Does it matter what you believe?

Answer 1

No, in the grand scheme of things, what matters is that you are a good person.

Answer 2

If I was on a plane and all of the sudden I didn't believe in the pilot's ability to fly that plane, let alone to land it safely, does it make it right for me to stand up and announce to everyone that this pilot isn't the right guy for the job and that I think someone else should be flying?

If I told the guy next to me (who has never flown a plane in his life) to go land the plane instead of the pilot because I believed he could do it .. would that be foolish of me?

Does it matter what you believe? Yes!

I do believe that the pilot can fly and land this plane safely, because of his training, license, safety ratings and experience in flight. I do believe he is the right man (or woman) for the job.

In fact, I wouldn't have even gotten on the plane if I didn't believe that the pilots couldn't take off, fly, and land at the exact right airport (my destination).

Yes! it does matter what you believe.

Answer 3

It seems to matter to those who believe in believing. But I think that if people don't believe the same thing it just causes unnecessary arguements. I can't understand the need for people to feel they belong to something, it's like a built in tribal instinct. Get a life, be independant and believe what you like but stop pushing your beliefs onto others. I'm fed up of the whole belief thing.

Answer 4

Absolutely! Everday we judge and monitor how we and others behave and to do that we simply have to have beliefs that set those standards. Without beliefs we may as well be brainless for all the good that would do. Beliefs give us daily purpose and limits to maintain or exceed. Beliefs allow us to go about our business, do a worthwhile job or profession, have hope for the future and be a creative citizen. In fact, the very fact that you have beliefs has made you ask this question! Think about it.

Answer 5

What I believe matters to me. I highly doubt that it matters to anyone else, though.

Answer 6

No... belief is irrelevant. What is, IS... whether you believe it, or not.

Belief is an insidious mind-killer... it cuts one off from the open-minded and intellectually honest consideration of alternative possibilities. There are some subtleties at work, concerning the nature of 'belief, which seem to escape the notice of most people.

A rational person might say "I believe in the Big Bang." A religious person might say "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis." But these statements are not even remotely similar, with respect to what is meant by the word 'believe'.

For the rational person, the statement of 'belief' in the Big Bang means that they understand that the concept provides a scientifically and mathematically consistent explanation, congruent with the evidence, which accounts for the evolution of the universe from a fraction of a second after the initiating event, up until the present. When the 'inflationary model' came to the fore, rational people said "Well, good... that clears up a few questions and makes things even more coherent." NOBODY threw up their arms and wailed "Oh, no... oh, no... ain't so... ain't so... the Big Bang is the inerrant truth... not this ridiculous, atheistic 'inflationary' model."

See... when we say "I believe in the Big Bang", we don't really mean the same thing as the religious person means when he says "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis," or "I believe in God." Our 'belief' in the Big Bang (or anything else) isn't really a 'belief'... it is more properly a 'paradigm'... a useful way of looking at something, or thinking about something. If additional information is uncovered that adds to the conceptual model, that is a good thing... not a disaster. If part of the conceptual model is discovered to be incorrect, and must be tossed in the trash and replaced with something completely different... that is also a good thing... not the end of the world as we know it. And often, no matter how highly confident we may be of the accuracy or completeness of a particular paradigm, we may have reason to apply a DIFFERENT paradigm to the same thing, in an effort to tease out new insights; for example, we might want to contemplate the potential implications of a change to a theory from the perspective of the Tao Te Ching, the Gaia hypothesis, or ecological homeostasis. We KNOW that all theories are approximations... and that is OK. We KNOW that we don't have all the answers... and that is OK, too. There is nothing wrong with saying "We don't know... yet; but we're working on it."

But these modes of thinking, perceiving, contemplating and understanding are utterly alien to the 'religious' mind. For the religious mind, a 'belief' is not a paradigm... not a useful way of thinking about something... it is an internalized conviction that one knows the absolute 'truth' pertaining to some aspect of existence and/or fundamental reality. 'Beliefs' are one of the key interpretive component filters of the religious person's 'self-description'... a part of what DEFINES them as a person... the very thing that creates their world-view... an underpinning of their 'subjective reality'. Any challenge to one of these internalized 'beliefs' is perceived and interpreted as a vital threat... an attack upon the 'self-description'... and an assault upon their subjective reality.

And here is the key difference: When there is a change in one of the paradigms dealing with a scientific concept, or a new insight into the workings of the universe, to the 'rational' person it merely constitutes an interesting new piece of knowledge and understanding... a new insight, to be appropriately incorporated into one's world-view However, if that same new insight, or piece of information (a feature of the universe, for example) seems to threaten a tenet of Christianity, everybody goes to battle stations, goes into 'damage control' mode, for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down... and ultimately, it will.

So, when a fundie disparages evolution, for example, it really has nothing to do with a genuine, intellectual dispute regarding scientific details... they are generally scientifically illiterate, anyway. Any 'scientific' arguments that they present are inevitably not even understood... they are just lifted from the pre-packaged lies, misrepresentations and pseudo-science that are found on dozens of 'Liars for Jesus' (LFJ) web sites, and parroted. They are in a battle. They are trying to sink science before science sinks them. They are desperate... and science is (mostly, and unfortunately) oblivious to the fact that they are even in a fight, and that somebody is trying to sink them. They just keep blithely bopping along, doing what science does... trying to figure out how nature works.

No... none of this has anything to do with a mere disagreement pertaining to evidence and understanding. It has to do with minds that deal with fundamental issues in an entirely different way. It has to do with a flexible, open-minded (willing to honestly consider alternative possibilities), intellectually honest (willing to question and doubt one's own presumptions) curiosity about the universe, contending with a rigid, unyielding world-view that depends from a conviction that certain delusional faith-based (willful ignorance and magical, wishful thinking) 'beliefs' represent the absolute 'truth' of reality.

We might as well be talking to an alien species, from a distant planet.

When the religious enter a venue like this one, they are (generally) NOT seeking answers, or new information... these might cause them to QUESTION their beliefs, or might put their beliefs at risk. No... they are closed-minded, seeking only VALIDATION of their beliefs... and hence, of their self-description.

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"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Answer 7

Of course it does. If you truly believe that when you die, you'll go to a beautiful place filled with booze, dope, virgins, etc. you wo't worry about dying OR killing anybody else because in your mind, you're doing them a favour.
That's why religious groups are so happy to go to war and kill.

Answer 8

Yes it does matter but only if you whole heartily believe it yourself for the right reasons
God gave us free will and with that to have an open mind to except what we feel is right and to reject what is not.

Love & Blessings
Milly

Answer 9

It only matters to the people with the beliefs.

Answer 10

Yes it matters.

If Christ is true, then He is the only way to salation, man can not come to God any other way.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."