Why do we believe in God? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

kerry · #1 12-01-2005, 03:14 PM

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/gilbert05/gilbert05_index.html

aklim · #2 12-01-2005, 03:44 PM

Maybe because we need answers and when we don't have them, we want them whichever way we get them? IOW, I don't understand this therefore we need an answer. Right or wrong is not as relavant as the fact that we now have an answer.

Carleton Hughes · #3 12-01-2005, 03:52 PM

Read The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker.

G-Benz · #4 12-01-2005, 03:55 PM

Botnst · #5 12-01-2005, 06:57 PM

The times that I have believed in God have been when in I was in terrible personal danger and when overwhelmed by grief. With the passage of time the need for the belief from those particular causes, lessens. I have been less inclined to seek God in times of joy and happiness. That difference is probably egotism of a sort--joy is for me while pain and fear are for God.

The intellectual pursuit of a belief in God is a different sort of thing altogether, almost a different God. For me, I think that Aquinas' various proofs attack the problem pretty effectively, though for some reason a satisfying argument about God does not bring me any closer to that which I seek, a reason for faith.

Ultimately, my desire or need for an intellectual God comes from being completely unsatisfied by cosmology. I find a causeless singularity imperfect. That's not a proof of God, but is evidence for a personal need.

Bot

dkveuro · #6 12-01-2005, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

The times that I have believed in God have been when in I was in terrible personal danger and when overwhelmed by grief...............................The intellectual pursuit of a belief in God is a different sort of thing altogether, almost a different God. .............................................
Ultimately, my desire or need for an intellectual God comes from being completely unsatisfied by cosmology. I find a causeless singularity imperfect. That's not a proof of God, but is evidence for a personal need.

Bot

SO.....you think you are mindful of God because you are intellectual ?

How do you account for primative tribes of people who worship a God or Gods then ?

.P.S. Wot's hairdressing got to do with anything ?

Botnst · #7 12-01-2005, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkveuro

SO.....you think you are mindful of God because you are intellectual ?

How do you account for primative tribes of people who worship a God or Gods then ?...

Did you read what I wrote?

B

dkveuro · #8 12-01-2005, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

Did you read what I wrote?

B

No !

P.S. Bad grammer ..!
.Shudda bin...." Have you read what I have written ?

Azimyth · #9 12-01-2005, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkveuro

No !

P.S. Bad grammer ..!
.Shudda bin...." Have you read what I have written ?

How is "Did you read what I wrote", bad grammar?

dkveuro · #10 12-01-2005, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azimyth

How is "Did you read what I wrote", bad grammar?

No, no, no, no.....Not : " How is 'Did you read what I wrote' bad grammer."

"Why is 'Did you read what I wrote' poor grammer ?"

aklim · #11 12-01-2005, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

The times that I have believed in God have been when in I was in terrible personal danger and when overwhelmed by grief. With the passage of time the need for the belief from those particular causes, lessens. I have been less inclined to seek God in times of joy and happiness. That difference is probably egotism of a sort--joy is for me while pain and fear are for God.

The intellectual pursuit of a belief in God is a different sort of thing altogether, almost a different God. For me, I think that Aquinas' various proofs attack the problem pretty effectively, though for some reason a satisfying argument about God does not bring me any closer to that which I seek, a reason for faith.

Ultimately, my desire or need for an intellectual God comes from being completely unsatisfied by cosmology. I find a causeless singularity imperfect. That's not a proof of God, but is evidence for a personal need.

Bot

Isn't that what they call "Foxhole Cristians"? Something about "There are no athiests in foxholes when the shelling starts."?

I tend to think of religion as a fireplace. When it is bitterly cold outside you want to step by the fire and get warm. Therefore, you build a fireplace in your shack for those times.

Isn't TA with the cosmological camp where they believe that because the universe might not have existed, we need an explaination as to why it does?

kerry · #12 12-01-2005, 08:16 PM

To what extent do psychological or sociological explanations of our belief systems effect whether or not we continue to hold those beliefs? Do we raise the bar on the reasons for our belief if we know we have a psychological tendency to accept certain beliefs?

I remember a faculty search committee I was on. There were two final candidates giving teaching demonstrations. One was a balding older man and the other a young woman with blonde hair and a tight sweater. Our initial agreement was that the woman was the better teacher. But, I had recently read an essay which analyzed student evaluations of teachers and showed that good looking teachers got better reviews than less good looking teachers. So, I asked myself, if I consciously think about the fact that I am psychologically predisposed to prefer the younger woman, can I get a more objective comparison of their teaching skills? I finally concluded that the man was the better teacher. I raised the topic with the whole search committee but no one was really interested in thinking about the extent to which we all might be swayed by factors not directly relevant to the issue at hand.

I'm aware that there are virtually no independent rational grounds for our belief in cause and effect, yet I happily continue to live life as a scientific believer. Not so with the idea of God.

kerry · #13 12-01-2005, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Isn't TA with the cosmological camp where they believe that because the universe might not have existed, we need an explaination as to why it does?

Yes. Why is there something rather than nothing if everything we observe might not have been? Answer: Because there is something that cannot not be.

aklim · #14 12-01-2005, 08:37 PM

Does anyone besides me think that we are so arrogant that we cannot accept "I don't know" as an answer and that we accept this concept of god because we want an answer and we cannot accept that this is something we don't know?

GermanStar · #15 12-01-2005, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Does anyone besides me think that we are so arrogant that we cannot accept "I don't know" as an answer and that we accept this concept of god because we want an answer and we cannot accept that this is something we don't know?

I don't think it's necessarily about arrogance (although arraogance seems to be a powerful component of Western religion), it's about wealth and power. An unseen something that's mother and father to all provides a powerful rallying point that's nearly beyond contestation. The grandest example of all is the Roman conquest of Christianity by actually pretending to adopt it. Talk about a power mechanism......