Re: Is belief in God a childish trait?

[JoeBobSmith]

a much bigger mistake, as is putting your penis in the toaster.

what?

[JoeBobSmith]

.it's irrelavent IMO

[Tank]

This is a discussion about how people believing in god is or is not a childish behaviour of the person.

a person who behaves childishly would do so w/ or w/o god...it's irrelavent IMO

I see what you mean but I don't agree with it as in this case the OP was specific in answering a point made by Devine which is not in this split off thread. Davine asserted that he felt that belief in god was childish, which implied that not believing in god was a more mature perspective. Another way one could consider the question is that all other things being equal would a more childish/naive person be more likely to believe in god than a more mature/sceptical one?

[Asmodean]

Not as much childish as pointless and foolish from my personal perspective.

There are far better causes to join oneself to in order to satisfy the need some people have to belong to something greater than themselves and there are far more worthy things to put one's trust into than gods.

[ForTheLoveOfAll]

Belief in god isn't so much childish as it is illogical or ignorant. If you know the science behind the origins of the Universe and want to believe in god regardless of it, fine. But don't attempt to impose on someone else's rights because you think your god said what they're doing is wrong.

[Davin]

This is a discussion about how people believing in god is or is not a childish behaviour of the person.

a person who behaves childishly would do so w/ or w/o god...it's irrelavent IMO

I see what you mean but I don't agree with it as in this case the OP was specific in answering a point made by Devine which is not in this split off thread. Davine asserted that he felt that belief in god was childish, which implied that not believing in god was a more mature perspective. Another way one could consider the question is that all other things being equal would a more childish/naive person be more likely to believe in god than a more mature/sceptical one?

Started Here

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." -- 1 Cor 13:11

Hence I put aside belief in a cosmic granddaddy and talking snakes.

That is one reason why I like the verse.

Then the question: "How exactly is believing in God childish?"

I think summaries work better when you're more accurate. You'll notice I made no assertion about belief in god being childish, but merely quoted a verse from the bible. My response to ForTheLoveOfAll was more about how as my ability to understand and think matured, the fewer things I believed until I no longer believed in anything.

[DJAkuma]

a much bigger mistake, as is putting your penis in the toaster.

what?

In saying something is a mistake implies a consequence for the error made, a big mistake having more severe consequences. Thus, attributing human qualities to a fictional being would have no real consequences so even if its in error it's still not a "big mistake" in the same way putting your penis into a toaster which would have measurable and severe consequences.

[xSilverPhinx]

I think that religious belief certainly uses and builds on childish traits and tendencies.

Children are naturally dualistic (mind/brain), and project their internal dialogue onto external things (imaginary friends).

They believe things exist for a particular reason such as grass exists so that animals can eat it, the sky is blue so that is can be aesthetically pleasant to our eyes, trees exist so that some animals can scratch their backs on them, the Earth and everything in it was put here for us...that sort of thinking. Not to mention the parental value of their gods, security blankets, not wanting to take mature responsibility for actions, and basically thinking they're the centre of the universe.

Children also don't question authority or "knowledge from above" and put their trust in those with more "wisdom" and life experience - something that's well explained evolutionarily. We all do that obviously, but a free thinker doesn't do it on the basis of blind faith. Some religious seem to feel a childish need for guidance.

[JuggernautJon]

Well...after modern science has debunked almost everything in history and followers of god still stick to their guns. Surely you can't believe the science is wrong. So what if 98 percent of scientists are atheist. They have an answer to most everything in life, and you cling to your ideas from the bronze age. ...

That post of mine probably sucked...

[xSilverPhinx]

Well...after modern science has debunked almost everything in history and followers of god still stick to their guns. Surely you can't believe the science is wrong. So what if 98 percent of scientists are atheist. They have an answer to most everything in life, and you cling to your ideas from the bronze age. ...

That post of mine probably sucked...

I think it's the other way round actually. Theists act as if they have the answer to life's deepest questions.