I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?

[drfuzzy]

I've yet to figure out what this thread is about.

Simple. Atheist writes essay about having a lingering irrational sense of the god she no longer believes in and the evolutionary brain wiring that might cause such a feeling.  Literal minded Christian posts a link to the essay and cites it as proof of god.  Inanity ensues.

The interesting fact that humans are generally superstitious even when our rational selves know better gets lost in the shuffle.

No kidding. We realize that we can't control most of our environment, so we create the illusion of control. 

Superbowl is tomorrow here in the US of A.  I have male friends who are clear thinking, brilliant professionals.  I met three of them at the grocery store this morning.  They were stressing over the food and the decorations - and the required "lucky" talismans: I heard about a baseball cap that is at least 55 years old, it MUST be worn backwards, a "lucky" jersey that has already been laid out on the couch, and a signed football that HAS to be touching the television.  One guy was worried that he hadn't bought enough flags.  
     I hugged my silly superstitious buddies and assured them that I was bringing a 24-pack of beer.  They were horrified that I don't have a good luck charm, and promised to supply one tomorrow night. 
     Wired for god?  I'm not convinced.  Wired for superstition?  Heck yeah.

[Ravenshire]

Simple. Atheist writes essay about having a lingering irrational sense of the god she no longer believes in and the evolutionary brain wiring that might cause such a feeling.  Literal minded Christian posts a link to the essay and cites it as proof of god.  Inanity ensues.

The interesting fact that humans are generally superstitious even when our rational selves know better gets lost in the shuffle.

No kidding. We realize that we can't control most of our environment, so we create the illusion of control. 

Superbowl is tomorrow here in the US of A.  I have male friends who are clear thinking, brilliant professionals.  I met three of them at the grocery store this morning.  They were stressing over the food and the decorations - and the required "lucky" talismans: I heard about a baseball cap that is at least 55 years old, it MUST be worn backwards, a "lucky" jersey that has already been laid out on the couch, and a signed football that HAS to be touching the television.  One guy was worried that he hadn't bought enough flags.  
     I hugged my silly superstitious buddies and assured them that I was bringing a 24-pack of beer.  They were horrified that I don't have a good luck charm, and promised to supply one tomorrow night. 
     Wired for god?  I'm not convinced.  Wired for superstition?  Heck yeah.

I absolutely cringe at these ideas. Granted, tomorrow I will be dressed head-to-toe in blue and orange gear. Not because I believe it will change the outcome by so much as a yards worth of net total offense, but because I'm a Broncos fan and my team is one of only two playing this week. I'm disgusted at the superstitious decision the Broncos made to wear white uniforms ("home" team get's to pick) because they've never won a Superbowl in orange. As if the Broncos wearing Orange made the 'Niners, Redskins Seahawks or Cowboys great teams.

[Eclipse]

Simple. Atheist writes essay about having a lingering irrational sense of the god she no longer believes in and the evolutionary brain wiring that might cause such a feeling.  Literal minded Christian posts a link to the essay and cites it as proof of god.  Inanity ensues.

The interesting fact that humans are generally superstitious even when our rational selves know better gets lost in the shuffle.

No kidding. We realize that we can't control most of our environment, so we create the illusion of control. 

Superbowl is tomorrow here in the US of A.  I have male friends who are clear thinking, brilliant professionals.  I met three of them at the grocery store this morning.  They were stressing over the food and the decorations - and the required "lucky" talismans: I heard about a baseball cap that is at least 55 years old, it MUST be worn backwards, a "lucky" jersey that has already been laid out on the couch, and a signed football that HAS to be touching the television.  One guy was worried that he hadn't bought enough flags.  
     I hugged my silly superstitious buddies and assured them that I was bringing a 24-pack of beer.  They were horrified that I don't have a good luck charm, and promised to supply one tomorrow night. 
     Wired for god?  I'm not convinced.  Wired for superstition?  Heck yeah.

Just tell them you think it's bad luck to be superstitious.

[Cyberman]

I haven't. Have you? 

If so, what can you tell us about them?

I never claimed that i had. But, since you asked, instead of duplicating the efforts of those who have gone before me, I've read studies by qualified scientists and found no reason to believe NDEs are anything more than the effects of hypoxia on a mind struggling to survive.

Indeed, that's kind of the point, isn't it? We recognise unusual occurrences by their very nature of not fitting into the pattern of usual ones. It's a far more efficient system - instead of wasting time rehashing the work presented in those studies which concluded that there's nothing to see, all you need do is focus on the ones for which there's no other explanation other than the god one.

So far, the silence is deafening.

[Cyberman]

Which is another example of your pathetic reasoning, Rhythm. Seriously, if you weren't a mod...

If I wasn't a mod...... what, lol? 

Yes, I want to know the answer to that. Finish the thought, athrock.

[Esquilax]

Turns out it's pretty hard to believe in nothing when your psyche is wired for faith.

May I ask why you started out with this pathetic, sleazy strawman, yet still somehow expect us to extend you the good faith that you've inconsiderately avoided giving us?

After reading the article, my questions are:

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

Leaving aside the- very important, I think- observations others have made here about how you're misinterpreting the article and about how society plays a role, there's actually an answer to the question you asked that's more parsimonious and doesn't rely on space magic: consider early development. Faith is actually a really, really useful thing when you're a kid and uncritically accepting the safety advice your parents give you results in you not doing things that'll get you hurt or killed. There is a point in the human life cycle, well before the engagement of rational thinking or physical development, in which taking orders on faith results in a net advantage to the species.

No magic required, and it's also worth pointing out that that point ends at adulthood. But then, evolution is a blind process, and since at a certain point it stops mattering, the deleterious effects of faith contaminate the mind long after the use of it is gone, and heedless of the contextual nature of this.

I always find it so funny, when you people trot out these insipid questions like you think there's no answer.

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

Things that haven't been demonstrated to exist cannot be seriously asserted as the cause of other things. It's that simple.

[*Deidre*]

Turns out it's pretty hard to believe in nothing when your psyche is wired for faith.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery...age%2Fcard

After reading the article, my questions are:

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

Not sure if we're wired for faith, but maybe you just feel emotionally comforted by the idea? That happens, too. I was an atheist for a time, and logically, it felt 'right,' but emotionally, I could never really adjust to my new found 'lack of' faith. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, it may just take time. I don't think that we need to force ourselves one way or the other, life is a journey...and not a race. Feel what you feel, until perhaps you don't feel it any longer.

[scoobysnack]

I would say everyone in their heart knows God exists, and some are better than others at suppressing that. Some are angry at God, and some need more evidence before they accept that subconscious belief. This is why I will never give up pushing the information learned by others through near death experiences. Even if you don't agree and think they are hallucination, the lessons they learned and information they brought back is too important for humanity, and the individual to ignore.

Came across this interesting article and interview, of how one of the world's most famous atheists Antony Flew, before Dawkins and Hitchens came on the scene came to the conclusion late in life that theism makes more sense.

How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
http://www.strangenotions.com/flew/

[Cecelia]

I would say everyone in their heart knows God exists, and some are better than others at suppressing that. Some are angry at God, and some need more evidence before they accept that subconscious belief. This is why I will never give up pushing the information learned by others through near death experiences. Even if you don't agree and think they are hallucination, the lessons they learned and information they brought back is too important for humanity, and the individual to ignore.

Came across this interesting article, of how the world's most famous atheist before Dawkins and Hitchens came on the scene came to the conclusion late in life that theism makes more sense.

How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
http://www.strangenotions.com/flew/

*Sigh* Not this garbage again.  No, everyone does not "know in their heart" that God exists.   That's a ridiculous thing to suggest.  Your NDE's are absolutely meaningless because they all point to different things, and have plenty of alternative explanations.

Also the conversion of a single atheist to Deism isn't very convincing.  Especially since there are many flaws that led Flew to his Deistic conclusion.  That certainly doesn't show we all have "God in our Hearts".  Flew was at one time a Christian too, so the concept of God was certainly not foreign to him. 

There's plenty of known and unknown atheists who converted.  None of them had good proof of god (or else they'd be extremely rich and extremely famous and have a Nobel Prize by now).  People often look for ways to explain things they can't.  Some are satisfied with the answer that a wizard did it.  I can only imagine where we'd be today if that answer was accepted by everyone.  I imagine science would be set back a thousand years or more.

[Esquilax]

I would say everyone in their heart knows God exists, and some are better than others at suppressing that.

No, you're only saying that because you secretly don't believe in god, in your heart of hearts, but you're just greedy and want an eternal afterlife, so you're suppressing that truth in your unrighteousness.

Oh, what's that? I don't get to dictate what you believe? I have no possible way of knowing that? It's rude and presumptuous and, frankly, dishonest of me to level that accusation in a discussion forum? It shows an incredible degree of bad faith argumentation on my part?

Hmmmmmm!