(June 12, 2015 at 12:21 pm)pocaracas Wrote:(June 12, 2015 at 11:50 am)Randy Carson Wrote: You wouldn't. No one would.
And yet, many people, atheists included (highlighted for emphasis), continue to consider what is proposed by theism and find that it is reasonable.
How is that trickery?
Are there that many fools on the planet in the course of history and only a few intelligentsia who broke free?
Indoctrination is powerful stuff... and the unfalsifiable nature of the claim make people stick to it... once hooked, it becomes problematic to think about it as just a man-made concept.
Think back to how you got hooked. Did anyone show you a god? Did anyone do any apologetics?
Brainwashing is almost like washing clothes with bleach - easy to get the stains out, but not so easy to get the color back on.
Remember, Randy, half the population has an IQ below 100.
Nowadays, in the US, an IQ of 100 is a bit low, wouldn't you say?... still, half of americans stand down there. So yes, there are that many fools.
Educations is one thing that can make the non-fools think... but it's clearly not enough.
Existing atheists need not be aware of the multiple pitfalls of their own psychology.
Heck, even psychologists fail to their own psychology! It was a psychologist that said that they can apply all the theory to other people, but never to themselves... or.. well... I don't like the word "never" in this context... I'd say that they can seldom apply it successfully to themselves.
In the end, all I see are people, believers and non-believers... regardless of the existence of any god, their bickering goes on... If it happens regardless of the existence of any god, then why believe? Why assume that such an entity exists?
Because others believe it?
Because you don't have all the answers to the world, as you would like?
Because death scares the shit out of you and you feel better knowing (actually believing) that your essence will go on indefinitely, even knowing full well that your body will die, decay, rot and be dispersed into the wind?
Because your momma tells you so?
Tell me, what other reason is there for people to cling to belief in a god?
You speak about God like a confirmed bachelor might speak about marriage. You have no use for women. You want nothing to do with them. You prefer the company of your mates, the camaraderie of sports and fishing, and women mean nothing more to you than the punch lines of an endless stream of jokes. And of course, you resist the attempts of your friends to introduce you to anyone, and you heap scorn upon them as they fall one by one into wedded bliss. No, you're sworn to be single until the day you die.
And then you see her.
Laugh on, Benedick. You do not yet know the love of Beatrice.