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What evidence would be required for you to abandon your religious belief

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?
The evidence to abandon my beliefs would be the existence of another belief system that I believe makes more objective sense than mine. For example, if I believed all phenomena was best explained by materialist-atheism, I would become a materialist-atheist.

(I am eastern/Advaita, not Christian).
 

morphesium

Active Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?
Unless people start thinking about their religion, no evidence will convince them that their religion is false. Religion suppresses "freedom of thought". They are too afraid to think out of the box saying " that will make the God(s) angry "
 

Sundance

pursuing the Divine Beloved
Premium Member
My belief as a Rastaman is a matter of history and culture, not scientific verifiability or falsifiability. It centres around the experiences, triumphs, and sorrows, the perspectives of a particular group of people (Africans and those of the Diaspora). Because of that fact, it is relevant to me. Thus, nothing could ever turn me from the Rastafari faith. Bless I (‘you’), Jah Ras Tafari!
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
My religion will someday be entirely abandond anyway. Likely in 30 years time give or take.

I just take in what is presented at any givin time, which has been sufficient enough to steer me this way and that so far.
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
The evidence to abandon my beliefs would be the existence of another belief system that I believe makes more objective sense than mine. For example, if I believed all phenomena was best explained by materialist-atheism, I would become a materialist-atheist.

(I am eastern/Advaita, not Christian).

Thanks for your reply. And what actual evidence would you require....that is the underlying question.
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
Unless people start thinking about their religion, no evidence will convince them that their religion is false. Religion suppresses "freedom of thought". They are too afraid to think out of the box saying " that will make the God(s) angry "

That's where I'm going....
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
The evidence to abandon my beliefs would be the existence of another belief system that I believe makes more objective sense than mine. For example, if I believed all phenomena was best explained by materialist-atheism, I would become a materialist-atheist.

(I am eastern/Advaita, not Christian).

can you define your understanding of "objective" and give examples of what objective evidence you use to support your belief system?
 

Town Heretic

Temporarily out of order
My conversion was experiential in nature, so I suppose some evidence of a physiological event that would account for someone happily ensconced in a fairly rationalistic, materialistic agnosticism being moved to faith would have been something of a relief following. There wasn't any as it turns out (of course I checked, who wouldn't?) and no other discernible reason for the event, no subsequent impairment of cognitive function or clarity, as I continued through law school and the bar and into practice.

I suppose then there isn't anything that I can think of that would move me from my faith. And given empirical evidence isn't sufficient to settle the question, it's hard to imagine what could reasonably convince me that my faith was false at this point.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?

Gosh. That's a hard question. I mean, if there was no Jesus then that would be evidence Christianity is false. However, even without the historical Buddha and his thousands of sutras, we all still have a Buddhanature. Without humans, nature would still exist and take care of each other. My faith exists and will always be true even if the Buddha never lived and I never heard of a pagan before. Evidence that it is false? I honestly don't know. That's like asking for evidence to proof we are not alive and there is no such thing as the physical universe.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't reject objective scientific, historical or cultural evidence as it stands. So I really don't know. I approach religion more like a philosophy, so a better philosophical stance I guess.
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
I would need for atheists to be much less obnoxious, acting like they know everything, and much more caring and compassionate, much less likely to pick a fight, and have some real evidence there is no God instead of the same repeated empty claims, then I might consider atheism.

It is not up to others to disprove your assertions.
I could make the same statement you did above about Christians. But so what? Nothing you said really answered my question, unless you actually decided to believe in your religion because you have a low opinion of atheists.
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
I gave up religion.
didn't give up believing there is a God.

Well, I know you can give up believing in religious institutions, but if you hold a belief in a god, aren't you still religious?
Anyway, this thread isn't about defining what religion is or is not.
 

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
Isn't your intent here to proselytize against religion??
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
Isn't your intent here to proselytize against religion??

What does the title of the thread say? I have nothing to proselytize about. I only ask others to provide evidence to support their beliefs when they make assertions about their religion. How is that proselytizing?
So would you like to participate by answering the question in the title of this thread?
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Staff member
Premium Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?
There are many religious folks out there that just don't accept the possibility, their beliefs have them in a choke hold, either their faith makes them be close minded or they convince themselves that opinions outside of their faith are simply not trustworthy.

But I guess I can't blame them. While I'm not as extremely close minded like them, I admit to have a bias towards my worldview. But I don't think one belief system works for everyone. Because I think the more likely situation isn't that beliefs are shaped from the world, the world is shaped by one's beliefs. All locked away in our own versions of reality.


So - what it would take to make me shake my beliefs? A paradigm shift. Nothing more, nothing less.


Sorry I'm not a Christian.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Directed primarily at Christians,as that is the dominant religion where I live, but all are welcome.

What evidence would you need to be personally convinced that your religion was false?
Hi Milton,

There is no evidence needed that my belief is false. I've seen the truth that Jesus confessed at John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. God's power against the evil one was personally witnessed by me. The Scriptures (Bible)-God's word is my guide and light to my faith in Him. I believed that there is an evidence that my belief/faith is true, it is inside the written inspired Scriptures.

2 Tim. 3:16-17
16. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17. that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Heb. 4:12
12. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

My life was totally changed by God. A life of peace, security and assurance of salvation, that money can't buy. It is only through Jesus Christ, my Lord/God and Saviour.

Thanks
 
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