Why Do People Believe in God?

[xsited1]

You are going to have to do better than psychobabble that completely lacks any details.

I can't believe you don't know what a personal relationship is. Have you always been a loner?

 

[AllieBaba]

No, some people stated logical reasons, some stated personal reasons, they are still reasons. Just because you disagree does not make them any less fact. Mine are reasons that many psychologists have agreed with.

Ah, psychology. The non-science.

Many psychologists don't agree with your reasons, too. Whatever they are. It's hard to tell from your odd, vague, rambling and nonsensical posts.

Also, Christians can claim whatever they want to claim. We have the right to believe what we believe. You don't have to believe it, but that doesn't make it any less valid. If we believe we have the one true God (and of course we do) whether or not you believe it, we have the right to believe it.

And in the end, it won't make any difference what you believe because the truth will be known. "Beliefs" don't affect "facts" or "truth".

 

[sky dancer]

Ah, psychology. The non-science.

Many psychologists don't agree with your reasons, too. Whatever they are. It's hard to tell from your odd, vague, rambling and nonsensical posts.

Also, Christians can claim whatever they want to claim. We have the right to believe what we believe. You don't have to believe it, but that doesn't make it any less valid. If we believe we have the one true God (and of course we do) whether or not you believe it, we have the right to believe it.

And in the end, it won't make any difference what you believe because the truth will be known. "Beliefs" don't affect "facts" or "truth".

Everyone in America has a right to believe whatever they choose to. Freedom of religion.

That includes the freedom to not believe.

We don't owe anything to each other to 'validate' the beliefs or non-beliefs. We do as citizens have to find a way to live side by side in peace.

The problem is it doesn't seem enough to Christians to be secure in being the 'one, true Church. Somehow everyone else on earth is supposed to bow down and supplicate YOUR church, whether it is true to anyone else or not.

If we're not careful, we could have a Christian Taliban in America. There certainly is plenty of militant Christian rhetoric.

 

[mattskramer]

100% mental masturbation. Not that I have anything against pleasuring oneself. At least you are honest though. Most people will come up with bullshit about how their beliefs are reasonable or valid.

Also, no one intelligent will say that we are a "chance" happening. Evolution is much more structured and rational than the silly nonsense you probably here about evolution from you fantasy preachers.

I am 42 and I have been debating it within my head for decades. I still think about it, try to reason it our and read from different perspectives. I have a small library of books allegedly trying to prove that God exists. I have books that dispute those books and attempt to argue that God does not exist. I have prayed, I have thought about the theories and arguments this way and that way. I doubt that there is one theory, postulate, or argument that I have not read and considered. Throughout my years I have been proven wrong on some things and right on some things. At this time, I have reached the tentative conclusion for me that one can’t absolutely prove that God exists. Also, at this time, I have reached the tentative conclusion for me that one can’t absolutely prove that God does not exist.

With respect to the issue of evolution and creationism, there is the “spinning top theory. God may have set things in motion. He might then nudged his creation every once in a while, creating what people refer to as a “miracle”. Yet, there are even debates about the “spinning top” theory.

 

[editec]

Two reasons, a desperate need to belong to something instead of being strong on their own, and a fear of learning because they lack the courage to explore the unknown and would rather have simple easy answers to all the hard questions.

Alternative explanation for believers is this...

We are humble enough to know that there's one hell of lot more going on in the universe than reason or science is ever going to find for us.

Just a thought, KK, such a retreat from the hubris of thinking that mankind will ever answer the real cosmological question:​

What does existence actually mean?
​

actually takes a rather couragous leap into humility on the part of believers.

​

 

[jillian]

Two reasons, a desperate need to belong to something instead of being strong on their own, and a fear of learning because they lack the courage to explore the unknown and would rather have simple easy answers to all the hard questions.

I think those are such negative reasons. And since the question "why do you believe" is better answered by a believer, I suspect that believers would have quite a different explanation about why they believe.

My own view is that people believe a) because they are taught to from birth; b) because they are uncomfortable NOT believing; and c) most importantly, because to some, there are things around us that *feel* mystical... are they? I don't know... but that response feels right. People search for answers in spirituality, they want answers... science tells part of the story; perhaps spirituality completes the story.

In kaballah, they say that what we see around us is only a fraction of what exists in the universe...... and only that part of the universe which our small human minds can comprehend... kind of like an abridged novel. When I read "A Brief History of Time", that made sense to me in light of that expansive type of spiritual pov.

Now, notice... none of my view deals with the kind of people who think religion is a crutch to make them narrow and small and diminish their world because man is evil, yadda, yadda, yadda. ;o)

 

[sky dancer]

Jillian- I agree with what you say that comes from the kaballah. Buddhists have a view of the universe that is exceptionally vast.

The Buddha taught 84,000 different meditations for liberation. How can any one person claim to know 84,000 different teachings though direct experience.

For that reason, it is impossible to say that is the one best method. We have so many different minds and personalities. All we have to do is find one that suits us, and quietly pursue it until goal is achieved.

 

[KittenKoder]

If one believes they can, they will see the air itself.

It still doesn't make the air visible.

 

[jillian]

Jillian- I agree with what you say that comes from the kaballah. Buddhists have a view of the universe that is exceptionally vast.

The Buddha taught 84,000 different meditations for liberation. How can any one person claim to know 84,000 different teachings though direct experience.

For that reason, it is impossible to say that is the one best method. We have so many different minds and personalities. All we have to do is find one that suits us, and quietly pursue it until goal is achieved.

I agree. Mostly, I think different religions are different languages with which one speaks with their creator. It's when humans get involved and distort religion into nothing more than a basis for establishing spheres of influence, or worse, a basis for believing there is only one path and everyone else is damned, then belief goes from a positive to a negative thing.

 

[sky dancer]

What I find difficult in the discussing the topic of God, is that people who use the term are not all talking about the same thing.

I always want to ask the person, "What is God, to YOU?"

When I talk about Buddha, I am not talking about a creator. I am using a term that points to an experiential state that any human being can experience. The goal in Buddhism is to rest in that state of mind, 24/7 throughout one's life. That is how benefit for self and others occurs.

That is far different from a Supreme Being that exists outside oneself with personality and powers.

 

[jillian]

If one believes they can, they will see the air itself.

It still doesn't make the air visible.

Also true... which is why it is taken on "faith" and not on scientific evidence.

 

[jillian]

What I find difficult in the discussing the topic of God, is that people who use the term are not all talking about the same thing.

I always want to ask the person, "What is God, to YOU?"

Yet, it's EXACTLY the right question.

 

[foggedinn]

If one believes they can, they will see the air itself.

It still doesn't make the air visible.

Once, thirty years ago, I drove into Salt Lake City from the north. I could see the polluted air around the city from a hundred miles out.

 

[KittenKoder]

Once, thirty years ago, I drove into Salt Lake City from the north. I could see the polluted air around the city from a hundred miles out.

*bops* That doesn't count silly.

 

[foggedinn]

I don't really want to start a new thread, but, I always wondered why atheists spend so much time on religious boards.

 

[KittenKoder]

I don't really want to start a new thread, but, I always wondered why atheists spend so much time on religious boards.

Not sure, but I think they enjoy trying to prove their ideals are just as right as the rest of us. Should start a new thread though, really. If you start it, they will respond, and so will almost everyone else.

 

[B94]

Why do people believe in God? Is it because they grew up believing in him, or is it because they just want to believe in a higher power?

I believe in God because men didn’t create the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and beyond. Since men didn’t create the universe then something beyond men created this existence. I was taught that God was the creator and so I use the word God. I believe that all religions are attempts to describe the unknown and seem to fit the societies they evolved in.
I can’t even prove I exist but I believe I do and so I believe in something beyond men too (God).

 

[chloe]

Once, thirty years ago, I drove into Salt Lake City from the north. I could see the polluted air around the city from a hundred miles out.

hey we don't have pollution like that fella

 

[sky dancer]

I don't really want to start a new thread, but, I always wondered why atheists spend so much time on religious boards.

Atheists take a lot of flack from religious people. Their views are defined by not believing in God. Many people say an atheist could not be elected as President/

I would say they have plenty to talk about in relation to religion. And why shouldn't they?

Freedom of religion in the US also means freedom from religion.

 

[sky dancer]

I believe in God because men didn’t create the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and beyond. Since men didn’t create the universe then something beyond men created this existence. I was taught that God was the creator and so I use the word God. I believe that all religions are attempts to describe the unknown and seem to fit the societies they evolved in.
I can’t even prove I exist but I believe I do and so I believe in something beyond men too (God).

I know you can't prove your belief. I don't believe in creation stories at all. Buddhists don't have creation stories because of the way we view the universe, it's contents and all beings therein.

But Buddhist beliefs can be discovered experientially in meditation.