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Do you think it’s unusual how many people believe in god?


I am open to other people’s belief’s but I simply can not wrap my head around that

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do i think about it daily? no, but when i do give it some thought, it is unsettling that 70-90% of society believes this way, but i try not to change anyone's mind because i realize i could be taking away their happiness and replacing it with existential anxiety, so it's just better to say nothing at all except when it tries to force its way into legally-binding legislation

the large percentage of believers reminds me that we're not as scientific as we think we are, and that large portions of society are simply not ready to exchange something (even if it's a feeling) for nothing, we're more willing to apply the scientific method for small things while relying on faith for big questions, it's just more comfortable that way

one way to describe it is feeling like i'm part of a play, but the people around me are either unaware it's a play or they are forcing themselves to believe it's not a play

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The problem is, the scientific method has no answers for the big questions.

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Not really because:

1) Systems of belief are passed down from generation to generation so it's not that uncommon for a belief chain to survive far longer than you'd think rational thought would allow.

2) Society was slow to erase the stigma associated with atheism. The idea that atheism was somehow immoral, while not necessarily promoted, wasn't exactly disputed for far too long. Likewise few television shows and movies portrayed openly atheistic character. As a result, even many of those who would speak in defense of scientific theories would often avoid commenting on how or if those theories fit in with particular sets of religious beliefs.

3) Like all negatives, the existence of god can't be disproven and considering the great comfort (and for some, strength) that many people find in their belief in a higher power, it's understandable why so many choose to still believe.

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Do you realize how condescending you sound? It's like, "yeah believing in God is ridiculous for us thinking folks but let the dullards have it if it makes 'em feel better."

That said, don't assume I'm offended because I'm not. Just wondering if you realize how you're coming across.

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Yeah I do get how it could be read that way. Although in fairness it doesn't mean I'm wrong. I would never say "believing in God is ridiculous for us thinking folks". I know many intelligent people who balance a scientific view with a belief in god. Personally I'm agnostic and while I don't rule out the possibility of a higher power, I also don't think any organized religion has got it right.

I assume the line from my post that may come off as the most condescending is "it's not that uncommon for a belief chain to survive far longer than you'd think rational thought would allow." But if you stop and think about it, am I actually wrong? I'm not trying to pick on Christianity but as someone who was raised Catholic and was an altar boy for several years it's the one I'm most familiar with. If you had a teenage daughter who came to you and said she was pregnant but was in fact a virgin and had been visited by an angel the night before who told her she was to give birth to the messiah, the rational part of you would tell you she was lying and you'd want to beat up whatever guy knocked her up. Yet I grew up not questioning this occurrence presented in a 2000 year old text.

Likewise for stories about talking snakes convincing the first woman to eat an apple from a magical tree or a 900 year old man cramming 2 of every species onto a boat to ride out a world wide flood. Rational thought would tell us these things aren't true yet millions from generation to generation continue to believe them.

This "condescending" line of thought isn't unique to atheists (or agnostics). Christians likely think Muslim and Buddhist beliefs irrational, who likely think Jewish beliefs irrational, who likely think Christian beliefs irrational (they all probably believe atheitsts to be irrational). All true believers of a particular religion must think those who believe in another to be irrational. We're all probably guilty of some form of this.

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I agree with a lot of what you said, but that wasn't really my point. Most people have their own beliefs that the feel very strongly about. The subject of God has been been debated for millennia with absolutely no reconciliation and none in sight. I do not assert that it is a fact that God exists but it's what I strongly believe. Anyone who says it's a fact that there is no God is either very immature or just outright hostile. I'm a big fan of science and at this time, science has shown absolutely nothing that even suggests there's no God. If fact, there is a lot of very compelling science to the contrary.

I don't condescend others for having different beliefs because mine are no more provable than theirs and I'm happy to discuss them respectfully with others but I will not accept self proclaimed intellectually "superior" people portraying people of faith's beliefs inferior to theirs. After all, ALL beliefs in these matters come down to faith.

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I agree with your posts on this topic, chilone. This was another well thought out one.

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I hear you and it can be a touchy subject. My intention wasn't to condescend but rather I was trying to point out (in answer to the OP's question) that many beliefs exist simply because they were passed down from generation to generation and many people never actually stop to truly question the rationality of what they've been taught (I didn't seriously until I was well into my 20s).


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Got ya. Cheers. :)

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Yeah good call on the tradition thing, people tend to adopt most of their parents beliefs.

It’s still so strange to me.

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Not all. I was raised in a household where God wasn't even a topic of discussion.

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One of the more profound thoughts I have seen about this duality is -
What is the point of an all-powerful deity that is merely a mute observer of the actions of the World?
It may be too simple to ask why does god allow calamity to befall innocent populations, but it's certainly something to wonder about.

In the book All The President's Men the author manages to shoe-horn in a passage where someone explains that if God had made humans to be like the angels, he wouldn't have created anything at all. So that we have to manage with evil and random tragedy has noting to do with the existence of God.
But I'm not buying it.
I think people believe in God simply because we have not yet evolved beyond archaic ways to manage the masses, and it's the only way to make easy sense out of our predicament. God = Father, he has a Son, a pretty simple way of looking at what is unknowable.

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I think it's absolute folly to try to analyze or judge God. He is running all of reality and His timeline is eternity and the "world" He lives in is vast beyond understanding. Our timeline is a few millennia at the most and our world is a minute part of this infinite universe. His thoughts and purposes are light years beyond our comprehension.

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I always found religion that is something that can bring people together, something to believe in, something good to rally around. It was also made more sense back hundreds or thousands of years about before science pretty much figured everything out.

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You honestly think science "pretty much figured everything out"?

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Many things, yes.

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Many things and "everything" are not even close to the same. Nothing that science has "figured out", excludes God.

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LOL

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As a believer in God, I don't find belief in Him unusual.

However, I do find the (often intentional) misinterpretation, misuse and abuse of theological texts to manipulate people, as well as the general seediness of many churches and various organized religious parties, a pretty big turnoff even for those who do believe. It's such a big part of religion - as opposed to faith - that I think most people are well within their right minds to want to avoid any kind of God that allegedly supports such things.

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