So, what is this last step? As I’ve said previously, if it is to give up my concept of God, I cannot do it. Coming from five generations of ministers, I have the God concept put indelibly in my genes and memes. My problem has never been with God; it is with the too small God fundamentalists preach.
Isn’t that like one of the most fundamentalist sentences one can construct?
And I think that is one of the major general differences between theist and atheist mentality. An atheist would give up his nonbelief in God if valid evidence was presented. Doesn’t mean I’d worship that god but I would BELIEVE he exists . I don’t see belief as voluntary - either my standard of evidence is satisfied or not. I personally can’t believe things just because I wish them to be true or disbelieve just because I wish they weren’t true.
Atheris,
My so-called “fundamentalistic” sentence is based on actual experience. It is not wish-fulfillment. You don’t know me well enough to make such assumptions. Evidence does not always have to be presented as rational argument. It can be presented as a gut feeling. My guts tell me there is a God.
Humans are psychologically biased when it comes to that so not only that our “intuition” or “gut feeling” isn’t reliable, it’s completely unreliable when it comes to evaluating the existence of God or any other fantasy being. scientificamerican.com/artic … genticity/
What our emotions (gut) tell us has nothing to do with what really is, to evaluate the existence of something one should use their mind and senses.
You are kidding yourself. I’ve told you before that you misunderstand the idea of genes and what they are capable of carrying and doing: there is no “god gene”. Although people talk about it, it is not what you conceive it to be. I refers to a tendency of humans to see the world teleologically. Traditionally this has led to seeing the world in utilitarian terms, and to assume there is a larger absolute “purpose” to life, the universe and everything. But like fear of falling, fear of water, or other instinctual tendencies these can be controlled with reason.
I think you would agree that a fear of water has its selective uses; and in a similar way seeing a purpose it the things around us, has led humans to control their environment- to exceed the urges of our inner chimp.
As for memes, these are nothing more than ideas; ideas that impress on us everyday, from friends, family, society. Like any ideas they can be replaced by more reasonable ones.
In rejecting the your upbringing, the vestige of your family’s obsessions can also be rejected, like an appendectomy.
It’s not indelible.
If such ideas were indelible then we’d all be following Odin, Thor and Freyja.
Atheris,
You seem to believe that religion, if unable to be objectified, is false. Centuries of seers, sages, gurus, etc. have believed otherwise. Maybe there should be a physicalistics anonymous.
PA:
Step 1. I have come to see that my belief that everything is physical has hindered my knowing what is spiritual.
Step 2. I have turned to the deep core of my inner being for hints of spirituality.
Step 3. I will seek spiritual enlightenment in all my dealings with Self and Others.
More?
