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Why do you believe there is a God?

Poster

New Member
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
 

Bishka

Veteran Member
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?

Yes, several times

Poster said:
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?

I did at first

Poster said:
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?

Then I started searching, and I found God.
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?


Poster said:
I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
Why not? I was born into an LDS family, then left the Church for my high school years, and I tried pretty much everything. Nothing made me happy or content, I went back to my LDS upbrining and found God.

Poster said:
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Nope, probably not, but I would hope I would find my way to where I am now, because I feel content and happy here, but I'm sure I would be just as happy being Catholic, a Jew or a Muslim, I was just LDS first and that's what I came back to.
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?
I seriously feel as if I were born believing in God. I definitely can't remember a time when I did not believe. I do remember being taught about Christianity, so my belief in Jesus Christ probably has a lot to do with how I was raised. Since I was raised LDS, I obviously gained an understanding of LDS doctrine before I was old enough or curious enough to examine any other belief systems.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
If I had been born and raised a Jew, I would most likely be a Jew today. If I'd been born a Catholic, I'd probably be Catholic today. I like to believe that I would have had the courage to break away from the training I had in my youth, but I admit it would be difficult for me.
 

Booko

Deviled Hen
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
Sure. Right before I decided I was really an atheist.

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
Been there. Done that.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
Nope. I ran into it unexpectedly. In fact, the irony of the situation still amuses me.

have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?
I've been accused of stubbornness, anger management problems, laziness, intolerance, and a lack of compassion, but nope, I've never been accused of believing anything just because someone else does.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Do you always try to start a dialogue by insulting the other person? As a communication technique, do you find it works very well?

you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
The Psychic Friends Network called. They said they had moved your position from answering the phone calls to accounting.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
Since I'm not a Catholic or Mormon and never have been, it would be hard to say.
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Booko said:
Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Do you always try to start a dialogue by insulting the other person? As a communication technique, do you find it works very well?
:biglaugh: Yeah, I wondered the same thing.
 

Doktormartini

小虎
Well, I'm an atheist so......
Have you ever asked yourself why you don't believe in a God?
Yep, lots of times!
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
I was born Catholic, and my parents stopped being religious even though they still believe some stuff.
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
Yep, I did my searching
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?
I think I believed in a God when I was little, but I can't tell you exactly when I stopped. Probably around age 12 or so I stopped believing.
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
I think had I been raised anything that my parents actually forced and followed, then I would not be an ateheist (or at least turned one a lot later in life)!

Good questions by the way!
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Poster said:
I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
OK... my life is a lie. I really want to come up with these really intellectual reasons WHY I believe in God and I can only come up with one lame-o one: He exists.
Poster said:
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
Katzpur or Scott would love this if were true (since I am neither a Catholic or Mormon NOW! :D )

But the TRUTH is, I was raised in a UU church by a mother who claims to be an atheist. But that God guy kept showing his face so often that I had to believe in him.
 

Tigress

Working-Class W*nch.
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
Yes.

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
No, as I was not brought up to believe. Religious language was scarce for us.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
I came to believe (as I do currently) after a long, contemplative, personal journey into spirituality, religion and religious study.

have you always believed?
Yes and no. I have always believed in something, some mystical force, though I did not begin to give it a name or more detailed identity until my teenage years.

do you believe because someone else believes?
No.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
There's no doubt in my mind that my studies or society has influenced me in one way or another, but I think that's true with anything, not just God and religion.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
Truthfully, I cannot say.

Ekam Sataha Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti,
Crystal

(The truth is One, but different Sages call it by Different Names).
 

Booko

Deviled Hen
Doktormartini said:
I think had I been raised anything that my parents actually forced and followed, then I would not be an ateheist (or at least turned one a lot later in life)!

Hm. I wouldn't bet on it. I was forced in the religion I was raised in and my parents definitely followed it, but that didn't do a thing to stop me from becoming an atheist...hm...'bout the same time you did.

There were some things I was taught that I couldn't live with, and not any belief in God anyway, so that rather did me in.
 

Poster

New Member
Katzpur said:
If I had been born and raised a Jew, I would most likely be a Jew today. If I'd been born a Catholic, I'd probably be Catholic today. I like to believe that I would have had the courage to break away from the training I had in my youth, but I admit it would be difficult for me.

This is what I was trying to get at, everyone thinks they have the true religion, even had they been born on Mars they like to think they would have been able to seek out and find the religion they have now, deny everything they were taught to believe as children and convert to their true religion, (the one they have now)
they never seem to ask themselves why they don't seek out and find another religion, (perhaps the one they should have had) that could be the true religion.

When I wrote "had you been born in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?" I should have added "or any other doctrine", including Atheism. (The only reason we are Atheists is because someone messed up, had they not we would be as deep into religion as the rest) Sorry.
 

MaddLlama

Obstructor of justice
Poster said:
(The only reason we are Atheists is because someone messed up, had they not we would be as deep into religion as the rest) Sorry.

Would you mind repeating that for the class? If you're an athiest because someone in your life "messed up" and caused you not to believe, for the love of rock please don't foist that off on every other athiest. Your personal experience isn't shared by everyone else.
I'm sure most athiests here, including myself, have very different reasons for being so.
 

BrandonE

King of Parentheses
Poster said:
This is what I was trying to get at, everyone thinks they have the true religion, even had they been born on Mars they like to think they would have been able to seek out and find the religion they have now, deny everything they were taught to believe as children and convert to their true religion, (the one they have now)
they never seem to ask themselves why they don't seek out and find another religion, (perhaps the one they should have had) that could be the true religion.

When I wrote "had you been born in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?" I should have added "or any other doctrine", including Atheism. (The only reason we are Atheists is because someone messed up, had they not we would be as deep into religion as the rest) Sorry.
I think I see what you're saying, but don't agree that a change of religion necessarily means that a parent "messed up". I think rather that we question (and possibly change) religions when our individual view of the world (composed of what we've been taught, what we've experienced and what we've intuited for ourselves) doesn't match completely with the religion with which we identify.

I don't think, for instance that my parents failed to bring me up correctly, but rather, the experiences that I had and the intuitions that I had led me away from that initial path. Someone else in a very similar situation could respond by clinging ever more tightly to what they were raised with.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Poster said:
I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

In the first place, how would you judge whether someone else was answering truthfully or not? Wouldn't that amount in practice to your assumption that if their experience didn't match your own, you would discount their truthfulness? And, if so, doesn't that rest on the absurd notion that everyone's experience is the same?

In the second place, it does not follow from the fact that a person was raised a Christian (or a Jew, or a Muslim, etc) that they have never chosen to be a Christian, etc. Exposure to something does not preclude choice. While I am sure there are many people who have never given the religion of their childhood a second thought, there are likewise many people who actively chose, at some time in their life, to believe the religion they were raised with. That is, it is not a mere assumption for them.

Just a couple quibbles with the assumptions you are making.

BTW, Welcome to the Forums!
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
many times.

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
I wasn't.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
Perhaps there was an element of that to it.

have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?
question 1, No. Question 2, what anyone else thinks has no impact on my relationship with what I call God.
I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

I'm rather upset that you suggest that I would be untruthful.............

I did 'find' God from my own free will; the society I lived in was devoid of Religious people.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?
I obviously can't answer to an even I haven't experienced, but I see why you ask. I don't honestly know.

I was brought up with very little religion in my life; my father was an ex comunicated Catholic, and my Mother was a non practicing Anglican. Of course, the society in which I was brought up had churches, and at school, we had to chapel, it meant nothing whatsoever to me.
 

retrorich

SUPER NOT-A-MOD
Katzpur said:
I seriously feel as if I were born believing in God.
I was raised believing in God. But as soon as I was able to think for myself, I stopped believing in such nonsense. Thank God! ;)
 

robtex

Veteran Member
I think for most of the religious people I know faith is reasonable standard of ontology and acceptance of St Thomas Aquina's first mover arguement which is also known as the cosmological arguement. Even if they don't openly state these things the premise of "God created the universe" (cosomological arguement) and "I believe" (faith as standard of ontology) seems pretty consistant.

I also think the arguement from need, though not articulated often, is a high ranking motive for belief. The arguement from need being, "I need for a God to exist therefore he does."
 

Happier

Member
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Your confrontational and disrespectful tone aside, your basic argument that conversion and religious experience is only the result of social conditioning is utter hogwash in the face of Christianity. I'll adddress this from a strictly Christian POV rather than addressing religiosity in general.


Read the conversion of Saul of Tarsus in the NT - he went against everything he was taught and raised to believe his entire life, after one brief encounter.


A great many children in Sunday schools revolt by the age of 11, and many times teenaged children of clergy families decide to have nothing more to do with religion.


Many millions of people in China, the USSR (when it still existed), India, and Pakistan became Christians in the face of brutal persecution. Many more are doing so today.


Why does Christianity spread in countries inherently hostile to its beliefs? Why is it that so many countries find it necessary to pass laws prohibiting Christianity? Why have some countries (AND other religions) gone to such extremes -- and made conversion to Christianity a crime punishable by imprisonment or death?


Prisons around the world are full of Christians who are certainly not there because they are socially conditioned toward the faith. Everything in their environment inclines them in the direction of atheism and dialectical materialism. Yet Communism and other anti-Christian philosophies are totally unable to stop the growth of Christian conversions in these countries.


Christianity as a result of social conditioning? Ha. The exact opposite is true: Every true Christian is a convert - including me. It's impossible to have a personal relationship with Christ otherwise -- and that relationship is the heart of Christianity. Ask any Christian if this is not so.


If anyone wishes to counter these points, please do so in the same context, which was the OPs opinion that religion (I specifically addressed Christianity) is only the result of social conditioning.
 

kateyes

Active Member
Poster said:
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
yes many times

[quote-Poster]by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? [/quote]

I was brought up to believe--went through a period when I did not believe-and after alot of thought and research--came again to believe.

[quote by Poster]I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully, you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?[/quote]

Frankly I find this last part a bit condescending--first why wouldn't we answer truthfully-second who elses idea would it be but our own-third it would seem to me that you should credit people(particularily belonging to a religious forum) with enough intellect to decide what thier beliefs are and are not--and not just assume we are all believing, or not believing based on what those around us believe. I think regardless of where I was born, and how I was raised I would have come to my own beliefs--because I am a thinking reasoning human being.
 

Lycan

Preternatural
Christianity as a result of social conditioning? Ha. The exact opposite is true: Every true Christian is a convert - including me. It's impossible to have a personal relationship with Christ otherwise -- and that relationship is the heart of Christianity. Ask any Christian if this is not so.

I don't think the OP meant ALL christianity is the result of social conditioning, but your statement above is not hard fact, as I know many, many people that are christians simply because they were raised that way...in fact most I have met are... I am not saying that they "believe" any less, just blindly. Of course ask any christian and they will tell you. Not many will admit to "I am just a (fill in religion of choice here) because my (insert relative,friend of choice here) taught me to be." I fully agree that alot of people (not all) believe what they are taught to believe. It is sad but most never question, never search for their own truth, and that sheep mentality can be a dangerous thing.
 
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