Just saw this thread. A post I made in the other seems applicable here as well.
Also, it's interesting how some people have somewhat different views on the topic, depending on which thread they're in. As wrong as Tiz is, he at least gets props for being consistent.
(March 16, 2018 at 6:14 am)alpha male Wrote:(March 16, 2018 at 2:38 am)robvalue Wrote: I can't understand what this whole, "you just want to sin" thing is supposed to mean. I suppose it's a total failure to be able to see our side. Or projection. What they really mean is, "I just want to sin". They want to do those things they see atheists do, but they can't. (Most likely they do them anyway but feel really guilty about them.)
It always amazes me how you can see something and yet not see it at the same time.
"Most likely they do them anyway but feel really guilty about them."
You see it, but you don't.
People generally don't enjoy feeling guilty.
Guilt can be viewed as cognitive dissonance between an action, and a belief that the action is immoral.
The two most obvious ways to relieve such cognitive dissonance are:
- stop the behavior, or
- remove the belief that the behavior is immoral.
I'm saying the latter - removing the belief in God, and so removing the belief certain behaviors are immoral - is a dynamic present in unbelief.
We can test that idea. Christianity is the main religion in America, and Christianity largely condemns homosexual behavior. If I'm right, we'd expect gays to be more likely to be atheists and less likely to be Christians. If you guys are right that people believe just based on the merits of the evidence, we shouldn't see a difference, as gays and straights have access to the same evidence. Here's a study on that:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/201...iliations/
Atheist and agnostic make up 17% of gays, but only 7% of straights. Christianity makes up 72% of straights, but only 48% of gays. It's clear that people's desired behavior influences belief.
Plus, you guys should want to agree with me. You too often make a knee-jerk opposition to something I say without thinking it through. If people believe or not based on evidence, than the fact that most people have been theists of some sort shows that there's strong evidence for a creator god. So, you guys should readily agree that there are emotional influences on belief. (If you claim that unbelievers are unemotional in assessing evidence, but believers are emotional, you'll be called out for special pleading.)
Also, it's interesting how some people have somewhat different views on the topic, depending on which thread they're in. As wrong as Tiz is, he at least gets props for being consistent.
