What are the reasons for your belief in God

last SG · 2010-01-11T00:34:18+00:00

so love is bad? then y fall in love? why marry?

Miracles&Prophecies SG

People have been known to kill for their tribes or race or country or hatred against that of another race or tribe, hatred toward the minorities or hatred towards another religion.

hatred against other group of people have always been created and manipulated POLITICALLY to gain advantage socially and politically and or economically against the other group of people. You can blame the politicians for starting genocide and wars. religious reasons for them are just made up excuses the real puppeteer are the crook and corrupt politicians.

dadeadman1337 SG

Don't forget popes and bishops

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

Of course any ideology can, but its the extent that matters. I dont think an atheist would want to give up his life in a suicide attack, unlike the many religious that would do it today. The fact that religion advocates life after death shows how dangerous it is as it convinces people that dying in this life in an attack is somehow good, making them a martyr

Erm, the data indicates your conclusion is not correct. You are assuming that an atheist will be egoistic in nature and places top value in his own existence. Not believing in God does not automatically mean you'll do that, other things can take the place of the instinct of survival.

Athiests do give up their lives for their cause, history is full of examples.

As in athiest- I refer to those who do not believe in an afterlife and reward after death as part of their ideas.

Just look at the amount of people who gave up their lives for revolutions of order that had very little to do with promising an afterlife. If anything Communism is a good indication of that. The Chinese suicide human-wave attacks in the Korean war, red terrorist suicide bombings. What have you not.

People are willing to die for ideas. If there's an afterlife or not is often irrelevant. All you need to do is to work them up to believe that their own life/ the individual is unimportant and that it serves the greater good. You'll have legions ready to die for you even if dying means the end for them, no reward.

Afterlife not needed.

RoyFang SG

As I said. Dogma and ideas kill people not God.

It can be athiestic or theistic, it does not matter. Give the ignorant a reason to kill and they will kill. You don't need to believing in God to become a raving, killing monster. You just need to believe in something, anything that justifies the killing to another human being.

Atheism could also be used for a reason to kill just as much theism is. If somebody convinced you that being athiest, and removing all the theists was the best way forward for humanity and that one has to do what it takes to achieve that goal. It's entirely easy to see how all this could happen.

My point is not that atheism is inherenty bloodthirsty- my point is ANY idea can become a bloodthirsty and murderous idealogy under the right/wrong conditions. The problem is human beings. If athiests can disavow the actions of the communists then Christians and Muslims can disawov the actions of the crusaders and Islamic extremists as well, and what have you not.

Hence I find this focus on religion as the root of all evils ala. Dawkins greatly myopic.

At the end of the day, theism or athiesm is a philosphical framework from which you determine your worldview and actions. The decisions and actions you take with this framework is entirely up to you. But enough with the claptrap that theism inherently leads to violence. All ideas do. Being an athiest does not automatically make you more peace-loving or rational.

I don't believe anyone is claiming being atheist=more peace-loving.

And I agree that some atheists are just as bad as religious extremists.

What are you implying here: "If athiests can disavow the actions of the communists then Christians and Muslims can disawov the actions of the crusaders and Islamic extremists as well, and what have you not."?

Look through our human history and tell me how many times is God/gods used as excuses for murdering of others? Why did crusaders shout "Deus Vult" as they cut down Jews, Muslims and even the native Christians when they capture Jerusalem? Or Islamic terrorists shouting "Allahu Akbar" before they blow themselves up to kill westerners and even their fellow Muslims?

stupidissmart SG

Well extremism is really deadly and tat is why violent communism, nazis and also religious extremisms all should be stopped. If u find tat there r too many people to have died in such conflicts, then u should realise why we fear when we see religions getting more extreme and invasive

Rooney9 SG

yes religious extremism is dangerous. but then illiteracy and economic realities also played a part.usually the people who are illiterate and poor from the slums are targeted by terrorists, who uses religion as an excuse to carry out targets. but then highly educated people are also susceptible as they believed they are fighting a holy and just war / cause.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

So at the end of the day, the real enemy is extremism is it not? All the debate about whose idea is at fault is just a red herring, if anything it creates more barriers and breeds more extremism on both sides.

You cannot fight extremism with extremism. Trying to tell an extremist that he is stupid or dumb for believing the way he does will only entrench him in that mindset and make him even less willing to listen. If one does not build bridges, then all is lost.

You can believe that another person is mistaken in his conception of reality, but it's another to assume that that other person is stupid or irrational becaue of that mistaken belief. How we treat others who believe differently from us is extremely important.

stupidissmart SG

If communism is still a problem today, I will voice out my unhappiness over communism as well. If nazism is still around, I will also condemn it. Now wat is the extremism left in the world ? Issues such as pastor condemning buddhism, AWARE, fight against 379A and terrorism etc r really signs of extremisms

But I got to say tat saying another religion and all its believers are stupid etc is not helping. But then again how to help ? I used to think tat having more people not believing in religion or having doubt in it is the best way

RoyFang SG

Tell me how should we treat people like that Pastor who blast another religion?

Fcukpap SG

forgive but not forget la...

an idea-less world is an unimaginative world...drifting quietly along with space and time....obsession is the root cause of bloating a simple idea into something extreme....

but to what end is of concern....sometimes it can be very difficult to decipher what is good and what is bad....but it doesn't mean all extremes are bad...it depends....

Marconi was blamed for being a ridiculous dreamer...extremely passionate in his pursuit of some stupid thing called wireless ideas.... that we can communicate without using wires...till leading scientists of the day ridicule him for being the world's most stupidest man...

Radio was born - and with that, the wired world suddenly turned into wireless....it was an extreme belief and an impossible stupid idea in his time that made mobile phones and all others possible.

Just to share...

stupidissmart SG

I think u mixed up ideology extremism and people having dreams and aspiration.

dadeadman1337 SG

I find confusion about the concept of extremism. How can it be considered extreme when someone takes the text of say the Koran or the OT literally? One cannot be certain that their interpretation of the text is correct, yet the so-called "extremists" can argue that they are following scripture to the letter. Extremism seems to be nothing more than a label for those who disagree with the interpretation of the masses. The extremists might be the moderates while the moderates the "softies"

Fcukpap SG

an ideology could be formed based on a person's life experiences, dreams and hopes rolled into one grand theory or action....

unless it is stolen from another without much thoughts ..piecing together like a pretty vase...nice to look at but empty

Rooney9 SG

an ideology could be formed based on a person's life experiences, dreams and hopes rolled into one grand theory or action....

unless it is stolen from another without much thoughts ..piecing together like a pretty vase...nice to look at but empty

hey are you a christian? tell the truth

Rooney9 SG

an ideology could be formed based on a person's life experiences, dreams and hopes rolled into one grand theory or action....

unless it is stolen from another without much thoughts ..piecing together like a pretty vase...nice to look at but empty

hey are you a christian? tell the truth

Fcukpap SG

we may as well devoid the arts..

the ideologies, beliefs and passions rolled into a great masterpiece is not just precise and skillful brush strokes but the authenticity of life expressed or impressed through the artists perceptions and of course life experiences....

thats what made Van Gogh's depressive art unforgettable and his ingenious masterpieces....

extreme ideologies whether in art or social behaviour and actions are psychologically and physiologically linked ... to one's life experiences, dreams, aspirations, obsessions, passions...and what have you...

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