Why do so many people believe in God.

Quote enton:
"Christian scholars? No, they're just mere scholars (school-ers).
And am I talking to all people? The Bible is a complete library for a christian. We (christians) regard the Bible as authentic scientifically, historically, archaeologically and even medically."

* Of course. Which is your complete Bible? Catholic or Protestant? If Protestant, you have some books missing according to the Catholics. If Catholic, all Protestant Christians have an incomplete Bible. Not to mention the apocrypha that was tossed out of the Canon in 325AD? And how come there is no historical or archeological evidence for the town of Nazareth in the Jesus era? I mean this was the dudes hometown, where multitudes hung out. All the surrounding towns are documented, but Nazareth? Nata.
 
sorry dalahar you can not believe life is sacred, it's easy to kill, if you believe in an afterlife. you must therefore believe on the side of death.
 
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mustafhakofi said:
WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN A GOD


For a moment, I don't want to argue over whether or not a god exists--I want to know why so many people believe that one does. I usually receive generalized answers to this--"it comforts people," or "they were indoctrinated into the belief," and such related answers.

It doesn't baffle me so much that people believe that a god exists, but rather that a lot of people believe that a god exists. I could understand it if a portion of the population were theists, but I'm surprised the theist/atheist makeup of the population isn't at least around equal parts. Instead, the majority still believes in the existence of a god.

To think about why a person would believe in a god just confounds me. Everything about life, everything we know so far about existence, tells me that one most likely does not exist. Even with a fair analysis of the arguments for and against the existence of a god, the arguments against one existing are clearly superior. I'm not belittling the person who believes in a god, I am simply expressing my inability to understand why they believe it.

It is true that belief in a god and religion provides comfort to those people...but surely the understand that, just because you believe something to be true and it gives you comfort, does not actually mean that it IS true? I mean, if people at least considered this possibility, then they would move on to examine the legitimacy of their beliefs. And thus, I would expect more and more theists to lose their beliefs, but instead they maintain them.

credit to SECULAR ELATION
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I believe in God because of the way the world seems to be an apparent design. I don't see how things could have simply fallen in place so perfectly. If you put yourself in the position of a designer, the universe and life as we know it is brilliantly designed and if I was capable, I would likely design it exactly the same. On top of that, I have come up some ideas which support God's existence. I made a thread about it in the forums here, called "I Challenge You".

Although, my thoughts about religion are slightly different. You can find them in my thread called, "An Examination of Religion", which can be found one page 2 right now. Most people find it to be rather provocative.
 
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I don't see how things could have simply fallen in place so perfectly.

Read a book and learn something.

On top of that, I have come up some ideas which support God's existence. I made a thread about it in the forums here, called "I Challenge You".

A feeble attempt at best.
 
The answer to the question of the OP is really quite simple. The idea of god offers emotional utility to the believer that allows them to focus on other questions and gain strength from the utility. One source of all allows the believer a lot of freedom because without it they might otherwise be bogged down with questions. This way whenever there's a question that has no answer, the "lord" can be consulted and the question discounted as its will. The stronger the belief, the stronger the utility unless faced with evidence that contradicts the assumption, which in the case of a strong belief in god is near impossible. Denial (mental acrobatics) easily allows for the belief to stand, as its utility outweighs the evidence, or the evidence is attributed again back to the belief.

[EDIT]: I forgot to mention the obvious, but I know theists would complain if I don't (and surely they will either way). Of course the question posed to god doesn't have to be "discounted as his will" per se, but the anthropomorphization can proceed to such an extent as to be a source of answers in and of itself. Ultimately it will however be boiled down to "god's will", which is the reason I stated it as such above.[/EDIT]

One thing about the circular reasoning used to derive god is: In that circles lies power.

Further, people by the definition of themselves anthropomorphize everything they experience. "god" is the pinnacle of this phenomenon.... making it an interesting topic indeed.
 
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Bow to my genius, bitches.

*snort*

(yes, this is inviting insults by design because in fact after posting that and reading it, I found it to be so which made me uncomfortable. insults will quell that grotesque ego a bit so please have at it)
 
dalahar said:
That sounds like an excerpt from "Atheists Anonymous" trying to instruct depressed atheists of the need for religion.
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It's an economic analysis.

Wait, I read that wrong. Hey that's kind of funny.. hehe. Nice.

Edit: An hour or two later, it's funniER... but it's a piss poor insult and make with the bowage. Hello was a good start though. ;)
 
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dalahar said:
I believe we will die. I also believe death has been conquered.
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how so, explain, with evidence?, as anybody came and told you personally?. or do you believe everything you read, or hear.
I am the least scary person you could meet, it's those religious nut's you want to worry about.
 
reposted this to try to get a response from enton
me said:
enton said:
Well, it cannot be denied that the Bible clearly says that there is God. Personally, I believe there is God by way of experience. I have not in my mind to try the existence of God inasmuch as I do know that this God I am worshipping is an Invisible God. It would somehow make foolishness of me if I will be like other people who pursue insistence. They require physical evidence of invisibleness.What a shock!
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firstly the bible is just a book, using that logic you could say that dragons and orcs, elves, hobbits, or even tarzan, are real. secondly you could have had an hallucination but not an experience, an experience is something you gain from your objective surroundings, not your imaginings, and as you say you god is invisible. and thirdly I/we dont want evidence of invisblity, that stupid, what I/we want is for you to prove your god exists.
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dalahar said:
I didn't have to read or hear it. Personally, the best piece of evidence I have is that we have proof of the hardest part...we already have life.
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given to us by our parents or are they worthless to you.
dalahar said:
To obtain life permanently is a belief I have because life is filled with so many possibilities
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if they can advance cryogenics or cloning or life expectency, you may get your wish, but until then when you die thats it.
dalahar said:
that I wouldn't dare rule it out. That would also be unscientific...to rule something out.
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it would to something sensible, something natural, not subjective imaginings.
dalahar said:
It is true that I believe in something that I have not proven to myself with observation or experiments...and I might be acting unscientifically with my beliefs. I choose to believe it because it is a positive thing.
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how can an cruel callous evil thing be positive, surely it's negative.
dalahar said:
I don't worry about nuts of any sort, religious or nonreligious.
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well you should, the religious ones will behead you, blow you up, shoot your and all you family without batting an eyelid.
dalahar said:
Sometimes I have a hard time answering your posts because my fingers are shaking. When I look at your scary avatar I get very scared. :eek:
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well is the new one better.
 
what768 said:
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There are those who call themselves atheists and yet I'm sure they are more faithful to God than those who call themselves religious...
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If U r smart enough then there is no reason to cheat, lie, con, kill, etc. to make lot of money , fame , women etc.
 
The answer to this threads question is in the study of evolution, I think.

People belive in GOD because they are genetically programmed to think in a way that needs gods idea. ie. Even if Idea of god is erased from minds of all humans, over few generations concept of GOD will reemerge.

Thousands of years ago there were no police or law; hence those tirbes where concept of god existed had better chances of survival due to culture and fear gods punishment associated with it. Thoes tribes who had no concept of god commited more crimes due to lack of fear of hell and hence were lost in time to competition from GOD fearing people. Hence people are genetically inclined towards believing god and instinctively tend to associate events as gods acts.

This are my personal opinions.
 
enton said:
Christian scholars? No, they're just mere scholars (school-ers).
And am I talking to all people? The Bible is a complete library for a christian. We (christians) regard the Bible as authentic scientifically, historically, archaeologically and even medically.
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So How come they havent yet come up with all the vaccines to all the viruses ?
 
I prefer the so called scary one, I dont believe in demons or gods, so it dont scare me it's just a face, the evil of the religious man now that scares me.
 
Science doesn't (and cannot?) make all the questions which we need answers for.

For instance, science can't really give a meaning to our existance.
 
TS:

For instance, science can't really give a meaning to our existance.
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Why not? The fairy tales of the bible and "gods" give meaning to your life? So, what is the meaning of your life that you derive from these non-scientific pursuits to which you refer?
 
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