What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?

[Excited Penguin]

My basic argument comes from a different place. You can cite me all sorts of reasons why you think people will still be religious or believe in god in the future, but for me it's pretty clear why they won't. And the reason is, we're all the same at some basic level. We all have the same brains. If I could do it, so can the rest of the world.

[Excited Penguin]

What exactly do you mean by projecting?

[SteveII]

I have a question.

As many of you admit, the philosophical arguments for the existence of God works best for those that already have a propensity to believe in God (raised that way, exposed through family or friends, or an evangelist ministry of some kind that resonated with them or met their needs in other ways). In that way, the arguments provide affirmation of what they believe to be true from other sources.

I have seen first hand, that apologetics in the last 10 years is on a HUGE upswing in churches. Almost every church has a periodic class or a study looking through the philosophical arguments, reviewing those things that science can't explain, picking apart scientism and pointing out the logical implications of such a belief system. It is great sport to pick apart Dawkins and other spokesmen of the "New Atheist" movement. I wonder if Dawkins et al efforts have not actually been counter-productive and instead galvanized the church into much needed education. 

If 90% of the world believes in God and 31% (and growing) are Christians, it seems that your "there is no evidence for God" theme is not getting out. Include the above observation that the philosophical arguments will be more effective in this group anyway, and it seems unlikely to change. I am not mocking you, I simply want to know what you think will happen in the future. Do you think science will provide some sort of answer(s) to combat the huge imbalance (it sure doesn't look like it is going to be philosophy)? If science, what things in particular might make a difference?

Who is your favorite "god" creature?  There are thousands of them.  Some people worship assorted animals, some worship dead gangsters, others worship blue creatures.

You do have your work cut out for you don't you? No thoughts on what would make a difference?

[The Grand Nudger]

We're not all the same, at a basic level, in this context.  We all deviate ever so slightly from the standard...we're all very similar..sure, but not the same.  You saying "If I can do it so can they" would be like saying that if -X- can win a Heisman...so could I...or..on the other end, if -X- can rape..so can I.  Just, no..?

Projecting, as in...holding a concept such as presence or entity, something I;m familiar with in myself..and then projecting those familiar ideas out into the world onto things, events, or situations in which they are not actually present or applicable.  Gods invariably end up sounding like the human beings who've created them.  That's because the god is a projection of the people who created it.  It's them.  It's how they see themselves, or a version of themselves.  It has wants and desires, often enough those wants and desires are both plainly human and plainly specific to a small group of humans or an individual. God, for example, is more interested in my penis than a squirrel is, even though I have more in common with the squirrel than I do with a god - ostensibly.  OTOH, projecting is what makes us good at predicting others behaviors, or imagining scenarios in preparation before the real deal. Getting "better" at the one makes us "better" at the other. Woms, if I had to speculate, don't have gods, because they can't hold or project those concepts required to foster god beliefs. Not just an issue of the mind but also of supporting systems. They don;t have eyes that scramble feeding a mind that suplements. They don't have ears that pick up changes in pressure as voices, etc.

When I say that I think there will always be god-belief, always be religion...I'm not talking about christinaity or islam, allah and yahweh.  I don't think that the religions of the future would be recognizable as religions to people today..no more so than current believers feel that religions of old are recognizable, familiar, in the same vein.  I don't think that people today would consider the gods of the future gods..no more so than people today consider gods of the past gods.

[Angrboda]

I agree with Rhythm. Gods are a byproduct of our social brain. They are a natural extension of how we think.

[Excited Penguin]

Football is not an intellectual endeavor. Escaping religion is. Unless your mind is actually unable to grasp the concepts involved, you should be perfectly able to lose your religiosity/belief in God, no matter who you are.

We do consider gods of the past gods. And I still don't understand what other form you expect religion to take. It can't take any other. This is it for it. We get rid of this, and we're rid of it for good. That's what I'm saying.

[Excited Penguin]

I agree with Rhythm.  Gods are a byproduct of our social brain.  They are a natural extension of how we think.

Oh, dear. How are you an atheist then?

[SteveII]

My basic argument comes from a different place. You can cite me all sorts of reasons why you think people will still be religious or believe in god in the future, but for me it's pretty clear why they won't. And the reason is, we're all the same at some basic level. We all have the same brains. If I could do it, so can the rest of the world.

But they are not and that is the point. There are more and more each year.

[Edwardo Piet]

I agree with Rhythm.  Gods are a byproduct of our social brain.  They are a natural extension of how we think.

Oh, dear. How are you an atheist then?

Non sequitur.

[The Grand Nudger]

Football is not an intellectual endeavor. Escaping religion is. Unless your mind is actually unable to grasp the concepts involved, you should be perfectly able to lose your religiosity/belief in God, no matter who you are.

We do consider gods of the past gods. And I still don't understand what other form you expect religion to take. It can't take any other. This is it for it. We get rid of this, and we're rid of it for good. That's what I'm saying.

Well..you clearly don't like football..but you don't see horses winning heismans, lol..so obviously it takes a human brain to win the game, it takes our intellect, lol.  "Intellectual" endeavors get a pedestal placed under them as though they were something other than the use of an organ or collection of organs...different, fundamentally, from winning a footrace in that context.  They aren't..and just as we aren't all equally equipped to win a footrace we are not all equally equipped to reach any given conclusion, right or wrong.

Oh, dear. How are you an atheist then?

Holding the position that god belief is a natural extension of how our brains work, how we think - doesn't mean that either Jorg or I believe that gods are real..that they are -more- than how our brains work, how we think.

@steve. OFC there are more and more each year..there are more and more human beings each year..by default that's going to mean more believers. That's hardly surprising, hardly a revelation. Here, in the US..it's not something I have to deal with. There are fewer and fewer believers year after year in my local area - regardless of any global numbers. The tide of religiosity and belief comes in, it goes out.