Why is belief in God more reasonable than say, Space Croutons?

[question]

Because I for one, would like to welcome our new Space Crouton overlords.

But seriously. Just for a minute here, let's talk about this. Why is it more acceptible for someone to believe in this omipotent, omnicient, benevolent man in the sky, than it is to believe in aliens, unicorns, or faries? God's existence is about as proveable as the existence of unicorns, faries, aliens, or space croutons.

[Dionysos]

I'm staying 10 miles away from this one. I've only had 1 constructive conversation about this subject, and it was in an Austin coffeshop on the Drag at 4am on a Wednesday several years ago.

[Hey Bubu]

Because of societies core belief system. Although I want to say that the Khabala (sp?) does talk about people from other planets. Gotta go back and re-research that one again.

[Satchel]

because most people are sheep that can't or don't care to think for themselves. This is also why Bush will probably win again.

[question]

The bible, or reality provide, no undiable proof that there is a man in the sky. All it does is gives people who believe in the man in the sky, a basis for their arguments. But there are also books about unicorns and aliens. There are even books written by people who have been abducted by aliens, but that doesn't make their story any more plausible.

Originally Posted by stargazer

well there is the bible.. and that can be traced back for quite a long time. what was the first known reporting of an alien or unicorns?

[question]

But society has evolved, why have our beliefs not evolved with it? Why do the majority of Christians reject modern science in trade for their book?

Originally Posted by TypeH

Because of societies core belife system. Although I want to say that the Khabala (sp?) does talk about people from other planets. Gotta go back and re-research that one again.

[question]

But why is it more acceptable for you to believe that there is a God, but it's not acceptable for me to believe that there are flying horses and unicorns? I can prove that people actually wrote stories, but I can't prove the existance with substantial evidence.

Why is it that people are willing to make an exception and suspend their disbelief when it comes to a creator, but not when it comes to things that seem just as perposterous?

Originally Posted by E-brake

There is no proof that God exists, but at the same time there are a lot of things in life that you know without proof. i do however believe that there is proof as to the authenticity of the bible, while the proof may not prove that there is a god, it certianly shows that there is a foundation for the belief structure that has led me to believe that there is a god. For a refrence you can check out a classic thead at http://www.dallasdancemusic.com/foru...ad.php?t=50110
altho everything after the second page or so is annoying bickering the begining of the thread lays out some of the basis for belief that leads me to the conclusion; I can not prove that god exists but I can be sure that he is there.

[johnny861]

It's all a matter of perception... our senses process 400 billion bits of information a second, but we are only aware of 2,000 bits of information and even this data is pitted against our pre-existing neuro-net, filtered against pre-conceived notions and relations... ie. this red round thing with a stem at the top hanging off a tree looks like an apple

There's a good story about Christopher Columbus and his landing in the carribean... for a day our two, the natives on the island saw unusual ripples in the waves, but had absolutely no concept of ships or sailing and coincidently could not see any ships nor comprehend that as a possibility, so carried about their business...

The medicine man on the other hand was intrigued by these waves, because they were so uncommon to the order of things, he thought it best to investigate this unusual behavior... the more he studied the more he realized there were large things in the sea that were making these ripples in the waves... he went on to tell the villagers who had faith in what the medicine man says as truth and so began to go out on the beach, this time they saw ships approaching the island.

But each human observes and become aware of things differently, thereby formulating their own reaity. It presents and interesting notion to suggest that every human's reality, as they perceive it, is just a little bit different than the others reality, but by the sheer fact that we are interconnected, we have a tendancy to observe eachothers reality, thereby making it our own.

Does God exist? I suppose it depends on what you believe to be God, if you believe that notion at all.

[prince vlad]

well, if you believe in a god and the whole spill of the religious propaganda, then you know when you die, if you have lived a "good life," you will be rewarded with a spot in heaven and all the great things that come with it.

What do you get if you believe in aliens or unicorns? NOthing. so why believe in something that has nothing to offer you.

[Hey Bubu]

Humans for the most part need to believe in something greater than themselves. I know you have done this Scott, but can you imagine people truly acknowledging how insignificant they are in this universe? That's a hell of a thought, but with a diety in place and something greater to look forward to, it makes life "easier" to deal with.

Also all the current religions had a gestation period, that lasted for athousands of years. Through systematic destruction of "tales" and old beliefs, those in power have made the current religion systems the de facto form for a majority of people.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by E-brake

There is no proof that God exists, but at the same time there are a lot of things in life that you know without proof.

What he said.

Originally Posted by question

But society has evolved, why have our beliefs not evolved with it? Why do the majority of Christians reject modern science in trade for their book?

I'm not a Christian, but science doesn't have any answers either.
I hate those popular magazines with the theory of everything bullshit on the cover. Just as boring as the Bible if you ask me.

[question]

So I guess you discount phsyics as being bullshit too?

Originally Posted by Nick

I'm not a Christian, but science doesn't have any answers either.
I hate those popular magazines with the theory of everything bullshit on the cover. Just as boring as the Bible if you ask me.

[question]

Mustafa and I were discussing how much more enjoyable and tolerable life is when a person believes in something greater than themselves, and think that their life does have some sort of significance.

But at the same time, thought and human technology have advanced to the point that we can put down the idea of something greater, and realize that it's simply not the case. Unless one can look at the phsyical laws of the universe that dictate how our reality works, as something greater than themselves.

So, with your approach with those in power destroying unsupportive information, it leads me to ask: What about the people in power? Do you think they really believe, or are they just using what's left simply as a means of control for exporting their agenda? How can a person conciously say they believe in X values, when daily they do everything that goes against the values of X?

Have those people realized just how isignificant life is, and know that money is the only thing of any true significance in the world?

Originally Posted by TypeH

Humans for the most part need to believe in something greater than themselves. I know you have done this Scott, but can you imagine people truly acknowledging how insignificant they are in this universe? That's a hell of a thought, but with a diety in place and something greater to look forward to, it makes life "easier" to deal with.

Also all the current religions had a gestation period, that lasted for athousands of years. Through systematic destruction of "tales" and old beliefs, those in power have made the current religion systems the de facto form for a majority of people.

[Satchel]

but can you not believe in something greater than yourself without having to have it so specifically defined? I do believe that something created all of this but I think it is pretty clear that no one knows who or what did it.

[Hey Bubu]

Personally I think that the original ideas of religion were to help dictate the "proper" behavior of people, it started with control and I am sure it will all end because of it.

Now take Christianity, it is probably one of the most "flexible" religions around, which is why I think it spread so fast, among other factors of course but it being a key one. Now take our current world, yes we are more advanced in science and what not but at the same time we keep on finding out that well, some of the for sure things weren't quite for sure. Look at M Theory, it is slowly bringin in new waves of thinking and what we perceive as reality. However ultimately it remains that day to day life, for most people, is all they care or worry about, religion binds them and keeps some of their families together, or it pulls them apart. I don't think much people care to truly think about it all, afterall paying bills and making sure that little Suzie gets to her soccer practice in time becomes top priority.