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hoshi
Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 564
Location: At the best place of your dreams :D Loveland
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 Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:49 am Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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| cubee wrote: |
i do not believe in god
i don't know why there's so many people believe in god
what is the use or advantage of believing the god
i think attending the mass every week and praying every day
is a waste of time
there're also many contradicts in the bible
if you disagree with me, please give me convincing reasons |
Descartes though the same, but he proved scientifically that God exists
_________________
God gave us two ears to hear, two eyes to see and two hands to hold. But why did God gave us only one heart? Because He wants us to find the other one! |
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:21 pm Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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| hoshi wrote: |
| Descartes though the same, but he proved scientifically that God exists |
I would say it is impossible to scientifically prove that God exists. But I am very willing to have you prove me wrong. 
Please provide your reference for the scientific proof that God exists.
Thank you,
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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Sarraa
Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 48
Location: Leicestershire, UK
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| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| The questions "Where did we come from?" and "Where are we going?" are not ignored by non-believers. After careful examination of these questions it should be found that the answer is irrelevant. |
So if you're traveling, it doesn't matter where you are going, the only thing that matters is the journey? You don't know where your destination is to be, it's unimportant, because it is 'irrelevant' to the journey?
The destination is what your journey is about. The journey has everything to do with the destination, and your main goal is to reach there safely.
| Quote: |
| The concept of being a good person in the present to receive some reward in the afterlife is not spiritual - it is commerce, and it's motivation is greed (self gain). |
God, as our Creator, knows that as humans we naturally want reward for our good actions, even if we know that these actions are for our own good in the first place, with or without the reward.
For example, a society needs doctors, teachers, farmers, builders etc. Each of these individuals know that they are all benefiting from each other. The doctor's children are taught by the teacher, the teacher is cured by the doctor, the builder builds houses, schools and hospitals, the farmer provides the food for the town and so on. They each know they are working for the society's --and their-- own good. But would anyone work for no salary? Would they be content with merely the fact that they are doing good? Yes, there may be the very few minority who would be willing to make do with that, but the majority would not.
And an example of that is 9/11, when the firemen appeared to be patriotic and devoted to their duty towards their people, but after a while, when they were informed of their not recieving any overtime for it, they protested, some refusing to carry on with their job. Perhaps if they had discovered this on the actual day of the attack, they might still have went in determinedly because again, God created humans with good and bad in their hearts, and naturally in times of calamaties, people are willing to help, not expecting reward for it. It's only a while after the disaster strikes, peoples' real natures will start to reveal.
| Quote: |
| Human nature" is an excuse phrase. If someone acts in response to their greed it is human decision not human nature. |
As I said before, it is in the human nature to feel the need to do good and avoid what is bad. And greed is also in the human nature. What you're talking about is acting in response to one's greed, which I didn't say was part of human nature, but it's very tempting is what I mean.
| Quote: |
| As I said "I'm happy to know your faith gives you strength, calms your fear, and motivates you to be a good person. I can't argue with the results." |
 Well that's good.
| Quote: |
| Many who do not believe in your God, do believe in a Higher Power (or powers of one kind or another). |
And what is this 'higher power' you speak of?
| Quote: |
| The only thing that stops anyone from wrongdoing is themselves, making right decisions from moment to moment. |
How do you know when it is you're doing something right, and when it is you're doing something wrong? There are basic things, like harming others, which everyone knows is wrong, but other major things in life I mean. You have no guide, so how do you trust yourselves to decide? Would you let your child decide for himself what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do? There are things he already knows are right and wrong, but there are things he does not. But because you know more than him and are more experienced, you need to direct him, otherwise he would be lost and could also cause harm to himself.
| Quote: |
| We have different motivations for making right decisions. A non-believer does it because it's the right thing to do - you do it because you fear punishment and want a reward in the afterlife. |
A believer does it both because it is good and for the reward, like a teacher or a doctor or a farmer. The reward is only a motivation. Like the way parents bring up their children. They teach them what's right and what's wrong and expect them to obey, but they encourage them with treats at times, because it motivates them. Motivation is what keeps everyone going, whether it be in something to do with this life or the next.
| Quote: |
| But this is like your "who created this world?" question, it's for a different place. |
Is it? And what different place? What do you believe created this world, Daniel?
_________________
لا إلــه إلا الله مــحــمّد رســول الله
Last edited by Sarraa on Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| The questions "Where did we come from?" and "Where are we going?" are not ignored by non-believers. After careful examination of these questions it should be found that the answer is irrelevant. |
So if you're traveling, it doesn't matter where you are going, |
True.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| the only thing that matters is the journey? |
True.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| You don't know where your destination is to be, it's unimportant, because it is 'irrelevant' to the journey? |
True. You are here, right now, at this instant. The destination is a fantasy.
| Sarraa wrote: |
The destination is what your journey is about. |
False. The destination, your objective, is an imaginary thing. Your journey is real.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| The journey has everything to do with the destination, and your main goal is to reach there safely. |
False. If you make the journey (what is happening right now) all about the destination (a mythological fantasy) then you never really live. Or maybe fear of the unknown, "What happens when I die?" is so strong that some people need to create a fantasy reward that follows death, and a miasma of reasoning, rules, and mythology to support it.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| The concept of being a good person in the present to receive some reward in the afterlife is not spiritual - it is commerce, and it's motivation is greed (self gain). |
God, as our Creator, knows that as humans we naturally want reward for our good actions, even if we know that these actions are for our own good in the first place, with or without the reward.
For example, a society needs doctors, teachers, farmers, builders etc. Each of these individuals know that they are all benefiting from each other. The doctor's children are taught by the teacher, the teacher is cured by the doctor, the builder builds houses, schools and hospitals, the farmer provides the food for the town and so on. They each know they are working for the society's --and their-- own good. But would anyone work for no salary? Would they be content with merely the fact that they are doing good? Yes, there may be the very few minority who would be willing to make do with that, but the majority would not.
And an example of that is 9/11, when the firemen appeared to be patriotic and devoted to their duty towards their people, but after a while, when they were informed of their not recieving any overtime for it, they protested, some refusing to carry on with their job. Perhaps if they had discovered this on the actual day of the attack, they might still have went in determinedly because again, God created humans with good and bad in their hearts, and naturally in times of calamaties, people are willing to help, not expecting reward for it. It's only a while after the disaster strikes, peoples' real natures will start to reveal. |
Well, first let me point out that you begin by saying "God, as our Creator" - which is an assumptive statement. It invalidates all the points you are making to a non-believer. In addition, nobody has yet proven that God exists, or that God is our creator.
Second, that whole paragraph was about justifying a greed based reward system, based on human nature, to motivate us to do what is right. Why do we need to leverage greed to create right actions. It's excuse making.
By your system, when I am faced with a decision - if I make a right decision I add points to my heavenly score card, if I make a wrong decision I take points off my heavenly score card and might not be rewarded when I die. But even if I make a wrong decision I can ask for forgiveness and do good deeds to make up for my wrong decisions, and put points back on my heavenly score card.
What's wrong with just doing right in the first place?
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Human nature" is an excuse phrase. If someone acts in response to their greed it is human decision not human nature. |
As I said before, it is in the human nature to feel the need to do good and avoid what is bad. And greed is also in the human nature. What you're talking about is acting in response to one's greed, which I didn't say was part of human nature, but it's very tempting is what I mean. |
You say "greed is also in the human nature". I say that human nature does not exist - it is a convenient excuse phrase for people making wrong decisions. Greed is a motivation based in fear of loss. If we act on that motivation in a wrong way, that action is a wrong decision. To say it was "human nature" creates an excuse for making wrong decisions.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| As I said "I'm happy to know your faith gives you strength, calms your fear, and motivates you to be a good person. I can't argue with the results." |
Well that's good.
| Quote: |
| Many who do not believe in your God, do believe in a Higher Power (or powers of one kind or another). |
And what is this 'higher power' you speak of? |
Oh I can't speak for all people who do not hold Monotheistic beliefs. For me it is not strictly a higher power but more that all powers, beings, and things are equal. I am Pantheist - leaning toward the Pandeist school of thought. This folds neatly into Taoist philosophy.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| The only thing that stops anyone from wrongdoing is themselves, making right decisions from moment to moment. |
How do you know when it is you're doing something right, and when it is you're doing something wrong? There are basic things, like harming others, which everyone knows is wrong, but other major things in life I mean. You have no guide, so how do you trust yourselves to decide? Would you let your child decide for himself what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do? There are things he already knows are right and wrong, but there are things he does not. But because you know more than him and are more experienced, you need to direct him, otherwise he would be lost and could also cause harm to himself. |
Almost all philosophies and religions have a baseline measure for righteousness. It is known as the ethic of reciprocity. Here are a few examples:
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD." � Moses (ca. 1525-1405 BCE) in the Torah Leviticus 19:18
"This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." from the Mahabharata (5:15:17) (ca. 500BCE)
"What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others." � Confucius (ca. 551�479 BCE)
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man." � Hillel (ca. 50 BCE-10 CE)
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." � Jesus (ca. 5 BCE�33 CE) in the Gospels, Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, Luke 10:25
"None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." � Muhammad (c. 571 � 632 CE) Hadith.
And from Laozi's Dao de Jing (Taoist Philosophy), which is the basis for my thoughts:
老子:「道德经」:第四十九章
圣人常无心，以百姓心为心。
善者，吾善之﹔不善者，吾亦善之﹔德善。
信者，吾信之﹔不信者，吾亦信之﹔德信。
圣人在天下，歙歙焉，为天下浑其心，
百姓皆注其耳目，圣人皆孩之。
Lauzi "Dao de Jing": Chapter 49
The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world;
The needs of other people are as his own.
He is good to those who are good;
He is also good to those who are not good,
Thereby he is good.
He trusts those who are trustworthy;
He also trusts those who are not trustworthy,
Thereby he is trustworthy.
The sage lives in harmony with the world,
And his mind is the world's mind.
So he nurtures the worlds of others
As a mother does her children.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| We have different motivations for making right decisions. A non-believer does it because it's the right thing to do - you do it because you fear punishment and want a reward in the afterlife. |
A believer does it both because it is good and for the reward, like a teacher or a doctor or a farmer. The reward is only a motivation. Like the way parents bring up their children. They teach them what's right and what's wrong and expect them to obey, but they encourage them with treats at times, because it motivates them. Motivation is what keeps everyone going, whether it be in something to do with this life or the next. |
Are you saying then, that a believer would not make right decisions unless they will get both a feeling of goodness and a reward? If so, I prefer to remain a non-believer. I want to make right decisions only because it is right to do so - not because some heavenly father will give me some candy.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| But this is like your "who created this world?" question, it's for a different place. |
Is it? And what different place? What do you believe created this world, Daniel? |
Right now, I'm leaning toward a Pandeist view to answer this question.
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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Sarraa
Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 48
Location: Leicestershire, UK
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| Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:44 am Post subject: |
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Hi, beancurdturtle
| Quote: |
| Or maybe fear of the unknown, "What happens when I die?" is so strong that some people need to create a fantasy reward that follows death, and a miasma of reasoning, rules, and mythology to support it. |
Actually, for many people it's much more easy to believe that there's just death, and to deny anything after that. It's actually a comforting thought for some, that no matter what they do, good or bad, they'll end up the same as everyone- dead. Why would anyone put themselves through the whole punishment-in-the-Afterlife thing, striving to do what's good and putting all these obstacles in their way, forbidding many things, which only make it easier to guarantee them a place in Hell? Your assumption that all of these 'rules' are only made up to support this 'fantasy world' is an excuse. Isn't it much easier just to live life how one wishes, with less restrictions? If what you think is that the idea of 'God' and the 'Afterlife' are only made-up by people for the 'purpose of creating a meaning in life' for them, then why not just follow common and basic rules, like being honest, trustworthy, sincere, respectful etc, claiming that they are from God, and using them to support their belief of the Hereafter? Wouldn't it make life easier for them?
| Quote: |
The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world;
The needs of other people are as his own.
He is good to those who are good;
He is also good to those who are not good,
Thereby he is good.
He trusts those who are trustworthy;
He also trusts those who are not trustworthy,
Thereby he is trustworthy.
The sage lives in harmony with the world,
And his mind is the world's mind.
So he nurtures the worlds of others
As a mother does her children. |
Is this your idea of rightousness, in a nutshell? It's all very well, but I am talking about morals, and rules. For example- Wearing clothes. It may seem like common sense that we must cover up- but why are we doing it in the first place? I mostly speak for 'Abrahamic' religions when I say that we are ordered to cover for modesty, to avoid temptation, adultery or fornication etc, which are forbidden in our religions. What gives you the idea that covering up is right though? Indeed, what gives you the idea that 'adultery' is wrong? Or maybe they're neither right nor wrong? What are your grounds? The basic principles you mention are not enough to live by. It seems to me that everything else is left for the individual to decide, he sets his own standards. That way, there are certainly to be many disputes among people, everyone has their own different opinion on what is proper and what is improper.
| Quote: |
| Are you saying then, that a believer would not make right decisions unless they will get both a feeling of goodness and a reward? |
Are you saying that you don't feel good when you do something right? I don't see what you mean by the feeling of goodness. And yes, a believer would make right decisions if he wasn't promised a reward for it, because there is something called a 'conscience' that helps one decide what is right and what is wrong (but only basic moral values), but I do also know that they would do more good if they knew they were going to get a reward for it. The majority anyway.
| Quote: |
| Right now, I'm leaning toward a Pandeist view to answer this question. |
| Quote: |
| Pantheism Definition: Belief that God is everything: the belief that God and the material world are one and the same thing and that God is present in everything |
- Encarta MSN
I don't quite understand. Who or what is 'God' to you?
_________________
لا إلــه إلا الله مــحــمّد رســول الله |
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Tone
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
Posts: 175
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Sarraa wrote: |
| Isn't it much easier just to live life how one wishes, with less restrictions? |
Yes, But I don't live that way.
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world;
The needs of other people are as his own.
He is good to those who are good;
He is also good to those who are not good,
Thereby he is good.
He trusts those who are trustworthy;
He also trusts those who are not trustworthy,
Thereby he is trustworthy.
The sage lives in harmony with the world,
And his mind is the world's mind.
So he nurtures the worlds of others
As a mother does her children. |
Is this your idea of rightousness, in a nutshell? It's all very well, but I am talking about morals, and rules. For example - Wearing clothes... I mostly speak for 'Abrahamic' religions when I say that we are ordered to cover for modesty, to avoid temptation, adultery or fornication etc, which are forbidden in our religions. |
"None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." � Muhammad (c. 571 � 632 CE) Hadith.
There's nothing ambiguous about this. If your neighbor's wife walks around naked - you don't lust after her, you don't commit adultery with her. Why? Because you would not want for your neighbor to do it to your wife. You choose not to be tempted, you choose not to commit adultery, you choose not to fornicate because it's the right thing to do. Why do you need rules, religion, or God if you always make right choices?
| Sarraa wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Right now, I'm leaning toward a Pandeist view to answer this question. |
| Quote: |
| Pantheism Definition: Belief that God is everything: the belief that God and the material world are one and the same thing and that God is present in everything |
- Encarta MSN
I don't quite understand. Who or what is 'God' to you? |
I can believe that. It's difficult for a person with a strong faith in a monotheistic God to open their mind to the concept and possibility of Pantheism. There is no separate God - God is everything that is manifest, and that from which it all is manifested.
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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ad-miral
Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Posts: 1488
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| Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." � Muhammad (c. 571 � 632 CE) Hadith. |
Or simply: Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
If I only see the outside of another peson, then I only see our differences, which sepearate us. But if I head for the core, then I will see our identity, I will see, that we are all brothers. This orientation, from the corn to another core, not from a shell to another shell, is the orientation from the center. (central relatedness) Simone Weil expressed it very nice, by saying that, if a man says "I love you" to a woman, that the meaning can differ very much, from nonsense till some supernatural, dependent on who says it. The way how the words are sad is dependent on the depth of the relationship the couple has....... (S.Weil, 1952, page 117)
I think religion is nothing if you are not good yourself. If you are good yourself, you don't need religion any more.
_________________
If I say "I love you" to someone, then I also have to say "I also love everyone else inside you, I love the whole world because of you, I also love myself inside you." -- Erich Fromm, the Art of Love |
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hoshi
Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 564
Location: At the best place of your dreams :D Loveland
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:16 am Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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| beancurdturtle wrote: |
| hoshi wrote: |
| Descartes though the same, but he proved scientifically that God exists |
I would say it is impossible to scientifically prove that God exists. But I am very willing to have you prove me wrong.
Please provide your reference for the scientific proof that God exists.
Thank you, |
He thought "If I can't see him why so many people believe in what he say?"
So he was thinking. Like everyone knows he said "I think, then I exist" he had doubts about himself, he was a very good crithical thinker, so he wanted to see all what he though...
After several weeks thinking on it he got the answer and this is what he said: "All animals in nature has a more powerful animal who can beat it, a little ant has bigger and better insects that can beat an ant... dolphins against whales, cats against lions... and in the top of the chain, WE HAVE THE MAN, but we need another thing to continue the chain. Who is the next on the top? so his answer was "GOD."
_________________
God gave us two ears to hear, two eyes to see and two hands to hold. But why did God gave us only one heart? Because He wants us to find the other one! |
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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| hoshi wrote: |
He thought "If I can't see him why so many people believe in what he say?"
...WE HAVE THE MAN, but we need another thing to continue the chain. Who is the next on the top? so his answer was "GOD." |
This is philosophical musing, it's interesting but not proof. It certainly is not proof by the scientific method.
Actually Descartes had some interesting thoughts, later known to be false. For example:
Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons. First, the soul is unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain (e.g. the frontal lobes) the pineal gland is also unitary. Second, Descartes observed that the pineal gland was located near the ventricles. He believed the animal spirits of the ventricles acted through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Finally, Descartes (incorrectly) believed that only humans have pineal glands, just as, in his view, only humans have minds.
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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hoshi
Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 564
Location: At the best place of your dreams :D Loveland
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:43 pm Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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Well actually he looked for information (about God), he had a question (Does God exists?), he had a posible answer (God don't exist), He did the experiment and got the conclusion, God exists.
But believe it or not I think almost all the people have somethind to believe and discuss eventhough they have different religions. Call him Al�, Buda, God or whatever but it is inside each person and we have to tolerate each other as human beings
_________________
God gave us two ears to hear, two eyes to see and two hands to hold. But why did God gave us only one heart? Because He wants us to find the other one! |
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject: Re: why do so many people believe in GoD |
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| hoshi wrote: |
| Well actually he looked for information (about God), he had a question (Does God exists?), he had a posible answer (God don't exist), He did the experiment and got the conclusion, God exists. |
I'm not arguing to make trouble. I'm just responding to your assertion that the existence of God is scientifically proven. Experimentation is something (behavior, task, whatever) that a scientist documents, something that can be nearly unerringly reproduced or repeated by anyone observing the same behaviors or performing the same tasks.
What experimentation did Descartes perform that any researcher can also do and produce the same observations or results that Descartes produced?
From your description (and from other sources I have read on this matter) he came to a belief/conclusion based on his personal observation and method of reasoning. This is more a philosophical process that a scientific process. The belief/conclusion will vary from person to person based on their environment and their method of reasoning.
| hoshi wrote: |
But believe it or not I think almost all the people have somethind to believe and discuss eventhough they have different religions. Call him Al�, Buda, God or whatever but it is inside each person and we have to tolerate each other as human beings |
On this I agree with you 100%. Respect and acceptance of others are two of the highest principles that I believe people should express. I would never deny someone their privilege of having a belief in God and their chosen religious practices.
In fact, I would say that my own Pantheist/Pandiest beliefs are no more (or less) rational or valid than any other theological school of thought. But they are mine, and I'm comfortable with them. They'll work for me until someone proves me wrong or I change my mind.
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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2006
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:55 pm Post subject: Why do so many people believe in God?......my response |
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I suppose that this question can be answered in different ways, but to me the answer is that very many people are unable and/or unwilling to think objectively and critically about the God question.
The case against God can be made in 2 sentences. These sentences can be considerably elaborated upon but I will keep further comments brief.
1...There is no support for the belief in God in the fields of theory and logic.
For example, as beancurdturtle has explained, there is no answer to the question of where God came from, except for the pathetic 'answer' that God is the exception to the rule that "everything needs a creator".
2...There is no earthly evidence for the existence of God or any other supernatural entity.
If God exists, why doesn't God ever say or do anything? Of course believers point to all manner of things that they think show the presence of God, but there is no real evidence.
It is quite amazing that otherwise intelligent people, who go through their daily lives doing things and making decisions based on logic and evidence, completely desert logic and evidence when when they "think" about God. Of course, that is why faith is so important to believers. But faith would not be needed if there was a real and good reason to believe in God.
So why do so many people believe in something that makes no sense in the first place and for which there is no good evidence?
Go back to my first sentence. |
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beancurdturtle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject: Re: Why do so many people believe in God?......my response |
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| 2006 wrote: |
| I suppose that this question can be answered in different ways, but to me the answer is that very many people are unable and/or unwilling to think objectively and critically about the God question. |
You're comments are interesting. But you've only half answered the question.
Why are "many people... unable and/or unwilling to think objectively and critically about the God question?" What is it that motivates people to choose faith over logic and reason?
I've stated my opinion on this question before - and I may even be right. But I'm curious, what are your thoughts.
_________________
Daniel
�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss |
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2006
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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Any of us who don't believe in God can give a partial list of reasons why believers believe.
1...They are 'brainwashed' to believe, even though they may be skeptical. They buy the line that faith alone is a path to knowledge.
2...They engage in wishful thinking. They are smitten with the promise of 'spending eternity in heaven'.
3...They are uncomfortable with the fact they we are just here by chance. They accept a very flawed explanation as to why we are here rather than 'not knowing' why we are here.
4...etc, etc, etc
It still comes back to engaging in or accepting flawed 'reasoning' for the above and, I am sure, many other reasons. |
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