god created the universe and let it evolve without any furth

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Malsane
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19 Jan 2009, 1:01 am

slowmutant wrote:
Is there a rational explanation for God? I don't know that there is.
Then why believe? I really wish I could understand this.

I mean, you know you have no rational explanation for believing in God, so why not believe in other things that make no sense? Fairies spring to mind. Every fairy tale has roughly the same validity of God, but most Christians dismiss other irrational beliefs as silly, while clinging fast to their own as obvious truth. What's up with that?



slowmutant
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19 Jan 2009, 1:10 am

Malsane wrote:
slowmutant wrote:
Is there a rational explanation for God? I don't know that there is.
Then why believe? I really wish I could understand this.

I mean, you know you have no rational explanation for believing in God, so why not believe in other things that make no sense? Fairies spring to mind. Every fairy tale has roughly the same validity of God, but most Christians dismiss other irrational beliefs as silly, while clinging fast to their own as obvious truth. What's up with that?


I've asked myself that exact question. :scratch:

In the case of fairies, I remain open-minded. Same goes for Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Mothman, and UFO aliens. I'm probably one of the more liberal-minded Christians you're likely to come across.

If I am not asking you to share my religious beliefs or imposing them on you in any way, why should I have to justify them to you or anyone else? If I'm not using my religious beliefs as a weapon or as a pretext for doing bad things, why must they be scrutinized?



Malsane
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19 Jan 2009, 1:16 am

slowmutant wrote:
Malsane wrote:
slowmutant wrote:
Is there a rational explanation for God? I don't know that there is.
Then why believe? I really wish I could understand this.

I mean, you know you have no rational explanation for believing in God, so why not believe in other things that make no sense? Fairies spring to mind. Every fairy tale has roughly the same validity of God, but most Christians dismiss other irrational beliefs as silly, while clinging fast to their own as obvious truth. What's up with that?


I've asked myself that exact question. :scratch:

In the case of fairies, I remain open-minded. Same goes for Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Mothman, and UFO aliens. I'm probably one of the more liberal-minded Christians you're likely to come across.

If I am not asking you to share my religious beliefs or imposing them on you in any way, why should I have to justify them to you or anyone else? If I'm not using my religious beliefs as a weapon or as a pretext for doing bad things, why must they be scrutinized?
Well, I was asking because I cannot understand faith, and was hoping for enlightenment.

Also, if I were to discover I had a strong belief in something that was not rational, I would be forced to rethink my philosophy. I cannot fathom how one can knowingly hold a silly belief. I would challenge my own beliefs for myself. You don't have to justify it to me, but you do have to justify it to yourself.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:22 am

Let me put it this way: there's nothing you can read or learn or intellectualize that will "give" you faith. Faith comes from the inside-out, not the outside-in. The fact of a person's faith has nothing to do with conscious thought. It is not a function of the analytical mind. It's beyond thought. It comes from a different place.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:29 am

That just sounds like indoctrination. Your faith is beyond question, because you have been taught since birth to never question it.

I was a Christian, you know. I could no longer continue the cognitive dissonant charade at about 16 or 17. I was finally able to give up my religion entirely at 18. I have gone on to form my own opinions about the universe. I have had religious experiences, but I am now able to see them for what they were. The power of suggestion made simple, everyday occurrences visitations from angels.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:32 am

Quote:
That just sounds like indoctrination


It isn't.

I was raised Catholic, but a Catholic upbringing alone cannot bestow genuine faith.

These thoughts are my own.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:36 am

G'day Malsane good to see your flaping avatar again, long time no read 8O

Slowmutant are you sure that faith does not come from within, I read an article in New Scientist regarding an area of the brain that was far more active in God believers than Atheists. Do you accept the possibility that faith is due to a hyperactive are of the brain


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19 Jan 2009, 1:50 am

It is good to see your Babel Fish as well, DentArthurDent.

You know for a fact that your faith is not a result of your upbringing? You are Catholic? You were raised Catholic, and magically have found that the religion of your birth is the right one? That sounds fishy to me. I know that my indoctrination was why I had faith. Those formative years really matter, and when religion is fed to small children, it's nearly impossible to separate it all out in your head later. Even as a Christian I recognized the unlikeliness that I was born, by chance, into the correct religion. However at the time, I was unable to recognize that it just seemed to be true because I was believing so hard.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:52 am

DentArthurDent wrote:
G'day Malsane good to see your flaping avatar again, long time no read 8O

Slowmutant are you sure that faith does not come from within, I read an article in New Scientist regarding an area of the brain that was far more active in God believers than Atheists. Do you accept the possibility that faith is due to a hyperactive are of the brain


Of course. Of course I accept that possibility.

But is that hyperactivie area in the brain the cause or is just an effect of something else, some unknown ethereal process? You see science as moving away from God, while I see it as rushing to meet Him. Science reveals the work of the Creator, illuminates it.



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19 Jan 2009, 1:59 am

if science were rushing to meet God, wouldn't there be some evidence of him by now? What it looks like is that you're looking at science, and coming up with a way for that to support your beliefs, even when it doesn't. You're forcing the evidence.



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19 Jan 2009, 2:00 am

slowmutant wrote:
DentArthurDent wrote:
G'day Malsane good to see your flaping avatar again, long time no read 8O

Slowmutant are you sure that faith does not come from within, I read an article in New Scientist regarding an area of the brain that was far more active in God believers than Atheists. Do you accept the possibility that faith is due to a hyperactive are of the brain


Of course. Of course I accept that possibility.

But is that hyperactivie area in the brain the cause or is just an effect of something else, some unknown ethereal process? You see science as moving away from God, while I see it as rushing to meet Him. Science reveals the work of the Creator, illuminates it.


Yes I would agree with that although I accept the possibility (however unlikely)that this area of the brain could be Gods actual connection to the person and the often recorded feeling of elation and epiphany is the joining of this connection,

edit: mind you I also accept the possibility of God, only in the sense that I cannot disprove the possibility


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Last edited by DentArthurDent on 19 Jan 2009, 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

slowmutant
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19 Jan 2009, 2:10 am

Malsane wrote:
It is good to see your Babel Fish as well, DentArthurDent.

You know for a fact that your faith is not a result of your upbringing? You are Catholic? You were raised Catholic, and magically have found that the religion of your birth is the right one? That sounds fishy to me. I know that my indoctrination was why I had faith. Those formative years really matter, and when religion is fed to small children, it's nearly impossible to separate it all out in your head later. Even as a Christian I recognized the unlikeliness that I was born, by chance, into the correct religion. However at the time, I was unable to recognize that it just seemed to be true because I was believing so hard.


You know, I was Buddhist for awhile.



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19 Jan 2009, 2:33 am

I did not know, but that does not really negate the point. You tried one religion for a while before reverting back to your native belief. It just screams indoctrination. You can't prove that your feelings are not a result of indoctrination. So far, you're not even convincing me slightly. I'm likely less convinced as I have been through all of that before. Of wanting to believe, seeing 'proof' of your religion everywhere, in one giant bout of confirmation bias. My faith was implanted in me from when I was a wee child. I fervently felt it, but it was still an illusion.



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19 Jan 2009, 2:43 am

^ An extreme example of this is the Amish, they raise their kids in absolute fear of God, then when they are 16 these naive and brainwashed kids are set loose without any restrictions into mainstream society, naturally many of them fall into an orgy of drug taken and amoral behaviour and come running back to the community with all the teachings of the big bad world confirmed. The Amish claim this is giving the kids a choice, BS it is a well orchestrated piece of cynical manipulation


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19 Jan 2009, 3:33 am

I am not obliged to convince you of anything.



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19 Jan 2009, 3:34 am

Malsane wrote:
if science were rushing to meet God, wouldn't there be some evidence of him by now? What it looks like is that you're looking at science, and coming up with a way for that to support your beliefs, even when it doesn't. You're forcing the evidence.


I'm interpreting the evidence.