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Why do people prefer to believe lies about God?
115 Answers
In the short time I have been on this site, I have found that many people believe the lies that are told about God. These lies are usually perpetrated by the very ones who are supposed to teach us.
The most common lies are:
God is a mystery
Does not care about us
Is vengeful
Is unfair
He accepts all worship.
Of course there are many more which will no doubt raise their ugly heads during the course of this discussion.
The most common lies are:
God is a mystery
Does not care about us
Is vengeful
Is unfair
He accepts all worship.
Of course there are many more which will no doubt raise their ugly heads during the course of this discussion.
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notasyoungasiwas, //After saying all that, I so want to be reunited with my Grandma and Grandad and other loved ones when my time comes. This to me is why I am agnositc.// [sic]
It actually doesn't make a lot of sense. do you think by half believing in God you will be re-united with loved ones?
You cant really have a belief just because you want something out of it, that's not belief that is desire.
That's a bit like me saying I don't believe in God but I want to go to heaven so I will try, no matter how hard I try, its still nonsense. Me pretending to believe will do no good at all!
If there is a God up there, don't you think he knows what you believe? He is omnipotent.
It actually doesn't make a lot of sense. do you think by half believing in God you will be re-united with loved ones?
You cant really have a belief just because you want something out of it, that's not belief that is desire.
That's a bit like me saying I don't believe in God but I want to go to heaven so I will try, no matter how hard I try, its still nonsense. Me pretending to believe will do no good at all!
If there is a God up there, don't you think he knows what you believe? He is omnipotent.
Belief in God, as the expression is generally used in the world, does not necessarily mean ability to explain his existence or purpose. It merely stands for a conviction that there is a Creator. All too frequently, especially in Christendom, there is a strong conception of God created in the image of man rather than the way the Bible puts it, ‘man created in the image of God.’ Perhaps equally distressing is that “believers” in God often have no idea whatsoever of who he is.
OP - Your original post contained a slight flaw, and I would like to correct that for you... You were trying to write the following;
".................. The most common truths are:
God is a mystery - Well, faith in God is a mystery anyway. No empirical evidence, some tattered folk tales and oral creation myths combined to make some people feel a little bit better about dying
Does not care about us - Self evident, good point - Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions, famine, draught, malaria, war, the list goes on.
Is Vengeful - Plenty of evidence from the various holy books of how God can go off on one if you as much as look at another deity - How terrible to live with such insecurity!
Is Unfair - Again, self evident, good point - see list, above.
He Accepts all worship - Well, everyone knows there is just one God dont they? So actually all forms of worship must be going to that single deity? So therefore all forms of worship are equally valid - Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jedi, Pastafarian......"
Once we cross out that tiny little error of yours ( the use of the word "lie") and transplant the word you actually meant to use ("truth") It all makes sense.
I can be as tolerant of your faith as you like, so long as you do not throw it in my face, or demand that society restrict free speech in order not to offend, or that we have to change our society and our behaviors so as not to offend your faith. I will tolerate your faith just so long as there is complete freedom of worship, and no death penalty for apostasy, or other forms of worship. I will tolerate your faith so long as you do not try to evangelise, or promote antiscientific claptrap based upon nothing more than verses in a supposedly holy book . I will tolerate your faith when you stop brainwashing children into believing something in the absence of evidence.
See? Cant believe how tolerant I am really, considering I think all religions are an anchor to human development - one that not only holds us back, but warps all who come into contact with it..............
"Good people will do good things. Bad people will do bad things. But it takes religion to get good people to do bad things"
".................. The most common truths are:
God is a mystery - Well, faith in God is a mystery anyway. No empirical evidence, some tattered folk tales and oral creation myths combined to make some people feel a little bit better about dying
Does not care about us - Self evident, good point - Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions, famine, draught, malaria, war, the list goes on.
Is Vengeful - Plenty of evidence from the various holy books of how God can go off on one if you as much as look at another deity - How terrible to live with such insecurity!
Is Unfair - Again, self evident, good point - see list, above.
He Accepts all worship - Well, everyone knows there is just one God dont they? So actually all forms of worship must be going to that single deity? So therefore all forms of worship are equally valid - Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jedi, Pastafarian......"
Once we cross out that tiny little error of yours ( the use of the word "lie") and transplant the word you actually meant to use ("truth") It all makes sense.
I can be as tolerant of your faith as you like, so long as you do not throw it in my face, or demand that society restrict free speech in order not to offend, or that we have to change our society and our behaviors so as not to offend your faith. I will tolerate your faith just so long as there is complete freedom of worship, and no death penalty for apostasy, or other forms of worship. I will tolerate your faith so long as you do not try to evangelise, or promote antiscientific claptrap based upon nothing more than verses in a supposedly holy book . I will tolerate your faith when you stop brainwashing children into believing something in the absence of evidence.
See? Cant believe how tolerant I am really, considering I think all religions are an anchor to human development - one that not only holds us back, but warps all who come into contact with it..............
"Good people will do good things. Bad people will do bad things. But it takes religion to get good people to do bad things"
Religion is brainwashing. Religion is indoctrination. Religion is an excuse for men to control women whilst giving them permission not to have to control themselves. Religion takes way one’s need to do hard thinking, and provides easy answers. Religion gives power to a few over the many. Religious leaders pretend they can get their friend God to do to people what they secretly wish to do to them themselves. They have the carrot of heaven, eternal life, and the stick of hell, eternal suffering and doom.
Religion means handing over your life to someone else in the hope of gaining something in exchange which can never be proved.
Religion is fairy stories. Superstition. Mumbo-jumbo.
Religion means handing over your life to someone else in the hope of gaining something in exchange which can never be proved.
Religion is fairy stories. Superstition. Mumbo-jumbo.
Andyvon – You are wrong. Muslims do not believe in God the way Christians believe. Otherwise here is a very short but still so precise definition of what Muslims believe God is and see if it fits Christian definition of God,
112:1. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
112:2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
112:3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
112:4. And there is none like unto Him.
112:1. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
112:2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
112:3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
112:4. And there is none like unto Him.
Of course they worship in different ways Keyplus - that's the definition of different religions. But Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the same single God. They all say there is just one God - the same one named either Jehovah, Yahweh or Allah. I just wonder why people like Ratter are happy to pick on Christians but they won't condemn Jews or Muslims for their faith in the same God? Are Christians seen as easy targets while those saying exactly the same about Jews and Muslims would be leapt upon as 'racist bigots' etc.?
Andy – If you believe people like Ratters do not pick on Muslims or Islam then I believe you do not pop in regularly. Then to God bit, I don’t believe people would have made mockery of God all together had there been no trinity introduced in Christianity. So in other words people are not mocking God but model of God. And unfortunately due to the failure of that model they are not willing to accept real God either.
////@Keyplus - Well, condemning someone to death for switching their religious belief springs to mind..............///
That has nothing to do with religion. I can kill someone for my own interest and say God told me to do so then who would you blame? God or me?
Time to go for a walk.
////@Keyplus - Well, condemning someone to death for switching their religious belief springs to mind..............///
That has nothing to do with religion. I can kill someone for my own interest and say God told me to do so then who would you blame? God or me?
Time to go for a walk.
Andyvon, What does addition devoid of subtraction, or multiplication or division for that matter, have to do with resolving questions of truth? And since when has truth lent an ear to those who refuse to listen?
For the vast majority, it is much easier to believe a lie and to turn a blind eye to anything that refutes their cherished beliefs than to acknowledge the truth and face the fact that by virtue of their refusal to know and accept the truth they have elevated their own ignorance to the status of a god and by default demoted themselves to servitude to that which does not exist.
The inescapable truth the self-deluded refuses to acknowledge is that beliefs in the arbitrary have consequences in a reality which will not be denied. Whether or not such beliefs were instilled in us before we became capable of objectively weighing the alternatives and making a conscious choice, that which we believe, uncritically and without question, determines our choices in all subsequent matters relating to those beliefs. Inevitably the consequences of make believe impact us all as did the unimaginable, unbelievable and ‘unreal’ tragic spectacle of 9/11. It is in the light of such consequences we must all examine and weigh our individual guilt in having placed our trust in and beliefs upon the existence of an invisible, overseer of reality, the metaphysical equivalent of the very same imaginary friend which guided the hands of those flying the planes. It is at such times as these that what once seemed easy and innocent at the time of inception grows up to reveal the monster lurking in the wake of the alleged shortcut to reason which is faith.
Yes, it is the nature of the human mind that we are all entitled and to varying degrees free to believe what ever the hell we want to . . . but not without a price, regardless of whether we choose to weigh the validity and ultimate cost of adopting those beliefs at the onset. Those who choose to ignore the consequences of and their own responsibility for them are bound for a revision of the same horror they helped to unleash on an unsuspecting world. All aboard!?
For the vast majority, it is much easier to believe a lie and to turn a blind eye to anything that refutes their cherished beliefs than to acknowledge the truth and face the fact that by virtue of their refusal to know and accept the truth they have elevated their own ignorance to the status of a god and by default demoted themselves to servitude to that which does not exist.
The inescapable truth the self-deluded refuses to acknowledge is that beliefs in the arbitrary have consequences in a reality which will not be denied. Whether or not such beliefs were instilled in us before we became capable of objectively weighing the alternatives and making a conscious choice, that which we believe, uncritically and without question, determines our choices in all subsequent matters relating to those beliefs. Inevitably the consequences of make believe impact us all as did the unimaginable, unbelievable and ‘unreal’ tragic spectacle of 9/11. It is in the light of such consequences we must all examine and weigh our individual guilt in having placed our trust in and beliefs upon the existence of an invisible, overseer of reality, the metaphysical equivalent of the very same imaginary friend which guided the hands of those flying the planes. It is at such times as these that what once seemed easy and innocent at the time of inception grows up to reveal the monster lurking in the wake of the alleged shortcut to reason which is faith.
Yes, it is the nature of the human mind that we are all entitled and to varying degrees free to believe what ever the hell we want to . . . but not without a price, regardless of whether we choose to weigh the validity and ultimate cost of adopting those beliefs at the onset. Those who choose to ignore the consequences of and their own responsibility for them are bound for a revision of the same horror they helped to unleash on an unsuspecting world. All aboard!?
Mibn2cweus.
I see what you are saying, but doesn't that show there are two main facets to religion? There are those who believe in a benign religion and a benign God and they live their lives and worship accordingly. Then there are those extremists who have adopted a twisted view which has developed into the opposite of what the religion teaches. They are almost evil. They then use religion as a reason for their actions.
It's wrong to confuse the two and tar the good with the bad. That seems to be what happens on AB quite often. For the record, I do believe in an afterlife but I don't believe in a superior diety called God, so I suppose many would call me an atheist. However, people who live their lives in a good and harmless manner should not be lumped in with those evil people who do the opposite.
I'm just puzzled why, when some religions actively treat women as second-class and don't even allow them to worship with the men, other believers, fornicators and homosexuals as non-human etc that Christians seem to take the flak - especially when they don't treat other people like that.
Keyplus - I have visited AB for several years and got involved in these threads. It didn't do me any good though so I stayed away for most of this year (I was also rebuilding my car).
I see what you are saying, but doesn't that show there are two main facets to religion? There are those who believe in a benign religion and a benign God and they live their lives and worship accordingly. Then there are those extremists who have adopted a twisted view which has developed into the opposite of what the religion teaches. They are almost evil. They then use religion as a reason for their actions.
It's wrong to confuse the two and tar the good with the bad. That seems to be what happens on AB quite often. For the record, I do believe in an afterlife but I don't believe in a superior diety called God, so I suppose many would call me an atheist. However, people who live their lives in a good and harmless manner should not be lumped in with those evil people who do the opposite.
I'm just puzzled why, when some religions actively treat women as second-class and don't even allow them to worship with the men, other believers, fornicators and homosexuals as non-human etc that Christians seem to take the flak - especially when they don't treat other people like that.
Keyplus - I have visited AB for several years and got involved in these threads. It didn't do me any good though so I stayed away for most of this year (I was also rebuilding my car).
Andyvon, That which moderates the beliefs and actions of religious adherents is not to be distinguished in the texts of a particular faith. I am addressing what is at the heart of the issue. The moderating factor is attributable solely to the prevalence of reason without which all forms of faith must by virtue of their subversion of reason ultimately succumb to the lowest common denominator.
Religion, in any of its disguises only survives by virtue of the best within those who are its adherents, not the good intentions of those who happen to practice a moderate version of what their religion entails. To the extent that reason remains the overriding principle, religions are enabled to stay afloat when what they truly deserve and would do in the absence of reason is sink by virtue of their own non conformity with the reality they seek to abolish.
Regardless of the status any religion currently enjoys in spite of its less glorious, notorious and infamous past, reason will invariably be found to be the moderating factor.
Religion, in any of its disguises only survives by virtue of the best within those who are its adherents, not the good intentions of those who happen to practice a moderate version of what their religion entails. To the extent that reason remains the overriding principle, religions are enabled to stay afloat when what they truly deserve and would do in the absence of reason is sink by virtue of their own non conformity with the reality they seek to abolish.
Regardless of the status any religion currently enjoys in spite of its less glorious, notorious and infamous past, reason will invariably be found to be the moderating factor.
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