Why do people believe in god?

[NMSquirrel]

And for some reason I'm supposed to take a piece of fiction as an explication of fact??

Wake up.

who or what to you believe as the knowledge base of who/what god is?

if you are gonna argue about god then you have to consider both side of the issue..in order to consider both sides of the issue you have to compare one sides expertise to the other sides expertise..if you discount the other sides documentation as to expertise then you are just argueing on a emotional basis and have no desire to consider the other sides position as being true..
the bible is to most ppl the documentation of expertise, to dismiss it as fiction is to dismiss any truth that it contains..sure there is some erroneuos content in the bible but to dissmiss it as a whole because of some errors in it is the same as throwing your child in the dumpster because they didnt meet with your expectations..IOW don't throw the baby out with the bathwater..

as far as your comment 'wake up'..i can say the same to you..cause apperantly you do not want to consider both sides of the issue..

 

[NMSquirrel]

this is an excerpt from a book i am studying..
it talks about who jesus is..


Would you see how rational he is,study his attitude to life. There is a widespread impression,especially among young people of a certain age,that jesus is unreasonable,and that christianity is a religion which constantly makes war on reason.Young men sometimes say,"I do not want to join the church because i want to use my reason."
How strange such a language when Jesus from first to last pleads for the use of reason. Christianity is the one religion of the world which demands the continuous and daring exercise of the intellect.Men often think they are using their reason when in fact they are exercising their predjudices or are suffering from paralysis of the brain.I have heard men rail at christianity as unreasonable because a certain Christian man had said a certain thing,as though Jesus of Nazareth must be held responsible for everything that every follower of his may think or say.Other men have been hopelessly estranged from christianity because of certain statments they have read in certain books.How unreasonable! It surely is not fair to hold Jesus of Nazareth responsible for everything which men who bear his name may think or publish. If men want to know whether Christianity is reasonable or not, why do they not read the Gospels?..They are short and can be read through at least once a week and yet men go right on refusing to read the Gospels--The one source of all authentic information as to what the christian religion really is.
Many think nothing of reading a novel of four hundred pages who stager under the task of readin the four gospels.It is just such a person who like to talk about the unreasonableness of christianity. Why not be reasonable? Christianity has but one authoritative volume. Why not read it?




this is just one paragraph in this book and i think it applies to alot of ppl here who argue against god..they are stuck in their own opinion and refuse to hear any other contradictory information and dismiss it as fiction without even reading the bible..( granted that alot of christians also fall into this catagory..) so both these types of christians and nonchristians are being unreasonable..

 

[Medicine*Woman]

*************
M*W: People need to believe in a god, because they're too afraid to believe in themselves.

 

[PsychoTropicPuppy]

Because they can. I have no idea..I can't really relate to that thought, but all in all there's nothing really intriguing about someone believing in god/s, but what I find intriguing is how people are pandering to a certain religious organisation, e.g. Roman Catholics, Lutherans, etc., and how they all try to follow a little book full of contradictions. How can you become willingly a part of a certain organisation which destroyed thousands of lives, treated non-believers like scum, and on it goes. Why would anyone want to be part of such a baneful history?

 

[Billy T]

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M*W: People need to believe in a god, because they're too afraid to believe in themselves.

While I think that is true, I also think that Freud's idea of transference plays a big role. I.e. when very young, you know your parents are omnipotent but before you were a teenager, you learn that was false, yet the desire to be able to trust that there was someone omipotent to whom you can turn to when in need is both well established in you and conforting. God is where you transfer this need.

It is very convenient that he can not be seen, but still some pass thur a "teenage realization" about God not being omnipotent also a few years later, especially when they wonder why God did not at least give Hitler a heart attack, etc. Others have been better indoctrinated and cannot even think about things that question God's power.

I think I was about 10 years old and still believed God was omnipotent, but then an older friend ask me if God could make a rock so heavy that God could not lift it? That logically started me to think that there were limits to God's powers. From my POV, it has been down hill for God ever since, especially when older and WWII ended, I learned what God allowed Hitler to do to the Jews. Already I admired them for their love of learning. My best friend was the rabbi's son.

 

[soullust]

Why do intelligent people still believe in religion? 11: Paradigm shifts are harsh! anubis2814

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31xaZw2J-3Y

a decent video (none scientific), but along the lines of this thread i like it.

 

[glaucon]

who or what to you believe as the knowledge base of who/what god is?

Please rephrase so it can be understood.

if you are gonna argue about god then you have to consider both side of the issue..

It's a simple question of epistemology.
Tell me, would you ask me to attempt to see the 'side' of those who believe in the Tooth Fairy??

the bible is to most ppl the documentation of expertise, to dismiss it as fiction is to dismiss any truth that it contains..

Incorrect.
It is a tale, written by humans.
That is a fact.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

So we might be able to understand why some people strangle hookers

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M*W: All that proves is that there are a lot of delusional people; those who believe in god, and those who strangle hookers. I certainly hope you're an atheist. In either case, you don't need to be here.

 

[Lori_7]

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M*W: People need to believe in a god, because they're too afraid to believe in themselves.

obviously for good reason.

but ultimately what i've realized is that we are all accountable. it seems to me that a lot of religious people think there's going to be some magical solution or fix that makes this world a better place, and i think they're naive. bibbity bobbity boo does sound a lot easier than a conscious choice to do the right thing all the time.

but the truth is that the bible doesn't suggest any bibbity bobbity boo at all. the bible actually mandates accountability in light of knowledge in truth. and chances are, god will continue to develop the human race the same way he always has, and the ignorant and evil will not survive.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

obviously for good reason.

but ultimately what i've realized is that we are all accountable. it seems to me that a lot of religious people think there's going to be some magical solution or fix that makes this world a better place, and i think they're naive. bibbity bobbity boo does sound a lot easier than a conscious choice to do the right thing all the time.

but the truth is that the bible doesn't suggest any bibbity bobbity boo at all. the bible actually mandates accountability in light of knowledge in truth. and chances are, god will continue to develop the human race the same way he always has, and the ignorant and evil will not survive.

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M*W: One such "bibbity bobbity boo" is, 'take this all of you and eat from it, it is my body which will be given up for you...'.

This is one example of the gospel's "bibbity bobbity boo," as you call it. The list is endless.

We are all accountable for ourselves, and god has nothing to do with continuing "to develop the human race...". We've evolved, and with technology that man has developed, we will hopefully overcome "the ignorant and evil." They will just probably die out, and the fittest will survive.

Ultimately, there is no god, and as long as humankind believes in this magical thinking, it will hold onto the darkness and evil that it had created.

 

[NMSquirrel]

It's a simple question of epistemology.
Tell me, would you ask me to attempt to see the 'side' of those who believe in the Tooth Fairy??

he didnt get santa's speed so he takes a little longer to get to everyone,did he forget you?..

no one ever argues so much about the tooth fairy..

i also believe god can utilize you wether you believe in him or not...
also... he cant utilize us if we are all the same, you are allowed your disbelief just so you can be different..

Incorrect.
It is a tale, written by humans.
That is a fact.

true..but humans can be smart sometimes...
sometimes one has to sort through the humanity to find the wisdom..
my arguement (about the bible) is do you really think god taught us all we need to know in that one little book?

 

[Ambrose Mason]

I think people believe in God is that they need to believe in something.

 

[glaucon]

he didnt get santa's speed so he takes a little longer to get to everyone,did he forget you?..

I know it's not exactly your forte, but you really should try to make sense more often..

no one ever argues so much about the tooth fairy..

You say god, I say tooth fairy...

Or are you unable to understand metaphor??

i also believe god can utilize you wether you believe in him or not...
also... he cant utilize us if we are all the same, you are allowed your disbelief just so you can be different..

You believe.



.... in a deity that uses people like tools...

true..but humans can be smart sometimes...
sometimes one has to sort through the humanity to find the wisdom..

Totally irrelevant to the point I made.

my arguement (about the bible) is do you really think god taught us all we need to know in that one little book?

Well, now this, I agree with, and comes much closer to my original point.
Regardless of what one chooses to believe, and regardless of whether or not a god exists, documents written by human hand cannot be taken as evidence for any deity.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

I think people believe in God is that they need to believe in something.

*************
M*W: Well, before they believed in this god they created, they believed in the elements as their gods. Those gods either blessed them with good crops or poor crops. The daytime was a good god, but the night was ruled by an evil god.

It's simple, really. Man has created the gods he thinks needs.

 

[Billy T]

... Man has created the gods he thinks needs.

Yes that is correct. Would you join me tonight in some worship of Baucus?

 

[Ambrose Mason]

From what I have read and understand, humans actually have a part of their brains that is responsible for belief in a higher power. Perhaps this part is undeveloped in some people, which results in atheism, or lack of faith


Yep atheists must have under developed brains

This idea sounds underdeveloped. Show me proof.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

Yes that is correct. Would you join me tonight in some worship of Baucus?

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M*W: I'd love to join you tonight, but are you talking about extoling Max Baucus (D-Montana) or Philemon's husband? Or were you referring to Bacchus, the god I believe in? Oh, there were the nights I heartily prayed at his altar. I've sort of become an a-bbachus these past few years as it were, but I do worship those memories.

 

[Billy T]

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M*W: I'd love to join you tonight, but are you talking about extoling Max Baucus (D-Montana) or Philemon's husband? Or were you referring to Bacchus, the god I believe in? Oh, there were the nights I heartily prayed at his altar. I've sort of become an a-bbachus these past few years as it were, but I do worship those memories.

I never heard of the first two, but I will be happy to covert you back to wonderful worship of the Bacchus, earlier known as Dionysus by the Greeks.

Given the current troubles in Greece, we should have a big crowd at this eve's celebration in Bacchus / Dionysus's honor. If we can find a few minutes alone in that crowd, I'll let you have a swig from my jug in good old W Va style, supported in the elbow bend. - I am sure you, a good old gal of the mountain state, know how.
I'm getting a head start, right now: Montani Semper Liberi !!!

PS After a few swigs each, we can break out in song - "Give me that old time religion" And I do mean Old Time, nothing to do with the modern christian nonsense.

 

[Billy T]

Diana, another Goddess I worship from the good old days when Gods were useful.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

People believe in God to soothe the pain of existence.