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Why Do People Feel The Need To Believe In A Supreme Being?

CLantara

CLantara

Member
...is it simply because of the fear of dying and they want the comfort of "eternal life" in heaven after their mortal one ends?

I personally take great comfort from "hoping" that I return to that state of nothingness I experienced...(or did'nt experience!) from the year dot up until the moment of my conception. That's my idea of paradise.
 
logician

logician

Well-Known Member
Maybe people don't feel the need, but peer pressure and tradition makes them feel like they "should" feel they need.
 
CLantara

CLantara

Member
Storm said:
I don' feel a need. I believe in God because of personal experience.
Click to expand...

What if you lived in some obscure, remote part of this planet that had not yet been reached by the God or gods of any organised religion. What would you attribute your personal experience to then?
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
CLantara said:
What if you lived in some obscure, remote part of this planet that had not yet been reached by the God or gods of any organised religion. What you you attribute your personal experience to then?
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know. "God" is the only answer that makes sense. I might well invent the concept. :D
 
Magic Man

Magic Man

Reaper of Conversation
Clantar, I'm a lot like you. I used to be Catholic. When I started here, I asked very similar questions to these that you're asking. If you stick around a while, I think you'll learn a lot about religion, and come to see it in a whole new way. There are many reasons people believe in God, and many gods people believe in. Some do believe in the Christian concept out of fear or comfort, but there are many others who have different reasons. Storms' idea of God, for instance, is vastly different from the Christian version, and she has her concept because of a deeply personal experience.

One thing I've learned here is to stop thinking of "God" in lliteral terms, and realize that it is part of the human experience, people just describe it in different ways.
 
Willamena

Willamena

Just me
Premium Member
CLantara said:
I personally take great comfort from "hoping" that I return to that state of nothingness I experienced...(or did'nt experience!) from the year dot up until the moment of my conception. That's my idea of paradise.
Click to expand...
But what if "God" is nothingness? Then you'd be returning to "God" and you don't even know it! :eek:
 
CLantara

CLantara

Member
Willamena said:
But what if "God" is nothingness? Then you'd be returning to "God" and you don't even know it! :eek:
Click to expand...

The God I refer to is the one I am familiar with as drummed into me by The Christian Brothers. I dare to think what they would have made of me describing him as "nothingness"!!:eek:
 
CalebAB

CalebAB

Crazy-Eyes
Its as simple as this. man lacks the ability to truly comprehend its origins. so even in the absence of religion and the idea of religion one would start to conjure his own thoughts and ideas about his creation. not as comfort but as a means to explain things. As humans we always want an explaination
 
Halcyon

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
You can see why a lot of people want to believe in God just by looking at some of the language they use to describe Him;
God is the eternal parent, or the eternal King. He keeps watch over you even when your earthly parents are no longer around for you.
 
Scuba Pete

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
CLantara said:
Why Do People Feel The Need To Believe In A Supreme Being?
Click to expand...
For the same reason I feel a "need" to believe that my cat exists: it's the simple truth.

Why do feel a need to believe in the sun? Why do you feel a need to believe that I can read your posting?

Not all beliefs find their genesis in a "need" to believe. God is not the opiate for the masses and Christianity is not some crutch I use to overcome some personal deficiency.
 
wednesday

wednesday

Jesus
Insecurity, lack of independence, they know no different, someone told them to, it gets them through each day, it makes them happy, God appeared to them in a dream .... just to name a few.

I personally find it hard to believe there simply is one, because all evidence is weak and or flawed, those who do have their reasons (faith), but its an endless debate until something (Lord knows what) proves/disproves.
 
robtex

robtex

Veteran Member
Scuba Pete said:
For the same reason I feel a "need" to believe that my cat exists: it's the simple truth.

Why do feel a need to believe in the sun? Why do you feel a need to believe that I can read your posting?

Not all beliefs find their genesis in a "need" to believe. God is not the opiate for the masses and Christianity is not some crutch I use to overcome some personal deficiency.
Click to expand...

Pete good to see you. Can I ask in order to qualify "need" what steps did you take to ascertain that your cat exists and what steps did you take to ascertain God exists. Between the two models what steps were different?

In regards to "belief" and the sun...nobody believes in sun...belief is a held position in the absence of evidence. We have evidence that the sun exits.

In regards to the OP I think the arguement from need is a large driving factor in people need for a supreme being to exist.

thread tag:

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/religious-debates/22446-arguement-need.html
 
Scuba Pete

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
robtex said:
Pete good to see you. Can I ask in order to qualify "need" what steps did you take to ascertain that your cat exists and what steps did you take to ascertain God exists. Between the two models what steps were different?
Click to expand...
Zephyr, my cat, revealed herself to me and my daughter at the humane society a little over a year ago. Jehovah, my God, revealed himself to me at Hume Hall at the University of Florida back in 1975. Once so revealed, I embraced the existence of both.
robtex said:
In regards to "belief" and the sun...nobody believes in sun...
Click to expand...
Where do you think all that light comes from then? Contrary to your statement, I believe that the sun exists almost as much as I believe God exists. One is perceived with the five senses and the latter is perceived with the Spirit. The sun does not cease to exist if you are blind and can not see it. Neither does God cease to exist if you are spiritually blind and can not see him.
robtex said:
In regards to the OP I think the arguement from need is a large driving factor in people need for a supreme being to exist.
Click to expand...
Why do you feel a NEED to believe in this? Can you prove this to be true?
 
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