POLL: Is belief in God due to a failed search for meaning in life and fear of death?

[Mav88]

belief in which of the countless gods invented?

I think the primary cause is cultural, it is drilled into the heads of children unable to examine it critically. By the time they are adults they are hard wired for it.

The secondary cause is genetic, it seems we have developed a need for such security.

 

[killthesunshine]

Quote from Mav88:

belief in which of the countless gods invented?

I think the primary cause is cultural, it is drilled into the heads of children unable to examine it critically. By the time they are adults they are hard wired for it.

The secondary cause is genetic, it seems we have developed a need for such security.

of course these are brainwashing techniques

 

[gigsup]

Have you ever gone to the library and noticed how the occult section is right next to the one on major religions?

No discussion of the existence of God can be made without the universal issues of good and evil.

 

[killthesunshine]

Quote from gigsup:

Have you ever gone to the library and noticed how the occult section is right next to the one on major religions?

No discussion of the existence of God can be made without the universal issues of good and evil.

it should be inside it. occult and religion issame thing--- belief in the supernatural

 

[gigsup]

True. But, the difference being how each respective group (occultic and the rest) view that diety.

It is something to ponder over anyway.

 

[killthesunshine]

Quote from gigsup:

True. But, the difference being how each respective group (occultic and the rest) view that diety.

It is something to ponder over anyway.

both have irrational belief in that which there is no evidence (supernatural spirit).

 

[gigsup]

I understand. But, in man's quest to make sense out of good and evil that exists in the world (which neither you nor I would deny), this is where the question of a diety arises. It is worldwide.

 

[bronks]

I'm no scientist, mathematician, or religious zealot.
There seems to me to be an opposite twin of everything on this plane:

day/night
black/white
hot/cold
male/female
big/small
heavy/light
conciousness/unconciousness
etc/etc

So after an enormous amount of commonsensical thinking, I came up with this:

life/death

If death meant the end of everything, it would mean we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

But all this is moot. I don't recall anyone actually coming back from the dead in the whole history of the world... 'cept one, but that is dubious at best. I don't know why people are so afraid of dying. Everybody's doing it.

 

[killthesunshine]

Quote from gigsup:

I understand. But, in man's quest to make sense out of good and evil that exists in the world (which neither you nor I would deny), this is where the question of a diety arises. It is worldwide.

good and evil is a product of man's mind.
an Earthly conception.

 

[Cutten]

Quote from Thunderdog:

I understand your view, and your rationale has some merit to a point. But how do you explain the belief in an afterlife of one kind or another, which is a feature of all of the major religions?

To believe in god you need to believe in something beyond the material world. If a spiritual world exists, and we feel touched by it (e.g. religious faith) then it may be reasonable to think that we have a soul that exists independent of our physical presence. In this case, death of the physical form would not necessarily stop the soul continuing to exist.

I do agree though that belief in the afterlife has a larger element of hope and denial (fear of death & meaninglessness), than mere belief in a deity. One could easily postulate a god or gods who are immortal, but with humans mortal and not even having a soul. We would die off and that's it, whereas the immortals survive in spiritual as well as physical form. To claim spiritual immortality for humans seems to be wishful thinking.