Quote:
Originally Posted by Brendan
Essentially what I'm saying is that the concept of God keeps us spiritually sane. Belief in God I suppose could lead to a blind belief in concepts we can't explain, but does an absence of God or an absence of belief in God really make us any better off?
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It would be best of all for people to come up with their own way of looking at the world, or find their own path to spirituality. Most people cannot do this. Belief in God does not give them spirituality as in order to be spiritual you need to think for yourself (otherwise you do not really know what you believe in, therefore cannot be spiritual this way). However, as you mention it keeps us 'spiritually sane' or gives people who lack vision something to live for. It instills the idea within them that there is spirituality of some kind for them to look for. That is perhaps the best we could give them if they are unwilling to think for themselves.
In this regard the idea of God is a good thing, in other regards it is not. For example, a lot of people will think that because they believe in God and such a belief is the best possible thing that could happen to them, they will feel obligated to impose this belief onto others. The consequences of this usually turn out catastrophic. Secondly, the idea of God (because it is obscure) discourages the person from thinking for himself, as the idea of God insists that he just accepts that God is something that he cannot understand because it is sublime. This is a problem because much evil results due to the failure on behalf of the people to think things through. It seems to be the case that the negative aspects of belief in God outweigh the positives.
It is certainly less than desirable to live without hope (be spiritually insane), yet is to be decidedly preferred to the evils that ensue as a result of people believing in God.
Belief in God gives people a minor consolation, yet robs them of the ability to acquire true spirituality because it stultifies their critical thinking faculties. This leads to a certain sense of parochialness which induces people to be hostile to those who disagree with their views. Thus, the belief in God not only retards man's spiritual growth, but also the progress of civilization. It is quite the noteworthy fact that the most financially sound nations tend to report the highest rates of atheism, and the least financially sound, the lowest. (U.S. is an anomaly)