Eλευθερί
Junior Member
@eleutheri
Posts: 3,710
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Post by Eλευθερί on Jun 7, 2018 11:04:52 GMT
Pascal's wagerAn excellent reason, as ever. FearAn excellent reason in the past, not so much lately. Two sides of the same coin. And Pascal's wager is not a good reason to believe. Suppose you and your partner tried unsuccessfully for many years to have a child of your own blood. Finally, you experience a miracle and a child is born to you. Now, suppose God has been speaking to you in your dreams to sacrifice your only child. What is Pascal's wager here? If you defy God's command, you risk eternal damnation. (if there really is a God & God is as advertised) But if you follow the "command," you risk loss of your only child and commission of the the worst possible sin. (if there is no God, just your own delusion)
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The Lost One
Junior Member
@lostkiera
Posts: 2,677
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Post by The Lost One on Jun 7, 2018 11:36:36 GMT
The mysteries of nature are no longer mysteries to scientists and the highly educated. Perhaps not, but I'm talking not of nature but super-nature which is by definition beyond the purview of science. A scientist can show for instance that bolts of lightning are not caused by Zeus hurling thunderbolts. But can s/he show there is no after life? That is where people will speculate. Of course, you could argue such speculation is idle, foolish or even dangerous and depending on the circumstances you could be right. But I feel it is just something that comes naturally to many, for good or ill. Perhaps after centuries of scientism, such speculation will eventually disappear from humanity, but we're not at that stage yet and perhaps we never will be. Perhaps when science has revealed all the mysteries of the universe (or even the multiverse) there will still be someone asking the question "but why?" - perhaps a meaningless, incoherent question but a question nonetheless.
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Post by Vegas on Jun 7, 2018 11:56:58 GMT
I think that there a little of each of them for every person...
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Post by Arlon10 on Jun 7, 2018 12:12:21 GMT
Pascal's wagerAn excellent reason, as ever. FearAn excellent reason in the past, not so much lately. Two sides of the same coin. And Pascal's wager is not a good reason to believe. Suppose you and your partner tried unsuccessfully for many years to have a child of your own blood. Finally, you experience a miracle and a child is born to you. Now, suppose God has been speaking to you in your dreams to sacrifice your only child. What is Pascal's wager here? If you defy God's command, you risk eternal damnation. (if there really is a God & God is as advertised) But if you follow the "command," you risk loss of your only child and commission of the the worst possible sin. (if there is no God, just your own delusion) Suppose people think throwing coins into jet engines is "good luck." (It's rather obviously bad luck.) What does that have to do with religion? No religion ever said to do that. Why do you think that whenever people do crazy things it's the fault of religion? Plenty of school shooters have nothing to do with religion at all.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Jun 7, 2018 12:38:22 GMT
I think that there a little of each of them for every person... I want my cut of that money one.
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Post by Vegas on Jun 7, 2018 12:45:02 GMT
I think that there a little of each of them for every person... I want my cut of that money one. I'm sure that televangelist who says that God wants him to buy another private jet has a few bucks to lend to the needy.
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Jun 7, 2018 19:50:11 GMT
Greed. Ask Scientologists
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Post by captainbryce on Jun 7, 2018 20:14:18 GMT
As a former Christian, I can attest that there is another option that you have not considered: as a result of some perceived “spiritual need”, they have convinced themselves that what they desire to be true, IS ACTUALLY TRUE using a continual process of confirmation bias!
In other words, they have a hole in their life which needs to be filled by some knowledge they don’t currently have. What happens when we die? What is the meaning of life? Why do bad things happen to good people? These are basic questions that don’t always have clear answers, or that science cannot fully address to certain people’s satisfaction. Yet they are still important questions that need to be reconciled for many people. Religion is an effective way to fill in the gaps of knowledge with faith that people need to give their lives meaning. So they choose to believe in something that attempts to answer these questions (despite the lack of evidence), and they proceed to view all scientific claims and evidence based facts through a religious perspective that reinforces what they want to be true as “true”.
If you grow up Inn America or Europe, you’re going to gravitate towards the common religion (Christianity), and depending on something as seemingly insignificant as your ethnicity, and local community, you will gravitate towards the denomination which you have been commonly exposed to. A white Anglo-Saxon raised in the south might be inclined to become indoctrinated as a “Southern Baptist”, while an African-American from Pennsylvania might be a Methodist, and an Italian American raised in Brookly is probably going to be Catholic. If you’re from the Middle East you are probably Muslim, in India you are probably Hindu, and in Israel you are probably Jewish. They are all using their version of religion to fill the absence of knowledge with something they want to be true. As like a placebo pill, they believe it’s true because they’ve invested in it and need it to be true.
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Post by goz on Jun 7, 2018 22:18:41 GMT
As a former Christian, I can attest that there is another option that you have not considered: as a result of some perceived “spiritual need”, they have convinced themselves that what they desire to be true, IS ACTUALLY TRUE using a continual process of confirmation bias! In other words, they have a hole in their life which needs to be filled by some knowledge they don’t currently have. What happens when we die? What is the meaning of life? Why do bad things happen to good people? These are basic questions that don’t always have clear answers, or that science cannot fully address to certain people’s satisfaction. Yet they are still important questions that need to be reconciled for many people. Religion is an effective way to fill in the gaps of knowledge with faith that people need to give their lives meaning. So they choose to believe in something that attempts to answer these questions (despite the lack of evidence), and they proceed to view all scientific claims and evidence based facts through a religious perspective that reinforces what they want to be true as “true”. If you grow up Inn America or Europe, you’re going to gravitate towards the common religion (Christianity), and depending on something as seemingly insignificant as your ethnicity, and local community, you will gravitate towards the denomination which you have been commonly exposed to. A white Anglo-Saxon raised in the south might be inclined to become indoctrinated as a “Southern Baptist”, while an African-American from Pennsylvania might be a Methodist, and an Italian American raised in Brookly is probably going to be Catholic. If you’re from the Middle East you are probably Muslim, in India you are probably Hindu, and in Israel you are probably Jewish. They are all using their version of religion to fill the absence of knowledge with something they want to be true. As like a placebo pill, they believe it’s true because they’ve invested in it and need it to be true. You said it in many more words than I. Ignorance = the not knowing aspect...as lost Keira said on a tiny fraction of modern people have access to scientific information . Arrogance = in what you said with the different religions around the world...they can't ALL be right. Hence the different sects and denominations are arrogant enough to espouse their own world view and deny others who are doing exactly the same thing.
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Post by Terrapin Station on Jun 7, 2018 22:24:33 GMT
I voted "habit," though I'd say that's better described as being socialized into it. It's simply a part of most folks' culture. Their parents are religious, they're raised in a milieu of religious views, they're raised to go to church at least occasionally, maybe Sunday school, maybe a religious private school, etc.
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