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

[Jeremy Mason]

...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

Wishful thinking can lead to many places. God knows, I at one point in my life, thought and hoped 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.

While I love your honesty, I personally have come around and thought about our roles, as agents, of our future. And the beauty that comes with It.

 

[robtex]

Why do you NEED to do this?

I like to look at models. It makes me happy to make models and investigate other's models.

 

[Magic Man]

I am SAYING that whether you are an atheist or a theist, you are still a HUMAN and that any aspect of humanity can drive you equally towards atheism or theism. Hate, bigotry, insecurity, ignorance or even stupidity... yeah the WHOLE lot of negative human attributes can cause you to be EITHER. There is no distinction except your community you happen to also belong to.

For that matter, the very same can be said about our altruistic attributes as well.

At the end of the day we are ALL human and we are ALL subject to our humanity.

You're really missing the point here, and avoiding the question.

Here's an analogy: I am insecure. I am looking for a girlfriend. For me to be more secure, I would need a GF with more nurturing, loving, comforting attributes. Would choosing a GF who has none of those qualities be a good idea for me to obtain security?

There is nothing in atheism that would give an insecure person security. It's as simple as that.

Again, you are misinterpretting things. I am not saying that the fact that some people go to Christianity because of insecurity makes atheism clearly superior. This fact makes no value judgement. You like to paint theism and atheism as the same in all respects. They are not, any more than you and I are. Just because two things are different doesn't mean that one is better inherently than the other. Atheism has many, many differences from theism, one of which is the reasoning behind becoming atheist. Some people come to atheism for the wrong reasons, too, they're just different wrong reasons.

 

[Willamena]

There is nothing in atheism that would give an insecure person security. It's as simple as that.

Hehe. It's like, "there is nothing in lack that would give an insecure person security."

 

[Scuba Pete]

There is nothing in atheism that would give an insecure person security. It's as simple as that.

ANY belief system can give a person security. ESPECIALLY if there is a community involved. I know it helps your insecurity to portray atheism as a place where only the STRONG may venture, and that's simply an over simplification and false. It would be just as false for a theist to claim that arrogance leads to atheism. Human strengths and weaknesses can pander to or from belief in God. It all depends on the social environment you are in.

 

[Willamena]

ANY belief system can give a person security. ESPECIALLY if there is a community involved. I know it helps your insecurity to portray atheism as a place where only the STRONG may venture, and that's simply an over simplification and false. It would be just as false for a theist to claim that arrogance leads to atheism. Human strengths and weaknesses can pander to or from belief in God. It all depends on the social environment you are in.

That's just it: atheism is not the belief system. The beliefs of the atheist lie elsewhere.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Hehe. It's like, "there is nothing in lack that would give an insecure person security."

But it would take a secure person to deny them self?

 

[Magic Man]

ANY belief system can give a person security. ESPECIALLY if there is a community involved. I know it helps your insecurity to portray atheism as a place where only the STRONG may venture, and that's simply an over simplification and false. It would be just as false for a theist to claim that arrogance leads to atheism. Human strengths and weaknesses can pander to or from belief in God. It all depends on the social environment you are in.

I guess I should have learned by now. You just refuse to acknowledge your bias, don't you? I tried to make it abundantly clear that it has nothing to do with thinking that only strong people are atheists, and it has nothing to do with my own insecurity, if I have any.

For one, you are painting atheism as a belief system again, which is false. It is simply the lack of one particular belief. You have yet to support your assertion that it is a belief system.

For another, you still fail to show what exactly there is inherent to atheism that could give anyone security. Community doesn't work. I used it because it is commonly used as a benefit to entice people towards Christianity. It plays a big role in that particular religion. It plays no part in atheism. The fact that all, or most, of a person's friends are of a certain belief says nothing about that belief. A person can go to any belief to follow a crowd, but not every belief has a built-in concept of community to be more appealing to outsiders.

I have already shown the inherent things about Christianity that would give an insecure person more security. You have not even tried to refute them, and have offered nothing about atheism specifically that would lead someone to go to it for security. Notice I said go to atheism, not go to their friends. Show me something about atheism that gives security. Community is not inherent in atheism, as it is in Christianity.

 

[Willamena]

But it would take a secure person to deny them self?

I don't understand your take.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I don't understand your take.

Well, if you have the ability to choose to deny yourself, for good reasons, you show to others the the happiness that comes with compassion.

 

[robtex]

...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.

Going back to the OP and the first lines about fear of dying and eternal comfort it comes down to a really simple structure to view:

1) One has faith in God in the absence of evidence

2) One has evidence to show for God

3) all decisions we make are :

(a)theory/evidence-based,
(b)sensory based (based on 5 senses) or
(c) emotionally driven
or combo of the some or all of the three.

If (1) describes your theism than in regards to 3 than an emotional primer exists to drive that decision

(2) if evidence than they can demonstrate said evidence of not just a God but why that God is a personal God.

I notice within that idea that "it is just my faith" (fedeism) suggest an emotional drive for a need to believe. # 2 from what I have seen with things like "personal revelations" that amazingly non-theists are unable to see and science has never validated, or arguments like the "first mover argument" or "tap" are a smoke screen for the theists insecurity for stating their conviction of God is entirely faith based which I am guessing in some instances is lack of comfort in someone telling their faith is a by product of an emotional need.

On a footnote we all make decisions on emotion. It is a driving force in what motivates us. I buy music based on my emotions. I write poetry driven by emotions, I date women based on an emotional connection. I think in relation to the OP that of the theists I have met that emotions are the driving force for your conviction and the neat opportunity of this thread, based on the OP it is gives you explore that in this thread. I don't understand why instead yall repulse that idea ...If I believed in God I would have embraced the OP and elaborated on it. If the title of the thread was what emotions drive your purchasing decisions on music I would answer that with a smile on my face. For so many of you that say "God is love" (aka an attachment to an emotion) I don't know why the question is so difficult to make an elaboration.

 

[Willamena]

Well, if you have the ability to choose to deny yourself, for good reasons, you show to others the the happiness that comes with compassion.

Cool; and the atheist and the theist can both do this within their respective belief systems.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Cool; and the atheist and the theist can both do this within their respective belief systems.

Absolutely, good deeds are not religious, but I believe they are inspired by God.

 

[Willamena]

Absolutely, good deeds are not religious, but I believe they are inspired by God.

It would take a secure person to deny themself for others. The atheist does find security, but not in that particular "lack".

They find security in things they do believe in.

 

[Katzpur]

...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.

Do you believe everything you believe because you NEED to? If you believe something because of a NEED, it's not really a belief at all.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

It would take a secure person to deny themself for others. The atheist does find security, but not in that particular "lack".

They find security in things they do believe in.

Fair enough.