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Why God?

Started by Tank, September 04, 2011, 10:37:08 AM

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Icarus


Arturo

Quote from: Icarus on June 19, 2018, 12:50:47 AM
Repent ye sinners. So many of us are  are going to burn in hell.http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/younger-people-are-less-religious-than-older-ones-in-many-countries-especially-in-the-u-s-and-europe/

Something about "Are we there yet?" comes to mind. And the Dad always said "NO!"

So I guess skydaddy is technically correct in this situation. The best kind of correct.

It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Randy

Once again, resurrecting an old thread but I thought I'd give a personal answer. It probably fits the mold of quite a few.

When I was a teenager, I was short, thin, had a face full of acne, shy, and depressed. I didn't know what depression was until some forty plus years later.

I remember the day I was "saved". I was in high school, a private Christian school although I don't remember which year. But I remember the headmaster / preacher / owner of the school praying with me to allow Jesus into my heart. I felt love.

Now many of us have thought other's loved us. We "felt" it only to be rejected. It wasn't until later that I realized "love" is a subjective feeling. Subjective may not be the word I'm looking for but it is the only one that comes to mind.

My parents didn't understand me, or so I thought. My mother thought I needed counseling which I probably did but my dad wouldn't have it. Bigger kids bullied me, girls made fun of me, and the only thing I had going for me was my grades. I had friends who were in the outcast group like me.

But here was someone who loved me no matter what I looked like, no matter how I dressed, someone who would accept me just as I am. I had a personal invisible friend who watched over me. Suddenly my mood changed.

I think I was still depressed, pretty sure I was, but I had someone who would listen to me.

I am making an assumption here, however, had I not been suffering from depression, I doubt I would have needed a "crutch".

So maybe one answer to "Why God?" is simply that some need someone who is always there for them.
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

No one

god is nothing more than the culmination of mankind's arrogance, fear, and ignorance.

Basically, humans are Linus, and god is that security blanket.

Randy

God was a security blanket until he unraveled.
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

No one

Humans have been known to be the root cause of a break down.

Vivacious

Awesome write up tank, thanks 😊

Icarus

Here is an interesting snippet about how we may have arrived at the beliefs in omniscient and judgemental gods.

The article mentions that the display of religious symbols is believed to promote trust by others who might be involved in a transaction. 

For my own mental bent, Perhaps an unfair one,  I an hesitant to do business with a merchant or service person who prominently displays their fish symbol.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/big-gods-came-after-the-rise-of-civilisations-not-before-finds-study-using-huge-historical-database?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Randy

Quote from: Icarus on July 28, 2020, 12:34:59 AM
For my own mental bent, Perhaps an unfair one,  I an hesitant to do business with a merchant or service person who prominently displays their fish symbol.
I don't either. I feel like I'm going to be preached at or something of the sort.
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

Recusant

Alternate link: "Big gods came after the rise of civilisations, not before, finds study using huge historical database" | The Conversation

QuoteNew research we've just published in the journal Nature reveals that moralising gods come later than many people thought, well after the sharpest rises in social complexity in world history. In other words, gods who care about whether we are good or bad did not drive the initial rise of civilisations – but came later.

[Ibid.]

For those who are interested in the paper itself, there is a link in the article with an access token. It's the bolded phrase above and can be found about 2/3 into the article, in the second paragraph under the heading "Sifting through history."

QuoteOur statistical analysis showed that beliefs in supernatural punishment tend to appear only when societies make the transition from simple to complex, around the time when the overall population exceed about a million individuals.

[Ibid.]

I did a quick search of the paper, and thought the way they dealt with the Inca empire was unsatisfying. It breaks with their model, and I'd think that they'd give serious consideration as to why that is. They dismiss it as "short-lived" and appear to take that as a point in their favor, when it was not a failure on the part of the empire that abbreviated its existence, but the Spanish.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Recusant

Quote from: Randy on July 28, 2020, 02:40:23 AM
Quote from: Icarus on July 28, 2020, 12:34:59 AM
For my own mental bent, Perhaps an unfair one,  I an hesitant to do business with a merchant or service person who prominently displays their fish symbol.
I don't either. I feel like I'm going to be preached at or something of the sort.

If I were a mountebank, I'd certainly make a point of displaying my Christianity, though in a "tasteful" way. For some of my potential marks it would lend credibility and incline them to give me the benefit of the doubt. Most of those like Icarus and you who would see the ichthys* and be inclined to avoid my pitch, I'd just as soon not deal with, anyway.

*The name of the common Christian fish symbol.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Old Seer

Quote from: Icarus on July 28, 2020, 12:34:59 AM
Here is an interesting snippet about how we may have arrived at the beliefs in omniscient and judgemental gods.

The article mentions that the display of religious symbols is believed to promote trust by others who might be involved in a transaction. 

For my own mental bent, Perhaps an unfair one,  I an hesitant to do business with a merchant or service person who prominently displays their fish symbol.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/big-gods-came-after-the-rise-of-civilisations-not-before-finds-study-using-huge-historical-database?utm_source=pocket-newtab
The article is quite spot on, and very inline with our biblical findings. We determined that civilization "was" a/the religion instituted by Nimrod, the founder of Babylon.  In the biblical context civilization for the near and middle east was Nimrod's invention.
The only thing possible the world needs saving from are the ones running it.
Oh lord, save us from those wanting to save us.
I'm not a Theist.

Old Seer

Tank. Did you write the OP or did you find what's there from another source. If it's your original input I'm impressed. Much of it is what we  (OS) would agree on.
The only thing possible the world needs saving from are the ones running it.
Oh lord, save us from those wanting to save us.
I'm not a Theist.

Tank

Quote from: Old Seer on July 30, 2020, 04:35:24 AM
Tank. Did you write the OP or did you find what's there from another source. If it's your original input I'm impressed. Much of it is what we  (OS) would agree on.

All my own thoughts.

I also find your question a little impertinent as it implies I would plagiarise.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Old Seer

I know you didn't plagiarizer. There's to many differences, but I had a hunch it may cross your mind. Even if you were todo so I wouldn't care. We don't copyright anything.
The only thing possible the world needs saving from are the ones running it.
Oh lord, save us from those wanting to save us.
I'm not a Theist.