith]

religious people pray and WAIT and hope for their god to do things for them,while atheists know they can only rely on themselves in life.
so who do you think is more practical?!

Mind to show the source (where religious people asked to WAIT by their religion teachings)?

spare me the stories where god interfered and saved or healed someone,b/c people like to see god behind everything good that happens while they always have whole pile of silly exuses for all the bad shyt that happens.

Theist believe after all odds against disease or any critical situation, then praying and hoping might come to be replied by something miraculous out of efforts and expectation. Theist may be believing it were God's replies, Atheist simply will say it was "coincident", somehow should be there anyway.