Why do people believe in God?

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by aaqucnaona, Feb 24, 2012.

  1. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    I understand the concept of what Gravage is trying to say..as for me praying(which the is the same as doing nothing) wouldn't really add any better chance of survival.

    "An important part of personal growth is being able to handle difficult situations effectively. One of the most difficult situations is finding ourselves in an emergency situation where our survival is at stake. This could either be through an accident, like being stranded in a wilderness area, a natural disaster or through a man-made disaster, like a toxic gas explosion or an act of terrorism.

    Experience has shown that survival is largely based on your mindset. Some of the biggest mistakes in survival situations are made out of fear, panic or a negative attitude. Laurence Gonzales has written several books on survival psychology. In his research, he came across many cases in which people had survived extensive periods without any equipment, and others where people had perished with all the right equipment available. The human body is very rugged. It is often the mind that succumbs first.

    Staying calm and thinking clearly in a survival situation is easier said than done. It will be much easier if you have read books on survival. Plus, you will also make it much easier for others to stay calm if they see that you are calm, and that you know something about survival. Knowledge is the first step. (For a good guide on survival information, see The One-Stop Survival Preparedness Guide at www.one-stop-survival-guide.com.) Training is the second step. If you have been on survival training courses or spent a lot of time camping in the wilderness, you will have some experience of how to put the theory into practice. But most of all, it is your psychology or mindset that will determine how well you survive. This will depend partly on your ability to operate under stressful situations, on your adaptability and flexibility, and on your will and determination to survive.

    There are other emotions besides fear and panic that people may experience in a survival situation. These include anger, loneliness, guilt, hopelessness, and depression. They will all need to be dealt with if they arise. Preparing for them, as mentioned above, can make all the difference. Below are some tips for helping you develop a survival mindset:

    Keep it simple. John Leach is a psychology professor at Lancaster University who has conducted some of the only research on the mental, emotional, and psychological elements of survival. In his book, Survival Psychology, he writes: "Debriefings of survivors show repeatedly that they possess the capacity to break down the event they are faced with into small, manageable tasks" (Hardcover - Oct 1, 1994. Currently out of print). Identify what is most needed, and do it one simple step at a time. If you are the leader of a group, assign others simple tasks to do as well. This helps keep them focused and not worrying about the future. This point is critical in sea survival when you can have eight people in an eight-man life raft. If they have nothing to do, they can start feeling stressed out and more prone to feel seasick than they would otherwise be.

    Have a Plan B available. This point is critical in aviation safety, but it applies to all safety and survival situations. When people are in a stressful or dangerous situation they can easily become totally preoccupied about the challenge in front of them, and it cuts out the alternatives that may be their way to safety. For instance, if a pilot is flying in bad weather below the clouds (when flying on his instruments in the clouds is not an option), the weather can slowly deteriorate, forcing him lower where forward visibility is worse. If he has a Plan B already in place, it is easy to decide at a predetermined visibility and height above ground to turn around and divert to the alternate airport. But, without a Plan B, it is like having no options, so you press on ahead until your safety or even your life is at risk. You can apply this to any survival situation.

    Captain your own ship. You are the captain of your own life. You are responsible for taking control of your life and what happens in it. If you do not have this attitude, it is easy to fall into the victim mode of blaming others or outside circumstances. This sometimes seems like an easy way out, but in a survival situation it can severely compromise your chances of surviving. So use survival psychology to your advantage and take control. It will be very liberating. However, if you are in a group, this does not mean dominating others. It means being a responsible and helpful team player.

    Beware of denial. It’s easy to get lost and not want to admit it. Men are notorious for it (according to women, anyway J ). But, pressing on can get us into real trouble, especially in the wilderness. It’s best to put our pride in our pocket and admit what has happened, be it getting lost or whatever. We all make mistakes and we hopefully all learn from them.

    See fear for what it is. It is too late to wait until you are in a survival situation to start dealing with your fears. So make time to do it now! A lot can be said about the powers of the mind. There are books and organizations on positive thinking, meditation and strategies for success. They all involve the power of creating and attracting to ourselves that we put our attention on and imagine that it is going to happen. One of the keys is that you get much better results the more you involve your emotions. You have to get excited and passionate about what you want to become or to manifest. It just so happens that fear is an extremely powerful form of meditation, engaging very powerful emotions and using your imagination about what may happen, and thus attracting it into your life.

    There is obviously a “helpful” kind of fear, that when confronted with a physically dangerous situation, like we are about to get run over by something, we get that adrenaline rush that helps us get out of the way faster. But most fear is only an imagined belief that something bad will happen. The worst things happen in the mind (and on the movie screens, of course, as part of the entertainment industry cashes in on our weaknesses). If you reflect honestly on your past, I’m sure you will realize that the worst things you have feared have never come to pass.

    If you are spiritually inclined, belief in God or in something much bigger than us can help greatly in overcoming fear. They say that things (problems and challenges) are sent to try us, and it is not so much what happens to us but how we react to what happens to us that really counts. Prayer and faith can also help greatly in a survival situation, as long as we remember that faith is not a replacement for practical action but a partner to it. If you’re not part of an organized religion, just call to God or to the angels. Archangel Michael is the prince of the Archangels and the Archangel of protection." The last bit that i have highly emphasized is the portion that i don't have i have no faith in non
    -existant deities or creatures . I do not require such faith having been in survival situations( Getting seperated from my hiking group in 07 while on Appalachin Trail, survived for two days before i was found
     
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  3. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    I'm afraid you will need to explain further.

    If you believe this

    then why the poster?
     
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  5. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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  7. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    Prehapes i could explain in different way:
    A christian man is hiking in the rocky mountains, while admiring the beauty he falls down the side of the mountain and breaks both legs. While laying on the ground helplessly he prays " Dear lord, please protect me from your creatures" after praying to god a Grizzly bears walks by and notices him. The christian man having no real options at this point starts praying again " Dear lord please let this bear be a Christian!" the grizzly walks closer to him stands up on it's hind legs and clasps it's forepaws together and says " I thank thee lord for the meal thou have giveth to me" after that the bear eats the christian man alive.
    Make any sense yet?

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    Last edited: Apr 5, 2012
  8. river

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    because they are simple people

    with no reality of their own being
     
  9. Gravage Registered Senior Member

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    Well,it's more like a fear of being eaten alive. Nature is cruel, but so are the people...
    Cheers.
     
  10. Gravage Registered Senior Member

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    Pretty much agreed with everything you said, but the main reason why I disagree with Arioch when he talks about rationalism is the fact that too much rationalism can be wrong as well. Moderation is the right answer, that includes science. For example, several events happened to my mother (when she was younger), that cannot be explained rationally/scientifically (it started after 3 clinical deaths in a row).
    I have no reason not to believe her, and this is why take science as an absolute truth or the way how to explain some phenomenons happened. I wouldn't discuss this on the forum here, but it makes you realize science and skepticism is not always the right way.
    However in vast majority of examples (99% of the lifetime), everyday life and etc..., science and skepticism are pretty much always crucial and fundamental if you want to solve the problem.
    Cheers.
     
  11. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    And you think that this is what the essence of theism is?
     
  12. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    I believe this is the original version:

    An atheist was walking through the woods one day in Alaska, admiring all that evolution had created. “What majestic trees! What a powerful river! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 13-foot Kodiak brown bear beginning to charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow, he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. His heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.

    “OH MY GOD! …”

    Time stopped.

    The bear froze.

    The forest was silent.

    Even the river stopped moving …

    As a brilliant light shone upon the man, a thunderous voice came from all around…

    “YOU DENY MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS, TEACH OTHERS THAT I DON’T EXIST AND EVEN CREDIT CREATION TO SOME COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HELP YOU OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT? AM I TO COUNT YOU AS A BELIEVER?”

    Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, “It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?”

    “VERY WELL.” Said God.

    The light went out.

    The river ran.

    The sounds of the forest resumed.

    … and the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke: “Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive.”
     
  13. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    No...trying to explain the joke of the first motivational poster with this second joke was a fail. You really don't understand the humor do you?
     
  14. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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  15. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    I guess the moral of that story is " God hates instead of loves" and "Christinaity doesn't make anything better but a little more humorus". A plethora of logical falices detected.
     
  16. Arioch Valued Senior Member

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    @suriya --

    1. Presupposes a creator when none has ever been shown to be necessary. At this point this question is irrelevant and doesn't even need an answer.

    2. The first flower almost certainly bloomed to attract whatever pollenators were around at that time, though it may have been a carnivorous plant who was attempting to attract prey(I find this unlikely though). The only point of a flower is to attract attention to the plant for one reason or another. Besides, it's very unlikely that there ever was a "first flower", it's more likely that there was a group(or even multiple different groups) of plants who evolved flower production for some purpose, or it may have even been a "happy accident" of sorts that turned out to be a good idea and was thus selected for.

    3. Modern evolutionary theory answers the question of how humans came to be quite easily and effectively. Here's a good video on the subject, in fact Potholer54 is a great source for many videos on evolutionary theory.

    So, your first question is irrelevant and assumes things not in evidence and your other two questions have already been answered, you were just unaware of the answers.
     
  17. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    I think its more that, despite hollering about the evils of being dogmatic and fixed in beliefs, atheists have a tendency to be very much like that
     
  18. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    We have to be aggressive, ether we stay quite about it or we fight tooth and nail to explain ourselves before being persecuted you need to remember that atheist and agnostics are in the minority. So we have to be as dogmatic and aggressive as theist just to survive in this theist world.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUujzJRxNSk
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torcaso_v._Watkins
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_atheists
    http://www.atheist-community.org/library/articles/read.php?id=675
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=MTqZ4ucH144
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2012
  19. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    16,330
    Come now you can't say its not a running gag you have never encountered ...

    During the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, one morning’s executions began with three men: a rabbi, a Catholicpriest, and a rationalist skeptic.

    The rabbi was marched up onto the platform first. There, facing the guillotine, he was asked if he had any last words. And the rabbi cried out, “I believe in the one and only true God, and He shall save me.” The executioner then positioned the rabbi below the blade, set the block above his neck, and pulled the cord to set the terrible instrument in motion. The heavy cleaver plunged downward, searing the air. But then, abruptly, it stopped with a crack just a few inches above the would-be victim’s neck. To which the rabbi said, “I told you so.”
    “It’s a miracle!” gasped the crowd. And the executioner had to agree, letting the rabbi go.
    Next in line was the priest. Asked for his final words, he declared, “I believe in Jesus Christ the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost who will rescue me in my hour of need.” The executioner then positioned this man beneath the blade. And he pulled the cord. Again the blade flew downward thump! creak! …stopping just short of its mark once more.
    “Another miracle!” sighed the disappointed crowd. And the executioner for the second time had no choice but to let the condemned go free.
    Now it was the skeptic’s turn. “What final words have you to say?” he was asked. But the skeptic didn’t hear. Staring intently at the ominous engine of death, he seemed lost. Not until the executioner poked him in the ribs and the question was asked again did he reply.
    “Oh, I see your problem,” the skeptic said pointing. “You’ve got a blockage in the gear assembly, right there!”
     
  20. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    Funny...very Funny the two religious folks don't die but the free-thinker notices the error in the machine. Now after that did the executioner realize the mistake and kill them afterward? Or since it was such divine miracle did they just let them off the hook due to their belifes?
     
  21. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    Given that the title for the joke is "A time and place for skepticism" it appears that the two got off the hook ... unlike the unfortunate third

    Anyway regardless of which ever way you want to twist the jokes mentioned, its more about the nature of dogmatism of a certain type of atheist that drives the humor. Calling them "free thinkers" simply adds to the joke
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2012
  22. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    Don't get me wrong i understand the humor..however i can interpret it as this.
    " Logical thoughts or a skepticism of religons= Society wants you to die or society will think you are evil
    " Delusional thoughs(aka Religious faith) or spiritualality = Society wants you to live because you have faith in somthing.

    If one person has an imaginary friend they are insane...BUT if thousands of people have a imaginary friend then it's not insanity then it's called religon.
     
  23. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    :facepalm:
     

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