first off, this is not a thread to bash the believers of various kinds out there. i'm merely looking for some input. myself i have never *personally* understood the need to believe in anything supernatural, but i do see some psychological reasons for it. but i'm digressing again. soo... why do *you* believe in something that is not of this world? [and all non believers, again, please refrain from commenting, this thread is for input, not so much discussion of the realities behind the conviction]
well im an atheist, but i think that people feel they need to beleive in a god or many gods out of ignorance and fear. people need the reasurance that someone will accept them into a new world when they die. and they need the reasurance that their is "life after death" . thats what i think.
Why do people feel a need to believe? Many people think that religion(Christianty, Islam, Budhism, Hinduism, etc, etc) is the only thing "man" can believe in. This is not true! For example; Einstein was not a very "religious" person, but still he was very strong in his believes! He gave all his life to science, in other words you may say science was his "religion" Science was his believe! - Mozart, for example, believed in music. He truely believed, that with his music he could help the world become a better place. Mozarts "religion" was music or in other words, music was his "god!" - Mother Teresa believed in helping the poor, sick and homeless of Calcutta. This was her "believe/religion/god". You see, this is really as simply as it gets! A commen thing for all the three mentioned is that they were all very strong in their believes, and not all are this stong in their believes but it's essencial that we believe in something. - Some people believe in the family, others in their work, some again believe in travelling around the world meeting new culture and people, and so on and on... The point is that it doesn't matter what you believe in, but if you believe! - If you don't believe in something, you are nothing! The bottom line Zylark, is that we must all find something that matters to us, follow our dreams so to speake. Find something that make oure lifes worth living, and make this our believe, religion/god or whatever you may call it. But what that thing may be doesn't matter at all! And now to what you really asked about: "why do *you* believe in something that is not of this world" - I understand that you presume that the commen religions is "supernatural", "not of this world", right? - I'm myself not religious, but I respect all the know profets of all the religions. I don't believe they were "the son of God" Nobody is "the son of God" 'coz God is no "man", only in the sense that we are all "son of God" will I be able to understand this, but I truely believe they all lived on this planet once! - But they were not supernatural, as you say, they were just all gifted in various ways, as Einstein was in many ways, as Mozart was in his way and as Mother Teresa was. And as we all are, some more gifted than others of course. - No question that Einstein was very intelligent and intuitive; he came up with Theory of Relativily long before it was even tecnologicaly possible to prove or disprove it! - And no question that Mother Teresa had been gifted with the abilities of helping sick people(healing), physicaly or mentally. - In the same way "the profets" all possesed some extra energy in their special ability. For example Jesus; he surely had, as Mother Teresa, healing powers and surely he had "a way with words"(the ability to talk to and convince other people) He was able, even as a young boy, to have deep discussions with the interlectual of that time. - Bottom line is that "the profets were all "just" very gifted persons and not supernatural in any ways. In my world there is no such thing as supernatural, there is just some Natural-laws that we still need to explore! But as I said before, I'm not religious! I don't believe in just one religion or person/profet for that matter. I'm very much against "person-adore-sation"(is that a word?) as is very much "in" these days. - But I don't denied the fact that Jesus,Muhammed,Moses,Buddha,Shiva or any of the know "profets" once lived on this planet. And sometimes I tell religious people that Einstein also was a great "profet" - They all have some good things to say but I don't eat it all up just like that...
But this is really all there is to it! - What matters to us all is that we believe in something...or to say it in other words, to give ourself to something bigge than ourself. This is my point; to give ourself to something bigge than ourself. This it what believing is all about. But wether this may be one of the know religions, our job, science, helping the poor people around the world, giving your kids a good start in life, figthing for legalisation of cannabis, etc etc...doesn't matter at all. As long as it's the right thing for you, as long as it fills up your needs or dreams it will be "the thing" for you. Whatever makes you happy so to speake. This is all that matters to our existence in life! And what you mean with "by chance", I think, is that for example Einstein was just lucky to be blessed with his intelligence and intuistic abillities, Right? - This is not true! We all have strong sides, just as we all have some weak sides. Einstein was not a good huspand, he was not a good father, he was surely not a good sportsman. And there was problely many things he couldn't do very good. He just choose right for himself, and this is why he made it so fare in life... And so it really goes for all of us. As long as we choose what is right for ourself and as long as we are true to the abillities we have been given by nature, follow our inner dreams, then we will eventually get the most of it
Knowing that you will die, that nothing you do will matter in the grand scheme of things, even knowing, I mean really realizing, that you could die a horrible painful death at anytime is too much for people to handle. We'd all be on prozac if we all faced every aspect of reality. Life is nasty brutish and short, religion gives us something else to think about, to live for, something much more wholesome than life aactually is. Like beer, or cookies, religion is comfort food but for the mind.
It's the apathy of a depressed human sense. Deep in this black soul lies the final horror. Take a step into your personal hell.
belief is an aspect of human opinion and the disagreements that exist between people. Think about it, almost all the problems in this world can be linked to religion, and the clashing between the beliefs of different religions. DIfferent religions are nothing more than a different way of thinking, CHristinaity was founded by Jesus, who viewed life differently than the Jews did, so he went and founded his own religion. Wars are fought over religion, and humans use the idea of religion as a reason to go and kill others that believe differnelty than them. Belief is a strong part of human nature, and belief has the power to make humans kill one another and live their lives a certain way. If you really think about it, there are MANY different religions, even in CHristianity itself there are many many different sections. ANd each one differs in its own way. NO two people think EXACTLY alike, and religions are a way to express the differences that exist in the human personality, but by creating a "god" or entity that enpowers the whole religion, we create an excuse for killing others that disagree with us. In reality every individual has his own different "religion" or train of thought, its just that if everyone invented their own religion, it would be an all out brawl every man for himself battle till no one was left on the earth. thats why people group togther and join a religion that best fits their personality. The disagreements that exist create belief and religion, which will eventually be the downfall of the human race.
because i can see those things with my own eyes, every night and day (weather permitting). staaaaaars. now where did the star thread go? hehe.
yes where did that thread go? - all passengers to SS Prometheous destination New Haven Alpha Centauri now boarding at L5 station hub 420...
why do *you* believe in something that is not of this world? I love to kick back, smoke a blunt and stargaze. After seeing the universe the way I have, I just feel like I'm a part of something much larger. I wish I could take everyone of you stargazing with me one time...then you would understand. I have been into astronomy for about 20 years and have seen some beautiful things.
believing in the supernatural may not be correct, but why does that matter if it helps us lead better lives.
i completely agree with ur dr.jammin just groov on life and fallow ur heart thats what i do and i am christian also
believing in the supernatural, also known as beeing religious, does not by default make you lead better lifes. it's a common misconception, but there is no such thing as absolute morals that can be drawn out from *any* religious text. what you believers determine to be *good* ethics from your religious texts are no more than common good sense, that actually stand in stark contrast to much of the illogical and rather cruel core of religion as a whole. just consider for a moment that "good religious morals" during medivel times was burning witches at the stake... religious people often claim themselves as "leading better lives" based upon no other measure than their own good feeling about beeing religious and thus rightous. you don't need religion or the supernatural to be a good guy / gal