“Almost everybody believes in God when they are children, and polls show the vast majority of adults continue to believe in God--although a distinct minority does not. It turns out that almost everyone goes through a period of questioning the existence of God, usually during their teen years. “Does God really exist?” we ask ourselves. It is obviously a very important question. IF you ever began to question the existence of the traditional God, to wonder--because of things that happened or doubts that arose in your mind--if this God really exists, HOW did you decide? Below are ten things that people might do in this situation to help them make of their minds.
I talked it over with friends and acquaintances who believed in God.
I read books by atheists or agnostics to see what their arguments were.
I brought my questions to a religious authority, such as a minister, priest or rabbi.
I talked with my parents, asking for their help in figuring things out.
I talked with people who had decided God did not exist, or who had big doubts about it.
I prayed for enlightenment and guidance.
I studied up on scientific findings that would challenge the traditional account of God,
creation, etc.
I read scriptures, or other religious books, believing they would contain the answers to my
questions.
I purposely read books, plays, etc. that went against my family’s religious beliefs.
I made a determined effort to figure it out for myself, not going to anyone else nor seeking
any new information.
Which one of these did you do the most to reach your decision?
What else did you do, more than anything else except the answer you just gave? Did you do something else besides these two? If so, what?
(If you never questioned the existence of God, then skip these questions.)”
“Almost everybody believes in God when they are children...
Define "God"
not me, I disbelieved the concept of God since I was 5
Maybe it's the way I was raised but faith is not a matter of logic. Faith is seeing every logical reason noto to believe and still believing anyway. If you could prove God is real then no would have faith they would just be acting in their own material benefit. I however lack faith.
> What else did you do, more than anything else except the answer you just gave?
I argued about how God works and how it doesn't work with people on the Internet. It doesn't matter for me if it exist or it isn't. What matters for me, if you can coherently explain, what is God and how it works. Most people can't do that, as they made all kinds of faulty explanations or arguments, that are pretty transparent to be meaningless from the neutral position. Christians, atheists, cultists, the literaly insane people and philosophical works. In most cases you can spot all their weak points, in a second or less.
I never really believed it, I just couldn't articulate why I didn't.
What was your conclusion OP?
I came to the conclusion that no one is sure what God wants. The Abhrahamic faiths in Patricular are going off of archaic texts whos only redeeming and relevant lesson is to treat others with kindness, dignity, and respect. That all their god wants, I think.
None. I Beheld the Almighty Glourie of The Amazing Dildoni, and I knew there was a God.
Sounds more like that is what separates us from animals and civilizes us and the only way to spread that message was through religion in such a superstitious era where people were sacrificing children and other humans to acclaimed Gods. There's no need for religion anymore to spread the message of being good.
I agree, religion as an institution is highly outdated. That being said none of has the right to say what people should or shouldn't beleive, frankly its none of our business. Much in the same way, what we believe is none of their business. All that being aside, religion as a teaching tool for good and evil, (perhaps bad is a better fit here), is still highly effective.
That would be ideal in theory except its not in reality where ever religion feels their beliefs should be institutionalized. Only secular religions would make sense in this day in age.
Again, I am in agreeance with you. I think that the feeling that their religion needs to be the only religion stems from pride and their ego. "My religion is correct because it says so, and that's what i believe." Taking the religion out of God is what needs to happen.
>feels their beliefs should be institutionalized
Like every ideology there is.
And your point? Do you think that somehow makes it right or what? What purpose does pointing that out serve?
>I prayed for enlightenment and guidance.
Creator of the universe. It's a title.
Faith is the ability to believe the unseen, and yes, you have faith. All men do.
It's the object of that faith that matters. For instance, if you have faith that mankind will one day create a utopia, your faith is useless.
God is a person. A person of higher dimension than we are.
I've posed this question several times and I've never really gotten an answer so I guess I'll ask here.
Your definition of faith is one that I see all of the time. But if that's the case, what exactly is the difference between faith and delusion? One is considered a good thing while the other is a mental sickness, but they both show the exact same behavior.
If I believe x is true, such as Angelina Jolie secretly loves me, regardless of evidence or lack thereof, it is a fantasy. If I begin to make life decisions based on that fantasy, it becomes a psychosis. This can generally be accepted as a bad thing, depending on just how harmful it can be to myself or to those around me. Now note this is the basis for the medical and legal definition of insanity.
Yet faith is essentially the same belief in something beyond logic and despite or in absence of evidence. And that's a good thing. Faith is often lauded. Even if said faith can lead to very dangerous decision making, both to the self and to those around you.
Where exactly is the line?
Do you not believe that if everyone thought as you do, that society would be improved?
What about humanity do you see changed in the past 4000 years?
The object of the faith would be the difference.
Faith that God exists v delusion that Angelina Jolie secretly loves you.
Sorry Brad.
What kind of higher dimension?
Yes.
(I can't really answer that question; he only says that he is not like us; that he is higher than we are; that his ways are higher than our ways; that his thoughts are not our thoughts. He also revealed that he does not experience time the same way we do. Not only is a day as a thousand years to him, or a thousand years as a day, but he can see the end from the beginning.)
Ever read Flatland? Nothing could perceive anything with an extra dimension properly.
Same way with us and the trinity.
How does one object of faith hold more credence than another other?
And how does the object of faith or delusion change or define behavioral pattern?
Fuck no. First, "society" is a broad term. Every human society has sub-groups, and every group is composed of individuals. You will NEVER get EVERYONE on the planet to have the same exact wants or needs, let alone the same wants and needs as YOU.
Second, I can't verify if I'm actually RIGHT. I'd rather not be responsible for fucking up all of humanity because I was a demagogue and a cunt who couldn't admit that he's wrong.
The object is what it is.
Faith in the object is believing it exists without seeing it.
Like a quark.
u wot mate
abrahamic god? which denomination? why that one?
once you've decided on that, what do you even believe about it? exists in your life? exists hidden somewhere impossible to find an never acting in any way?
say he does, does your potential belief even involve you having any possible way to know about it? if not, what was the point of all the research?
That wasn't my question.
You have certain beliefs about God.
Do you believe that if everyone shared your beliefs about God, that society would improve?
I don't know if you think you did but you didn't answer the question.
>faith in the object is believing it exists without seeing it
Again, this is exactly true for delusion. Faith in an object alone doesn't determine it's weight or merit. If that were true any delusion would be equally real.
>like a quark
Except its not like a quark in that quarks have set observable behaviors that can be studied by observing hadrons. You don't need to see it to know it exists. Just as you don't need to see a black hole to know it's there.
Observable interaction isn't the same as putting faith in something you cannot prove.
I actually believe that God as writer and our world as book is more accurate analogy here than what was in Flatland. Especially for a time. Depending on your idea, you can spend years to write about seconds or second to write about years. It's very clear why it works like that, while with geometric dimension, this is hard to explain. The first verse says that in the beginning was the Word, so it is seems pretty viable to prefer such explanation to more formalistic one that rely on geometric views.
No because I don't know if I'm actually right. I can't verify it and I don't see into the future. And I'm not going to lie to myself and say it would be better just to make myself feel better.
Besides, you don't want to share my belief about god. The vast majority of world population doesn't share my belief about god. I'm an atheist. But more importantly, even if I wasn't an atheist, I wouldn't think that I have a recipe for eternal success that everyone could share if everyone could just fucking listen to me. That would be incredibly ill-advised.
It is exactly the opposite for delusion.
Delusion is believing that something exists without seeing it, that does not actually exist.
Faith is believing that something exists without seeing it, that does actually exist.
Exactly the opposite.
You're answering two different questions.
If all you can see is 2 dimensional objects, and I show you a cube with 6 different colored sides, all you see are 6 squares of differing colors.
When I tell you those 6 squares are really only 1 cube, you cannot process that information because it exists in a higher dimension than you can perceive.
You have to take it on faith; believing without seeing.
Why do you try so hard to pretend you do not have a view on God?
Your view is that you do not know if there is a God or not, even though you say you know there is no God.
If everyone thought there was no God, would that improve society, in your opinion?
That current institutions are just an imposed idea. There is nothing wring with institunialized religion
Yeah but you can't test it because if you could test it it would be neither a delusion nor faith
And if you can't test whether it is in fact a delusion or faith, you might as well trea
no because I'm not a fucking asshole who pretends to see into the future, I thought I already explained this
But sorry, I should've said that I consider myself an agnostic atheist, not JUST that I'm an atheist. I view it on a kind of two axis Agnostic x Gnostic and Atheist x Theist scale, but if you don't see it the same way then that's fine. I'm willing to just call myself an agnostic for the purposes of this discussion.
Of course there's nothing wrong with institutionalized religion. What's wrong is trying to impose your institutionalized or non-institutionalized religion on other people to the point where you cause them suffering.
I grew up in a secular household with agnostic deist parents at best. I can't remember a time I firmly believed in god, only times I considered he might exist.
>you can't test it
So?
I guarantee lots of things you believe aren't testable either.
> You have to take it on faith; believing without seeing.
That was never my problem. It is the opposite one for me. While, it is pretty easy for me to believe in something that exist beyond my preception, what is hard part for me, is to deny all such existences except one that is called God. If there exist world, beyond all we see, how can I deny the possibility, that there exist world beyond what even Gods can expierence? How can I take faith in just the single God, while denying all others for arbitrary reason?
name one
and don't say gravity or "the earth being round" or evolution because fuck you
All historical facts.
I have no idea what your personal beliefs are so it's impossible for me to point out which ones are not falsifiable.
Who /raisedgodless/ here?
The difference is that your object of faith almost relies on your faith and looks doen upon those who try to understand the object of his or her faith. It demands undying loyalty while giving nothing to trust, twlls us to attribute all the good im oit lives to it without quantifiably proving that he or she is the benefactor in our lives.
Humanity? Nothing much really. Although i can't say for certain that all of humanity has had some major shift in how we think. However the notion that God hasn't changed in the last 4000 years is a laudable one. The idea that he hasn't changed is a laughable one. To pretned you know what he wants or thinks is egotistical at best.
Are you intentionally being dense? Or can you really not see other points of view? Because that's a sign of actual autism.
>I read books by atheists or agnostics to see what their arguments were.
This one.
>Delusion is believing that something exists without seeing it, that does not actually exist.
>Faith is believing that something exists without seeing it, that does actually exist.
>Exactly the opposite.
haha are u serious m8?
Delusion actually can be based on visual input.