What is the cause of peoples apparant need to believe?

[EcK]

I am not surprised to see such a bullshit response. You don't get it.

I'm sorry. How is it a bullshit response to quote a holy book ?
Enlighten me.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

It's pretty basic. Religiousity is a biological need. It's been proven. Without belief we cannot achieve goals. Don't believe me. Read the book succeed. It doesn't matter really what you believe only that you actually do believe. I'm not trying to prove a religion here I'm just going by how the brain works according to neuroscientists and behavioral researchers.

 

[miss fortune]

It's pretty basic. Religiousity is a biological need. It's been proven. Without belief we cannot achieve goals. Don't believe me. Read the book succeed. It doesn't matter really what you believe only that you actually do believe. I'm not trying to prove a religion here I'm just going by how the brain works according to neuroscientists and behavioral researchers.

you can have beliefs without having religion, just the same as you can have morals without religion

if that were a fact, a lot of people who achieved a lot of things just broke the laws of social science there

 

[Poki]

Fear of unkown

 

[Poki]

It's pretty basic. Religiousity is a biological need. It's been proven. Without belief we cannot achieve goals. Don't believe me. Read the book succeed. It doesn't matter really what you believe only that you actually do believe. I'm not trying to prove a religion here I'm just going by how the brain works according to neuroscientists and behavioral researchers.

One of the many ways we waste money and time on scientific studies. Did anyone ever think that we can't really believe in things. We all have differing intensities of beliefs and different things we believe in.

Because of this study I believe that we can believe in things. Until then I wasn't sure, so we should do a study because I believe that scientific evidence can prove we actually have to believe in something. And then they wrote a book on it. Well I don't have beliefs...try to prove me wrong. Crap...I believe we don't have beliefs... this is the proof that never ends, it goes on and on my friends.

 

[Also]

Yes I did, I did study theology of all current 'great religions' religions a few years back. And it's full with logical inconsistencies and need tons of 'allegories' to explain its flaws away.
However in 'real life' you can't explain away statements about a door being there when it's not there by saying it's an allegory. Works once, not every time

Saying I can't disprove your statement doesn't mean you can prove your statement. Those are two different things.
There is a magical invisible pink unicorn peeing invisible rainbows you can't feel at you right now.
Can you disprove it? Logical?

Is the burden of proof of that statement on you? No.
Same with religion. When you make extraordinary claim there's no reason for people to just take it at face value.

When religions take moral high ground based on fairytales: it offends me. As it should anyone who actually READ the bible and other books. Where genocide and intolerance is discussed as holy work. And no the new testament doesn't fix anything. it's akin to saying that someone was a mass murderer but now they're nice so we should just give them some slack.

If the bible was actually our moral compass for exemple: we'd live in a pretty messed up society. Killing people who work on holy days for exemple, would strike anyone as barbaric these days. Well, not according to the bible.

A unicorn is a material creature that can be grasped through empirical methods. One would need to simply observe a unicorn to prove its existence.

Does the same apply to God? What is God? God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Can you grasp the supernatural through empirical means? Can empirical science prove or disprove immaterial features of a deity?

Your comparison doesn't go. And this is what I mean about believers and non-believers starting off on the wrong foot. You have a desire to test things that you can see and feel. Not all things that exist outside of science's verification are observable unless you have found a way to prove or disprove that which exists outside of the universe.

What do you mean by study? What exactly did that study entail? What you have done is gone to a website that lists these grievances against God and the bible and copy and pasted them here. I'm more interested in seeing your experience and your take on why statements in the bible do not add up to reality as we know it and how this affects God's existence. I would prefer that you shared your personal view if that's reasonable to you.

This is what I think about the list you gave:

1. Are these verses within context?
2. Did you compare and contrast OT Law with NT Law of Grace?
2a. Why is the NT discounted? Is it intellectually dishonest to read a book halfway through and still claim to understand it?
2b. Can we plug that mentality in somewhere else? In a court of law, as a juror, can you sit through half of the proceedings and make a judgement on the innocence or guilt of the person in question?
3. Are these laws concerning death REGULATING existing laws of the land or God-ordained laws?
4. Did you research the different translations of the bible? Are NLT, NAB, NASB and the other translations given, seen as acceptable translations?
5. Did you have a decent understanding of Greek and Hebrew or have a guide handy when interpreting this scripture?
6. You're criticizing the morality that the bible seems to practice. On what grounds? What is your moral code and on what grounds is your disapproval at all important or necessary in judging a God's actions?
6a. Does your dislike of the moral code mean that God cannot exist?
7. Define good and bad. Now show how this definition of good or bad is absolute and worthy of recognition by all peoples. Explain how it is bad to kill a fortunetelling witch that enjoys hitting her dad.

What believers often desire (for you to take their faith at face value) does not always line up with what God desires. You can judge God by his desires or by his followers determination, but please do not confuse the two.

I would also like to see the issues you take with Hinduism and Islam since you say that you have studied them before. Perhaps in a different thread? I agree that this thread was not created with the intention of debate but I also see that the center of your disbelief is your disgust for the moral code described in the bible, not a logically mapped out web of facts and notions that place your understanding of the world above anyone of faith. But I do wish it were possible to banish people I do not like or am disgusted with to the metaphorical corn field. "You do not exist because your ways are unworthy in my sight DMV, IRS, nosy neighbor". It doesn't work that way, although it's a nice idea.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

One of the many ways we waste money and time on scientific studies. Did anyone ever think that we can't really believe in things. We all have differing intensities of beliefs and different things we believe in.

Because of this study I believe that we can believe in things. Until then I wasn't sure, so we should do a study because I believe that scientific evidence can prove we actually have to believe in something. And then they wrote a book on it. Well I don't have beliefs...try to prove me wrong. Crap...I believe we don't have beliefs... this is the proof that never ends, it goes on and on my friends.

You believe you have no beliefs?

 

[GarrotTheThief]

you can have beliefs without having religion, just the same as you can have morals without religion

if that were a fact, a lot of people who achieved a lot of things just broke the laws of social science there

Religiousity I mean here anything we do in a ritualistic irrational manner such as watching excessive t.v. Drinking Mountain Dew, and eating beef jerky. Things that are the equivalents of archaic modes of ritualism.

 

[indra]

God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

Can God heat a burrito so hot even he couldn't eat it?

 

[miss fortune]

Religiousity I mean here anything we do in a ritualistic irrational manner such as watching excessive t.v. Drinking Mountain Dew, and eating beef jerky. Things that are the equivalents of archaic modes of ritualism.

ah... holy masturbation

 

[Poki]

Religiousity I mean here anything we do in a ritualistic irrational manner such as watching excessive t.v. Drinking Mountain Dew, and eating beef jerky. Things that are the equivalents of archaic modes of ritualism.

Auto pilot mode. This isn't beliefs, it's lack of thinking. This is what happens when you live on feelings and don't think.....lol. ahhhh....comfort

 

[SearchingforPeace]

As someone who lives in Texas, I can easily say the largest religion isn't the Baptists or Catholics, but the cult of the Cowboys. The worship led by high priest Jerry Jones at his cathedral controls most of the people here.....

 

[Luke O]

As someone who lives in Texas, I can easily say the largest religion isn't the Baptists or Catholics, but the cult of the Cowboys. The worship led by high priest Jerry Jones at his cathedral controls most of the people here.....

I now can't imagine you not leaving your house without a hat and saying "Y'all" to people. Oh, the stereotypes...

 

[SearchingforPeace]

I now can't imagine you not leaving your house without a hat and saying "Y'all" to people. Oh, the stereotypes...

Lol, and long horns on my caddy.....alas, the truth is far from that, but two Texas born children have decent accents and love their cowboy boots

 

[fetus]

Comfort. Companionship. The thought of someone who's there to listen anywhere and at any time is soothing.

I guess you could call me a Christian, but I don't like that label. And to be honest, I'm not the traditional kind. Most Christians are supposed to take the Bible as infallible, absolute truths, but I don't. I have my own, independent moral compass and beliefs that I try to live by (Fi here). Some of the things in the Bible conflict with those values. That's when I try to think about the Bible's actual validity. A lot of it, especially the New Testament, consists of letters. Sometimes I have a hard time believing it's absolute truth, because it was penned by a person. It's that person's view of things. I think a lot of things are relative in life. So, for me, the Bible provides a look into multiple different perspectives. I try to keep an open mind as I investigate them.

But ultimately, I'm an inconsistent and contradictory mess. This is why I use my beliefs for my own purposes. When I do talk about my beliefs with others, I do so hoping that they'll investigate faith in order to bring comfort into their own lives and look into all those perspectives. Faith is different for everyone. If accompanied by peace and openness, I think it can be a really good thing. I don't want to go around banging a Bible on people's heads or trying to force an "absolute truth" down someone's throat. I hate when faith is used for profit. I'm disillusioned with tithing, and I've never taken televangelists seriously. My spirituality is for my own personal growth and assurance.

I honestly don't think there's ever a way to prove God's existence. But I choose to believe anyway, because it provides me with an anchor. Science is also something I value. I'm all about new discoveries, research, information, etc. Faith doesn't interfere with that. I think my faith and science are separate. So no, I'm not a literal seven day creationist, nor do I subscribe to the 6,000 year earth belief. The thing that I think a lot of Christians miss about the Bible is that not everything is necessarily literal. When you're reading a book, you'll notice that there is narration, dialogue, metaphorical speech, etc. It's a hodgepodge. People who take every single thing literally are kind of missing the point, in my opinion.

But again, I think everyone should be able to have their beliefs in peace. People getting in fights or even wars about religion make me really sad. Just live and let live, you know? More and more I find myself using that motto in life.

 

[Jaguar]

Death for Fornication
A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)

What happens to the priest for dicking around with altar boys?

 

[GarrotTheThief]

As someone who lives in Texas, I can easily say the largest religion isn't the Baptists or Catholics, but the cult of the Cowboys. The worship led by high priest Jerry Jones at his cathedral controls most of the people here.....

This is what I'm alluding to in my previous posts here. In 1000 years if they dig up from the rubble our buildings and books they will not say we were Christians but football enthusiasts, and it was the emergence of a new religion.

They will say some worshiped television, some worshiped athletes, and some burritos.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

Can God heat a burrito so hot even he couldn't eat it?

this is the limitation of language not an unnameable creator. If there is a *** he can certainly do something he can't do while he doesn't do what he can do.

If there is all powerful, philosophically speaking, the issue is not with the paradox but with the conception of it.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

This is what I'm alluding to in my previous posts here. In 1000 years if they dig up from the rubble our buildings and books they will not say we were Christians but football enthusiasts, and it was the emergence of a new religion.

They will say some worshiped television, some worshiped athletes, and some burritos.

We are a society of pagans worshiping idols. Look at our cathedrals honoring shopping and pleasure and kids entertainment and sports.

Our literature is idolizing people famous for being famous.....

 

[GarrotTheThief]

We are a society of pagans worshiping idols. Look at our cathedrals honoring shopping and pleasure and kids entertainment and sports.

Our literature is idolizing people famous for being famous.....

I must agree.

Historically speaking, worship was not conscious either. It was not until sometime after 5000bc that people began developing a strong sense of individuality.

Animal sacrifice tapped into the same vein of pathos and zeitgeist within the psyche that football taps into....the true religion is one which is built on ritual and most people do not go to church ritually or follow "established religion" even when they consciously claim to. Worship is based on attention first. Whatever you give the most attention to is what you worship. In this way many french philosophers noticed that objects do in fact have a timeless, objective power over people that manifests subjectively within them.