Why God doesn’t go away

[BlueGin]

By Paul J. Zak, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Paul J. Zak is a professor at Claremont Graduate University in California and author of 'The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity.' The views expressed are his own.

I carried a lot of crosses as a Catholic altar boy. I also learned to mumble phrases in Latin and breathed in enough incense to choke an elephant. There is something serene about being behind a ritual. It lets you observe and reflect. And wonder why in the world people show up.

Roughly six percent of Americans report that they are atheists or agnostics according to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll. But, that means that over 90 percent believe in a God. Pew also reports that 80 percent profess a religious affiliation and half of those with a religious affiliation regularly attend church. So what motivates 120 million Americans to attend a church, synagogue or temple?

I began running experiments searching for a biochemical basis for moral behaviors in 2001 and found in a decade's worth of research that the molecule oxytocin motivated people to return kindness when they were shown kindness. Given my Catholic background and later skepticism that only Catholics would get into heaven (if such a thing exists), in my experiments I only asked college participants the most cursory questions about their religious beliefs. Guess what? Few college students are religious at all – and I found no difference in oxytocin functioning or prosocial behaviors between believers and nonbelievers.

Why God doesn?t go away ? Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

 

[Oldguy]

"There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behavior,"

Maybe this is why the Evangelical Republicans act the way they do toward people who aren't like them.

 

[Truthmatters]

faith has been used by many a religio/social system to get the masses to act in certain ways.

Originally faith was that thing that allowed man to hang on one more day.

The odds against primitive man were so great.

many preditors and land that was very harsh even while habital.


The brains that had better responses to dire situations got to live that one more day to procreate.


This brain function has been used by organized religion to tie people to god.

Some who used it believed it and some who used it just wanted to have control.


You know that feeling you get when you are alone that your not alone?

that is a common feeling of a sentiant being.


Its your wheels turning inside your head and its tied to the "faith" feeling that you need to be here for some reason.

Religion will tell you its god trying to contact you and love you.


Its a human brain function.


Note the religions of the world that are NOT god centered.


They are here too.

They have helped man make great strides without USING people for poltical gain like the major god centered religions all have

 

[BlueGin]

"There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behavior,"

Maybe this is why the Evangelical Republicans act the way they do toward people who aren't like them.

The same must hold true for athiests and both secular and religious democrats then...since you are lumping people into a box in the same fashion as the blogger in the OP.

It isn't the chemicals ...contrary to the writers opinion. Not all humans respond the same to them. It is because of faith and wanting to live by following God's example and to learn. It's a path and journey that enriches the person. It is internal growth not external,therefore, is not the same as trying to be popular and accepted. I believe in God...but never really had any use for the "church" or the community within. Like most communities they are closed off...as are most cliques of people that only socialize within their own group.

 

[Truthmatters]

The human brain is a electro chemical machine folks.

its not ghosts and fairies

 

[Oldguy]

"There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behavior,"

Maybe this is why the Evangelical Republicans act the way they do toward people who aren't like them.

The same must hold true for athiests and both secular and religious democrats then...since you are lumping people into a box in the same fashion as the blogger in the OP.

I was trying to make a funny. Guess it didn't work.

It isn't the chemicals ...contrary to the writers opinion. Not all humans respond the same to them. It is because of faith and wanting to live by following God's example and to learn. It's a path and journey that enriches the person. It is internal growth not external,therefore, is not the same as trying to be popular and accepted. I believe in God...but never really had any use for the "church" or the community within. Like most communities they are closed off...as are most cliques of people that only socialize within their own group.

Trying to find a chemical reason for faith must be something within the purview of unbelievers. Denying God, they must find some reason to excuse themselves for their unbelief.

One curious thing I did note in your link is that the author is a former Catholic. For some reason, it seems that the ranks of former believers are rife with ex-Catholic's. You can see that right here on these boards. I wonder what it is that Catholicism does to drive people away? I'm not bashing Catholics, just making an observation.

 

[amrchaos]

Are we talking about God as a living entity

Or are we talking about god as an abstract and not so well-defined theo-philosophical concept here.

If it is the first one, then where is this god that does not go away?? If this god is always around you, then you can't profess to being an agnostic or atheist because you have proof of theism hanging about you!!

On the other hand, if you are talking conceptually, then why should the concept go away when so many people derive their morality and sense of being from it? It is like asking "why doesn't the liver go away?" when there is a basic need for it to continue existance.

 

[LittleNipper]

By Paul J. Zak, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Paul J. Zak is a professor at Claremont Graduate University in California and author of 'The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity.' The views expressed are his own.

I carried a lot of crosses as a Catholic altar boy. I also learned to mumble phrases in Latin and breathed in enough incense to choke an elephant. There is something serene about being behind a ritual. It lets you observe and reflect. And wonder why in the world people show up.

Roughly six percent of Americans report that they are atheists or agnostics according to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll. But, that means that over 90 percent believe in a God. Pew also reports that 80 percent profess a religious affiliation and half of those with a religious affiliation regularly attend church. So what motivates 120 million Americans to attend a church, synagogue or temple?

I began running experiments searching for a biochemical basis for moral behaviors in 2001 and found in a decade's worth of research that the molecule oxytocin motivated people to return kindness when they were shown kindness. Given my Catholic background and later skepticism that only Catholics would get into heaven (if such a thing exists), in my experiments I only asked college participants the most cursory questions about their religious beliefs. Guess what? Few college students are religious at all – and I found no difference in oxytocin functioning or prosocial behaviors between believers and nonbelievers.

Why God doesn?t go away ? Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Salvation isn't about what you can do or did, it is entirely about what God does for His elect through the Lord Jesus Christ. I would have to say that people who feel that their membership in a church means anything to God, do not know God.

 

[PratchettFan]

"There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behavior,"

Maybe this is why the Evangelical Republicans act the way they do toward people who aren't like them.

The same must hold true for athiests and both secular and religious democrats then...since you are lumping people into a box in the same fashion as the blogger in the OP.

I was trying to make a funny. Guess it didn't work.

It isn't the chemicals ...contrary to the writers opinion. Not all humans respond the same to them. It is because of faith and wanting to live by following God's example and to learn. It's a path and journey that enriches the person. It is internal growth not external,therefore, is not the same as trying to be popular and accepted. I believe in God...but never really had any use for the "church" or the community within. Like most communities they are closed off...as are most cliques of people that only socialize within their own group.

Trying to find a chemical reason for faith must be something within the purview of unbelievers. Denying God, they must find some reason to excuse themselves for their unbelief.

One curious thing I did note in your link is that the author is a former Catholic. For some reason, it seems that the ranks of former believers are rife with ex-Catholic's. You can see that right here on these boards. I wonder what it is that Catholicism does to drive people away? I'm not bashing Catholics, just making an observation.

I don't think it is an attempt to find an excuse. I think it is an attempt to understand behavior they do not understand.

You do not just decide to believe something. I don't know why one person believes and another doesn't. I have read some of your beliefs and I have no clue why you have them. I don't and could not share in your beliefs even if I wanted to. Nor, I expect, could you share in mine. There is, however, an tendency for people to attempt to explain why someone does not share in our beliefs - which we consider to be obvious. The explanation of chemical interaction in the brain is one way, saying someone needs an excuse is another. It is just human nature to try to come up with an explanation.

I just don't think the human brain is that simple.

 

[PratchettFan]

Are we talking about God as a living entity

Or are we talking about god as an abstract and not so well-defined theo-philosophical concept here.

If it is the first one, then where is this god that does not go away?? If this god is always around you, then you can't profess to being an agnostic or atheist because you have proof of theism hanging about you!!

On the other hand, if you are talking conceptually, then why should the concept go away when so many people derive their morality and sense of being from it? It is like asking "why doesn't the liver go away?" when there is a basic need for it to continue existance.

I don't believe we are talking about god at all.

 

[amrchaos]

Are we talking about God as a living entity

Or are we talking about god as an abstract and not so well-defined theo-philosophical concept here.

If it is the first one, then where is this god that does not go away?? If this god is always around you, then you can't profess to being an agnostic or atheist because you have proof of theism hanging about you!!

On the other hand, if you are talking conceptually, then why should the concept go away when so many people derive their morality and sense of being from it? It is like asking "why doesn't the liver go away?" when there is a basic need for it to continue existance.

I don't believe we are talking about god at all.

Then what are we talking about?

 

[PratchettFan]

Are we talking about God as a living entity

Or are we talking about god as an abstract and not so well-defined theo-philosophical concept here.

If it is the first one, then where is this god that does not go away?? If this god is always around you, then you can't profess to being an agnostic or atheist because you have proof of theism hanging about you!!

On the other hand, if you are talking conceptually, then why should the concept go away when so many people derive their morality and sense of being from it? It is like asking "why doesn't the liver go away?" when there is a basic need for it to continue existance.

I don't believe we are talking about god at all.

Then what are we talking about?

Why people believe what they believe.

 

[koshergrl]

By Paul J. Zak, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Paul J. Zak is a professor at Claremont Graduate University in California and author of 'The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity.' The views expressed are his own.

I carried a lot of crosses as a Catholic altar boy. I also learned to mumble phrases in Latin and breathed in enough incense to choke an elephant. There is something serene about being behind a ritual. It lets you observe and reflect. And wonder why in the world people show up.

Roughly six percent of Americans report that they are atheists or agnostics according to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll. But, that means that over 90 percent believe in a God. Pew also reports that 80 percent profess a religious affiliation and half of those with a religious affiliation regularly attend church. So what motivates 120 million Americans to attend a church, synagogue or temple?

I began running experiments searching for a biochemical basis for moral behaviors in 2001 and found in a decade's worth of research that the molecule oxytocin motivated people to return kindness when they were shown kindness. Given my Catholic background and later skepticism that only Catholics would get into heaven (if such a thing exists), in my experiments I only asked college participants the most cursory questions about their religious beliefs. Guess what? Few college students are religious at all – and I found no difference in oxytocin functioning or prosocial behaviors between believers and nonbelievers.

Why God doesn?t go away ? Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Salvation isn't about what you can do or did, it is entirely about what God does for His elect through the Lord Jesus Christ. I would have to say that people who feel that their membership in a church means anything to God, do not know God.

Christ created the church, and holds it very dear.

Acts 20:28 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
Romans 12:3-5
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

10 BIble Verses About the Church, the Body of Christ - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com