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possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:33 am
as an apatheist, i could take the view of both parties, since i feel that theists have huge problems explaining exactly why they believe, i will take my throw on it:
wether or not people will burn eternally if they dont believe in god is unproven, the safest path to take however is taking the benefit of the doubt. If god exists, believers wont burn, if god doesnt exist, believers wont burn. For nonbelievers however, they will burn if god does exist.
However, where does this concept stop? There are some people who believe vampires really exist, it would be silly to walk around with garlic around your neck just for the benifit of the doubt.
I suppose the only difference between both concepts is the popularity. If everyone around you walked all day with garlic around your neck, peer pressure will probably convince you too to wear garlic.
So the answer to the question why theists believe, even though theists might not like this answer at all, is fear. Theists fear that if they dont believe, god will smite them. While atheists take the risk and say: well if god does exist, 'come at me bro!', im pretty sure he doesnt exist anyway...
Both viewpoints in my oppinion are perfectly valid, what i dont find valid however is that one viewpoint, namely the one of the theists, repulses anyone who has the other viewpoint. Each indiviual should have the choice, parents who kick out children because they dont believe, those parents should burn in hell.
Finally the reason why im an apatheist: Wether or not does exist, i dont feel like it has any influence on my life at all. It could be god doing a miracle or punishing me, or it could be pure coincidence, it makes no difference. The only thing for me that matters, which is my life motto: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:43 am
Really? Pascal's Fucking Wager? How about no.
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:45 am
I think it's pretty overly-reductive to say that theists believe out of fear.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:47 am
(This post was last modified: October 22, 2014 at 11:37 am by Chad32.)
The problem with the benefit of the doubt, and just hedging your bets by picking something, is that there are mutually exclusive deities. You can't be a jew and a christian and a muslim and a bhuddist and a hindu and whatever other active religions there are. Christians like to believe that their god is the only one out there, so you will pick Jesus or you don't pick anything. Even if you decide to go with an Abrahamic religion, there are three of them with their own divisions. Even if you picked christianity, will you be a catholic, orthodox, or protestant?
It's a long way between "there must be a creator" to "Jesus is the way the truth and the light".
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:47 am
Watch this video please. I don't think anyone has the energy to tell you why pascal's wager is so stupid, we've done it so many times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8BXyZXDqlI
'The more I learn about people the more I like my dog'- Mark Twain
'You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.' - Dr House
“Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life….but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.” - Chuck Easttom
"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:50 am
(October 22, 2014 at 9:33 am)jeroenymo Wrote: However, where does this concept stop? It stops with the realization that there are potentially thousands of religions with tens of thousands of denominations, and that many of them demand exclusive devotion (ie, you must worship their god, their way) in order to avoid hellfire. Which means that no matter what you choose, you'll probably get it wrong and burn for an eternity, so shouldn't you have some fun before the fire starts?
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:50 am
I wish I could be an apatheist
I long for a day where religion won't be considered an important thing by most people
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 9:51 am
(October 22, 2014 at 9:47 am)Chad32 Wrote: The problem with the benefit of the doubt, and just hedging your bets by picking something, is that there are mutually exclusive deities. You can't be a jew and a christian and a muslim and a bhuddist and a hindu and whatever other active religions thee are. Christians like to believe that their god is the only one out there, so you with pick Jesus or you don't pick anything. Even if you decide to go with an Abrahamic religion, there are three of them with their own divisions. Even if you picked christianity, will you be a catholic, orthodox, or protestant?
It's a long way between "there must be a creator" to "Jesus is the way the truth and the light".
Might be even worse than just catholic, orthodox, or protestant. There are 40,000 (!!!) Christian denominations, including well over 100 (!!!!!!!) sects and schisms of just Mormon.
And of the 40,000, either 39,999 OR 40,000 of them are NOT the One True Faith.
Totally fucking unsatisfactory situation. Totally.
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 10:01 am
(This post was last modified: October 22, 2014 at 10:05 am by jeroenymo.)
(October 22, 2014 at 9:47 am)Bad Wolf Wrote: Watch this video please. I don't think anyone has the energy to tell you why pascal's wager is so stupid, we've done it so many times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8BXyZXDqlI
as you can see im new to the forum, and i was not yet aware this view on things has been given a name: pascal's wager.
I will use this search term to find both oppinions on this throughout this forum.
(October 22, 2014 at 9:50 am)DramaQueen Wrote: I wish I could be an apatheist
I long for a day where religion won't be considered an important thing by most people
In the country i live (Belgium) Religion is so unimportant. Yes there are believers, but you can say Ietsism is the overwelming idea here.
wiki: Ietsism (Dutch: ietsisme (pronounced [itsˈɪsmə]) – "somethingism") is an unspecified belief in an undetermined higher force.
So yes there are places in the world where you can be an apatheist.
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RE: possible answer to why you should believe
October 22, 2014 at 10:08 am
(October 22, 2014 at 9:51 am)vorlon13 Wrote: (October 22, 2014 at 9:47 am)Chad32 Wrote: The problem with the benefit of the doubt, and just hedging your bets by picking something, is that there are mutually exclusive deities. You can't be a jew and a christian and a muslim and a bhuddist and a hindu and whatever other active religions thee are. Christians like to believe that their god is the only one out there, so you with pick Jesus or you don't pick anything. Even if you decide to go with an Abrahamic religion, there are three of them with their own divisions. Even if you picked christianity, will you be a catholic, orthodox, or protestant?
It's a long way between "there must be a creator" to "Jesus is the way the truth and the light".
Might be even worse than just catholic, orthodox, or protestant. There are 40,000 (!!!) Christian denominations, including well over 100 (!!!!!!!) sects and schisms of just Mormon.
And of the 40,000, either 39,999 OR 40,000 of them are NOT the One True Faith.
Totally fucking unsatisfactory situation. Totally.
Yeah this rabbit hole is so deep I can't even understand it. Whenever I hear numbers for active religions, and divisions between those religions, it boggles my mind that there can be so many.
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