Zone1 I've been an atheist for 60 years and have never once been tempted to believe in any god

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Possibly because they recognize that some get a lot from religion.

Of course people get something from religion. Else they would discard it.

And that mostly comes down to believing in living forever.

 

[Meriweather]

Of course people get something from religion. Else they would discard it.

And that mostly comes down to believing in living forever.

Actually, no. But it is something outsiders who know no better are fond of saying.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Actually, no. But it is something outsiders who know no better are fond of saying.

Actually yes. And the denial of this is predictable and universal, among religious people.

If there were no promised prize of living forever, Christianity would be another obscure, historical religion we only see in history books.


You know it's true.

 

[Meriweather]

You know it's true.

I know it is not. I also know you will not listen.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I know it is not. I also know you will not listen.

No, you have to deny it, because you think it would make your motives appear selfish and therefore unpure.

If no carrot of a forever festival was dangled, there would be no Abrahamic religions today. It would be something else.

And this truth shows every time any religious person proselytizes and uses it as a magical threat.

And it is every single time.

 

[Meriweather]

it as a magical threat.

I've never known a Catholic--priest or layperson--who uses God or religion as a magical threat. I believe the same is true of the Orthodox. Sorry you didn't meet any of us.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I've never known a Catholic--priest or layperson--who uses God or religion as a magical threat.

Except for all of them.

 

[ding]

Of course people get something from religion. Else they would discard it.

And that mostly comes down to believing in living forever.

How would "believing in living forever" be a functional advantage? What exactly would they be getting from that in practical everyday terms?

 

[leftwinger]

When I was 10 years old, we had a dog named Silver. A sealyham - sort of a largish Westie. He had been struck by a car when I was much younger and that had left him blind in one eye. We adapted. He adapted. But whenever he entered an unfamiliar space (the furniture moved, for instance) he would collide with things. I felt bad for him. Like most children my age I believed what I was told was the truth by my parents and the church they took me to. So I prayed as fervently and selflessly as I could manage that God would restore his vision. But, as would happen in any bad movie, his poor vision led Silver to wandering out in front of another car where he suffered another concussion which left him completely blind. Now all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are innocent. Every non-human form of life is innocent of the many sins the Bible spells out. Initially, I was angry. How could God cause my innocent dog to suffer, regardless of his motive or intent? The standard "mysterious ways" line didn't help at all. What did help was the realization that the best explanation was not that god was mysterious or unknowable, but that he simply wasn't there. The existence of the god described by the Bible and by our preacher and the believers I would talk with was simply not possible; not only because it violated all the laws of nature but because absolutely no evidence I could find supported the idea. Every thing I could learn about the world and how it worked refuted the idea of a caring, personal god who had created miraculous humans and a miraculous Earth to be their home and was everpresent, watching over us and, on proper supplication, violating the laws that he himself had set in place - if he felt like it.

As the years went by I simply became more and more convinced that there is a great deal about the working of the universe we do not yet know, but the basics - the principal of uniformitarianism, holds, everywhere and everywhen. Nothing is supernatural. No will directs or inspires the stream of events taking place over the passage of time. Only physics.

What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith? And how might my life have been different had I done so? I have lots of friends and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm a nice guy. I buy fully and heartily into the Golden Rule. I believe it to be the sole basis of human civilization. How do you think my complete lack of divine faith hurt me? Will your god throw into a lake of fire because I led a good life but failed to do him obeisance? That is, of course, precisely what scriptures tells us. Why would ANY of you believe, much less WORSHIP such a god? He seems a monster. Would anyone care to correct me?

Congratulations you evil butt forker. When on your deathbed don’t try to re-consider. No takebacks. No wonder you are a shill for phony deep state Global Warming BS. Tl dnr.

 

[TheParser]

Nothing is supernatural.

1. I hope that you are wrong.

2. But I am afraid that you may be right.

3. I was and still am devastated by the tragic circumstances of my beloved brother's passing away in 2022.

4. I have been waiting for a definite sign from him, but so far I have not recognized any.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

How would "believing in living forever" be a functional advantage?

Then no loss is permanent. For starters. Delusions can be powerful things, when they make you happy.

As you brought up in this very thread. So it's odd to see you not following.

 

[Meriweather]

I have been waiting for a definite sign from him, but so far I have not recognized any.

Do you still pray for him?

 

[TheParser]

Do you still pray for him?

No formal prayers.

I speak every morning to his photograph and thank him for being such a wonderful brother, and to ask him to forgive me for failing as his caregiver.

 

[ding]

Then no loss is permanent. For starters. Delusions can be powerful things, when they make you happy.

So your belief is that some delusions are functional advantages? And you believe that these delusions explain what has happened at the societal level for every civilization since the beginning of man?

Are you stupid?

 

[Meriweather]

I speak every morning to his photograph and thank him for being such a wonderful brother, and to ask him to forgive me for failing as his caregiver.

What are the chances he didn't think you were failing at all?

 

[ding]

As you brought up in this very thread. So it's odd to see you not following.

Not really. It's a ridiculous thing to believe. Apparently you needed to turn a positive into a negative because religion providing a legitimate functional advantage over no religion is too much truth for you to bear.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

So your belief is that some delusions are functional advantages? And you believe that these delusions explain what has happened at the societal level for every civilization since the beginning of man?

Are you stupid?

I'm not your assistant. Make your own points.

Obviously what you imply is stupid. We had religion for hundreds of thousands of years. We built a better, modern society Only very recently, thanks to superior, secular ideas. In quite in spite of ancient mythology.

 

[ding]

I'm not your assistant. Make your own points.

Obviously what you imply is stupid. We had religion for hundreds of thousands of years. We built a better, modern society Only very recently, thanks to superior, secular ideas. In quite in spite of ancient mythology.

I already did. You're stupid.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I already did. You're stupid.

Tantrum time already?

 

[TheParser]

What are the chances he didn't think you were failing at all?

I hope you are right.

He was my world.

I am devastated beyond belief.