Quick Poll - Do you believe in God?

[highdimensionman]

Do I think a term so ambiguously useless and ignorant as the term god means something to me no I don't and nor do I think the only et's I should worry about are little grey men. This sort of thinking is useless even for someone as mad as me. I could of course keep on re convincing my conscious that such things were the case for the rest of my life but thinking would cause me problems relative to such bs self convincing. However If you give me a million quid I'll happily bs all day about god with you I'll even give you some good comments you can annoy atheists with that are bit more intellectual than your run of the mill christian arguments but I would just be dressing up bs for u.

[zebo-the-fat]

I don't "choose" not to believe in gods, choice doesn't come into it, belief would come from some testable evidence.

[Angrboda]

I choose to believe in three gods. That way I'm covered in case I get hit by a tornado, soil my underwear, or back a losing football team.

[CuriosityBob]

I don't "choose" not to believe in gods,  choice doesn't come into it, belief would come from some testable evidence.

Are you saying on order to 'believe' in something you need testable evidence? Is my understanding correct?

[zebo-the-fat]

I don't "choose" not to believe in gods,  choice doesn't come into it, belief would come from some testable evidence.

Are you saying on order to 'believe' in something you need testable evidence? Is my understanding correct?

Why would I believe in something without some kind of evidence that it's true?
I don't believe in fairies, goblins, pixies or honest politicians because I never saw any evidence for them!

[Mister Agenda]

I don't "choose" not to believe in gods,  choice doesn't come into it, belief would come from some testable evidence.

Are you saying on order to 'believe' in something you need testable evidence? Is my understanding correct?

I can't speak for zebo, but I think what they're getting at is we don't choose to believe or not believe. No one does. We believe what we're convinced of and we don't believe what we're not convinced of. Zebo says evidence would convince him, but other people might be persuaded by other things. We're all in the same boat, whether we're convinced of something by evidence or indoctrination, belief is not really a choice.

But here's a caveat: We can choose to try to convince ourselves that something is true. If we work hard enough at it for long enough, we can convince ourselves of almost anything if we want to believe it.

[zebo-the-fat]

If you don't use evidence to determine your beliefs, what do you use, wishful thinking??

[Mister Agenda]

Anecdotally, I see a lot of people basing beliefs on wishful thinking.

[brewer]

I don't "choose" not to believe in gods,  choice doesn't come into it, belief would come from some testable evidence.

Are you saying on order to 'believe' in something you need testable evidence? Is my understanding correct?

For the 'concept' of god(s) to be believed as existing in reality I'd need something more than testimony or anecdote/story.

Don't go the the 'in court' argument. That's comparing apples to oranges.

[Angrboda]

Are you saying on order to 'believe' in something you need testable evidence? Is my understanding correct?

For the 'concept' of god(s) to be believed as existing in reality I'd need something more than testimony or anecdote/story.

Don't go the the 'in court' argument. That's comparing apples to oranges.

We depend upon ordinary perception for our evidence. Many believe you can perceive God or his presence or his effects similarly. In pragmatism, that's both sufficient and all you have for anything.