As a society, should we allow people to continue believing in ridiculous things without proof?

Question

We are a society which likes to think of itself as getting smarter every generation. We demand that certain educational needs are given to all of our children and yet still we allow a great number of people to harbor ridiculous notions about supernatural beings, worldwide floods and an evil entity who plants false evidence of dinosaurs all over the earth. Surely if we are to progress as a species we need to begin teaching truths above all else. So I am wondering, are people who say, “let them believe what they want to believe” correct or should the leaders of the world do something to help educate the people? Remember we didn’t let the Nazi’s believe what they wanted to believe…….
And I don’t want to hear anyone saying I cant prove that a god doesn’t exist, I don’t have to, when you want people to believe in something you have to prove it, not the other way around. And there has never been any proof of god given.
Look up the invisible pink unicorn if you think otherwise.

This isn’t a discussion about evolution. But who created the creator who created the creation? Because a creator who had no creation is just as ridiculous as a creation without a creator because a creator is a thing and by some logic people think things must have been created by a creator….

I think Nazi's were mostly catholic not athiest. All i want to know is do people think it is ok to let people continue to believe in lie's. Im not talking evolution here which is a theory, im talking lies like "We are all born with original sin"

I’m not an atheist, and the fact that 93% of people in the U.S. believe in a god is significant why? Who your president is proves we should not look to you for the smartest advice

Answer 1

So do you mean ridiculous things without proof like the THEORY of evolution and the big bang THEORY - a creation with no creator? :)

Answer 2

There are many scientists that can make pretty convincing arguments that evolution is completely unfounded.
Your criteria of a belief being proved completely would certainly mean evolution could not be taught or believed by the "stupid" either. It is still only theory, granted one accepted by many science professionals, but none the less a theory.
In fact much of quantum physics, time and space warps etc. is simply theory. So who is to decide what things are stupid to believe?
The fact is if the Nazis had only believed the stuff they espoused there would have been little that would have happened. It was the fact they acted violently on that belief in a way that destroyed the lives of millions to say nothing of attempting to take control of Europe that made anything happen.

Answer 3

I think you have spent too much time with the thought police. I noticed you use the word "allow" to believe. I believe there is overwhelming evidence of "God" a creator. You say their has never been any proof of God given..after reading that I can only say that there are only 3 possible reasons you feel that way.

1. You are ignorant
2. You have only listen to the atheist view point
3. You have never listen to the Christian view point (and BTW) 93% of Americans believe in God

Once again you show your need to control by saying: ::We still "allow" a great number of people to harbor ridiculous notions about supernatural beings.

I assume you are in favor of NOT ALLOWING this type of thinking.

I find your thinking scary..one that Hitler would be proud of.

As a Christian I want you to be as loud as you can be..I believe you are an excellent example of what atheist believe and think.

Answer 4

well if you're having so much trouble believing in a creator that is the alpha omega (always was, and alway will be) because nothing could create him then how could you defend any theory leading up the universe being here? how was the universe created from nothing? atheist belong to a religion. you need faith to prove anything you want to. what creates gravity. plus there has been physical evidence of a world wide flood! it's faith. and if you want to believe what you do then go ahead I'm not going to stop you but as I've said before I'm a member of Mensa so your arguments aren't that smart. Just so you know Mensa = Smart... it all makes perfect sense to me too.

Answer 5

Everything we "know" to be true is based on assumptions, because there isn't much in existence that we are capable of proving. I know foresight/imagination isn't usually 20/20, but think about what all that really entails.

We didn't stop the Nazis from believing in anything, we just stopped them from forcing it on the world.

You DO have to prove that God (or anything, really) doesn't exist, because if you don't then people won't believe that He doesn't.

The invisible pink unicorn is drunk right now, so he can't give us any reliable answers.

BUT... I do believe that there is ultimate truth and it would/will be great when everyone sees it for what it is... it's called Heaven.

Answer 6

It seems very simple for you to demand a standard of others that you are unwilling to submit to. I promise with some probing I could uncover many beliefs you hold sacred that you can't prove. This is the nature of the world. You state, "I don’t want to hear anyone saying I cant prove that a god doesn’t exist, I don’t have to,". No you don't have to, but I can guarantee one thing, you will find out upon death. Spend some time chewing on Pascal's Wager.

Answer 7

We should definitely teach the truth as far as we can tell what that is by logically justifiable means, so for example schools must teach evolution in science classes and teach creationism as an origin myth in RE. However... far more important is to give children the intellectual tools they need so that they can sort out fact from fiction themselves. We need to be teaching children critical thinking skills - i.e. to show them that reason and evidence are the only routes to truth, to teach them how to spot logical fallacies, to be aware of the aspects of their own psychology which can lead them to adopt wrong ideas if they're not careful, and in general to grow up as people who are not easily fooled. That will have benefits in all sorts of areas of life, not just in seeing through religious mythology.

So, education is the key to reducing all forms of credulity, and the religious know this very well, which is why they will always try to pervert the education system to their own ends, attempting to corrupt young minds with their ridiculous ideas. Society must resist this abuse of children at all costs.

Answer 8

You know, you are absolutely right. We shouldn't allow people to continue to believe in ridiculous things without proof, like evolution. We allow our children to be taught ridiculous notions like they came from nothing, that everything in the universe sprung up accidentally. We would love to start teaching truth to our kids, but the we not allowed in the schools anymore. Leaders of the world? Which ones? Kim jung Ill? He's one of yours. "We didn't let the Nazi's believe what they wanted to believe"? First off, who is we? Were you alive in the 1930's and 40's? And "we" did allow them to teach and promote their atheistic evolutionary thinking. Of course it is very difficult to prove a negative, but the evidence for God is all around you, but you are blind and refuse to see. There is enough evidence in the universe to prove the existence of God so you are without excuse.

Answer 9

God had no creator. He exists outside of time and space and is therefore not subject to the laws of time and space.

In the words of William Lane Craig PHD, THD a cosmologist and author of several books debating the origins of the universe:

"Time and Space are creations of God that began at the Big Bang. If you go back beyond the beginning of time itself, there is simply eternity. By that, I mean eternity in the sense of timelessness. God, the eternal, is timeless in his being. God did not endure through an infinite amount of time up to the moment of creation:that would be absurd. God transcends time. He's beyond time..."

Answer 10

It depends on what you mean by ridiculous. Would it be ridiculous to believe in aliens? There is no proof. Some people think the belief that we really went to the moon is ridiculous.

Anyways, I bow to the Invisible Pink Unicorn and the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Answer 11

And just which world leaders can teach us what we should believe? As for the Nazis, I don't see that their beliefs have changed. Until there is some type of 'total control' and people can still reason for themselves, we will still believe what we want to.