"I wish it worked for me"...

[Sophus]

One thing I come across every so often from a few atheists is the "I wish faith worked for me" attitude. It's true that this more often expressed by fictional characters, such as Jack Nicholson from The Bucket List, but other well known religion bashers such as Trent Reznor even say things like,

I just don't understand how people can blindly believe a bunch of the shit they're fed, to believe it so that they don't think too hard about other issues. 'Be a good boy and you'll go to heaven.' If it works for you, fine, but it doesn't work for me and that pisses me off because I kind of wish it did.

Has anyone else felt this attraction to blind faith? Because honestly I don't understand it. Having experienced it myself I find the secular view much more fulfilling.

[Typist]

Has anyone else felt this attraction to blind faith?

Good question, thanks.

Hmm...  I can't say I have an attraction to blind faith, but if it happens sometimes, and it feels good, I don't argue with it too much.

I often have this sense that dead relatives are looking over my shoulder, giving me a helpful nudge now and again.   It's based on no evidence whatsoever.   I'm completely clear about that.   I'm not interested in convincing anybody else, even myself, that it is factually true.   But it feels good, and hurts no one, so when it happens, I let it happen.

What I have an attraction to is connecting with the real world which, for me, involves a setting aside of the world of abstractions in my mind, including theories about theism and atheism etc.  

And I'm sorry to report, you guys are not helping at all in this regard.    

[SSY]

I am pretty sure I would be happier if I thought that when I died I would go to a massive theme park made out of clouds, I would be able to see my family, all my friends again and have a gay old time for the rest of eternity, who would not love that? That kind of self assured, self comforting world view must be great for those of us who are willing to believe it. It brings loads of other benefits, the ultimate father figure, the ultimate shifting of responsibility, a community of peers to re-enforce your view of the world. If, for some reason, it all turned out to be true, god stepped down from the heavens and told us all that he was real, and that everything was going to be OK, who wouldn't like that? That world view is so attractive, it has a childish attraction to it, this warm sense of someone else making everything better for you, it is understandable that people make themselves fall into the most outlandish thought processes to sustain their happy clappy delusion. They don't see their obvious logical failings as a problem, they have their eyes on the prize.

I would be willing to bet that if you told most fundies, that one day, they would be atheist, they would be horrified at losing all the perks being religious brings, they would not be cognisant of the downsides, as they must be ignored in order to keep their proffered view of the world plausible.

As for whether I would choose a life like that, that is an entirely different matter. If your wife was having an affair, you would be much happier if you never found out, but even in  your state of ignorance, you would want to know.

[Tanker]

I will admit the only thing I envy of religion is an afterlife. Sometime I wish I was able to have the ignorant bliss of beliving I'll live forever after I die. Honestly though I would think eternity would get old. Forever is LOOOOONNNG time eventualy you would do everything, know evrything, see everything. Then you would be stuck with an eternity of extreme bordom and no way to end it.

[pinkocommie]

I will admit the only thing I envy of religion is an afterlife. Sometime I wish I was able to have the ignorant bliss of beliving I'll live forever after I die. Honestly though I would think eternity would get old. Forever is LOOOOONNNG time eventualy you would do everything, know evrything, see everything. Then you would be stuck with an eternity of extreme bordom and no way to end it.

I think the thing you have to remember about pretending about anything is that once you start pretending, any restrictions you place are also just you pretending.  So a lot of people wouldn't think of boredom as a possibility, because in their fictitious afterlife, you would simply never get bored.

[Typist]

The pretending is the act of stating we have even the slightest clue whether there is an afterlife or not.

[i_am_i]

How, exactly, does faith "work?" To me, saying "I wish it worked for me" is the same as saying "I wish I could be stupid enough to keep playing three-card monte."

[Typist]

How, exactly, does faith "work?"

I can provide proof that faith and prayer works, should anyone be interested.  

[i_am_i]

How, exactly, does faith "work?"

I can provide proof that faith and prayer works, should anyone be interested.  

Please proceed.

[G-Roll]

I am pretty sure I would be happier if I thought that when I died I would go to a massive theme park made out of clouds, I would be able to see my family, all my friends again and have a gay old time for the rest of eternity, who would not love that? That kind of self assured, self comforting world view must be great for those of us who are willing to believe it.

Lo, there do I see my father
Lo, there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers
Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning
Lo, they do call to me
They bid me take my place among them in the Halls of Valhalla
Where the brave may live.
Forever.

it does sound nice.

party with loved ones for eternity > rot in the ground

after saying all that i dont wish faith worked for me. just because it sounds nice doesnt mean i believe it.

[Tanker]

The pretending is the act of stating we have even the slightest clue whether there is an afterlife or not.

No, pretending is the act of stating we have an afterlife without the slightest evidence of an afterlife.

[elliebean]

The pretending is the act of stating we have even the slightest clue whether there is an afterlife or not.

No, pretending is the act of stating we have an afterlife without the slightest evidence of an afterlife.

Exactly. The lack of any evidence is a clue in itself.

[Typist]

No, pretending is the act of stating we have an afterlife without the slightest evidence of an afterlife.

Yes, I think you've done a good job of bringing us to the heart of all these discussions.

It seems that many theists and atheists believe that a lack of evidence somehow proves their preferred position.

By this logic, our lack of evidence of 99% of the universe before Edwin Hubble's discoveries, only 100 years ago, would have been proof that billions of galaxies beyond our own didn't exist.  Except that, um, they do, as we now know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

This passion for claiming a lack of evidence as proof of one's position shows that many of us, theists and atheists, really aren't that interested in understanding the reality, but instead are focused on social positioning agendas.

Lack of evidence is proof of something though, our ignorance.

99% of the universe.  

We had no evidence of it.  

And yet, it is there.

[Tanker]

No, pretending is the act of stating we have an afterlife without the slightest evidence of an afterlife.

Yes, I think you've done a good job of bringing us to the heart of all these discussions.

It seems that many theists and atheists believe that a lack of evidence somehow proves their preferred position.

By this logic, our lack of evidence of 99% of the universe before Edwin Hubble's discoveries, only 100 years ago, would have been proof that billions of galaxies beyond our own didn't exist.  Except that, um, they do, as we now know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

This passion for claiming a lack of evidence as proof of one's position shows that many of us, theists and atheists, really aren't that interested in understanding the reality, but instead are focused on social positioning agendas.

Lack of evidence is proof of something though, our ignorance.

99% of the universe.  

We had no evidence of it.  

And yet, it is there.

I never said it proved anything. I think it's beyond ignorant to claim a lack of evidence against something, is positive evidence for something. The fact of the matter is if you make a claim then it's up to YOU to prove it not the decenter to disprove it.

I hearby state I can flap my arms and fly like a bird. Since you have no proof to the contrary it's possibly true, at least with your argument. I don't even have to prove it, you have to disprove it. (hint pushing me off a cliff, ect would be ME proving it)

Or how about since there is no proof a teapot does not revolve around the sun in an eliptical orbit one really could be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

[Typist]

I never said it proved anything.

And nobody said you did.