Why do so many theists think they can back up their faith?

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bungalow Bob

Banned
Edit: This question is mainly for atheists: why is indoctrinating children with religious beliefs socially acceptable? Similar types of child abuse are looked down upon, such as raising children to hate all people of a particular race and/or consider them inferior.
If you accept friends who indoctrinate their children with their religion yet reject potential friends who teach their kids to be racist, please explain why.

Why do so many religious people think they have a good reason for believing what they do? And also, why do they often claim that their own magical beliefs are more sophisticated than the magical beliefs of others? I've yet to hear an explanation as to why Christian beliefs, for example, are any more sophisticated than the belief in the Care Bears my sister had when she was 3.

An example of a belief that can be backed up is that it's impossible to know both where something is and how it's moving beyond a specific degree of accuracy. Anybody can check this for themself and then believe it based on reproducible first hand experience.

Edit: Why do many theists and atheists believe that the Jesus character is a good person/god? Whether you believe in him or not, even a quick reading of the new testament should allow anyone to realize the character is disgusting.

Also, why do many non-fundamentalist Christians think that because they reject some Bible stories, but believe in the Jesus one, that their beliefs are more reasonable than those of fundamentalists?
 
Keyword there is "faith".

It wouldn't be faith if they didn't think they could justify it.
 
What are you hoping for out of this thread? Serious question.

FStop7 said:
Because isn't that an intrinsic quality of faith?
Click to expand...

Because it seems like a pretty simple answer to me. This is it, right here. Anything else is just going to be an ugly argument over semantics and the distinction between a religious person and a fundamentalist.
 
Lack of critical thinking skills.

Lack of understanding of the scientific method and standards of rigor for evidence.

Desire to address the shortcomings of asserting a purely faith-based position and the resulting cognitive dissonance.

Desire to provide a stronger argument to more effectively proselytize.
 
Why is it that so many people who start threads like this have such a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of "faith?"

I'm particularly faithless lately, but don't get my rocks off making an ass of myself on the internet just because other people feel differently about something than I do.
 
TebowHatersGonnaHate.jpg
 
EviLore said:
Lack of critical thinking skills.

Lack of understanding of the scientific method and standards of rigor for evidence.

Desire to address the shortcomings of asserting a purely faith-based position and the resulting cognitive dissonance.

Desire to provide a stronger argument to more effectively proselytize.
Click to expand...

I hear where you're coming from, but don't you think the first two are a little unfair? I'm not denying some of that exists, but it seems like you're painting with very broad strokes there.
 
FStop7 said:
Because isn't that an intrinsic quality of faith?
Click to expand...

There should be some basis for said faith and that's where I find religion to be lacking. If somebody believed aliens were responsible for everything that people associate with God, how would you prove them wrong?
 
Jarmel said:
There should be some basis for said faith and that's where I find religion to be lacking. If somebody believed aliens were responsible for everything that people associate with God, how would you prove them wrong?
Click to expand...

Those are called Scientologists.


Bungalow Bob said:
I thought all things that are believed purely on faith can never be backed up. If it were possible to back them up, it wouldn't require faith to believe it.
Click to expand...

I can only assume a lot of people who may have inner doubts or the desire to always be on the right side of a debate often buttress their faith with arguments.
 
Some people believe that their religious books contain facts that are so amazing that they had to come from diving intervention. I know a lot of people who like to mention that the Qur'an explains human embryology, the Big Bang, evolution etc.
 
Korey said:
They were indoctrinated to believe it since birth.
Click to expand...
I don't consider myself a follower of any particular religion anymore, but I was raised Catholic. At a certain age, I realized some significant reasons for me following Christianity instead of Islam/Judaism/Etc. boiled down to a combination of where I was born and/or what religion my parents were.
 
peterb0y said:
I hear where you're coming from, but don't you think the first two are a little unfair? I'm not denying some of that exists, but it seems like you're painting with very broad strokes there.
Click to expand...

Eh, well if it's answering the title question - not really. A theist who claims that his belief is based in evidence is not using critical thinking. I respect theists who understand that their beliefs are entirely based on faith and have no value in empiricism.
 
GatorBait said:
I don't consider myself a follower of any particular religion anymore, but I was raised Catholic. At a certain age, I realized some significant reasons for me following Christianity instead of Islam/Judaism/Etc. boiled down to a combination of where I was born and/or what religion my parents were.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Random life generator. Your religion is basically a mad libs of born in __(country)__ in the year __________.

I wish more religious people would sit down and think about that for a second.
 
Faith is exactly what it is, faith.

I can't offer a scientific explanation of why I have faith, or why I cry during prayer/praise. I just have faith.

Man, if I could make you guys feel the way I feel when I commune with God I could.

But....I would be totally lying if I said it was always better than busting an epic nut.
 
Bungalow Bob said:
Why do so many religious people think they have a good reason for believing what they do? And also, why do they often claim that their own magical beliefs are more sophisticated than the magical beliefs of others? I've yet to hear an explanation as to why Christian beliefs, for example, are any more sophisticated than the belief in the Care Bears my sister had when she was 3.

An example of a belief that can be backed up is that it's impossible to know both where something is and how it's moving beyond a specific degree of accuracy. Anybody can check this for themself and then believe it based on reproducible first hand experience.
Click to expand...

Tell me what your beliefs are and I'll tell you why you can't back them up.
 
Bungalow Bob said:
Why do so many religious people think they have a good reason for believing what they do? And also, why do they often claim that their own magical beliefs are more sophisticated than the magical beliefs of others? I've yet to hear an explanation as to why Christian beliefs, for example, are any more sophisticated than the belief in the Care Bears my sister had when she was 3.

.
Click to expand...

icqUXFZGviN4w.gif
this is gold
 
Religion is stronger than science because it takes scientists thousands of years and millions of books to prove their "theories" while religion can prove their "facts" in just one.



That's how it was explained to me.
 
Why do people preach to the choir?

:p

People do things for reasons, you have a few choices on how to deal with these things.

I obviously take the "be a sarcastic asshole" route.
 
I'm really trying to understand this thread. Why do people need to justify their beliefs to others?
 
ChiTownBuffalo said:
Faith is exactly what it is, faith.

I can't offer a scientific explanation of why I have faith, or why I cry during prayer/praise. I just have faith.

Man, if I could make you guys feel the way I feel when I commune with God I could.

But....I would be totally lying if I said it was always better than busting an epic nut.
Click to expand...
i think what the op is asking for is something you can tell him that would distance a statement like this from common or garden schizophrenia.
 
ChiTownBuffalo said:
Faith is exactly what it is, faith.

I can't offer a scientific explanation of why I have faith, or why I cry during prayer/praise. I just have faith.

Man, if I could make you guys feel the way I feel when I commune with God I could.

But....I would be totally lying if I said it was always better than busting an epic nut.
Click to expand...

This.

But one can validate their beliefs with their own experiences, it doesn't really work in a grand debate, but for their personal beliefs it's fine. Their beliefs could also be experimented or tested to see if it works (with said person). This empiricism is pretty important in some religions too(buddhism is one, while not really theistic does rely on one examining their beliefs) if I remember correctly..
 
FStop7 said:
Because isn't that an intrinsic quality of faith?
Click to expand...
No.

However, the proof required for faith does not require consensus with the faithless. So since backing it up is not really the goal, it's not a requirement of faith to explain it in scientific/atheistic/secular terms. The OP uses the wrong analogy.
 
ReBurn said:
I'm really trying to understand this thread. Why do people need to justify their beliefs to others?
Click to expand...

Beliefs can be wrong.

Air said:
This.

But one can validate their beliefs with their own experiences, it doesn't really work in a grand debate, but for their personal beliefs it's fine. Their beliefs could also be experimented or tested to see if it works (with said person). This empiricism is pretty important in some religions too(buddhism is one, while not really theistic does rely on one examining their beliefs) if I remember correctly..
Click to expand...

Galileo had this rad idea: If something in the Bible seems to contradict something we discover using science, your interpretation of the Bible is incorrect. Too bad so many believers are still living in the early 17th century.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

what do you think of Nathan Fielder?
13
858
Jsisto replied
Why Do So Many Couples Look Alike? Like they could be brother and sister?
2
99
8K
StueyDuck replied
My faith in AI is restored
14
1K
EverydayBeast replied
I don't understand why more people don't order their groceries online and have it delivered
2 3
105
341
Sub_Level replied
Jalapeños have gotten less hot, here's what you can do.
17
69
Plies replied
Top Bottom