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Just Don't Get It
December 1, 2011 at 3:23 pm
I just can't understand why people still believe in religion.
As young as 10 I can remember being forced to say prayers and sing hymns in school and even at that age thinking it was all a load of nonsense.
I just don't get why so many people don't reach the point when they grow up of disbelief in Christian beliefs, given the lack of evidence. Its beyond irrational.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 1, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Well some people just can't grow up. Though some good news, more young people are rejecting religion. The next generation seem far less interested in such bullshit. Mankind has hope yet. It's the older ones that seem to want to hang on to religion. In my area at least.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 1, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Another part is the unwillingness to give up the warm fuzzy blanket that gives their life purpose. Many people would rather just believe in god rather than try to discover any evidence for one. The fear of there being no father figure in the sky that micromanages their lives for the best possible outcome is too hard for some to face.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 1, 2011 at 4:08 pm
(This post was last modified: December 1, 2011 at 4:10 pm by Doubting Thomas.)
As one who was brainwashed from birth into religion, when everyone you know follows it, everyone in your family follows it, and they constantly remind you of the punishment of hell, it's easy to make yourself believe in it. Plus what Faith No More said about the warm, fuzzy blanket. If you live your whole life thinking that you have a special purpose in the universe and are going to be with the all-powerful creator of the universe after you die, it's hard to want to strip yourself of this feeling.
Ace is also right that more younger people are rejecting religion. In my area, at least, or the few times I've been obligated to go to a Catholic mass, I've noticed that you see very few 18-30 year olds there, or sometimes even 18-40 year olds. It's mainly younger kids because they're going with their parents, and older people.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 12:05 pm
(This post was last modified: December 2, 2011 at 12:09 pm by Xavier.)
(December 1, 2011 at 4:08 pm)Doubting Thomas Wrote: As one who was brainwashed from birth into religion, when everyone you know follows it, everyone in your family follows it, and they constantly remind you of the punishment of hell, it's easy to make yourself believe in it. Plus what Faith No More said about the warm, fuzzy blanket. If you live your whole life thinking that you have a special purpose in the universe and are going to be with the all-powerful creator of the universe after you die, it's hard to want to strip yourself of this feeling.
I just don't relate to be honest at all. My parents are religious and I went to a quite strongly Protestant school, and yet pretty much when I got to the age when I stopped believing in Father Christmas I just though religion was all rubbish.
I think its much easier to be atheist than believe something with no evidence just based on people around you's word.
Wanting to believe in God or not has nothing to do with it as its not easy to force yourself to believe something.
Maybe some people just have a screwed up brain. I dunno.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 12:40 pm
If your parents believe whole heartedly in this rubbish so that it sits at the core of their existance, then it can seem like your insulting them to not believe.
And who wants to upset their parents.
Dosent make it true though.
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 12:53 pm
(This post was last modified: December 2, 2011 at 12:55 pm by Diamond.)
Also, ditto to this, too: Doubting Thomas Wrote:As one who was brainwashed from birth into religion, when everyone you know follows it, everyone in your family follows it, and they constantly remind you of the punishment of hell, it's easy to make yourself believe in it.
Don’t ask.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 1:18 pm
(This post was last modified: December 2, 2011 at 1:22 pm by Xavier.)
(December 2, 2011 at 12:53 pm)Diamond Wrote:
Also, ditto to this, too:Doubting Thomas Wrote:As one who was brainwashed from birth into religion, when everyone you know follows it, everyone in your family follows it, and they constantly remind you of the punishment of hell, it's easy to make yourself believe in it.
Evidently for a lot of people thats true.
But I just can't relate to that.
I never could believe in it, even when I tried to when I was a kid.
It all just seems ridiculous to me even as a child.
I can't force myself to believe something because I want to.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 1:55 pm
(December 1, 2011 at 3:23 pm)Xavier Wrote: I just can't understand why people still believe in religion.
As young as 10 I can remember being forced to say prayers and sing hymns in school and even at that age thinking it was all a load of nonsense.
I just don't get why so many people don't reach the point when they grow up of disbelief in Christian beliefs, given the lack of evidence. Its beyond irrational.
As in so many cases, I think H. L. Mencken explained it best.
God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos: He will set them above their betters.
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RE: Just Don't Get It
December 2, 2011 at 4:27 pm
(December 2, 2011 at 1:18 pm)Xavier Wrote: Evidently for a lot of people thats true.
But I just can't relate to that.
I never could believe in it, even when I tried to when I was a kid.
It all just seems ridiculous to me even as a child.
I can't force myself to believe something because I want to. Minimalist Wrote:God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos: He will set them above their betters.
Maybe you just became braver than most others at a younger age, Xavier. 
Don’t ask.
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