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Old 10-08-2012, 10:16 PM
 
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What's that old quote, "you can fool all of he people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can not fool all of the people all of the time" That's pretty much how I view religion.
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Old 10-08-2012, 11:18 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC (in my mind)
7,943 posts, read 17,193,652 times
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I believe it has to do with a combination of economics and life events.

A lot of today's most outspoken young atheists were raised in strict fundamentalist Christian homes. However, most of them were also raised very privileged. These are the children of the '80s yuppies and most of them pretty much got everything they wanted growing up and didn't really ever have to worry about anything. All throughout world history, times of unprecedented prosperity like the US saw from 1982-2008 brings a distancing from everything traditional or religious. Religion is often seen as something the previous generation used as a coping mechanism for hard times but not something necessary in today's prosperous times. I believe that is how today's younger twentysomething generation sees it. Even though we are in a recession, we are still in very prosperous times in America. When, and not if but when, we see a collapse of Western civilization and see riots, death, and starvation in the streets of this country, religion will become important again.

The second reason is a lot of people who were raised Christian and were once strong in the faith have a life event happen so traumatizing they blame God for it. They ask how a good God could allow such a bad thing to happen and because of that they lose faith. Usually this revolves around the death of a loved one.
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Old 10-09-2012, 01:27 AM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,063 posts, read 107,021,171 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenneth-Kaunda View Post
Is this simply a psychology issue?

ok, if you were raised in a religious family you may find the idea of God harder to shake off, but how about the fundamental feeling that there is something 'out there'.

some of us believed in fairies, imaginary friends and little green creatures at the bottom of the garden - but most people grow out of these phases as they grow up.

but for some, don't the little green men turn into God, Jesus, Krishna, Earth Goddess instead?

and how about those for whom the fairies just turn into cold 'reality' - ie: atheism.

Is it all to do with brain structure and psychology in the end?
LOL! That's what I thought when I was a kid; that God, angels, heaven, and all that were adult make-believe. That's why Buddhism appealed to me at an early age--so logical! No imaginary beings, no Pie In The Sky When You Die, just compassion for others, taking responsibility for your actions (cause and effect), pretty simple, basic, WYSIWYG stuff.
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Old 10-09-2012, 04:51 AM
 
Location: Monnem Germany/ from San Diego
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I have always seen the term God as a simplification of an indescribable entity.

I personally feel that there is more to the world than what meets the eye and that we are somehow interconnected and part of a greater whole. Maybe our entire universe forms a bit of scum in a greater pond or something. Whatever it is it is beyond our understanding. Man created religion and god to put this into terms which even the most simple minded can understand.

I cannot imagine that there is a sky wizard in human form who created the earth everything upon it.

I personally believe that Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha… probably existed and were somehow enlightened individuals who brought knowledge into the world. They were “Sons of God” as we all are in the context that we all are part of the greater whole.

But that is just my belief no better or worse than any other.
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Old 10-09-2012, 05:26 AM
 
5,190 posts, read 4,822,634 times
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how about the idea that nature itself is God?

that would be the most 'rational' belief system to have, because we can actually experience it daily - so we have real proof!

so is nature Divine, or just the laws of physics in action?
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Old 10-09-2012, 07:59 AM
 
5,481 posts, read 8,511,750 times
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What I believe is that 500yrs from now people would look back on us and our religious beliefs the way we look back on the greeks for believing in such gods that we know where just mythical.
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Old 10-09-2012, 08:37 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
1,791 posts, read 3,171,604 times
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[quote=bchris02;26436024]I believe it has to do with a combination of economics and life events.

A lot of today's most outspoken young atheists were raised in strict fundamentalist Christian homes. However, most of them were also raised very privileged. These are the children of the '80s yuppies and most of them pretty much got everything they wanted growing up and didn't really ever have to worry about anything. All throughout world history, times of unprecedented prosperity like the US saw from 1982-2008 brings a distancing from everything traditional or religious. Religion is often seen as something the previous generation used as a coping mechanism for hard times but not something necessary in today's prosperous times. I believe that is how today's younger twentysomething generation sees it. Even though we are in a recession, we are still in very prosperous times in America. When, and not if but when, we see a collapse of Western civilization and see riots, death, and starvation in the streets of this country, religion will become important again.

The second reason is a lot of people who were raised Christian and were once strong in the faith have a life event happen so traumatizing they blame God for it. They ask how a good God could allow such a bad thing to happen and because of that they lose faith. Usually this revolves around the death of a loved one.[/quote]

This is my problem... although it wasn't a death, but just a series of bad life situations. But this pretty much explains how i feel spot on.
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Old 10-09-2012, 09:28 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,808,656 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wxf848 View Post
I think that both religion and irreligion have a common motivation, and that each is simply a different way that motivation expresses itself. People want a sense of certainty and a sense of security that comes from the belief that they know how things work and can, to some extent, manipulate their circumstances for their own benefit.

Christianity (the religion with which I am most familiar) teaches that God controls things. If we pray, He may see fit to grant our request. If not, then we feel better knowing that it's His will. This is basically carte blanche to feel good about anything, since everything works out for the best.

Irreligion tends to link itself to science and logic. Again, we see the same motivation at work. For example, science teaches about gravity, so I know if I let go of a glass I'm holding, it will fall and may break. I feel good knowing that I can prevent the glass from breaking by holding on to it, or by setting it gently on a stable surface. Of course, this motivation has innumerable applications.

As for why some tend toward religion, I suspect it's mostly about teaching. People tend to inherit the religion of their parents. But I see both religion and irreligion as accomplishing the same purpose, giving people a sense of security. Some find that sense by believing in a God that controls things, and others find that sense in learning physical laws. Either way, some kind of deity, or a set of laws or principles, or some other such system, becomes a god and dictates a person's thoughts and actions. A god is really nothing more than a thing that sets the rules, and there's no such thing as being without one. Without some framework by which things are assessed, there's no logic or thought or reason. I suppose I would reframe the question such as to ask why people choose (or otherwise acquire) the beliefs and principles on which their thoughts are based.
I think in many cultures and in earlier eras humans often viewed Gods as unpredictable and tempestuous: since natural disasters could not be predicted, they were interpreted as the gods being angry at Man, but one could never predict when this divine wrath would fall on people. I think humans invented possible reasons which could have angered gods, but they could never quite be sure. 'Just in case' they sacrificed animals, humans or plant offerings, did dances/rituals in an effort to please and placate God. At least the current main religions have set rules and a moral code which clearly sets out the 'do's' and 'do nots' lest God be angered and his anger shatter our security.
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Old 10-09-2012, 09:33 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,808,656 times
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I wonder if our response to unanswered prayers depends as much on how optimistically we respond to things in general that happen to us in life. If we're optimistic, we're more likely to believe that 'all in good time', while if we tend towards the negative we might fear that it is not God's will to grant our prayer or that maybe he isn't really up there or listening to us.
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Old 10-09-2012, 09:36 AM
 
Location: San Diego
990 posts, read 935,454 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
How so? Then where did it start? And why does it persist even after adulthood, even after one has questioned the existance of God as an intelligent adult and still finds reason to believe. Yes, yes, I know the general rhetoric about people inventing gods to explain natural phenomena. Understood, 101, skip past the basics please. What about that indescribable "thing", that connection with something greater that some of us feel? Where does that come from? It is beyond childhood indoctrination.
It started with primitive people who used myths and legends to explain the unknown. Did you ever read the stories about the Egyptian, Sumerian, Greek or Roman gods? Monotheism was merely a creation of man based off of these ideas to better fit with those people's lives.

Religions start off merely as a way to explain the universe, to provide people with a crutch to get through tough times and to help them deal with the brevity of life.

That "feeling" is not beyond indoctrination. You are simply brainwashed to think that way. You live in a society where it's beaten over your head over and over again and it takes effort not to fall prey to the superstitions. In secular societies (like those in Western Europe), the idea of "God" is far less prevalent than here in our highly religious society. If you had 100,000 babies and isolated them on an Island with no connection to the outside world and a group of secular teachers to raise them, only the crazy ones would believe in a magical being that controls everything.
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