"Prove it!" ...but why?

Question

So every day clever folks show up in here going "Prove there's a god!" or "Prove there's not a god!"

Here's why this is weird to me. I believe what I believe, and I don't need anyone sle to prove it wrong or right, and I don't need to prove it to anyone. I'd imagine the majority of people are the same way.

So this question is twofold...

Why would you (this is the hypothetical you, not "THEY would do this", this is you) ask someone to prove your beliefs wrong or right?

If someone asked you to prove your beliefs, what would you do?

Bad Buddhist: A rational reason is different than proof. (I like rational reasons better anyway.)

U-98: What statement is that?

Answer 1

If someone said "prove it" to me, I'd say "I don't have to prove a thing. It is the responsbility of those making the positive assertion to prove themselves, not the person (me) who does not believe in the assertion. Mine is the default philosophical stance of not accepting something as true until it has been demonstrated to be true."

Answer 2

Wierd ques but i'll try. Btw my religion has already been proven of its Authenticity.

You can't just believe anything that you've heard. I'll tell you 1+1=3 do you believe that? If you were slaped in the face by someone how could you report it to the police without the slapper or witnesses to be there confirming your claim? Science need proof to confirm a claimed made by someone. A person need proof and evidence before he'll be charge guilty. Only with proof and evidence will the listener believe and no questions ask. So your ques is not believe but its assuming. A believe is when you have SOME evidence or proof to the claim. Assuming is when you don even know if its true but u just trust it blindly.

Not to hurt anyone but its logical.

Answer 3

My beliefs don't matter! As Jesus said, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" and "Who made me a judge or a divider over you? " "Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."

For "proof," Jesus gave only one: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas, for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

The best and only sign is love. Some people want it, some never will.

Answer 4

This word is generally used by christians. they think theirs is the only religion, bible is the only holy book. let me tell you something which will hurt all christians.
whatever jesus christ said is only the repetitions of what Bhagvan Budha and Mahaveer said. These two great personalities were comtemporaries lived between 550 BC and 470 BC. There is lot of similarities between what is said by these great men and Jesus said. Jesus must have come in contact with a budhist monk and learnt about these teaching. He is certainly influenced by these teachings. so he set about propogating these along with his own traditional beliefs. Whateve Jesus said is not from his personal experiences. He was merely parroting what others have said before him. For Budha existence of god did not matter. because he realized that. christians are not meditators(Dhyana is the appropriate word. I've to use the word meditation for convenience, because there is no equivalent word for dhyana in english or any other language). only a meditating mind can achieve that state and say it doesnt matter if god is there or not.

Proving is associated with christians. they use it very crookedly. they are afraid that if anyone proves bible or christ wrong, it will open a pandoras box. If you really compare religions everything is hollow, empty vessels. emptiest vessels make the maximum noise. because they have nothing to offer.
Take a look at the festivals in christian community. most of it has its origin from pagan days. they have not forgotten that part of it, by they deny it. dance, music, festival - everything is not of christian origin. church is afraid when an intelligent man will ask them such uncomfortable questions. if i say cross is a symbol of death, do i have to produce a better proof than death of christ on the same cross. i say christ was saved by Budhist monks from who happened travel around jerusalem at that time which his apostles mistook for angels. because these monks are learned men well versed in medicine, magic, martial arts and everything a man needs to know. since they are in groups each group has a person specialising in one field. they saved jesus and took him out of israel. If i again say that christ died at a ripe old age. its amazing that he did not die a christian death. he did not die in jerusalem. proving is difficult, but there are literature that has recorded this fact across Ladakh, Tibet and Japan. Isnt it proof enough that what catholic chuch is lying and bible is wrong.

Answer 5

Because we're social animals and seek out similarities and common ground when socializing, whose judgement to trust, and whose not to. We like social bonds. We like truth. If you insist on telling me you have an invisible dragon in your garage, I'll probably be a little curious as to why you believe it. Or if you tell me you saw your grandma walk through a wall. Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof. You have a right to tell me these things, but do I have to accept it mutely without question in the interest of being polite (which I do more than I'd like), or do I have a right to say, um...what makes you believe that? If you say "just because I do, and I don't need to prove it to you, or anyone," I'm probably going to have a hard time believing a lot of what you tell me, trusting your decisions that affect me, or really relating in general, which does not create a good social bond. Especially if you tell me your dragon will burn me to a crisp if I don't believe in it, I can't be a good or moral person without believing in your dragon, or your grandmother is the one true grandmother and everyone else's beloved grandmother is really satan in disguise. When I go to your house for dinner, we have to bow our heads and thank your dragon for it (and you do it at my house as well). When I disagree, you may get upset and quote lines from the Invisible Dragon book, all the while telling me how much he loves me. It gets creepy. We ask others why they believe what they do to try and understand, well, why they believe what they do. It's okay to do this about politics, child rearing, movies, flossing, medicine, ghosts, but for some reason, religion is considered untouchable. Don't look behind the curtain! There is no need to question. In fact, it's forbidden to delve too far. Why? What is the fear?

Ask yourself why wanting to know what's behind your belief system would be "weird" to you. Maybe aliens have taken over your mind - and have a nefarious purpose for you. They want you to eventually spread "The Word" to all those around you to make you subserviant to their alien king so he can live off your energy for eternity. But I have no proof of that, nor do I really believe it. If I did, I'd try to find proof that it was the best explanation for what I believed to be your state of mind. (For my own confidence in my judgement, not yours!) If I couldn't find anything substantial, rather than say, "oh well, I believe it. That's good enough for me!" I'd be forced to revise my thoughts to ones I could back up a little better. Which is exactly what I did. In any case, I'd certainly expect you to call me out on it, and would understand why you couldn't respect me if I said, "you think you're so clever. I don't have any proof, and I can't understand why I need it."

I hope this helps to understand the call for proof at times. People's beliefs have a huge and serious impact on what goes on in this world. Therefore, people on all sides of the fence take the issue pretty seriously. Sure, those dragons are harmless when they're little....

Answer 6

My scientific beliefs I would try to prove empirically. My spiritual, religious beliefs I would not try to prove for they are essentially based on faith and hope . I would though in a philosophical kind of way reason to some degree regarding the foundation and basis for my faith.

Answer 7

If someone asked me because they really wanted to know I would tell who God is and what He has done for mankind. But if they are just looking to argue, I wouldn't tell them anything because they already have their own beliefs. God can't be proven by words because that leads to head knowledge. God proves himself to a person and they understand who He is by the Holy Spirit. Then, they understand Him in their heart.

Answer 8

>> If someone asked you to prove your beliefs, what would you do? <<

I prove them or give a rational reason why I believe them.

Every religious person should do the same thing, otherwise why would anyone take them seriously? Belief without reason is just superstition.

Answer 9

I as a Christian usually avoid such questions, because God is the one who does the real proving of His existence, by way of the Holy Spirit. He just calls me to preach His word and do my best to demonstrate His love...For Jesus said, "No man can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." I can come up with the most soundproof argument possible...but if the Father hasn't enabled a person to come to him, it doesn't matter. As it is written, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power!"

Answer 10

Perhaps it's their way of learning more, so they can broaden their minds.
If I were asked to 'prove', I wouldn't be able to prove anything. I would gladly share what I think about my beliefs, and why I feel that way. Great questions!