"You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should be malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant." - Dogma (1999)
What are your religious beliefs? Do you believe some people are born gay? Do you believe conspiracy theories? 9/11? Did we land on the moon? When does life begin? Is there life after death? Is there a personal God who answers prayers? Does everything happen for a reason? Do you believe in childish things? Santa Clause, the easter bunny, unicorns, fairy tales?
I ask these questions not to offend you, but to get you to think about all your beliefs... now lets attack religion:
"I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God." -Thomas Edison"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectively on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein"I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He is even infinitely above it." - Benjamin Franklin"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythologies." - Thomas Jefferson
A person's belief is what's real to them. If we believe what isn't true, then we have deceived ourselves. And this deception feels real because we believe it. Its circular. This is how religion works. Why believe anything we cannot prove? Instead, have an idea. You can change an idea.
5 comments:
IT'S TRUE WE CAN'T PROVE GOD EXIST BUT SCIENTIST CAN'T PROVE GOD DOES'NT EXIST,AS A CHRISTIAN I BELIEVE IN GOD AND WHEN PEOPLE LIKE ATHIEST SAY PROVE TO ME GOD EXIST I CAN'T BUT PROVE TO THE 2 BILLION CHRISTIAN THAT GOD DOES'NT EXIST
WHY DOES IT BOTHER NON-BELIEVERS THAT WE BELIEVE AND LOVE GOD?
i just commented above i would like to here your thoughts contact me my user name at icefilms is premythous
http://forum.icefilms.info/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2899
You clearly have a strong "belief". Your belief = truth to you. And no one can convince you otherwise. Just as I believe in this chair I am sitting in. No one can convince me this chair doesn't exist. But the difference is my belief is based on verifiable evidence, and yours is not. If you really want to know the truth, you need to question your beliefs. "Does this chair really exists?" Yes. How do I know? I can prove it scientifically.
Because you believe, it would be a waste of my time to try to convince you your "chair" isn't there. So I am not trying to convince you of anything but I will respond to the points you made.
1. PROVE THAT GOD DOESN'T EXIST. - This is a common logic error. It is impossible to prove a negative claim without absolute knowledge: Prove aliens don't exists. You cant. Since no one has absolute knowledge, we can only prove positive claims: Prove horses exists. Theres one. So you see the burden of proof lies on the one making the positive claim.
2. WHY DOES IT BOTHER NON-BELIEVERS THAT WE BELIEVE AND LOVE GOD? - It doesn't really matter what you believe until you start preaching your beliefs to others. I know from your perspective its the right thing to do (I've been there), but if I went around preaching the earth was flat, people would get annoyed with me too, and they'd probably try to teach me the truth. But I'd know better. My ancient Gospel of the Flat Earth has shown me the truth. I once was blind, but now I see. And all the rest of you are in darkness. Come to the light and you too will know the glorious truth of flatness. :P It's kind of patronizing, isn't it?
I hope I've enlightened u a bit on the tremendous power of belief and its ability to stunt intellectual growth. Remember this isn't limited to religion. Beliefs are everywhere.
My christian faith is a little more complicated than a belief in furniture you make a very intresting point the burden of proof is on the accuser.I'm not one of those christians who force my beliefs on anyone if someone chooses to believe in god that's up to them not me i only help if they ask for it that's all and some people want us to preach to them and i do.One more thing why do atheist think of people of faith as unintelligent? I happen to a very intillegent man of faith and of science.PREMYTHOUS
Is this really a question you cant answer on your own? Or you just want my opinion? Okay, here goes...
I know of no studies that correlate intelligence with religious beliefs. Some people love "quote mining" to try to prove intelligent people agree with them. I have come across incredibly smart theist and atheists, but here's why people thing theists aren't smart:
1. RELIGION IS PRIMITIVE
Religion was invented in humanities infancy back when we didn't have science to explain the natural world. We had sun gods and fertility gods. There were earthquakes and floods. Without explainations we created gods. Science has disproved many of them.
2. THEISTS CLAIM TO KNOW THINGS THEY CANT KNOW
Not only do theists claim to know god exists, they claim to know which god is the right god, and which religion is the right way to interact with that god. I'm convinced there are really intelligent people that are devout believers of every religion. But I also expect these intelligent people to question their faith and eventually learn the truth.
3. CHRISTIANS DON'T KNOW WHATS IN THEIR BIBLE
In the bible, god has personally killed and has ordered his followers to kill literally millions of people. The Christian god is equivalent to a tyrannical dictator who demands worship under pain of eternal physical torture. He also encourages you to die as a martyr. All holy books contain contradicitons that can be seen by any critical thinker. But believers suspend their critical thinking. Learn your bible the fun way at TheBrickTestament.com
4. THEISTS RESISTS CHANGE AND PROGRESS
"Life should be malleable and progressive...Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth". They cling to tradition. If religion resists progress, and progress is intelligent, then religion resists intelligence.
5. GOOD PEOPLE DO EVIL THINGS FOR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
"Good people do good things, and evil people do evil things, but for good people to do evil things it takes religion." Sept 11. Suicide bombings. The Crusades. The Inquisitions. Killing abortion doctors. Being hateful and intolerant of others. The scariest part is that these people believe it is the highest good. That they have god on their side. And that they will be rewarded for their obedience in the afterlife.
6. FAITH
Faith is a poor measurer of truth. Any intelligent person knows the existence of god(s) is agnostic (unknowable). Any time you have "faith", you have to have "a leap", as in "a leap of faith". This "leap" is the suspension of logic. It's a jump from the logical to the illogical. There is no need for faith when things make sense. Therefore, anything based on faith is illogical.
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