The way you believe in God without proof is not the same as someone not believing without proof. One is irrational, by definition, the other is not.
If we applied that way of thinking to a legal trial how would it work out?
That’s true in a formal sense, but in regular conversation it doesn’t actually matter. Its just better socially to approach a subject like this by finding common ground rather than by proving that one is right and the other is wrong.
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That there are differences doesn’t mean that there are no similarities
There is a fundamental difference between a rational and an irrational belief.
To be clear, I understand a priori, which is why one is innocent until proven guilty rather than the other way around.
Contrary to your belief, I’ve actually done some book learning. I even know when to create a red herring instead of a straw man!
That has nothing to do with my post.
The problem is those with faith being unable to accept their irrationality because of the negative connotation so they try and use a rational argument to defend their beliefs and non-believers not realizing you can’t use reason and logic to unconvince someone who arrived at their beliefs via the opposite route.
In the end, as long as your belief keeps you from killing people and makes you happy, why should anyone care enough to change your mind?
Obviously I don’t think that religion requires a rational argument. I have yet to see one aside from Pascals Wager that is even persuasive, let alone convincing.
I’m actually fine with it being irrational. Belief serves other functions in this life that make it better. Its not just for the afterlife.
That’s a position that makes sense. You don’t have to prove faith because that sort of defeats the purpose of faith. I don’t get believers who feel they need to prove god exists. Are they so insecure with their faith they need to fool themselves into thinking they actually do have proof? If you are looking for proof you don’t have faith.
With that said, I never had an atheist show up at my house asking me what my religion is and then try and convince me to believe in his.
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I’m a Christian because that’s how I was raised. My ancestors were conquered by Christians a thousand years ago and it’s been passed down ever since. Thank God, because now I have faith. Technically I’m Catholic, because I performed all of my sacraments (except marriage. and last rites…obviously) in a Catholic church. Personally, I just identify as a Christian. I understand why denominations exist and how they came to be, but it’s all the same in my opinion. We all believe in the same Big Man, we all read the same book, but some of us interpret it differently. That’s all.
I realize that there are a lot of reasons to doubt and not believe, but I think it’s a test. Some people have an issue with mentally ill people not necessarily having what some consider to be free will, some people have an issue with the way the Church is run, etc. Lots of things to think about when you’re on the fence about whether or not you can/should/want to believe. Like I said, I think it’s a test. It’s easy to look at the Church’s history as a whole and say “fuck that, no God of mine would let that happen.” Look at almost every pope in the 15th and 16th centuries. There was a pope who allegedly said he preferred the smell of gunpowder to incense. There were a few popes who had children with several different women, and many popes who lived lavish lifestyles using money from taxes and indulgences. The single most powerful men who led the Church often times grossly abused their power (and it still happens today), so I can 100% understand why people would want to distance themselves from Christianity.
I digress. People with true faith during those times would ignore all the human politics and focus on the Bible. You don’t need anyone to tell you what to believe or how to interpret something, and therefore I don’t believe that churches are necessary to be a good Christian. Every church in the world could burn to the ground, and every other Christian could die, and you could still have a strong connection with God. All it takes it faith.
Last tidbit here, something I’ve been thinking about recently. I wonder if (we’re going by the assumption that God exists) God will be accepting of anyone who believes in one of the Abrahamic faiths (Islam, Judaism, Christianity), or is one of them the one true religion? From my understanding, the Big 3 originated more or less at the same time and place. But, like a game of ‘telephone’ that lasted thousands of years and traveled through billions of people, the message and meaning became distorted and fragmented. Picture this: there is one God, sitting up in Heaven, facepalming hardcore because Christians and Muslims and Jews have been fighting for thousands of years. I imagine (if this is true) that he’s sitting up there saying “You fucking idiots, YOU ALL BELIEVE IN ME, STOP KILLING EACH OTHER.” So when we die, will Jews and Muslims and Christians all end up at the same place? Or did two religions get it completely wrong, and only one of them is going to end up where they think they are?
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Oh great. Now I get to ponder the ramifications of this all night…
Heres what I’m seeing The pope living down the street from Osama bin laden, and the neighboring heaven shenanigans that result. Now on Spike TV.
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This sounds EXACTLY like something Ricky Gervais would get behind. The fact that he’s an atheist would make his perception/interpretation of it infinitely funnier…
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I can see it now. The pope holds a BBQ/pig roast to spite Osama, so Osama crashes the party with his 76 former virgins. The one-upsmanship continues throughout the episode and culminates in a slap stick food fight that ends with Osama trying a pulled pork sandwich while the Pope sneaks off with a concubine, and the credits roll…
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Why is Pope Francis mentioned in the same breath as Osama?
Because it’s funny
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How? One is a peaceful man and one was a butcher of men. I don’t see the connection.
Nah. I said “the pope” not “Pope Francis.”
Plenty of Pope’s have been war mongering sumbitches
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Similar to the famous analogy called Russell’s teapot
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Ah, well, how far back are we reaching in order to match something up with a individual in our recent lifetime? Idea for the show, throw in Stalin, too. Get the atheist representation.
I wouldn’t mind a spinoff of Hitler and Stalin down the street from the pope and Osama.
“I killed millions of jews”
“That’s cute, what else happened?”
“Well that was it. There were a lot of jews though”
“Ohhhhh… Right… (Noob)”
I don’t know if Stalin was an atheist.