Why does God >insert your grievance here<....?

[Walker88]

The belief in deities has a Darwinian element to it (Dr. Robert Sapolsky).

 

Virtually every human society has manufactured deities. (Obviously all cannot be right, but all can be wrong.) Most cultures have covered all the bases by having more than one deity, but in the interest of efficiency, some cultures boiled it down to only one. That saves time and allows folks to get work done, rather than having to appease every worship-needing entity their minds created.

 

The mere thought that existence is both random and essentially meaningless is too tough to take for most people. It causes stress, and stress can kill. Constant high cortisol levels wreak havoc on the body. Going back hundreds of thousands of years, humans who comforted themselves with a fantasy that there is some entity or entities who control things, and the additional belief that one can petition them for favors, is stress-reducing.

 

Being around others who believe the same thing offers fellowship and a retreat from loneliness. Building rituals around the belief additionally reinforces the comforting belief.

 

Those with reduced stress levels are more likely to survive, thus passing on their genes. They are "selected into the species" in a Darwinian sense. It doesn't matter if their beliefs are wrong, because truth is not the goal. Survival is the goal.

Edited January 7 by Walker88

[save the frogs]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

However, he did say there were rare occasions when he would meet a criminal who was pure evil, and there was no rational explanation for what they did.

 

It's because we're living in a computer simulation.

Just as when you create a video games you create some evil characters, some people are pre-programmed at birth for evil or to fulfill certain roles in society.  

Here, watch this video. This guy was born for evil, the "sky" is involved somehow manipulating events behind the scenes, and notice he doesn't just kill people randomly. 

You think it's silly?

I think people need to take some of these artists more seriously. Some of them are modern-day "high priests". 

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

17 hours ago, ezzra said:

One thing for sure, no one will complain about being too good looking, too rich or having too large penis...

 

[Mike Teavee]

9 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Virtually every human society has manufactured deities

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him

Voltaire

[Tippaporn]

17 hours ago, retarius said:

On the contrary, my huge penis is a drawback for some of the smaller Thai girls. 

 

What hubris!! 

[Tippaporn]

16 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Surely, to insert anything would be an acceptance of the presence or existence of such an entity.

 

That's a point that Sunmaster failed to make clear in stating the purpose of this thread.

 

There are a number of posters coming on to the God thread who come on only to mock those who believe in God (I'm defending those who believe in God but that's not to imply that my defence is solely due to the fact that I, too, am religious and share their beliefs).  One approach to deny the existence of God, which they obviously do deny, is to use satire in the form of the question, "Well, if you believe in God then explain why God would allow these terrible things to exist.  For surely if there was a God he would never allow those terrible things to exist."  The question is, of course, due to a complete lack of understanding on their parts.  But I digress . . .

 

And so, Sunmaster had the idea to have those posters, well, in the immortal words of Mick, get yer ya-ya's out here. 

[Tippaporn]

16 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Atheists aren't the ones writing a letter to santa claus every sunday.

 

Sounds like an admission, ozimoron.  Was he good to you this past Christmas? 

[Tippaporn]

16 hours ago, Woof999 said:

You're distorting the question and I'm pretty sure you know you are.

 

Just in case you are actually confused... when an atheist writes "how come God gives babies disabilities", what they almost certainly mean is "if your God exists, and he is all good,  all knowing and all powerful, how in the world can babies be born with disabilities."

 

I don't see Sunmaster as distorting the question at all.  I do, however, see you distorting it, due to having a false yet unspoken premise.

 

An atheist asking that question couldn't even begin to answer it in the event that God did exist and babies are born with disabilities.  The premise behind the question is that if God existed he'd never allow it.  The premise is faulty.  Which makes the question absurd.

[Tippaporn]

15 hours ago, ozimoron said:

LOL, you think that was about God or about religious nutcases?

 

". . . about religious nutcases?"

 

There's the proof in your own words that you're simply trolling when you go on that thread.  You don't believe in God and that's fine.  But the idea that others do is like a stick up yer <> that causes discomfort everytime the idea pops into your head and you then just can't resist the urge to disparage them so it gives a bit of relief to your discomfort.

 

So, if your only purpose in posting in that thread is to disparage the believers then . . . you're frickin' trolling. 

 

Edited January 7 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

15 hours ago, ozimoron said:

 

It's fair game to troll christian nationalists who believe Trump was chosen by God. It's just another reason to reject religion altogether.

 

"It's fair game to troll . . ."

 

And there's your outright admission that those who disagree agree with you are therefore fair game to troll.  No I do believe that trolling is against forum rules.  Which makes it astounding that you would actually admit to it outright on the forum.

[Tippaporn]

15 hours ago, pomchop said:

Define god.

 

God is a representation of the existence of more than what we are aware of.  Which awareness for most extends to this world and the self in the mirror only.  Gods come and go, as everyone knows by just a cursory reading of human history, but what they represent is continually expressed despite the particular label applied.  Every god that's accepted today will eventually be sent to the "old god's home" and be replaced by another, new one.  Like it or not, agree with it or not, but you can't change it. 

[Thingamabob]

Why were many humans, and many other species, created with the desire to eat flesh ? The cruelty involved is more like the work of the devil.

[Tippaporn]

15 hours ago, ImageDude said:

For me, I think Stephen Fry sums it up nicely.

 

 

Frye would probably sh!t himself if he were in front of God.    Just joking.

 

Again, Frye is just another who doesn't understand why awful things exist for us and would blame God for his miseries. 

 

Yeah, I use a laughing emoticon but I do understand the difficulty of understanding why 'bad' things exist.  It ain't easy given the beliefs people have.  Actually, given the beliefs people have is precisely what makes it impossible to understand.

[Tippaporn]

16 hours ago, pomchop said:

Define god.

 

Only a portion of your entire identity is "presently" familiar to you, as you know. Therefore, when you consider the question of a supreme being, you imagine a male personality with those abilities that you yourselves possess, with great emphasis upon qualities you admire. This imagined god has therefore changed throughout your centuries, mirroring man's shifting ideas of himself.

God was seen as cruel and powerful when man believed that these were desirable characteristics, needed particularly in his battle for physical survival. He projected these upon his idea of a god because he envied them and feared them. You have cast your idea of god, therefore, in your own image.

In a reality that is inconceivably multidimensional, the old concepts God are relatively meaningless. Even the term, a supreme being, is in itself distortive, for you naturally project the qualities of human nature on it. If I told you that God was an idea, you would not understand what I meant, for you do not understand the dimensions in which an idea has its reality, or the energy that it can originate and propel. You not believe in ideas in the same way that you believe in physical objects, so if I tell you that God is an idea, you will misinterpret this to that God is less than real - nebulous, without reality, without purpose, and without motive action.

 

If you can't make sense of the above then the concept of God will no doubt escape you even if given a definition of God.  What God is actually defies all attempts to define it.

 

This subject matter is for people whose thoughts run quite a bit deeper.  If they don't then that's fine.  There's no right or wrong about it.  Just don't expect to understand something when you're not interested in understanding it.  You obviously won't. 

[Captain Monday]

The hoary  question of why a so-called god allows bad things to happen is really just a just a straw-man argument easily deflected by more sophistry.

 

Clogging up as you say the TVF forums continuation of a thousands year long debate.  Engaged by the greatest minds and noted philosophers. Where one side has not, in the entire history of human achievement,  provided a single solitary shred of evidence for the existence dieties or supernatural process. 

[brianthainess]

May god protect me from all his followers.

[klauskunkel]

Thousands of gods with their corresponding religion have been and are still being created by humans, the correct one is the one that will be created by AI for the only reason to free up bandwidth: "Here is your God, the best God ever, complain to (pronoun), not me."

The only way for this God and its religion not to be corrupted by humans is if the corresponding institutions were disallowed: no churches, hierarchies, humans interpreting the "Will of God", etc.

 

On a side note: humans created gods, and then gods created humans - classic chicken and egg. The only constant is the creative process, we are just good at fantasy.

 

[SiSePuede419]

Why does your God make his followers so stupid they worship this dumbass turd? 😋

 

 

[pomchop]

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

 

Only a portion of your entire identity is "presently" familiar to you, as you know. Therefore, when you consider the question of a supreme being, you imagine a male personality with those abilities that you yourselves possess, with great emphasis upon qualities you admire. This imagined god has therefore changed throughout your centuries, mirroring man's shifting ideas of himself.

God was seen as cruel and powerful when man believed that these were desirable characteristics, needed particularly in his battle for physical survival. He projected these upon his idea of a god because he envied them and feared them. You have cast your idea of god, therefore, in your own image.

In a reality that is inconceivably multidimensional, the old concepts God are relatively meaningless. Even the term, a supreme being, is in itself distortive, for you naturally project the qualities of human nature on it. If I told you that God was an idea, you would not understand what I meant, for you do not understand the dimensions in which an idea has its reality, or the energy that it can originate and propel. You not believe in ideas in the same way that you believe in physical objects, so if I tell you that God is an idea, you will misinterpret this to that God is less than real - nebulous, without reality, without purpose, and without motive action.

 

If you can't make sense of the above then the concept of God will no doubt escape you even if given a definition of God.  What God is actually defies all attempts to define it.

 

This subject matter is for people whose thoughts run quite a bit deeper.  If they don't then that's fine.  There's no right or wrong about it.  Just don't expect to understand something when you're not interested in understanding it.  You obviously won't. 

thanks for the lecture on what i may or may not understand  sounds about like a lot of "religious" people who rely on the old standby  you just to have "faith" in whatever warped version of god they have been brainwashed with..

 

..why humans can't just admit the obvious....there is a power that is beyond human comprehension and let it go at that...some may call it "god" if that fits into their narrative...others may recognize the truth that it is beyond human comprehension

[save the frogs]

18 hours ago, Old Croc said:

 

Great quote! I don't remember it. 

Sunmaster should perhaps consider changing his avatar? 

 

Worship seems like an odd thing to me ... not sure whoever created this joint wants or needs to be worshipped.

Good point, Spock. 

Spock wasn't an idiot.

 

 

[Old Croc]

6 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

 

Great quote! I don't remember it. 

Sunmaster should perhaps consider changing his avatar? 

 

Worship seems like an odd thing to me ... not sure whoever created this joint wants or needs to be worshipped.

Good point, Spock. 

Spock wasn't an idiot.

 

 

I think an idiot is someone who resents an opposing view on a thread asking all about their beliefs, opens a new thread to troll those people, then gets upset when they troll him!

[Tippaporn]

4 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him

Voltaire

 

True.  Same can be said about death. 

[Woof999]

2 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

I don't see Sunmaster as distorting the question at all.  I do, however, see you distorting it, due to having a false yet unspoken premise.

 

Of course you don't petal, even though, in answer to my post, Sunmaster pretty much admitted to doing so.

 

[ozimoron]

5 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

 

True.  Same can be said about death. 

 

Voltaire was being sarcastic. He means God WAS invented.

 

In one of his many denunciations of priests of every religious sect, Voltaire describes them as those who "rise from an incestuous bed, manufacture a hundred versions of God, then eat and drink God, then piss and <deleted> God.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire

Edited January 8 by ozimoron

[Tippaporn]

36 minutes ago, pomchop said:

thanks for the lecture on what i may or may not understand

 

There's a difference between 'lecture' and 'insight'. 

 

Seems there's little that's not open to personal interpretation. 

 

Was that last statement 'lecture' or 'insight'?

 

What's your interpretation? 

[Sunmaster]

35 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I think an idiot is someone who resents an opposing view on a thread asking all about their beliefs, opens a new thread to troll those people, then gets upset when they troll him!

"resents an opposing view" LOL
We've been discussing religion, spirituality, atheism and whatnot with all sorts of people for several years now. No resentment there.
The bother starts when someone "joins" the conversation with the sole intent on disrupting it and disrespecting the member's beliefs. 
Imagine going to an opera, but there you insist on playing ghetto rap on your boom box. They will throw you out, correct? There is a place and a time for everything.

Get your facts straight, Old Croc.
 

Edited January 8 by Sunmaster

[Tippaporn]

7 minutes ago, Woof999 said:

Of course you don't petal . . .

 

Petal as in a flower?  But that wouldn't be a verb.  Or did you mean pedal as in bicycling?  Either way it makes no sense to me.  Therefore I can't give you a response.

[Tippaporn]

28 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

31 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

 

True.  Same can be said about death. 

 

Voltaire was being sarcastic. He means God WAS invented.

 

In one of his many denunciations of priests of every religious sect, Voltaire describes them as those who "rise from an incestuous bed, manufacture a hundred versions of God, then eat and drink God, then piss and <deleted> God.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire

 

Are you sure.  Or did you misinterpret?  I think it obvious. 

 

Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

 

In February 1778, Voltaire returned to Paris for the first time in over 25 years, partly to see the opening of his latest tragedy, Irene. The five-day journey was too much for the 83-year-old, and he believed he was about to die on 28 February, writing "I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition."

 

Voltaire wasn't fond of established religion.

 

These, along with his Letters on the English, mark the beginning of Voltaire's open criticism of intolerance and established religions. Voltaire and the Marquise also explored philosophy, particularly metaphysical questions concerning the existence of God and the soul. Voltaire and the Marquise analyzed the Bible and concluded that much of its content was dubious. Voltaire's critical views on religion led to his belief in separation of church and state and religious freedom, ideas that he had formed after his stay in England.

 

Edited January 8 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

49 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I think an idiot is someone who resents an opposing view on a thread asking all about their beliefs, opens a new thread to troll those people, then gets upset when they troll him!

That was an interesting way of calling a poster an idiot.  In indirect fashion, which then hopefully doesn't put you afoul of the rules. 

[leeedwards]

Funnily enough most people gow out of their belief  in Santa, unlike their unfounded belief in a magical super being.