In any time of war or danger, the old saying, 'There are no atheists in foxholes,' rings true. No matter how steely the mind, or how deep the conviction of skepticism, in a crisis, humans revert to the default position: They cry out to God for help. I see no biological or natural explanation for this phenomenon in humanity, which leaves it as a primal instinct.. a deep seated 'knowing', or at least feeling, that there is a God who can help us, and we involuntarily cry out. This is not a thought out process, but an instinctive response in a crisis. In the deepest recesses of our being, we 'know' that our Creator is there. I experienced this as a young atheist. I was raised in an irreligious, secular home, where God was not mentioned (except as an epithet!). I became a full fledged atheist, with the corroborating Indoctrination from the State propaganda centers. I was involved in a crisis, where fire was involved, and instinctively cried out to God, whom i did not know nor believe in. When the crisis abated, i continued in my atheistic beliefs, and remained there for many years. I have no data, but everyone i have ever known (that has told a tale of crisis), shares this unique human trait. Crying out to The Creator, in times of emotional, physical, or spiritual anguish is the default condition, and is the majority human experience. I know of NO ONE, who has gone through any trauma, crisis, or danger who clinged to atheistic beliefs to cope. Everyone looks to their Creator for help, because He is there, able to assist and strengthen us in times of need. This is one factor, among many, that provide evidence for the Creator. I offer this series as a scientific and logical analysis of the physical evidence. It is one evidence of many, that supports a Creation Event, and conflicts with the model of atheistic naturalism. Angst Entropy Reproductive Isolation Personal Experience Morality Extinction Consensus ..there is more. The scientific, inferred, and experiential evidence for the Creator is overwhelming. Those who believe there is no evidence of God have been deceived.
Interesting. I usually exclaim, "Oh S***", when faced with a crisis ... I hope you aren't inferring that God is ****.
Playing devil's advocate here... as I understand it we're 'wired' to believe in a spiritual and/or mystical world. The pineal gland is a not well understood part of the brain located roughly where the 'third eye' would be. Its the part of the brain responsible for spiritual experiences. Its particularly susceptible to damage by certain chemicals, like flouride, that are increasingly common in our environment. Theres even pharmaceuticals designed to target it in attempt to alleviate some conditions like PTSD.
There is a universe that came from an explosion. If you want to call the big bang God that's OK with me, just don't assign it mystical qualities. The sooner people start relying on themselves vs. prayer, the better we will all be, and the fewer suffering we will have. For the record there are plenty of religions that think their "bible" is THE truth; Christianity (2.2 billion followers) - The Holy Bible (Old Testament and New Testament) Islam (1.6 billion followers) - The Quran Hinduism (1 billion followers) - The Vedas Buddhism (376 million followers) - Tripitaka (Pali Canon) Sikhism (23 million followers) - Guru Granth Sahib Judaism (14 million followers) - The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Bahá’í (7 million followers) - Kitáb-i-Aqdas Jainism (4.2 million followers) - Agam Sutras Shinto (4 million followers) - Kojiki Zoroastrianism (2.6 million followers) - Avesta https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-...at-is-the-holy-book-for-each-religion?share=1 Do you think those religions above are legit, or is there only one way, one God to believe in? I know from experience christians look down at anything that isn't the bible.....Is God pissed at those that don't believe in the bible? Are they heathens?
Why would any omniscient, omnipotent, and ubiquitous entity give a damn about whether anyone believes in him?
Because he is a jealous God and he tells you that in the first commandment, of course why any omniscient, omnipotent, and ubiquitous entity would be jealous is another question!
It seems you maybe referencing Michael Persinger's work who created a "God Helmet" to bathe a living brain with magnetic fields. It was an interesting experiment, but it failed to reproduce the same effect during a double-blind study. The PTSD treatment that is the most controversial but shows the most promise is treatment with hallucinogenics, in particular psilocybin, the main ingredient in Magic Mushrooms.
If a person was not taught a religion, knew nothing about a supernatural entity that can somehow change reality, would that person suddenly make one up in a time of stress?
I agree with you. I am curious as to what those that disagree believe and why. Do they have tolerance? Or is it their way or the highway?
I would venture to say they would think of their mommy, or whoever was the person that individual felt safest with as a child.
I guess that would depend on what flavor of faith they belong to, and how well their personal experiences coincide or contradict it. Extreme religions require extreme devotion, which in turn robs an individual's ability to have active consciousness.
Not heard of that experiment, but will look into it. I know several folks who successfully manage a variety of anxiety/trauma conditions with marijuana, which is a mild halucinogenic.
You left out one "secular humanism". Now that about covers it.Now one of those has to be more right than others. I know of only one where God came down to the level of man and displayed a "sacrificial love" that has never been shown before or since. At great cost He showed humankind that they could be reconciled to Him in spite of their shortcomings. It is Christianity.....the same God of the Hebrew Bible. Now we go from some of those religions that have many gods to a few that would have you to be a god yourself. That would include secular Humanism. I know the human spirit is to be frail to be a god, so if there are many gods, do they get long with eachother? I am not afraid to stake a claim. I have examined the evidence and made a choice.
Extreme religions require extreme devotion, which in turn robs an individual's ability to have active consciousness.[/QUOTE] A lobotomy might well accomplish the same thing. You don't think it requires "extreme devotion" to turn your mind over to the effects of Magic Mushrooms? You don't think that robs an individuals ability to have active undisturbed consciousness? Tell you what. There is a word in the Greek....pharmecia. It was also translated as witchcraft. Why do you think drugs that took over ones mind was described as something evil? IMHO I believe God wants us to take time, put technology AND drugs aside, and experience Him. "Be still and know that I AM GOD"
Says who? Many cultures and religions throughout the world have used a variety of pharmacopoeia as part of their religious practices for centuries. The last sentence in your post is a call to return to a bicameral state.
You know how you tell your kid that the dog went to a special farm or that the goldfish went to a big ocean with all its friend fishes? We humans are scared to death of death, and we rightfully should be. This is a big reason that religion is so widespread (which relates to your consensus thread). People see complexity and order in the universe, and think somone made it. They are terrified of death and want their lives to mean something and that the creator loves them and made them for a special reason and will take care of them after they die. Hence why we invent Gods living in the volcanoes. We are afraid of a big bad volcano we don't understand and acts randomly and with cold brutal callousness, but we understand a volcano God who punishes us when we have sinned and requires sacrifice. We all want there to be a special farm waiting for us. We all want to be part of some important cause and our lives to mean something. We all want to be important and loved by a God and a religious community. When we are wronged or someone we love is wronged, we want there to be an objective code that was violated.
I don't know why I am suggesting anything political. Thought it was more "spiritual". We are already partially a bicameral state aren't we? I know of many drug induced religions. I call them "demonic" but that's just me. Turning the mind over to a foreign substance beckons outside control. Says who? Says me......and that's my own opinion. OK with that? I can substantiate others that agree with me but here......the buck stops with me and I accept responsibility!
You know why we humans are that way? Because we were created that way. Unlike the animals we contemplate death, we keep history, we decipher right and wrong. We were created in the Creators image, only we are sovereign to be apart from Him by the definition of Love. All of mankind has a sense of right and wrong and ability to refuse that sense. Our own nature draws us. Without a sense of humility, I am afraid we are completely and eternally "lost".
I get that you have faith in Christianity, and if you want to believe this without proof of evidence, then that is your choice. I think that everything bad about is from the fact that we are basically chimpanzees with big brains. We have all the crazy emotions and animalistic instincts that we inherited from our hominid ancestors. This part of us is the reason for wars, religion, crime, romance, games, and other things that make us so irrational but also make life interesting. The fall in the bible might just be an allegory for our animalistic side. Maybe that is why all the descendents of Adam and Eve were punished for Eve's sin, because the sin is in our genes, the original sin.
I have eaten pscilocybin mushrooms hundreds of times in my 20's. The first heavy dose is enough to make you realize, all is not as it seems.
Christians in the fox hole too because they know there is no God to save them just like Christians not going out during this pandemic to go to church.... theists and atheists both want to live
ok theists, prove prayer works, pray the virus disappears by morning, never to be seen again science will try to come up with a vaccine while we are waiting