Why do people still believe in God? ( Archived) (178)

Mar 14, 2014 3:16 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
In the beginning when the world was still filled with scary unexplainable stuff people needed gods to blame or give the credit to. Pleasing the gods were the only way to try and control the world around them. Later on they saw they can use God for a lot of other things as well...like controlling people. They always had rules within the community but that was man made rules so they added God and eternal punishment to give more authority to it. To explain the evil amongst them they created Satan and then the fight began between Satan and God.

Now we know so much more...in fact enough to see that the world can go round without having gods to look after it. Even though the gods are redundant large groups of people don't want to let go of them. They must realize by now that the percentage of prayers being answered is very low, but they still keep on praying.

Is it just a crutch to the weak, a way to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, avoid facing reality or do they really believe God makes a difference in how things are?

Coming from a religious background and learning at an early age that the Christian God can't be trusted, I explored some other religions and their gods. My conclusion was if there are gods around they are not of much use. Maybe they are busy watching human sacrifices by primitive people on the latest planet they have created. Taking bets on who is going to become the supreme god of that planet.

I know I am more than just my body, my personality and my mind as I have the seed of life, that can't be destroyed, within me. When I die my body, personality and mind will rot and fade away. The spark of life will continue within some other living thing without any trace of me attached to it. My life is not empty and meaningless without a god or eternal life in heaven to look forward to. Life is filled with millions of opportunities waiting to be explored. So I live it as it comes along...sometimes reluctantly and sometimes with passion.

Bring me a god who is reliable, trustworthy, unconditionally loving, fair, available when needed and can manifest himself in a clear way so we need not doubt his existence. Then and only then will I believe again.
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Mar 14, 2014 3:28 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
Great to hear that life is not empty and not meaningless, but if you ever want to go back, God will be waiting to welcome you back. wine
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Mar 14, 2014 3:59 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
Dedovix
DedovixDedovixBig Place, Central Serbia Serbia12 Threads 1 Polls 5,492 Posts
This is a stone pyramid about ten inches high. It was found in the 80s in the jungles of Ecuador,



on the bottom of the pyramid is an inscription in a pre-sanscrit writting which translated means "The Son Of The Creator Comes From Here ..." the dots shows the constellation of Orion.



my point here is that every civilization had a concept of God , a higher being .
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Mar 14, 2014 4:17 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
sophiasummer
sophiasummersophiasummerNorthland, New Zealand112 Threads 6,528 Posts
Maybe its their final hand hold.
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Mar 14, 2014 4:38 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
Wandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: "My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly." This stranger is a theologian.
-- Denis Diderot, Addition aux Pensees philosophiques, from John Daintith, et al, eds. The Macmillan Dictionary of Quotations (2000) p. 34, quoted from R, Rotando, in a personal letter to Cliff Walker (December 17, 2001)

The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and ... people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion.
-- Denis Diderot, Conversations with a Christian Lady (1777), repr. in Lester G Crocker, ed, Selected Writings, ed. (1966), quoted from The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations

Let us not talk of that great and beautiful spectacle which was never made for me! ...
We encounter some phenomenon that is, in our opinion, beyond the powers of man, and immediately we say, 'Is it the work of God'. Our vanity will admit no lesser explanation. Can we not reason with a little less pride and a little more philosophy? If nature presents us with a knot that is difficult to untie, then let us leave it as it is, let us not insist on cutting it there and then and on employing for the task the hand of a being who thereupon becomes a knot even more difficult to untie than the first. Ask an Indian why the globe remains suspended in the air and he will reply that it is borne on the back of an elephant. And on what does the elephant rest? On a tortoise. And the tortoise, who supports that?
--
Denis Diderot, using the perspective of a blind person to query natural religion and the idea that a deity was evident in the marvels of nature, in a dying speech invented for the famous English mathematician Nicholas Saunderson (although Saunderson had made no such speech and the Royal Society was indignant: this kind of inaccuracy gave an advantage to Diderot's opponents, but was characteristic of his prodigious and effervescent talent), during the aftermath of his Letter to the Blind (two editions published in 1749), which was occasioned by the successful cataract operation on a young girl, quoted from and citation quips derived from Jim Herrick, Against the Faith (1985), pp. 73-4

Mme La Maréchale: Are you not Monsieur Crudeli?
Crudeli: Yes, Madame.
Mme La Maréchale: Then you're the man who doesn't believe in anything.
Crudeli: In person, madame.
Mme La Maréchale: Yet your moral principles are the same as those of a believer?
Crudeli: Why should they not be -- as long as the believer is an honest man?
Mme La Maréchale: And do you act upon your principles?
Crudeli: To the best of my ability.
Mme La Maréchale: What? You don't steal? You don't kill people? You don't rob them?
Crudeli: Very rarely.
Mme La Maréchale: Then what do you gain by not being a believer?
Crudeli: Nothing at all, madame. Is one a believer from motives of profit?
-- Denis Diderot, "Conversation with a Christian Lady" (1774), trans. Derek Coltman, quoted from S T Joshi, ed, Atheism: A Reader, p. 229
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Mar 14, 2014 5:05 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
AesopsFables
AesopsFablesAesopsFablesDurban, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa16 Posts
Hullo ekself. That's a great write-up.

You might want to check out this:

If you click on 'What is Eckankar' on the top left you get a sub menu.

The movie 'The Matrix' put it nicely but was about a situation down here. If we look at the matrix on a grander scale, then we see the illusion created by certain being who masquerades as the true Eternal God/Creator. This being guards the access to the hidden realms and allows only those souls who are ready for the next step but It/He does not easily surrender to the discerning soul. One has to see through the illusion and be convinced of the existence of something higher and better.

you have reached the point where you realize this is all a sham, that there has to be something greater than all this. I am babbling at the risk of getting reprimanded for revealing too much.

I trust you find useful information there for your next step. Interesting name.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:26 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
CuddlingSoul: Great to hear that life is not empty and not meaningless, but if you ever want to go back, God will be waiting to welcome you back.


The God created by religion...thanks but won't ever want to do that.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:31 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
Dedovix: This is a stone pyramid about ten inches high. It was found in the 80s in the jungles of Ecuador,



on the bottom of the pyramid is an inscription in a pre-sanscrit writting which translated means "The Son Of The Creator Comes From Here ..." the dots shows the constellation of Orion.



my point here is that every civilization had a concept of God , a higher being .


Yes think it is in our genes...the want to believe in something greater than us. Does it need to be a God who is pretty much like a human with the power to do what he likes. Sounds a bit dangerous to me to have someone like that hovering over us. confused
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Mar 14, 2014 5:32 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
AgentAjax
AgentAjaxAgentAjaxBrisbane, Queensland Australia81 Threads 1 Polls 3,965 Posts
Nice write.

I think people find it hard to come to terms with, after all the struggles in life death is the final reward.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:36 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
AesopsFables
AesopsFablesAesopsFablesDurban, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa16 Posts
Ekself I have a book which you may find interesting. If you're inclined to have a look at it please forward your email address either here or through my profile, and I'll mail it to you. Thanks.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:40 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
Mme La Maréchale: Are you not Monsieur Crudeli?
Crudeli: Yes, Madame.
Mme La Maréchale: Then you're the man who doesn't believe in anything.
Crudeli: In person, madame.
Mme La Maréchale: Yet your moral principles are the same as those of a believer?
Crudeli: Why should they not be -- as long as the believer is an honest man?
Mme La Maréchale: And do you act upon your principles?
Crudeli: To the best of my ability.
Mme La Maréchale: What? You don't steal? You don't kill people? You don't rob them?
Crudeli: Very rarely.
Mme La Maréchale: Then what do you gain by not being a believer?
Crudeli: Nothing at all, madame. Is one a believer from motives of profit?
-- Denis Diderot, "Conversation with a Christian Lady" (1774), trans. Derek Coltman, quoted from S T Joshi, ed, Atheism: A Reader, p. 229

That is one of religious peoples main arguments that there will be chaos without religion. What they don't realize is that it is the police and punishment that keep most people from stealing and murdering others not religion. People can be "good" without having a God telling them to, or rewarding them for that.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:47 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
AesopsFables: Hullo ekself. That's a great write-up.

You might want to check out this:

If you click on 'What is Eckankar' on the top left you get a sub menu.

The movie 'The Matrix' put it nicely but was about a situation down here. If we look at the matrix on a grander scale, then we see the illusion created by certain being who masquerades as the true Eternal God/Creator. This being guards the access to the hidden realms and allows only those souls who are ready for the next step but It/He does not easily surrender to the discerning soul. One has to see through the illusion and be convinced of the existence of something higher and better.

you have reached the point where you realize this is all a sham, that there has to be something greater than all this. I am babbling at the risk of getting reprimanded for revealing too much.

I trust you find useful information there for your next step. Interesting name.


Thanks but I have already found what I was looking for so my search is over. That is a part of me I don't want to discuss on the forums. Also don't really have words to explain or describe it.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:51 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
AgentAjax: Nice write.

I think people find it hard to come to terms with, after all the struggles in life death is the final reward.


I know but the reward sounds pretty lame to me. If you float around in eternal bliss you can just as well not exist.
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Mar 14, 2014 5:59 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
unlaoised
unlaoisedunlaoisedTwilight zone, Wicklow Ireland34 Threads 12,152 Posts
ekself: Yes think it is in our genes...the want to believe in something greater than us. Does it need to be a God who is pretty much like a human with the power to do what he likes. Sounds a bit dangerous to me to have someone like that hovering over us.


Excellent post, Ek. bouquet

I think, for some, it's comforting to believe that someone/something else is in control of things. It removes responsibility somewhat.
For me, I cannot reconcile the hypocrisy of a "loving god".
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Mar 14, 2014 6:02 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
RDM59
RDM59RDM59Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland UK92 Threads 5 Polls 14,070 Posts
ekself: I know but the reward sounds pretty lame to me. If you float around in eternal bliss you can just as well not exist.


But remember the alternative religious threat of being condemned to an afterlife of eternal hell for the non believers. Perhaps that's where the real power lies. Fear.
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Mar 14, 2014 6:04 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
sophiasummer
sophiasummersophiasummerNorthland, New Zealand112 Threads 6,528 Posts
ekself: Thanks but I have already found what I was looking for so my search is over. That is a part of me I don't want to discuss on the forums. Also don't really have words to explain or describe it.


Now that interests me, what have you found? Please share. If things within our life encourages oneself to brightness of knowing a centered wellbeing, flay it open/share.. Bless you.

Soph
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Mar 14, 2014 6:09 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
RDM59: But remember the alternative religious threat of being condemned to an afterlife of eternal hell for the non believers. Perhaps that's where the real power lies. Fear.


I'll take my chances on that. If there is nothing but pain you become the pain so existence is also not possible.
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Mar 14, 2014 6:10 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
unlaoised
unlaoisedunlaoisedTwilight zone, Wicklow Ireland34 Threads 12,152 Posts
RDM59: But remember the alternative religious threat of being condemned to an afterlife of eternal hell for the non believers. Perhaps that's where the real power lies. Fear.


thumbs up
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Mar 14, 2014 6:10 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
For one thing people do not seem to agree on what God is. Some believe that God is of the material world and some believe that God is much more and without measure. People have come to believe so strongly that God is a body and that seems to work for many. Others see a different world and that there is not one "single" path to enlightenment and what some might describe as "Heaven". The one thing that I have found is that people that have truly found a clarity or a state of enlightenment usually are not spending time debating to which is right and why people should enter through their door. Some of the most enlightened people simply smiled and lived the life they found to be peaceful.
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Mar 14, 2014 6:14 AM CST Why do people still believe in God?
ekself
ekselfekselfOnehorsetown, Eastern Cape South Africa8 Threads 261 Posts
unlaoised: Excellent post, Ek.

I think, for some, it's comforting to believe that someone/something else is in control of things. It removes responsibility somewhat.
For me, I cannot reconcile the hypocrisy of a "loving god".


Don't forget it is unconditional love. Read a horror story about a woman who claimed she went to hell and walked around there with Jesus at her side. She claimed she begged him to have mercy but even thought the tears were streaming down his face he told her it was too late for them. So much for a loving God. Burned the book as something like that should not be around to scar young children for life.
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