Why do people still believe in God?

Great Debates
81

I forgot to add that I believe in God so that He can give me the patience to deal with ass hats like you two that think:

a. My belief is so silly that it equates to believing in pixes, elves, and pink unicorns.

b. that since I am so stupid my belief comes from some fear or gullibility. Because since it isn’t what you believe, I couldn’t have arrived at my conclusion thru thought or intelligence. I assume you think this because you think yourself so smart that if anyone doesn’t believe your way, they must be stupid.

I don’t know whets worse, religious fundies, or secular fundies. Both groups are asses, and its a tough call.

82

There is no difference.

Religion is silly. Talking burning bushes ? Omnipotent ,omniscient, benevolent beings who never actually help anyone ? If you used “thought or intelligence”, you would not be religious, simple as that.

83

Wow…could you be a bit more insulting or patronizing? I think you just called a good 90% of the world stupid! Amazing, that with being so much smarter than so many people, you still spend your time posting on message boards. Shouldnt you be curing cancer or something?

FTR, I am not relgious. I have said that many times in many threads. I have faith, not religion. But I thank you for making my point above true; secular fundie = ass.

84

And you’re saying that religion is evil. Is your claim the truth? Are all contrary claims falsehoods?

85

You’re being a literalist.

Try looking at this from an alternative perspective because not everyone that is religious is a fundamentalist. Some do believe that the Bible is a collection of metaphors and parables that are meant to teach a lesson. While there may be some historical fact within the Bible that does not mean that the Bible itself is a fact (Historical Fiction).

You might learn something about the non-fundies by doing a search online for “Bible metaphor” or “burning bush metaphor”.

86

Well, you didn’t arrive at it through scientific deduction, so how DID you come to believe in god?

87

Forget religion. Forget the Bible, Koran or Torah. Forget churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and places of worship. I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about faith.

I have faith that the sun will come up tomorrow because it has for the past 4 billion years and it appears to be a middle aged star that will continue to burn for billions more years while our planet continues to turn on it’s axis. I can’t prove that some cosmic fluke will cause the sun to spontaneously go nova and wipe us out or that an asteroid won’t slam into us and block out the dawn, but I have faith that based on previous observations that the sun will appear to rise in the East.

I have faith enough in my fellow man (and woman) that if I do right by them that they will do right by me. I have nothing there to base my views on, just the hope in the best of human nature. Occasionally I am proven wrong, but that does not stop me from trying. Just because some people are assholes no matter how nice you are, doesn’t mean that I should become one myself. I will continue to believe that man can rise above his animalistic history.

I have faith in a cause to the universe. I cannot prove it exists. I cannot give you a logical explanation. Greater minds than mine have believed. Greater minds than mine have not. Greater minds have not been sure.

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
I believe.

88

I didn’t know that “scientific deduction” was the only method by which one could come to a conclusion. Im not trying to say that God is a scientific theory that is testable and gives predicted results. So why you would apply the scientific method to my conclusion is beyond me…however:

So how did I arrive at my conclusion? Look at this way…have you ever read “Lord of the Rings”? Some people claim that Rings was an allegory for WWII. East vs West, Mordor = Axis, Gondor = Allies. Paper after paper have been written on the subject, even tho Tolkien has said that he didn’t intend to make such parallels. However, people who read his work and studied it, feel differently. Not because of any scientific facts, but because they read the works and feel they know for sure what was intended.

I have read and studied religious works and scientific works of all kinds, my whole life. Having done so, I come to the conclusion that God exists. Not based on a single thing, but based upon multiple things. I don’t have all the answers, never claimed to either. I have never belittled an atheist, so why belittle me?

89

Dude, no one’s belittling you. I asked a simple question. You like the idea of a supreme creator because you read the writings of a bunch of other people who liked the idea of a supreme creator. Based on nothing concrete, and without personal knowledge, you choose to believe this. Hey…whatever gets you through the night.

Children know that Santa Claus can’t fly around the world in one night and give gifts to a gazillion little kids. They like the idea of it, so they hang on to the notion long after logic tells them otherwise. No harm, no foul. Same thing.

90

Who said nothing concrete or no personal knowledge? To me, I have plenty of both. To you, I dont. I didn’t mean to imply you were being insulting. But look at Simon, Clothump, and Der T…they do mean to be insulting, and for no real purpose.

91

Actually, you said it…or at least hinted at it, when you said “Not because of any scientific facts, but because they read the works and feel they know for sure what was intended.” I take that to mean that proof and science don’t hold as much weight as your need to feel good does.

Would you really expect someone to believe something that far-fetched without some scientific proof? There is not one shred of evidence to suggest god exists. I mean, I know lots of people buy it. I just don’t know why. Other than because it feels good. I get my warm-n-fuzzies elsewhere.

92

I dont “expect” anything from anybody with regard to belief in God. This OP isnt about trying to convert someone. It asked, why do you believe in God. I said why, EOS.

And I dispute your “not one shred of evidence” assertion. There is plenty of shreds…just not any that could be tested in a lab. So, nothing I would think you believe.

And im not sure what you mean by “warm and fuzzies”. It seems to imply that my sense of worth, or self, or purpose is bound in my faith. It’s not, never has been. You should stop trying to think of all faith people as fundies…were not.

93

If it can’t be tested, it’s not very good evidence ( if it’s evidence at all; you haven’t actually produced any ). I’d trust DNA evidence over hearsay in a trial.

94

You keep accusing me of saying things I never said. I never said you were a fundie. I said you believe in god and that in my opinion, it is a wild stretch of the imagination to do so. You do it because you read books by a bunch of guys who believe in god, none of whom have offered up proof. You must like something about the idea.

I’m still waiting to see one of those shreds of proof. Anything you can show me will be sufficient.

95

This is an interesting discussion to follow, even though no progress is being made. I have to wonder, and ask posters such as **Der Trihs, Kalhoun, Diogenes the Cynic ** and others that I may have missed (not excluding myself) why you persist in apparently trying to persuade people such as **dob ** and kelvinator? If reasoned argument were good currency to them, wouldn’t they be persuaded already? Or do you just like to watch them squirm?

I enjoy pointing out logical fallacies as much as the next person, but I think your efforts may be wasted.

Unless perhaps you are playing to the lurking masses who might actually learn something.

96

I don’t expect to be able to convince too many with this argument, but it’s the thing that keeps me from dismissing God:

I can’t reconcile consciousness without *something * - a ghost in the machine, as it were. That, to me, implies something beyond the observable universe. Call it God, whatever, but something.

Of course, many argue that consciousness is an illusion, but I’ve never been convinced.

97

Surely many people have done right by you - so this isn’t solely a matter of faith. Neither is the sun coming up - we’ve got experience about this, and now even a reason.

What do you call a man who has faith in his wife - a wife that doesn’t come home until three, gets strange phone calls, has new jewelry? Is that a man of faith or a dope?

Faith is fine, but I contend either god does not exist, or else he has been cheating on you. Evidence: earthquakes and tsunamis, at the very least. Lack of solid evidence also. At least god could make sure some of the stuff in the holy books is true.

98

I agree faith can sometimes be misplaced. Sometimes faith can be tested. Sometimes faith can even be lost. With all of the personal problems and losses in my life, I would never claim to understand why things happen. If a creator is not actively involved and just started us down the Hot Wheel track of life, that is not up to me. If we just bounce along haphazardly like a ping-pong ball in a dryer, that’s not up to me either.
I have a hard time believing, though, that the order and exquisite exactness of nature and physics could happen randomly.
Yeah, earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunami’s happen. Cancer kills devout people, lightning strikes churches and helpless babies die every day. But in a world full of misery, I can look beyond the physics of refracting light through suspended water and be in awe of a rainbow. I can see beyond the rules of genetics and DNA and see the smile of my daughter. I can stare past erosion and geology and weep at the beauty of the Grand Canyon. I have found that behind the mechanics of the universe, is the artistry of God.

99

I think this has all been covered, and it doesn’t really address the OP very well, but I’m gonna throw my own 2¢ in anyways! :smiley:

Speaking philosophically, as an agnostic, I really don’t believe in certainties, although I’m pretty damn sure I exist in some way or another. Of course it is entirely possible traditional concepts of god are in fact true, but then anything is possible. Possibilities are kind of silly to use when deciding how to perceive the universe. Probabilities are better, and I find it highly improbably that god, as commonly understood, does exist. There is no evidence to support it, other than that a very large number of people believe it to be true.

As a spiritual person, I think of god as being metaphoric. I see god as representing the whole of the universe, everything, and thus I am part of whole greater than myself. I also believe, in eternal life, so long as there is existence you exist, in different forms but essentially we’re all parts of the same swirling vortex of matter and energy. Same for divine plan, I see that symbolizing the laws of physics that govern how the universe works. Etc, etc. Cheesy? Perhaps, but it’s how I like to reconcile religious lore with my personal view of the universe.

It’s not a great leap of imagination to see the appeal of religion. The natural world is a very cruel and frightening place. Tough room if you also see it as being without purpose. And to quote the Master, “…who in his final hour rejoices at the thought, onward to the void?”

If people want to believe in a god to deal with their own personal existentialist angst, well then, whatever floats your boat. It’s only when their gods start condemning people with no reason other than “cuz I said so”, then I start to take issue.

Yeah, consciousness is a tricky one sometimes, but why would it necessitate a creator any more than just plain ol’ matter? I think some people get so hell bent trying to prove that life is so amazingly complex, therefore, there must be a god that they fail to see just how glorious it all really is. Let’s face it, it is pretty friggin’ amazing that we’re here at all. It’s like the question, “Why is there something, as opposed to nothing?” My answer, “who cares?”. Just enjoy the ride and be glad you got to see the show.

100

No it wouldnt actually, because nothing I good give you would be testable, so therefore, it wouldnt be acceptable. If I had something like that, I would have shared it long ago. I can give you my personal “proofs”, but so what? I doubt it would do any good, and again, it is all my experince, so it is subjective and not science by any stretch.

A reasoned argument is good currency…give me one that shows me no God exists. Just remember that no proof <> proof. To be clear, im not in the ID camp…not at all. The Big Bang, evoloution, love em all. So dont bother refuting ID claims as proof of no God.