Argument against "lacktheism"

[1137]

1/ Well there is plenty of work out there with that suggestion.
An example from Cornell
Religion: less ‘opiate,’ more suppressant, study finds | Cornell Chronicle

See this is finally a step in the right direction, evidence for your claims.

2/ What about them?

Well if it doesn't address all religions then it doesn't explain all religious belief, pretty simple.

 

[Little Dragon]

I see you aren't going to answer the question.

The question made little sense. I answered best I could.

 

[1137]

Maybe it's your comprehension skills that at fault here?

It was a direct quote man. This was my entire point: Atheists may instead suggest various hypothesis for why people do believe in God(s). Which if they wish to prove, they will need evidence.

 

[1137]

The question made little sense. I answered best I could.

You can't comprehend the question "what causes people to believe in gods?" Oof.

 

[Revoltingest]

Except that when they are asked to explain (logically defend) why they believe these entities do not exist, they lie....

Dang, such hostility & hubris towards us heathens.

Really, if you want to address lying, it's believers
who lie to themselves that these many unverifiable
myths must all be true. They've gotta be suppressing
some vestige of healthy skepticism...an internal BS
alarm that's telling them it's all fairy tales.
Perhaps that internal conflict is the source of the
faithful's hostility towards non-believers.

 

[Little Dragon]

It was a direct quote man. This was my entire point: Atheists may instead suggest various hypothesis for why people do believe in God(s). Which if they wish to prove, they will need evidence.

That is not equal to atheists dismissing the existence of Gods, requiring evidence to dismiss said Gods.

They need testable evidence only to show why people do believe in Gods.
If they state indoctrination is the reason some people believe in Gods, then they must show their working, for it to be testable.
If they state government secret mind control is the reason, some people believe in Gods, they they must prove it. With leaked classified memos etc.

They do not need evidence to dismiss an untestable positive claim. They need make only a negative claim, which as stated is assumed as correct unless the positive claimant has testable evidence, which in this case, they do not.

 

[Little Dragon]

You can't comprehend the question "what causes people to believe in gods?" Oof.

That was not the statement I responded to.

 

[Little Dragon]

Right but since gods dont exist the experience of then must be cause by ~gods. What is it caused by?

99.9 % of the time indoctrination. The rest a mixture of psychiatric disorders and emotional problems.

No one is born knowing about human Gods. Indoctrination, is the only logical testable explanation. For most theists alive today and in the past.

 

[1137]

99.9 % of the time indoctrination. The rest a mixture of psychiatric disorders and emotional problems.

Awesome thank you for finally sharing. Now can you support these claims?

 

[ChristineM]

See this is finally a step in the right direction, evidence for your claims.

Well if it doesn't address all religions then it doesn't explain all religious belief, pretty simple.

Which is why i was specific in what I wrote.

And i notice that you don't answer questions regarding your claims, perhaps you too could move in the right direction

 

[Little Dragon]

Awesome thank you for finally sharing. Now can you support these claims?

I did earlier.

1) Most people believe in the existence of a God or Gods, that correlates very strongly with their geography. Iranians will likely be Muslim, Serbians will likely be Orthodox Christian, Italians will likely be Roman Catholic, Indians will likely be Hindus or Muslims, Israelis will likely be devotees of Judaism Haitians will likely be Voodoo cultists, (with it's various Gods and Goddesses), Americans will likely be Evangelical Christians and so on. Your God(s) are/is a reflection of your culture and region.

2) Knowledge of Gods is not innate. I could raise the child of a Muslim as a Hindu or a Jew and he or she would see those Gods, the fabricated Gods of man, narratives, taught to children, as if they were fact.

 

[1137]

Which is why i was specific in what I wrote.

And i notice that you don't answer questions regarding your claims, perhaps you too could move in the right direction

I supported my claim in the op

 

[Revoltingest]

They need testable evidence only to show why people do believe in Gods.

We really don't need it.
In arguments over the existence of gods,
it's a request that arises. But we don't
expect an answer. They have none.

 

[Little Dragon]

We really don't need it.
In arguments over the existence of gods,
it's a request that arises. But we don't
expect an answer. They have none.

Certainly you do not need to prove why people believe in Gods (although the answer is blindingly obvious and easily proven) in order to logically dismiss the existence of deities. That can be done easily enough, since a negative claim has to be overturned with evidence. From the one making the positive claim in the first instance.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

99.9 % of the time indoctrination. The rest a mixture of psychiatric disorders and emotional problems.

No one is born knowing about human Gods. Indoctrination, is the only logical testable explanation. For most theists alive today and in the past.

I don't know about your percentages and I think that mental health issues figure much more prominently in the acceptance and practice of religion, but indoctrination, in the many forms it takes and is applied, seems to be the means by which religion is introduced to people. I am Christian and hold the beliefs of that view for being raised in a family and community that followed and promoted those views. I think the chance of my growing up Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or other, spontaneously, approaches a non-zero number.

 

[crossfire]

Probably many reasons. Loneliness, trauma, dead parent, maybe their family encourages it. I don't think they just magically or without cause have the friends right? There's an explanation for the belief?

So why do some children not come up with an invisible friend? (lackinvisiblefriendism)

 

[Revoltingest]

Certainly you do not need to prove why people believe in Gods (although the answer is blindingly obvious and easily proven) in order to logically dismiss the existence of deities. That can be done easily enough, since a negative claim has to be overturned with evidence. From the one making the positive claim in the first instance.

One could prove that religion is (often)
assigned by parents. But why bother, eh.

 

[Little Dragon]

I am Christian and hold the beliefs of that view for being raised in a family and community that followed and promoted those views. I think the chance of my growing up Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or other spontaneously, approaches a non-zero number.

Precisely. I was raised in an atheist household, and was never exposed to any religious indoctrination, our community was very sparsely populated and made up of people in the same organisation my father worked for. Not at all religious, although our home was located in an anglican christian diocese.

It's easy for me to sit outside the box of experience of religious study and church etc.. and judge.
We did not celebrate easter or christmas. No baptisms, no sunday school, none of all that!

I studied Asterix and Obelisk and Tintin comics or played with my computers, on sundays.
I learned more about christianity when I went to comprehensive school, in my RE classes and meeting kids from religious backgrounds.

 

[Heyo]

It's a vicious feedback loop.
When one believes, everything looks like evidence.
Then the more one sees, the more one believes.
The worst delusion is...
"Existence of everything proves God's existence."

While I see the risk and the evidence supports it (believers are more likely to fall for scams and believe conspiracy theories), there is no simple causal connection. E.g. enough scientists are perfectly able to compartmentalise. They have different thresholds for evidence based on their work or their belief.

 

[Heyo]

It's a vicious feedback loop.
When one believes, everything looks like evidence.
Then the more one sees, the more one believes.
The worst delusion is...
"Existence of everything proves God's existence."

While I see the risk and the evidence supports it (believers are more likely to fall for scams and believe conspiracy theories), there is no simple causal connection. E.g. enough scientists are perfectly able to compartmentalise. They have different thresholds for evidence based on their work or their belief.