I, Pastafari: A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story

[PureX]

I do not have unprovable beliefs but I do have many unanswered questions. I happily live with them.

A lot of people have trouble enduring suffering and sacrifice for no reason. A lot of people have difficulty dealing with their fear of an unknowable and unpredictable future. A lot of people live in positions of powerlessness, real or imagined, and long for some sense of security and protection in their lives. A lot of people live in very unjust environments and long for a day when true justice will finally be meted out.

Faith in God can provide these people with what they need, and more. Which is why the vast majority of humans hold to some concept of God, and trust in that God for whatever they need, that the world they live in is not providing for them. You may not need any of these things right now, but life is change, and not all change is good. You may not be so self-sufficient some time in the future. And because the existence of a God of your choosing is always a possibility, it's a faith pathway that's there for you if you ever need it. As it is for all of us.

 

[PureX]

Well one difference is that for most of us in our day to day lives, our "beliefs" come from a lot of consistent evidence.

The same is true for theists. Most atheists are just too biased by their delusions of "objectivity" to understand this.

 

[PureX]

But, when you arrive at work (and have done for many days consecutively) and you receive you pay cheque as has happened every week/month since you started that job, you are not acting on faith, you are acting on good evidence that it will happen.
Yes, you could be in an accident or the company could go bust, but you have weighed up those odds and decided on the evidence of previous experiences that the risk of it not happening is very small.

On my way to work, every morning, I pray my gratitude to God for the gift of life, the gift of humanity, the gift of sobriety, and the gift of a purposeful job that allows me to contribute to my society, in return for it sharing a little of it's wealth with me. And every day I arrive at work feeling happy to be there and ready to do my part. So I have all the evidence I need to keep trusting in the benevolence of God, and in the power of prayer, and in the religious ideal of a brotherhood among humans.

We're all surrounded by "evidence" of all kinds. But we still have to choose to see it as such, and to trust in it.

 

[Altfish]

On my way to work, every morning, I pray my gratitude to God for the gift of life, the gift of humanity, the gift of sobriety, and the gift of a purposeful job that allows me to contribute to my society, in return for it sharing a little of it's wealth with me. And every day I arrive at work feeling happy to be there and ready to do my part. So I have all the evidence I need to keep trusting in the benevolence of God, and in the power of prayer, and in the religious ideal of a brotherhood among humans.

We're all surrounded by "evidence" of all kinds. But we still have to choose to see it as such, and to trust in it.

I managed too do that but without reference to a higher power.

 

[PureX]

I managed too do that but without reference to a higher power.

Do you think that's somehow 'better'?

 

[icehorse]

The same is true for theists. Most atheists are just too biased by their delusions of "objectivity" to understand this.

We're all biased. Daniel Kahneman, arguably the world's foremost authority on bias, admits that he's subject to bias.

The point here is that some people give credence to supernatural explanations and others do not.

 

[PureX]

We're all biased. Daniel Kahneman, arguably the world's foremost authority on bias, admits that he's subject to bias.

The point here is that some people give credence to supernatural explanations and others do not.

How is the point significant, except for bias?

 

[icehorse]

How is the point significant, except for bias?

It seems to me that the whole point of the OP was to expose our inconsistent views on the supernatural.

 

[crossfire]

Beliefs can be powerful. Belief that a sugar pill will heal you may be enough to actually heal you.
Belief that a sugar pill will harm you may be enough to actually harm you.
Both the placebo and nocebo effects are well documented and well studied.

So, what kind of effects do your beliefs nurture? (This also includes your beliefs about Belief.)
Are your sugar pills laced with poison that you spit at others?
Do your sugar pills have flavorings that remind you of something and evoke a specific feeling?
Do you enjoy the sugar rush you get when endulging in them?
What sort of legends are associated with your sugar pills, and what messages are encoded in those legends? (The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster happens to encode logical fallacies in their legends, along with morality plays. Can you recognize each for what it is? How about your own thoughts--can you recognize the poisoned sugar pills, logical fallacies, and morality plays among your own thoughts?

 

[Altfish]

Do you think that's somehow 'better'?

For me, yes.
For you, only you know

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

For me, yes.
For you, only you know

How subjective of you.

 

[Altfish]

How subjective of you.

Are you Trolling me?

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Are you Trolling me?

What do you mean by trolling? I have been accused of that before and no, I don't troll. I am weird and like to point out the limit of some non-religious world views. You seem to fit that.

 

[Altfish]

What do you mean by trolling? I have been accused of that before and no, I don't troll. I am weird and like to point out the limit of some non-religious world views. You seem to fit that.

So, yes, you are trolling. I almost feel an ignore coming on.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

So, yes, you are trolling. I almost feel an ignore coming on.

Let me see if I can help you.
Let us ask the follow of this claim of yours and indeed not just you: "actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed." Is the claim itself a thing; a fact and if so what kind of fact or is it itself imagined or supposed?
The joke is that the claim itself is not a thing or an objective fact, it is itself imagined in the mind and supposed to be not supposed.

See, I can do that to the claim and not you, but if you feel it is about you as you and nothing else, put me on ignore. I will accept that. I am not fun to be around for some believers.

 

[sun rise]

I managed too do that but without reference to a higher power.

To me, the attitude of gratitude is the important thing. Whether it's to life itself or to a theistic God is unimportant in the greater scheme of things.

So, what kind of effects do your beliefs nurture?

That's the key question to me. In this era, belief is not enough from my perspective. The results of putting positive beliefs into action are to me proof that someone's beliefs are valuable to that person.

 

[Aupmanyav]

A lot of people have trouble .. is for all of us.

God will still be an imaginary friend whom I will think as helping me, but in reality that does not help. People still will get killed by enemy, brought down by disease, buffeted by earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic explosions, floods, typhoons, tornadoes. We have lost 575,601 people to corona virus as of today, does that show any helping hand from God, Allah, Bhagawan or any such entity. Islam says 'Allah is testing'.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

God will still be an imaginary friend whom I will think as helping me, but in reality that does not help. People still will get killed by enemy, brought down by disease, buffeted by earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic explosions, floods, typhoons, tornadoes. We have lost 575,601 people to corona virus as of today, does that show any helping hand from God, Allah, Bhagawan or any such entity. Islam says 'Allah is testing'.

It depends on how you understand "in reality". There is a psychological element to some forms of faith, that can help. There are other forms of faith, which appears to make it worse in regards to your example.

 

[Aupmanyav]

My belief says 'Truth and nothing but truth'.
"Truth alone is the God in the universe, all virtues follow truth;
All are rooted in truth, there is nothing higher than truth."
Attributed to Lord Rama in Valmiki Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana - Ayodhya Kanda - Sarga 109 (2-109-13)

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

My belief says 'Truth and nothing but truth'.
"Truth alone is the God in the universe, all virtues follow truth;
All are rooted in truth, there is nothing higher than truth."
Attributed to Lord Rama in Valmiki Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana - Ayodhya Kanda - Sarga 109 (2-109-13)

No, there is no single truth in practice. It is not even an unprovable belief, it is false. Truth doesn't work that way.
In effect you have 3 kinds of truth - objective, inter-subjective and subjective and while interconnected you can't reduce it down to only one kind.