I understand that one would want to ask questions if they were interested in learning about religions, or possibly considering converting, but why do people feel the need to go out of their way to prove God doesn’t exist? We all want an answer to what’s going on, and we all have different answers to the many questions. The majority of the basics of every religion do not contradict other beliefs. The main contradiction between religions is the actual creation. Doesn’t the big bang theory require just as much faith as Christianity? I don’t really approve of Christians trying to disprove other beliefs though either. As I see it, we should all just believe what we believe (cause in the end, we’re all going on faith no matter what we believe), and not try to discourage others, but rather help others to understand our beliefs when asked to do so.
Another thing, is that I notice people often blame Christians (or other religions) for the problems of the world. It’s completely unfair to look at the people of a religion, and judge the religion itself, or even the people for that matter. No matter what the major religions is, the problems will always be the same. Leaders know that they can use beliefs (religious, social, etc…) to justify their actions if necessary. The Crusades, without Christianity, could have instead been a battle between people who believe pink is the most feminine of colors and people who think purple is. So why can’t we just be happy with our beliefs? If you truly believe something, then stop trying to justify it by proving others wrong. And if you are unsure, than make the effort to understand others beliefs in the hope that you might find your own. I mean, our lives our mainly controlled by faith in the people, places, things, etc…, around us. So I personally would consider any belief in the creation of the world (earth, universe, etc…) to be a religious view, including atheism and any scientific views. And as far as agnosticism goes, it truly should just be the in between time, when one doesn’t know what it is they believe yet.
Clearly the cause of our problems, isn’t the actual beliefs themselves, but the pride we have in our beliefs. This isn’t much of a question, but just a thought.
I’ve never been too interested in proving that god doesn’t exist. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to prove that to begin with. I’ve always been much more interested in getting people to take a step back and at least consider the options that are out there. Being 100% sure on something that cannot be proven one way or the other just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Stick with your opinions and your beliefs, but at least save half an inch of space for the off possibility that god does or does not exist.
Maybe I made it sound different, but I agree with what you’re saying. Some people have pretty high faith, like myself, but its always good to understand and be open to all possibilities. True followers of a religion understand that. It seems a lot of people don’t though, nor do they understand their own religion very well. I can’t recall which philosopher said it, but it was something about how a concept (especially one involving faith) loses value and meaning without challenge. But by challenge, I believe they meant competition, or other beliefs, not outright criticism, which seems to be what people of any religious belief tend to do to others. True believers would not do this, as they shouldn’t feel the need to prove themselves, by proving others wrong. This all applies whether you’re a Christian, atheist, Muslim, etc…
If you think someone’s belief is false wouldn’t you try and tell them? I say if people can prove me wrong, if anyone can demonstrate to me that what I believe in is false, let them do it. Let’s have it out; I welcome it. Let no belief be guarded or untouchable. Let the search for truth be the only sacred thing, and let no one assume they have truth or that truth is on their side.
“We” is the wrong word here. Why do some people feel the need to prove that God doesn’t exist? Because such people are excessively stupid, not realizing or understanding that a negative can never be proven.
Yar. I’ve never been a fan of blind faith (or blind whatever atheists would call it). If you’re not asking questions then you’re doing something wrong. You would think that there would be endless questioning given the serious nature of the topic, but it seems like people are perfectly fine with just believing what they believe and leaving it at that. Which would be fine and dandy if it really was just left at that, but then the whole rest of the world needs to be told ‘the truth’ and so on.
What is that truth? I think there are two separate belief types to consider in this context. One is belief in the existence or otherwise of a deity. There are few outside the USA who as their prime objective merely argue for the existence of a deity. The other belief type is based on the assumption that deity exists, because of a particular message reckoned, on account of its inherent nature, to be supernatural revelation. It is that revelation, as claimed, that is ‘up front’, not the claim that deity exists. Rather, there is implication that deity exists because of the nature of the revelation, that forms the message to others.
So the mental state that does not ask existential questions, but acts as if a particular revelation is true, is quite rational, even if it may not be true belief- and there are so many varieties of religious faith, most of them must be untrue. So while most must be mistaken in their faith, it is not necessarily true that people who are ‘perfectly fine with just believing what they believe and leaving it at that’ would become atheist or agnostic if their belief was to change. ‘Asking questions’ tends to lead to a change of religion as much as an abandonment of religion.
Is there some necessary difficulty about transmission of ‘the truth’?
I think the difficulty comes from so many variations of what ‘the truth’ is. So many people holding to so many varied beliefs, those belief systems all too often collide.
I don’t understand. Such a proof is impossible, in this context. What can act as evidence for something which doesn’t exist and is inherently inexplicable by logic alone?
The mantra of let people believe what they want, is all well and good until those beliefs are imposed on others who are unwilling to share them.
Religion, historically, is very guilty of this. I’m sure we are all versed in the various examples that can be given so I’ll avoid digressing. There are still sects of religions who still believe they have to ‘spread the good word’ so to speak.
I have respect for the individuality of personal beliefs. However, there is no believe that should be granted immunity from discussion or criticism.
I concur. And of course nothing should be exempt from criticism and discussion, but my question is, why do people feel the need to do so? It’s not like people do this in an innocent way or as if they are honestly trying to learn or spread knowledge, it’s more of a way of justifying there own decisions and pride. I encourage that people learn about religions and beliefs, in order to gain knowledge or strengthen their own beliefs, but it seems the primary focus for many, is not on learning, but on proving that the Judeo-Christian God, doesn’t exist. I guess I can’t blame them, because it is just human nature, that most likely stems from the significant presence that Christianity has in the world. If atheism had as big of a presence, now and historically, than we would all be trying to prove how God is real (not that Christians don’t do that now). My point really is just that I feel like people should be less critical (at least negatively), and try to focus on issues that are more important. We need to stop blaming all our problems in life on our parents. That’s essentially what we’re doing when us “young people” criticize stances and beliefs. We tend to dislike things that our parents believe, because our generation is a little more free on thought (which is a good thing, of course). We take things we don’t like about our parents (or any older family members, or even family friends), and apply them to their beliefs, whether or not it has anything to do with it. How could we not though? I even have a hard time forming a true opinion, because I realize it’s the same view as my parents, but I don’t like the way the treat it. For example, I personally believe in smaller government, but I know that that is a Republican view point. I know my mom is very Republican, and even a little excessive about it. That causes me to not want to be Republican (which on my own free thought, would not be anyways), which then leads to me having a hard time believing in smaller government, because it is a Republican viewpoint (which I don’t want to have). It’s basically conditioning. Anyways, I forgot what else I was gonna say, so I’ll just leave it at that.