I have a question for all theists: Why did you choose your particular religion? Why do you choose not to believe in any of the multitude of other gods and deities? They have their books, teachings, morals, ethics, charities, places of worship, and fervent believers, too. They have people who swear they've talked to, seen, or experienced in some fashion their gods. They have just as much "proof" as any other religion. So then, why have you chosen your religion above all others?



(Note: I was originally going to post this inside the current religious debate thread, but after some consideration I feel this topic is different enough to warrant its own thread.)

#1: Is this really a good reason?

#2: Is this really a good reason?

#3: Picking out what we like is the secret, like a spiritual buffet? Many things can strike our fancy, but that doesn't necessarily make them true. Thus, is this really a good reason?

#4: Yet, every religion that has ever existed has people who've made such claims. Were they, then, all liars? Or, is it more likely, given our understanding of the human brain, that if we believe anything strongly enough, our brain can manifest it quite convincingly? Take the Placebo effect, for example. Dreams, hallucinations, schizophrenia, hypnosis, something moving in the dark after just having watched a scary movie -- our minds are impressionable, especially when skepticism is cast aside as a bad word in religion: doubt.

#5: All religious people can default to that answer, which really means it isn't an answer at all.

#6: So what is your reason?


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Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 31 2008, 11:37 am by Hercanic. Reason: Just some formatting fixes

"I believe because I do."

Are you talking about Atheists??? They're not a religion... If they claim to be, they're not a true Atheist anyways because Atheism means you don't believe in religion or god.

I do not affiliate myself with organized religion because I feel and believe it is a tool to enslave people into a way of life, a way of control. What better way to control someone than to threaten their spiritual existance, something we don't know what happens to after we pass on??


I chose my beliefs because of many inward journeys I've experienced, and many real-life experiences. I believe that everyone is part of God and has the power to do whatever they put their mind to if they so choose to do it.


Now I ask you: Why do I have to follow a book to believe in God? Why do I have to follow something that was 'translated' by man in order to be 'deemed worthy enough to go to heaven'? I don't believe in Heaven or Hell but my question and point still remains.

I just listen to myself, and listen to my gut instincts. My gut instincts are the part of me (my soul) that is tied to all knowledge of the Universe, and it will never direct me the wrong way. My conscious mind always does though.

I'm not saying this is how it is, these are MY BELIEFS. If anyone has a problem with it, oh well. You don't see me complaining about how you follow a book of contradictions and lies

Now let's have some intelligible debate people!

Dear Kellimus:
No, I said theist. Theist is the root word in atheist, because the prefix a- means without.

Atheism is the disbelief in god or gods
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism

I can be an atheist and a buddhist. (there is no conflict)

I do not believe in theism because if i cant physical prove it then it does not exist.

Perhaps you should say, "if I can't physically prove it, I can't be expected to believe it."

I am not a theist. For a long time, I held some kind residual religious taint from childhood that influenced my thinking. I would just sort of bounce back and forth between not believing or believing depending on what was most convenient. I never really sat down and decided, once and for all, what I believed until about a year ago. I am decidedly agnostic. I feel much more at peace inside now that I've made a clear decision on what to think. Being indecisive about such a thing stirred some serious conflict within me, and I'm happy that it's gone now.

i believe because i want to.

Why do you want to? How does it benefit you?

(Not trying to troll, simply trying to promote proper conversation)

I've had personal experience through prayer and study, to the point where I can say I know my religion is true.

Pascal's Wager.

Ooooold.

Plus, theoretically, no matter how you act, if you don't truly believe (which you don't, if you rely on Pascal's Wager) it won't help anyway, so might as well BE YOURSELF (stupidest phrase ever).

I've had that one thrown at me numerous times. It just sounds too much like a threat to me. It is similar (I know this analogy's a stretch, but religious people are masters of analogies, so here's one to fire back with) to the Trail of Tears when the white people forced the Indians off their land with the threat of death. Indeed, at that moment, it was in an Indian's best interest to comply if they did not want to be killed, but there was no morality behind it. The whites took all the trouble to create a threat and then provide the Indians with the ultimatum. I can't help but feel as though I'm being threatened when someone uses Pascal's Wager on me. As I mentioned, I feel much more at peace when I don't have to worry about pleasing some deity.


Cliche's hang around for a reason.

Well, I was never raised as a hardcore Christian, and then I began to have my doubts about God.

I think religion is relative to the person, because all it's just morales and how to act.

My mom is a non practicing Unitarian Universalist (the child of a Unitarian Universalist mother and an atheist scientist father). My dad was raised Christian, but stopped going to church as a teenager. He also decided that he was going to go to music school at around the same time, his parents were pretty upset about all this as you can imagine. They forgive him now though.

So I haven't really tried to figure out the details behind what my dad believes, because my mom tells me that he doesn't really like talking about it.

As for myself, I regard myself as an atheist, but I'm technically a Discordian.

I'm technically Russian Orthadox, but I think of myself as agnostic.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jan 1 2009, 3:19 am by Dapperdan. Reason: Because

Pascal's Wager is intrinsically flawed, because it makes the assumption that there exists only two choices: believing in the Christian god and not believing in the Christian god. Yet, there are a vast number of choices, not just the two that Pascal artificially presumes. You could follow the edicts of Christianity, and find yourself reborn as an ant because Hinduism was true and you didn't follow its teachings. You could find yourself cast out of the pantheon of Kami because your name wasn't added to the Shinto list. What if the Egyptians were correct, and you need to have your body preserved so your ka can reunite with your ba? And the Muslim's Koran is quite explicit about what happens to unbelievers. The list goes on and on.

Pascal's Wager is ultimately nothing more than a false dilemma logical fallacy.

I believe because I chose to believe. As well as other following reasons. I grew up in a family where my father is a reverend. I also had many near death experiences. When I was very young, I had this really huge asthma attack. I couldn't breathe and the hospitals couldn't really do anything. Then I was brought to a church and some pastor prayed for me and I was healed. Also, my sister was hit by a car, but she got out of the hospital the same day and barely had a scratch on her. When I was little, I used to pray for a lot of little things. One of the most memorable one is when I prayed for tropicana orange ice cream, and the next day, someone bought it and gave it to us. I have many other reasons that can go on forever.

Saying that you choose to believe does not answer why you chose to believe your religion over all other choices. That is key, that there is more than one choice. You picked one over all others. Why?

Echo, if you attribute your recovery to your religion, then why doesn't your god heal amputees? Ever? Mysterious ways, or just your body doing what it can already do? Our bodies heal and repair, happens all the time with or without prayer, but we cannot regenerate limbs, so you never hear of that due to prayer.

Why would your god provide you with something as superficial as a Tropicana Orange Ice Cream just because you prayed for it? Since it was an actual person who bought it for you, and you are saying you received it due to prayer, are you suggesting god took over this human being in order to have them give you this treat? Or was it just someone being nice, as often happens, and you just happened to have wanted/prayed for it at a coincidental time?