|
Register | Sign In |
|
QuickSearch
Thread ▼ Details |
|
Thread Info
|
|
|
Author | Topic: Why Belief? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
riVeRraT Member (Idle past 446 days) Posts: 5788 From: NY USA Joined: |
Whats not funny is that you schraf, and crashfrog,,,,wait myself too seem to have blamed it all on human behavior, that there is no God.
We went to a place where we were supposed to find God, and he wasn't there. So where is he?And what are we doing about it?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: Well, asking the quastion assumes that there actually is an answer to the question; that there actually is a reason. I don't know if there is a reason or not. I don't think there is any way to know the answer to that question.
quote: Well, we ask those questions because we have really big, complex brains that allow us to have complex, abstract thought and self-awareness, i.e. consciousness. As for my purpose? I decide what it is. We all do. Anyway, thank you very much for your kind and encouraging words. It sounds like you can relate, so I also know how hard you have worked and still strive to be the sort of person that you want to be. This message has been edited by schrafinator, 04-25-2005 01:31 PM
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
riVeRraT Member (Idle past 446 days) Posts: 5788 From: NY USA Joined: |
And the answer is 42.
It's not the answer, its the question that you seek, wich would be what is 6x9 or something like that. Ever read that book?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
Are you kidding?
I own a leather bound copy of the first four Douglas Adams books in the Hitchiker's Guide series. I also very much liked Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency. Have you read that one? Anyway, are you planning to see the film of THGTTG? Opening night is this Friday, and I may have to be a big geek and go. I have a second reason to see it sooner rather than later... I am a huge Joss Whedon fan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) and particularly of his very short-lived series called Firefly. The series was fantastic and IMHO would have been just as great, if not better, than both Buffy and Angel, but the idiots at Fox Televidion just didn't get it. Well, Whedon got funding to turn the Firefly concept into a full length feature film called Serenity which is due to be released this September, and there is a trailer playing for it before THGTTG. I'm all a-tingle! {OK people - OFF-TOPIC! Stop it right here, right now. - Adminnemooseus} This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 04-25-2005 08:06 PM
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Hangdawg13 Member (Idle past 781 days) Posts: 1189 From: Texas Joined: |
The gospels tell the story of a man who was supremely good. I have never read a fiction about a man who was so perfectly righteous and worthy of praise than Jesus. Everything that he taught I have found to be true in my life and the lives of others.
Regardless of where feelings of right and wrong come from, I believe they have real value. There is a deep message from the story of Jesus that feels completely right, true, and pure. So I believe it.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Firebird Inactive Member |
1. Reasons with some acquaintance with logic
a. Because it is scary to think that mankind is without help or guidance, and is running amok overpopulating the earth and wrecking the environment. And if this is indeed the case, it won't be helped by me worrying about it. b. I prefer to believe that there is some kind of life after this one. And if I'm wrong, I will have lived at least as happily believing, and no-one will be able to say "told you so" afterwards. 2. Real but unlogical reasonI have resisted Christian friends who tried to "save" me; it makes no sense that a little clique would be saved and all outsiders damned; this stuff tends to make me want to side with the outsiders. But the essential Christian message - love God and your neighbour as yourself - simply feels right to me, a sort of release of tension and satisfaction, like solving a mathematical equation. So, in my case, I'm not sure that faith sustains the belief. But living optimistically in faith feels good anyway.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Mammuthus Member (Idle past 6505 days) Posts: 3085 From: Munich, Germany Joined: |
No, this is not correct. I am not so weak minded as to rely on how other people behave as to determine what I think is true or not. I know plenty of scientists who are absolute worthless piles of crud as people but their scientific data is sound and conclusions supported. The issue I share in common with schraf is that I have experienced that Xians who pretend to be morally and ethically superior are actually completely hypocritical and some of the worst behaved and anti-social people I have met. I therefore found the church or any organized religion to be a waste of my time. Not believing in the xian or any other god/gods is a separate issue.
quote:He is nowhere so I am not going to do anything about it...I am also not going to look for Vishnu, unicorns, santa claus, or invisible sentient goats behind my freezer. I will continue to live and enjoy my life as I have for the last 37 years.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
riVeRraT Member (Idle past 446 days) Posts: 5788 From: NY USA Joined: |
No, this is not correct. I am not so weak minded as to rely on how other people behave as to determine what I think is true or not. I know plenty of scientists who are absolute worthless piles of crud as people but their scientific data is sound and conclusions supported. The issue I share in common with schraf is that I have experienced that Xians who pretend to be morally and ethically superior are actually completely hypocritical and some of the worst behaved and anti-social people I have met. I therefore found the church or any organized religion to be a waste of my time. Not believing in the xian or any other god/gods is a separate issue.
Thanks for clearing that up. I agree with you completely. So does the Pastor of the church I finally found worthy of my attendance. He blames leadership in all the churches for all those things that have been happening. He also puts himself on the chopping block first. A very realistic, and refreshing thing to hear. He is open to all critisim, and considers himself no more important than the person holding the door when you enter in. We also feel that the kingdom of God is not in the church but outside the church. As for you not believing in God, that's fine. I didn't really for 38 years, then I found him. I lived and enjoyed my life to that point, and I continue to do so to a slightly greater level. I've been tweaked a little, and some of the confusion I had about life now makes sense.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
lost-apathy Member (Idle past 5448 days) Posts: 67 From: Scottsdale, Az, USA Joined: |
Hope is a better word. Even though i'm not religous, I can sort of understand why. Even though it isn't guarenteed to come true, you can dream as to why and how it will come true. It also gives more reason to life. It's kind of like how i want to become a famous musician. I tell myself i know I will someday and if i just pursue what I want, I will get it.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: The Buddah was a pretty nice guy.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Hangdawg13 Member (Idle past 781 days) Posts: 1189 From: Texas Joined: |
The Buddah was a pretty nice guy. So why am I not a Buddhist? 1) There are lots of nice guys in the world; no perfect ones.2) Buddah never claimed to be God, nor did he say if there was a god. 3) Jesus performed miracles (a few of my close friends would testify that he still does); Buddah didn't. 4) While much of Buddah's teaching is wisdom, it does not carry the same message of the Gospel. (not that this means his message is false, just that it doesn't seem complete to me) But if we debate these points any further it will get off the question in the OP, which was what first caused me to believe.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
mick Member (Idle past 5016 days) Posts: 913 Joined: |
I'm an atheist now, but I used to believe in God.
I was brought up in a Jehovah's Witness family. I believed in God because I was told I had to, and because i was taken to a long brain-washing session every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. As I grew older, and developed a sense of my own self-esteem and independence, I made a conscious decision to consign all those years to the dustbin. What a waste of sundays and wednesdays! I truly wish i could have them back, and spend them going fishing, bird watching, playing judo, practicing the piano, or some other interesting activity. Unfortunately those Sundays mornings and Wednesday evenings were stolen from me forever, and I can never have them back. i'm convinced that the majority of people who belive in God have the same reason that I used to have: their parents, families and peer groups told them that they had to. That's why religion is so eminently heritable. Children in Christian families tend to be Christian, and there aren't many Muslim parents with jewish kids. mick This message has been edited by mick, 04-27-2005 03:45 PM
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Jackal25 Inactive Member |
mick writes: i'm convinced that the majority of people who belive in God have the same reason that I used to have: their parents, families and peer groups told them that they had to. That's why religion is so eminently heritable. Children in Christian families tend to be Christian, and there aren't many Muslim parents with jewish kids. I couldnt disagree more. I personally became a Christian while my family and I would say 80% of my friends at the time were not. To say the majority believe in God for that reason is a far stretch. A lot of Christians had to learn the hard way not growing up in a Christian family. I personally think that not growing up in a Christian family has showed me the other side and I will never go back.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Hi, Mick. I will agree with you that children often take on the belief of their parents. In a wider context, people usually adopt the religion of the culture. Of course I am biased, because I am a Christian. I believe that I became a Christian not due to education or indoctorination so much as through a spiritual impartation.
Much of my theology is more of a confirmation from within rather than something learned from the Bible or a preacher. Many Christians have had similar experiences.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
crashfrog Member (Idle past 1497 days) Posts: 19762 From: Silver Spring, MD Joined: |
I believe that I became a Christian not due to education or indoctorination so much as through a spiritual impartation. Much of my theology is more of a confirmation from within Just so you know - that feeling you get "within"? That feeling of certainty? That's what indoctrination, particularly cultural indoctrination, feels like.
|
|
|
Do Nothing Button
Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved
Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024