One of the greatest geniuses of our world was Albert Einstein, which rejected the concept of a personal God referred to in bible and other religions with similar beliefs. I don’t understand how anyone can believe in the bible, Qu’ran, or whatever other theistic belief based religion. Along with all of the silly stories in the bible come a load of other contradicting ideas and writings. Along with this comes the belief in a soul/free will dogmatically. I’m a psychology major and also have done enough research to conclude that religion is just a history of man trying to explain the unknowns of our world.
A historian should be able to pick up on the consistent growth of the world’s religions with the changing times and the way man adjusts the characteristics of their deity’s to suit their new found lifestyles. The history of the writing of the bible. The obvious decline of poly-theistic based cultures from history. A biologist would understand the inner most minute processes of our bodies and conclude that divine intervention has no place in the miraculous ‘curing’ of some people.
The processes of decision making is a brain process that does not involve a soul or ghost in a machine that hits the execute button. Studies, research, and other findings have documented how we make decisions and certain areas of the brain are active at the time. Strangely enough, our conscious mind becomes aware of our final decision micro-milla-seconds after our actual decision is made. Although all of the knowledge we have is subjectable in neurophysiology and the soft sciences, it is still evident that it makes a whole lot more sense than some magical soul. Everything we do just lines up with the theory’s so well that there is no room for a personal God anymore. The school of common sense would reveal what I know.
Disregarding all of the complex ideas of defense mechanisms and the nature of human beings to protect themselves from any mentally diminishing thoughts; it is evident why people still believe in the rigid and illogical concepts of God. It is the fear of the unknown, death, and mental freedom. People feel as if without a God there is no guide for their journey through life. When they are hopelessly upset and alone there is a father figure in the sky that will wipe their tears away and grant them invincibility. However, one can’t deny the justifications against these beliefs, and the logic that does not align with the concept of God. It seems that people do not apply rationalizations when it comes to their own personal and indulging beliefs.
Someone once left this quote on one of my questions; “And man created God in His Image”
A really educational book; The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker.
2006-09-30 08:57:19 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Whatever makes your life easier. That's all part of being human. No one said we don't all live in our own fantasy worlds. The more interesting thing to research is why we need such crutches and how this is all the way our brain deals with not knowing or understanding everything. There are gaps that the brain has to fill with SOMETHING.
I don't believe in God, but I'm sure I comfort myself with fantasy from time to time.
2006-09-30 09:14:04 · answer #1 · answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I believe that one really wins the "longest question that turned out not to be a question" award.
The answer is that most educated people who believe that god exists are Deists, rather than theists. Look up "deism" on the internet, or take a walk to the library. Deism is a long-standing and honorable tradition among sane, enlightened people, and accepts the notion that there is or may be a deity; that is, a divine power or spiritual driving force that creates reality in an ongoing process through natural laws.
A basic way to think of the deity is as the source of the most fundamental principles. We know, for example, that living molecules began by means of a process of random intermixing over millions of years, relying on processes such as autocatalysis, in which molecules, by intermixing, eventually create resultant molecules that catalyze the original molecules into more complex reactions that produce more complex molecules, and so on until basic proto-cells are made.
In such a situation, the Deity can be thought of as the driving force that caused these molecules to continue intermixing, and/or the idea that is the source of such principles as electronegativity and electropositivity that make atoms tend to become involved with each other.
Such a god is completely acceptable to people who would throw up their hands in horror at the idea that "Jesus hates your neighbor down the street because he is gay." The "poor people are poor because God hates them" type of religion is clearly unacceptable for people who are seeking insight, as is the "you must believe what my grandmother told me you must believe, or you will go to Hell" type of religion, which, while just as destructive psychologically, though it may not be quite as socially maladaptive.
So there is an ancient and honorable segment of the educated community that believes in God while getting a good belly laugh out of things like the Bible. Of course these wise ones have been persecuted by christians throughout history. Read up on Deism and its history. Folks like Voltaire and Thomas Jefferson. It will set you free.
2006-09-30 16:45:18 · answer #2 · answered by aviophage 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am educated. I understand your argument, but I do not understand your question. Are you suggesting that a belief in God equals religion? I would be very surprised if such a suggestion came from someone who can think, if that is what "educated" means to you, as it does to me. So, as an educated, and even more importantly, as a thinking person, I have a very good understanding of God conveyed to me, by him.
If you would like to read a logical explanation about God and the Universe, you may click on "Rational Spirituality" on the Dhaxem website.
2006-09-30 17:04:09 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Believing in Deity is different then believing is a old man with a white beard that lives up in the sky. I am not overly comfortable with the idea of a sentient (as in human like self awareness) God. I do however grasp and accept the concept of a logos or divine reason for the cosmos.
Hope that makes sense.
2006-09-30 16:17:39 · answer #4 · answered by Pablito 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The answers you get are determined by your own epistemological methods and presuppositions. Education is not always an accumulation of true facts or bodies of objective knowledge, but sometimes a greater entrenchment in mere theoretical commitments. You can see this in the way you pretend to ask a question when you really give an answer.
2006-09-30 16:09:05 · answer #5 · answered by BABY 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not to get philosophical on you or anything, but....
How can an educated person believe YOU exist?
There are billions and billions of people in the world. Most exist without the "niceties" of documentation of any kind. There are entire businesses based on the production of false id's and the theft of real ones. ANY documents you produce to confirm your identity may, therefore, be forged.
You might argue that you are sitting at your computer right now, typing this question. "I think, therefore, I am". And yet, there are computer programs set up that can produce questions, answer questions, and engage another person in conversations. How can you prove to me, over the computer, that you exist? It is obvious that you cannot.
Here is an idea. You and I could meet IRL (in real life), after offering to submit to several tests of my own choosing to verify your authenticity. That would, to my educated mind, prove to me that you (as you present yourself) probably do exist. I could look up other people that are close to you to verify the claims you make about yourself, also.
What does this have to do with believing in God? Simple. "God" is not some irrational concept grown out of the imaginations of stone-age people, and morphed into the religious systems of the day. "God", if He exists, is a person. To be sure, a person quite unlike us, and yet like us in some ways. If "God" exists, then it would be up to "God" to establish His own existence in the minds of the ones created by Him. "He" cannot expect us, in our spiritual blindness and ignorance, to just "know" He exists. Humans aren't that intelligent!
It is the responsibility of the existant to proclaim their existance, and to make it known in a way understandable to the audience they wish to reach. God would have to declare Himself to us. Repeatedly.
If this has happened (and many believe that it HAS happened), then it would be illogical for educated people to defy such an event. They may plead ignorance, or they may plead scepticism (an ok stance, btw). But to flatly deny the existance of a being that has already proved its own existence is beyond illogical. Either God has shown Himself to exist, or He has not.
There comes a point in time when your refusal to believe what HAS BEEN REVEALED can no longer be excused as "ignorance" or "scepticism". At that point in time, it becomes a denial of reality. Such is no longer the action of an educated mind. It is nothing more than bigotry.
2006-09-30 16:38:18 · answer #6 · answered by MamaBear 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To learn more about the historical accuracy and credibility of the bible go to this site. Use M-A-P-S to guide you through Biblical reliability: Manuscripts, Archeology, Prophecy, Statistics.
http://www.train2equip.com/paperReliability.asp
The Bible is the human history book of God's plan through out history. It is based on 1000's of historical facts and eyewitness testimony throughout the last 5000 years. "Nelson Glueck (a Jewish Reformed scholar and archaeologist) probably gives us the greatest support for the historicity of the Bible when he states, "To date no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single, properly understood biblical statement.""(1)
Then we have the moral aspect.
"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Rom. 2: 14,15.
"All men, everywhere, know themselves to be free and responsible moral agents. They know they are accountable for their deeds. They know this because the moral nature with which God has created them testifies to them of these truths. Some men deny this and claim that man's conscience, his knowledge of right and wrong, and his ideas of responsibility and accountability are not really innate revelations of his nature, but are merely learned and changeable convictions, acquired through reading the Bible, through religious instruction, or through the influence of society and environment.
"But in spite of what some men say, the fact remains that all men know intuitively that they are responsible and accountable for their actions. An absolute standard of right and wrong is revealed and apparent to all men. Man's moral agency and his responsibility and accountability are so apparent that he cannot rationally deny them. He can no more deny them than he can deny his existence." (2)
We could keep going for 100's of years on this topic but as an educated person who has been through the humanistic desensitization process (college) I don't see how God could not exist. Just take a look at nature. It is super naturally designed. Just look at DNA for the most incredible evidence of the Creator.
I recommend two books for further enlightenment:
The Closing of the American Mind
http://www.amazon.com/Closing-American-Mind-Allan-Bloom/dp/0671657151/sr=8-1/qid=1159647384/ref=sr_1_1/104-4091606-6306352?ie=UTF8&s=books
Is Man the Measure
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Measure-Evaluation-Contemporary-Humanism/dp/1597522996/sr=1-1/qid=1159647470/ref=sr_1_1/104-4091606-6306352?ie=UTF8&s=books
I studied eastern and western philosophy, psychology and other religions before coming back to Christianinty. I found myself over analysing everything and gaining no wisdom. I adopted a relativistic point of view and started to give up on all explanations of life and started to become hopeless. Even though I knew the philosophies of the tao and zen I still was not satisfied with thier view of life. And yet the Buddha died like all other men still searching for enlightenment. Jesus Christ alone rose from the dead and declared "I am the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me." I read Ecclisiasties and have never look to another ideology since.
I came back because I actually read the Bible for the first time in my life and found its wisdom and teachings to be the absolute ideals that our world should be based on.
Just read Proverbs and Esslesiasties if you really want to expand your life!
In the end you have to admitt that psychology and philosophy are just theories and are changing everyday. Look at how the theories of Frued are laughed at today but were not 20 years ago. The Bible will always be here and will never change because it is the Word of God.
2006-09-30 16:33:52 · answer #7 · answered by nubins 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Education does not necessarily equal intelligence.
You have already answered your own "question" to your own preconceived satisfaction.
If you're truly interested in understanding why educated (intelligent) people still believe in God, you might try asking with a truly open mind. You appear only to be looking for others who agree with you, or an argument, to make your views known, and your "education" seem superior.
I have a very interesting theory about this subject, which came about after intensive study, because I wanted to know why.
And I didn't stop with one book, or point of view, either..............
years of studying ALL sides and some real deductive reasoning led me to my (uncommon) theory. Good luck to you, if you are really interested, perhaps you'll come up with the same conclusion, or one that will satisfy this question.
2006-09-30 16:29:58 · answer #8 · answered by Squirrley Temple 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I suppose it's faith. When one has faith in something, they are (as Scottish lawyer Thomas Carlyle said) never alone. And to feel alone is a terrible thing, so I think it's all truly psycology...but on the other side, Jorge Luis Borges (an Argentinian writer) said: "Doubt is one of the names of intelligence." You decide if you want to believe or not.
2006-09-30 16:05:32 · answer #9 · answered by Beanie 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Our country is plagued with numerous problems--drug use, broken homes, unwed mothers and fathers. The list is endless. Many politicians believe the answer is improved education. Many problems will dissipate and disappear if we educate our youth.
Is this true? If so, to what degree? Are educated people immune to drug addiction, broken homes, and immoral behavior? Obviously not!
The answer is not math, science, history and English. The moral and spiritual education of the soul and spirit is what is needed. If knowledge found in books and in Internet libraries was the answer, the Lord would have said, "I will build my university." He would have said, "Go ye into all the world and preach a liberal arts education to all the nations."
God has made foolish the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:18-21).
2006-09-30 16:05:10 · answer #10 · answered by K 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋