ChatterBank24 mins ago
The more I read exerpts from the bible, the more I feel sick! Why do people believe in any of this??
50 Answers
Example:
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. - Mark 16:16
Excuse me, but may I just mention the many third world countries, where by sending in missionaries over the past centuries we have managed to convince millions of poor people that their salvation is to believe in this God and in the bible? These people are among the most religious in the world. So, where is this ... "shall never hunger, shall never thirst " that was promissed?
Why on earth do people believe in a book that is so harmful, so full of lies? Why do we have so many people who follow religions based on the bible and yet have never read the dreadful threats whithin, i.e. if your children disobay you, they should be stoned to death etc etc etc.
It all makes me sick!!
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. - Mark 16:16
Excuse me, but may I just mention the many third world countries, where by sending in missionaries over the past centuries we have managed to convince millions of poor people that their salvation is to believe in this God and in the bible? These people are among the most religious in the world. So, where is this ... "shall never hunger, shall never thirst " that was promissed?
Why on earth do people believe in a book that is so harmful, so full of lies? Why do we have so many people who follow religions based on the bible and yet have never read the dreadful threats whithin, i.e. if your children disobay you, they should be stoned to death etc etc etc.
It all makes me sick!!
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Just because they don't stone their children to death on a regular basis (a tempting prospect), it doesn't mean they haven't read it. It's likely they've read it and choose to ignore the distasteful bits. In which case people aren't as stupid as you think they are and you've got nothing to worry about.
“Why on earth do people believe in a book that is so harmful, so full of lies?”
Because most people are unable or unwilling to accept that their life is a momentary blip in the grand scheme of things. They are emotionally incapable of accepting that their short, brief life is the only consciousness they will ever experience. To counteract that dread of oblivion, they invent the idea that they can somehow survive their own death and live on in an 'afterlife'. From that nugget of an idea, anything is possible. Once a person has reached the stage where they believe they can live on after they have expired, they can pretty much populate the remainder of their entirely invented world with any amount of elaborate justifications for their continued existence... and hence religion is born.
Because most people are unable or unwilling to accept that their life is a momentary blip in the grand scheme of things. They are emotionally incapable of accepting that their short, brief life is the only consciousness they will ever experience. To counteract that dread of oblivion, they invent the idea that they can somehow survive their own death and live on in an 'afterlife'. From that nugget of an idea, anything is possible. Once a person has reached the stage where they believe they can live on after they have expired, they can pretty much populate the remainder of their entirely invented world with any amount of elaborate justifications for their continued existence... and hence religion is born.
Continued...
To answer the question more directly – because they want to believe so much that they mentally filter out the 'bad' bits of the Bible and only place any significance on the 'good' bits. This is a very well known phenomenon known as 'confirmation bias'...
Atheist: “God is horrible. He told Abraham to kill his own son, Isaac. Abraham obeyed; after lashing his son down and as Abraham was just seconds away from murdering him with a knife, God changed His mind and told Abraham to let Isaac go free. This is explained as a test of Abraham's faith.”
Believer: “Don't you see? God prevented Abraham from murdering his own son. God is great”.
Atheist: !?!?!?!
To answer the question more directly – because they want to believe so much that they mentally filter out the 'bad' bits of the Bible and only place any significance on the 'good' bits. This is a very well known phenomenon known as 'confirmation bias'...
Atheist: “God is horrible. He told Abraham to kill his own son, Isaac. Abraham obeyed; after lashing his son down and as Abraham was just seconds away from murdering him with a knife, God changed His mind and told Abraham to let Isaac go free. This is explained as a test of Abraham's faith.”
Believer: “Don't you see? God prevented Abraham from murdering his own son. God is great”.
Atheist: !?!?!?!
Jno – I didn't see your post before I posted mine. You have pretty much made the same point as I have – people ignore the 'bad' bits of religion.
You contest that this proves that people are actually quite intelligent for filtering out the distasteful aspects of a particular religious belief. Whilst I agree, I also think that it proves that most people have no real understanding of their own religion and the burden that it places them under. It proves that most people are morally good, despite their religion, and that they don't understand that their holy books are immutable. As a religious person, you can't pick and chose which bits to believe in and which bits to ignore – to do so would be to undermine the foundations of religion itself – either it's eternally true or it isn't.
If a person can pick and chose what not and what to believe within the confines of a religious belief system, then what's the point of organised religion?
You contest that this proves that people are actually quite intelligent for filtering out the distasteful aspects of a particular religious belief. Whilst I agree, I also think that it proves that most people have no real understanding of their own religion and the burden that it places them under. It proves that most people are morally good, despite their religion, and that they don't understand that their holy books are immutable. As a religious person, you can't pick and chose which bits to believe in and which bits to ignore – to do so would be to undermine the foundations of religion itself – either it's eternally true or it isn't.
If a person can pick and chose what not and what to believe within the confines of a religious belief system, then what's the point of organised religion?
Well, Craft 1948 and Ankou, I was brought up a Catholic, educated by extremely strikt Ursuline nunns, had a cousin who was a Bishop etc., so there was no getting away from religious matters at that time. But throughout my childhood I experienced many negative things with regard to the church and always questioned what I was being taught to believe. Unlike some, I don't believe ignorance is bliss, so do try to learn as much as I can about how others see the world. We cannot make intelligent informed decisions without being ... informed!! Religion affects us all, whether we believe or not. Throughout history, more people have been and still are killed in the name of religion, more wars are faught in the name of religion than for any other reason. So your comment about Casualty making you feel sick, Ankou ... well, religion has a far more significant affect on people's lives than a TV programme, so no offence, but that was a bit of a silly comment really.
birdie1971, I do agree with what you are saying. As a child, I was in constant fear of doing anything wrong, what with nunns and priests telling me I would burn in hell if I did anything wrong in their eyes. Today I do see religion as somewhat of an excuse not to take full resonsibility for one's own behaviour and decisions. I became a far happier, far more relaxed person once I admitted to myself and to others that in fact I am an atheist.
birdie1971, I do agree with what you are saying. As a child, I was in constant fear of doing anything wrong, what with nunns and priests telling me I would burn in hell if I did anything wrong in their eyes. Today I do see religion as somewhat of an excuse not to take full resonsibility for one's own behaviour and decisions. I became a far happier, far more relaxed person once I admitted to myself and to others that in fact I am an atheist.
Well I think its great that no Christian in any third world Country or any where else will ever die of hunger or thirst, this really is an end to starvation and dying of thirst.
So all we need to do is send missionaries to all these millions of starving people and they will never hunger or thirst again.
Hang on!! hasnt that ..................... its ok, im probably mistaken!
So all we need to do is send missionaries to all these millions of starving people and they will never hunger or thirst again.
Hang on!! hasnt that ..................... its ok, im probably mistaken!
-- answer removed --
If you have read the Bible and then made an informed decision you have done the right thing. I had it drummed into me whether i liked it or not when I was a child and can in fact quote bits of it which I had to learn at school. My friend was afraid of telling a lie in case a bolt came from god and killed her. I think I must have not believed even then and my experiences since have confirmed that I am a dyed in the wool atheist. However, there are some good stories there, all right for the cinema if you realise that is all they are - stories. Hollywood made some of them into great epics, which I quite enjoyed.
I'd just like to point out, there are some bad things in all holy books, but some people can take a great comfort from their belief also.
I can't bring myself to believe in the God of the Jews and Christians, (being born and brought up in the Jewish faith), but I lost a brother when he was four years old, it was my mothers faith that pulled her through, so I would never, ever, knock someones belief, but I would, without hesitation, knock the way a person carries out their belief.
I can't bring myself to believe in the God of the Jews and Christians, (being born and brought up in the Jewish faith), but I lost a brother when he was four years old, it was my mothers faith that pulled her through, so I would never, ever, knock someones belief, but I would, without hesitation, knock the way a person carries out their belief.
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