I am a Christian, and just wanted to ask you guys this. Can you understand why so many do not believe in Christianity, or any religion at all? Things like the afterlife, etc…, they do give us as believers hope, and perhaps that is how the unbelievers view it, simply as an excuse.
There has been some sort of religion for many many years, and almost all of them have had some sort of after life as a part of it. Almost as if it was something for the living to hold onto, something to give them hope after they die. Anyhow…
…I just want to say that I at least understand why some wouldn’t belive in any religion, especially seeing how so many people have died in the name of it, for so many years.
I’m not about to forcefeed someone to think that anything exists. But, I will force someone to think that they can personally think whatever they want to believe.
Tripler
Hvae I confused you? Good. Then you’re thinking.
I always say-I didn’t choose my beliefs-they chose me.
I cannot NOT believe in God. For some reason, no matter what, it’s just what I believe deep in my heart. I know that’s not a very Straight Dope-like answer, but I would think it is the same for people who do not believe in God-they simply cannot.
And that’s okay. Because it’s not up to me to decide for them.
And vice versa.
Can you understand why so many do not believe in Christianity, or any religion at all?**
If I can interject for a moment. I think a better word here would be “follow” instead of “believe.”
By using the word “believe” you imply that a non-believer sees Christianity as non-existent. If I say “I don’t believe in Santa Clause” I’m doubing the physicial existence of Santa Clause.
However, using the word “follow” implies that one subscribes to a particular religious, philosophical, moral set of tenets. Likewise, a non-follower wouldn’t follow that particular set of tenets. The non-follower doesn’t disbelieve in a particular religion (doubts its existence).
To answer the OP, yes, I do understand why people would choose to follow a certain religion and not others. There’s a choiice to be made and the world might be a better place if we respected each other’s choices.
I have a few ideas that that might help you. I’m a kind of a mix between Taoist/Athiest/Agnostic, depending on my mood and current personal events. Note that none of those three philosophies have anything to do with an all-seeing god, so I think I’m qualified for the answer. (I can already tell this is going to be a lengthy response, so I aplogize in advance.)
First, and personally, it seems that, when faced with science, people tend to drift toward athiesm. Science has not yet proved the god or the soul, as it were, and without proof you’re limited only to faith. Haughty (note specification; I’m not generalizing here) athiests would call faith a crutch, or at worst base stupidity: believing in something that isn’t there. (Note: I’m not trying to make this into a pit discussion; I’m only trying to point out the mindset of some athiests.) Cynicism plays a large part in this. If someone has a cynical nature, they’d see only the bad side to religions and that would override what good there is. When faced with a potentially nihilistic life, that cynicism grows deeper. They believe that yes, life sucks in such a case, but it’s better than believing in something that isn’t (or might not be.)
For me the difficulty lies in actually believing that there is something out there. I am not yet convinced by any proof of anything supernatural. However, I am convinced that a belief in God is generally positive. I do my best to have faith in God, but frequently do not understand how any god(s) could exist.
If I weren’t convinced that my religious beliefs were a source of positive benefits, I don’t think I could believe in any god(s).
My personal slant on this is that you hit kinda close to the mark on this. Let me say that I DO NOT belive in religion. That, however is not to say I do not believe in a higher power. I think that so many people have be come fed up with some of the religions dictating how you should live your life.
[hijack] How can an organaized religion like the RCC still preach creationism and completely ignore the scientific evidence that abounds[\hijack]
I have absolutely no difficulty believing God. There has never been a time in my life when I have ever doubted the existance of Him. For me, I don’t need scientific evidence or proof to support my beliefs, I just ‘know’ that there is a God and he is the creator of everything. Some people don’t believe because they need to be convinced about religion through physical evidence. I can understand that everyone is different and they have reasons for their beliefs and, although I find it difficult, I can understand that some people don’t believe in God or Christianity.
I believe that everyone is entitled to their beliefs and that you cannot force someone to believe in or follow your religion. One of the most important things I know is that ‘spreading the word of the Lord’ is not about forcing people to believe or confrom to a certain religion… it’s about informing people of their religious ‘options’ so that they can make informed choices about what they believe and what is right for them personally. I would never say that my religion is the ‘right’ religion, because it is not the right religion for everyone. So, in this way, I can kind of understand that some people may not believe in religion, because they haven’t found what is right for themyet. Also I can understand that some people don’t believe in God, despite the fact that I couldn’t ever imagine myself not believing.
Sure, it would be a perfect world if everyone believed in God and loved their neighbour as themself, but I can’t see that happening anytime soon. No matter what my religion or beliefs are, there are always going to people who don’t think the same way I do and, although I can try, inevitably I can’t make people believe in God and I just have to understand and accept that some people won’t ever share my beliefs.
Wow… I tend to rant a bit… sorry if I made no sense
I’m a very devout Episcopalian who can’t see making it through life without my faith, but I can certainly understand why people don’t follow Christianity or any other religion. Among other things, I’ve read enough posts by Atheists here to make things even clearer to me.
My beliefs do give me hope, which is useful, because I tend to despair. On the other hand, I’ve seen plenty of people to whom religion gives despair. Yes, as a matter of fact, I would like to change that, but whether a person changes is up to that person not me. If you ask, I’ll tell you what I believe, and why, but I give you my word that I won’t try to force you to believe, or say, “You must believe or else!”
[hijack continued] Patricinus Scriblerus, actually, the Roman Catholic Church (what you mean by RCC, right?) doesn’t teach creationism.
[/hijack continued]
I just don’t believe, period. My mother things its just angst or something, but I’ve had many long chats with myself in my head, and I just don’t think the whole “god” thing is plausible… I mean, if you can show me proof, like, ACTUAL proof, like say heal some guys amputated arm right smack dab in front of me, then sure, I’l reconsider. But In the past, I’ve tried to MAKE myself believe, but it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t help that I’m into witchcraft(as a theory, not a religion) and all I read are fantasy books.
I’m a firm believer in a Divine Creator, but I can certainly understand why someone would be a non-believer. Some atheists call religion a “crutch”. Well, OK, what if I need a crutch? What if I need some direct guidance on living my life? What’s it to you? Nothing. And it’s really nothing to me if you don’t believe. I’ve said it many times before, and I’ll say it again: we’ll all be much happier if we respect one another’s rights to our own beliefs! I believe that if the people bent on converting others to their way of thinking can get past that, we can probably all be friends.
This might be off track, but here goes. It’s the “organized” part of religion that I dislike. Over the weekend, a local pastor from a large congregation (5000-7000 members) resigned. Seems that he was caught on film naked in a hot tub touching boobies which did not belong to his wife. Now this man was making about $250,000 a year, has a $650,000 home here in Palm Springs area and a condo in Maui, drives an MB, you get the picture. That, in my humble opinion, is obscene.
My dear friend is married to a pastor in a small Swiss village. He
tried to work with the teenagers in the church on issues like pregnancy, alcohol and drugs. You would think he had been preaching something dangerous/horrible by the way the congregation reacted to this. My friend says that church there is like a “nasty social club”. He was asked to leave, and now they are in a large city, which suits them much better.
I believe you can “go” to church anywhere - the beach, a forest, your own home can be a sanctuary. If you want to pray or meditate, then do so. If not, that’s OK with me too. Everyone has a peaceful path, people should just do what they can to find it.
Oh, yeah. Easily. I think, “Why am I here, standing around with a bunch of weirdos, singing bad music?” at least once every service I attend. I’m Anglican.
When I’m feeling cynical and depressed the thing that truly astonishes me is that in spite of the behaviour of Christians, people still convert. Is that a general feeling, followers of other religions? What really particularly astonishes me is that I’ve been involved in a number of my friends converting. That I can’t figure out at all. It’s certainly not my good example.
Of course I can understand why some people do not believe in any higher being. The whole idea sounds rediculous, logically. And even though I now describe myself as “Catholic-ish”, I’m like Guin in knowing that I’ll always believe in some sort of higher power, whether or not it’s the traditional Catholic/Christian God or something else.
Oh, and I just wanted to (even though cjhoworth has already noted it) say to Patricinus Scriblerus that I went to Catholic schools up until I started college, and creationism was never, EVER taught in any of my classes. Evolution, the Big Bang, etc were all taught as soon as we had science classes.
