lrkun wrote:Theists allege that goodness comes from god. In denying the converse, that which is not good is not from god. If you lack the belief in god, where do you think goodness comes from?

Good as in moral? Well I agree with the evolutionary description of empathy being an advantage to social populations.

australopithecus wrote:

lrkun wrote:Theists allege that goodness comes from god. In denying the converse, that which is not good is not from god. If you lack the belief in god, where do you think goodness comes from?

Good as in moral? Well I agree with the evolutionary description of empathy being an advantage to social populations.

So where does goodness come from? (ps. If you are uncertain or don't know the answer yet, please tell me so I can skip into another question. )

I'd imagine the concept of goodness comes from actions that are advantageous, and we as a society holf them up as things to be aspired to. We impose goodness on actions that help us.

australopithecus wrote:I'd imagine the concept of goodness comes from actions that are advantageous, and we as a society holf them up as things to be aspired to. We impose goodness on actions that help us.

Jesus is also God in the Catholic Faith. Jesus died on the cross, was burried, and rose again in the third day. That is the mystery of the Christian faith. It is supposed to be an illustration where we, mortals will attain immortality upon the day we die. As a former Christian, what do you think is the reason why some people buy into this shit?


Is it because some people want to be immortals?

Is it because the story of jesus was well written in which it changed the perception of the reader as to what is real and what is not?

What do you think?


Comment:

My answer - The church laid the foundation wherein man is sinful. Every Christian thinks they are sinners. To find the cure, they must believe in Jesus who allegedly cleansed them of their sin, through dying on the cross.

Special pleading - I'll show you a set of facts wherein I'll nit pick only things which is beneficial for the promotion of my faith.


The following examples are some of the things in which if you think you'll realise.

Premise 1 God is all powerful, all knowing, and at all places at the same time.

1. He knows the snake will tempt eve.

2. He knows eve will take the bait.

3. He knows that adam will eat the fruit from eve.

4. He could have explained why this is so, etc. etc.

5. The enemies in the bible where created by god because nothing is beyond his control.

6. etc. etc. etc.

lrkun wrote:Is it because some people want to be immortals?

Is it because the story of jesus was well written in which it changed the perception of the reader as to what is real and what is not?

What do you think?

I think people buy into it because the concept of death is scarey. The thought of not existing is not something people want to face, even though they didn't exist for 13.7 billions years prior to their conception. I can understand why people would want to believe there is an afterlife, and if the only way to get to it is throught Jesus then they will take the bait. I don't think the story is well writen personally, but I don't think thats the point. If they're christians they will believe the bible to some extent. Faith in the bible comes after faith in god. I've never personally encountered people who read the bible then converted.

Do you think theists read their own bible?

Last question, before I head to work. Hehe, I'm beginning to enjoy this Q and A.

a. Do you think fear is the major contributor of why people believe in God?

b. If yes, why? If no, why?

c. If yes, what is your suggestion to get read of this fear?

d. If no, what other factor is there?

lrkun wrote:Do you think theists read their own bible?

Mostly? Not. Or not as in deph as they should. I think, from personal experience, that a lot skim the Bible or just own one so they can say they own one. I read the Bible more after I lost my faith than I ever did when I had faith.

lrkun wrote:a. Do you think fear is the major contributor of why people believe in God?

b. If yes, why? If no, why?

c. If yes, what is your suggestion to get read of this fear?

d. If no, what other factor is there?

Yes, definately. It's just the fear of not knowing, or the fear of consequences. We know Pascal's wager is a giant fail but it's going to hit home with some people. I personally enjoy not knowing everything. Finding out is more fun.

How to get rid of it? I really have no idea. I think getting to critically analysing why they're fearful would help but not everyone is willing to do so.

Inevitable nonsense is inevitable.

What I am saying is that I don't believe you. I can't be anymore clear than that. From what you have said I can gather this: you never had faith, you never did believe. Playing along as a child is completely different than understanding and believing. Most children play along. But to someone who ponders questions of anything, science or religion, they seek and ask. No one who wants to find truths seeks those truths wholly within themselves. If they do they are a fool. I don't believe the faith of your mother either. If she truely believed in the finallity of hell she'd be distrought over her husband and her son. If your grandparents were as strong in faith as you say I am sorry that you did not take the chance to learn why. To learn what made them that way. I'm sorry you've had such a limp and empty example of faith in Christ in your life. I can only pray that you would get out of your own head for long enough to seek the truth and find what real faith is.

Yes, I was a devout Chrisitian/Catholic. I was a good little boy who prayed every day, I was even an Altar boy (I choice I now know was a risk). I believed in God, the Judeo-Christian one that judges all and punished and rewards and everything. I believed as much as any other believer did. Difference is I actually sat down and thought about it objectively for more than 5 minutes. When you do that you kind of come up lacking in the 'evidence for God' department.

Not only this, you're questioning the faith of a woman you've never met, who regularly prays and goes to church. That takes some massive ammounts of argogance, wouldn't you say? She, being a decent human being, chose to keep her beliefs out of the lives of others who don't share them. This is a GOOD thing, and why should she be distrought? It's not as if not existing is hard or unpleasant.

I know why my grandparents had such strong faith. Because they didn't know any better. Simples.

Oh, and please don't pray for me. If your God does exist then I take great excpetion to you pleading him to essentially change me. I like who I am, so please keep you God out of it. I know what real faith is, it's the acceptance of things for which there is no reason or evidence to believe them. I'll politely decline.

There is a little irony in being skeptical in other peoples' faith. Wow, what a pretentious thing to say.

If the only job left for you requires that you have a religion will you fake having one?