God is in your mind?

Guybrush · 03-10-2012, 04:22 PM

I don't personally think think things that only exist in the mind are entirely valid when they are thought to influence anything besides the mind. If you believe in God as someone able to work miracles like splitting the read sea or turning people into stones - and no such entity with that kind of power exists - then I don't think that perception of God is useful. Little good comes from treating fantasy as if it was fact in the long run. Overall, I think it would be best if people had roughly the same world view and the basis for our common world view should then be the things we can experience, test and document. From all we know, physical laws apply to all of us.

blastingas, I don't think it requires a similar leap of faith to not believe in God or any deity. It requires some knowledge perhaps so that you can see there are ways we can explain the world we live in without having to resort to explanations like the world having been created by a great magician in the sky.

edit :

Some time ago, I read about a study on how terminally ill people used prayer. Generally, at first, they prayed for God to heal them of their illness. Then when that didn't work, they'd redefine prayer to have a different function, like rather just a way of being close to God. So this means that these people initially had an idea of God which turned out to be unrealistic. He doesn't answer prayers and grant wishes. In light of this new information/experience, they then have to redefine their belief in their head to justify God not helping them.

How useful was their initial idea of God and prayer then?

In the end, there are many barriers belief just can't overcome.

blastingas10 · 03-10-2012, 04:39 PM

I dont think god grants wishes or answers prayers, nor do I think he parts seas. There is no undeniable concrete evidence that disproves god, so in order to take the theories - that are currently out there - as fact, it requires a leap of faith.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salami

How then would you want to define reality?
Is touch, taste, hearing and seeing enough for an experience to be considered "real"?

They certainly are. As a musician, when you hear sounds in your head, is that enough to be considered real? Certainly. Are dreams real? Definitely.

When you're dead, the physical world no longer exists; so if there's another mental, dream-like realm that goes beyond the physical realm, is it not real? If that's the case, then who's to say what is real.

Guybrush · 03-10-2012, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10

I dont think god grants wishes or answers prayers, nor do I think he parts seas. There is no undeniable concrete evidence that disproves god, so in order to take the theories - that are currently out there - as fact, it requires a leap of faith.

Yes, but notice that I wrote "similar". Because believing anything, even that you're a person reading this text right now, requires some leap of faith. So just saying that it requires a leap of faith basically means nothing. What doesn't?

blastingas10 · 03-10-2012, 05:00 PM

Exactly. So really, it means everything.

Guybrush · 03-10-2012, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10

Exactly. So really, it means everything.

Right.

blastingas10 · 03-10-2012, 05:08 PM

Faith is an important thing. Whether it's faith in yourself or faith in someone else. You put your faith in science, some people put their faith in religion. To each his own.

Guybrush · 03-10-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10

Faith is an important thing. Whether it's faith in yourself or faith in someone else. You put your faith in science, some people put their faith in religion. To each his own.

If only each man and woman was an island, that would be the end of it. But it's not like that. You are affected by other people's choices all the time. Whether it's in the classroom, when someone tries to give you a pamphlet or when you find yourself in the middle of a religious war.

blastingas10 · 03-10-2012, 05:34 PM

And whats your point? "to each his own" is a bad idea? If only people made choices that benefit ourselves, wouldn't that be nice

We are imperfect creatures, that's just the way it is.

Guybrush · 03-10-2012, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10

And whats your point? "to each his own" is a bad idea? If only people made choices that benefit ourselves, wouldn't that be nice

We are imperfect creatures, that's just the way it is.

I'm saying you're allowed to complain about the choices other people make when they affect you

As for my previous point about the leap of faith, I was trying to make the point that it's always a leap of faith, but sometimes the leap is quite small and other times it's huge. I'm not sure if you picked up on it. As far as leaps of faith goes, I think it's a shorter leap to not believe. I've never seen God and neither does he, she or its influence seem necessary to create humans or keep the cosmos running so it seems a smaller leap of faith to believe there is no God. There are plenty of good reasons why a religion would "evolve" as it were, regardless of whether or not it refers to objective truth.

blastingas10 · 03-10-2012, 07:43 PM

Thats true and I agree.

As for the part about being allowed to complain about others choices, I think George carlin put it best when he said something along the lines of: When someone says theyre entitled to their opinion, just tell them, "I'm entitled to my opinion, and my opinion is your opinion doesn't mean ****".

03-10-2012, 04:22 PM	#351 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	I don't personally think think things that only exist in the mind are entirely valid when they are thought to influence anything besides the mind. If you believe in God as someone able to work miracles like splitting the read sea or turning people into stones - and no such entity with that kind of power exists - then I don't think that perception of God is useful. Little good comes from treating fantasy as if it was fact in the long run. Overall, I think it would be best if people had roughly the same world view and the basis for our common world view should then be the things we can experience, test and document. From all we know, physical laws apply to all of us. blastingas, I don't think it requires a similar leap of faith to not believe in God or any deity. It requires some knowledge perhaps so that you can see there are ways we can explain the world we live in without having to resort to explanations like the world having been created by a great magician in the sky. edit : Some time ago, I read about a study on how terminally ill people used prayer. Generally, at first, they prayed for God to heal them of their illness. Then when that didn't work, they'd redefine prayer to have a different function, like rather just a way of being close to God. So this means that these people initially had an idea of God which turned out to be unrealistic. He doesn't answer prayers and grant wishes. In light of this new information/experience, they then have to redefine their belief in their head to justify God not helping them. How useful was their initial idea of God and prayer then? In the end, there are many barriers belief just can't overcome. __________________ Something Completely Different Last edited by Guybrush; 03-11-2012 at 05:06 AM.

03-10-2012, 05:34 PM	#358 (permalink)
blastingas10 Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 2,126	And whats your point? "to each his own" is a bad idea? If only people made choices that benefit ourselves, wouldn't that be nice We are imperfect creatures, that's just the way it is. Last edited by blastingas10; 03-10-2012 at 05:43 PM.

03-10-2012, 05:00 PM	#354 (permalink)
blastingas10 Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 2,126	Exactly. So really, it means everything.

03-10-2012, 05:08 PM	#356 (permalink)
blastingas10 Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 2,126	Faith is an important thing. Whether it's faith in yourself or faith in someone else. You put your faith in science, some people put their faith in religion. To each his own.

03-10-2012, 07:43 PM	#360 (permalink)
blastingas10 Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 2,126	Thats true and I agree. As for the part about being allowed to complain about others choices, I think George carlin put it best when he said something along the lines of: When someone says theyre entitled to their opinion, just tell them, "I'm entitled to my opinion, and my opinion is your opinion doesn't mean ****".