Automatic God Belief And The Almighty Milky Teat

[Kylyssa]

Is belief in God automatic?
It seems some people believe that everyone is born believing in God, in particular, the Christian God.

Pretty kooky, eh?

[SteveS]

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway :wink: ) I find the idea that people are inherently born believing in the Christian God to be flat-out bunk.  If so, then why did the church feel it needed to send missionaries throughout the world to "educate" the "pagans" and "heathens"?  Because - they obviously weren't born believing in the Christian God  :roll:  

It doesn't appear to me that children are born believing a whole lot of things --- they seem to develop to believe that other people have minds like theirs - that they are aware of things that we are not, and that we are aware of things that they are not, and they develop to believe in an objective existence (e.g. object permanence), but I don't think anybody has demonstrated that children inherently believe in gods.  And the rich cultural reality of multiple religions spread out across geographical regions and time periods seems clear proof that they do not inherently believe in the Christian God.

[McQ]

Is belief in God automatic?
It seems some people believe that everyone is born believing in God, in particular, the Christian God.

Pretty kooky, eh?

I said it before. Kylyssa, you have a fan. Great stuff! Thanks for posting it.

[PigBoy]

New member; first post; finding my voice; sorry if this has all been said before...  (I think this is a compelling topic)

Belief in a god appears to be natural if you consider the sheer number of believers in the world.  To me this doesn't mean that it is automatic because nurture probably plays the biggest role in the propogation of belief.  Religions are especially "protective" of children because they know that if they get a person in childhood, then it's likely that even if they lapse in the "rebellious" years, they will eventually come back to the "true faith" when they have to deal with death of a close one, loneliness or aging/their own demise.

I think there is a nature aspect involved as well--as in a god gene--that gives the propensity for belief.  Ironically, I think natural selection brought about this gene because we developed from pack animals, and belief in a higher being provided the basis for pack control.  It also increased life expectancy due to less stress about death and danger and pack separation.

So, it's not automatic, but there is a palpable propensity.

[Whitney]

hi pigboy, welcome to the forum.  Feel free to tell us a little bit about yourself in the introductions board.

Anyway, I agree that religion is likely the result of social evolution...though, more like a bi-product of pack mentality than something directly beneficial.

[PigBoy]

I believe there are benefits to religion for many.  That's what's so intriguing about it and why so many get "suckered" (for lack of a better word right now) by it.  I think atheists do a disservice to themselves by denying that many lives are made better through faith.  On the flipside, theists do a disservice to themselves by always claiming a higher moral ground and benefits beyond the natural.  The trick seems to me to be coming up with the true cost-benefit analysis of faith vs reason.  I think faith does more ultimate harm in this day and age.  It's just a matter of proving that while at the same time showing how reason provides all the same benefits as faith without the baggage.

[SteveS]

Hey PigBoy - I hear you.  Reminds me of this guy I say on TV on some silly show where a money truck pretended to drop bags of cash and see how many people would return them.  One guy who did was driving a church van when he grabbed the cash --- he had a long criminal history and had been in and out of prison.  He claimed his faith in the church allowed him to come clean - which is why he unhesitatingly returned the money.  Doing so appeared to give him a great deal of personal respect and self satisfaction.

So I wonder - who am I to tell him he's doing the wrong thing?  I do think he would be better off realizing it was he, himself, who brought about his changed personality - but if it works for him I guess it works for him.  I will certainly grant that many people, who appear to be decent, "good" people, seem to find a peace and satisfaction through their religion.  My only annoyance comes when they assert that since "faith" had this tremendous affect on them then everyone should adopt it.  I would not find peace or satisfaction from following a religion.

I guess my only real contention is that faith and religion do not work for me - and that I don't think they work for other people because the religion is true.  They might work because people believe their religion to be true, but that doesn't make it so.

I guess in the end its personal to me --- and I won't bring myself to tell others what they personally should believe.  My ideal is far too libertarian to tell other people they shouldn't be religious.  At the same time they certainly should not be telling me that I must be religious.

[Kylyssa]

Oddly enough, I bumped into another one of these "Automatic God Belief" people today and had a lengthy chat.

[LARA]

I absolutely love that title Kylyssa.