Why dont people just abandon the idea of god and get real?

Question

Are they not strong enough for reality?

Oh, and if your answer is "god is reality" then please explain that and forgive my ignorance..

Answer 1

Why does it bother you? I say - let people believe what they will (they will, anyway), and mind what's on your own plate. If someone sincerely believes a giant cabbage named Arnold created, and runs, the universe, I'm fine with that as long as they don't expect me to get to know Arnold as my personal savior.

Of course, we ALL know the universe is maintained by a small, unassuming vole named Eddie who wears lederhosen and likes sweets, though, don't we?

Answer 2

The idea of God is not a bad philosophy,as long as it represents the good of all people on this planet. The problem is that religion has always been used to control and this is where the idea has fallen down. Another problem is the different ethnic concepts of God and the different attitudes people have towards God. I Firmly believe in a ''Universal Doctrine'' and refer to this doctrine many times on this forum. The nearest thing to what I am relating to you is in the Bible Matt 5&6-the sermon on the mount- whatever you say you canot believe that 'you should not kill' is a wrong statement.
The thing about a Universal Doctrine is it does away with Christianity, Islam, Zorastarianism and the other religons to form one acceptable code of conduct for us all.There is no reason where applicable that the old prophets should not contribute in the beginning but the need to believe in an after life is very important to some and a doctrine of the type I have just mentioned would also allow athiests to return to the fold not hastled by those that want you to believe as they do which when you look at the scriptures, is in the most part a lot of nonsence and stolen stories from pagen days..

Answer 3

Thats the same as asking why do people like rock music? Or believe that a lost ones ghost is still with us?

I am a Christian so my answer is biased by far but I dont see why people should abandon anything they believe it. Like someone said, it shouldnt really bother you but at the same time it is a good question. I AM strong enough for reality, I am a realist.

God and the connotations associated are a sort of 'help' I suppose I could say. God has helped many in their lives and for that, they/we are greatful. I'm not a Bible basher or what not and I dont go church every Sunday but God is a big influence in my life and I tend to live my life in 'the christian way'.

Whats wrong with believing in something that promotes goodness? Poeple probably go astray because they dont have something positive to believe in and are only confined by law.

Answer 4

you really want to know, then here is one opinion! : )

God as a Concept

Forget all the names and all the laws and rules; as a concept 'God' is perfectly legitamate. First of all; where did everything come from? The big bang - where and how did it come about? How did that come about? The simple answer is; according to modern Science; one idea is as good and as likely as any other. The one thing that is ALWAYS missing from ANY creation scenario is "what was at the VERY begginning". We do not presently have a 100% satisfactory answer. A 'God' DOES answer all the potential questions, and the simple answer is often the one that is on the right track.

Truth, quite simply, is easy told apart from untruth because TRUTH stands up to questioning. Aristotle used this method for finding 'truth' - he simply repeated and continued with simple, easy questions. If the truth was there; it would have an answer or at least an understandable and believable base; if it didn't, or if it contradicted itself, it was either not true, or not complete.

Whatever 'God' may be, it is the most 'direct' answer. Its people's perceptions and explanations that fail, not the 'God' idea. Since most religeons discourage deep questioning, it is hard to believe that any one of them is on the right track.

But it's like anything else; people believe whatever they need to belive to rationalise their own behavoir. Since, whether there is or isnt a God is already the case; what we think about it is pretty irrelevant. You live your life, you do your thing, and at the end of it all, either something new happens or it doesnt; and whatever you did in your life will already have occurred. Many people believe purely to be safe, rather than sorry. Many people dont believe, because if they did, they'd have to change their lives and they dont want to.

There is no answer; only clues. Since the dawn of mankind, we have always loked for something greater, so either we are and always have been deluded, or else we are and always have been looking for something that is 'missing'.

At the end of the day, deluding yourself to being good is just as bad and just as good as believing 100% in the wrong thing - but if I was gonna burn forever, or live forever in paradise, or re-incarnate and live again; id rather do it for what I believed; and the hardest part is being honest with yourself.

What if there is no God or heaven or hell? What if there is? Both scenarios make goodness, kindness and mercy all the more important for me (personally) if it's for something - or if it's for nothing; its not natural - animals dont do it; nothing does it but us; and thats unique; and THATS as close to any Godliness I can imagine. If I stop existing when I die; and all thats left is peoples memories of me; I hope their good memories.

If God's waiting, I look forward to it; I have questions and some jokes ready for him; but at the end of the day, if there was NOTHING; why did every single human civilisation end up believing?

Answer 5

It would be great to live in a rational world where naturalism was the norm and the supernatural were regarded as the myths they are. Unfortunately, humans are quite an irrational lot. Many still lead emotion-based lives, and it is this emotionalism that is responsible for humanity's continued clinging to religion.

Still, although religion as a whole has been more harmful than beneficial to mankind, it does serve as a strong source of community bonding and social networking. Sad as it is to say, some people just wouldn't have much of a social life without church.

I view religion as a crutch. For those who need it to lean on, taking it away from them would leave them emotionally and/or socially crippled. Of course for a (spiritually/mentally) healthy person, a crutch is simply a hindrance.

So to answer your question, it's true that some people just aren't strong enough to handle reality. For them, religion and gods are a coping mechanism. It is definitely possible to wean people off of needing to believe in fantasies, but unfortunately I fear our present educational system is not up to the challenge.

Answer 6

Actually "we" appear to be the “unreal”, and are a holographic residue (image) of True Reality, which quantum physics calls the Holographic Principle. Literally, we appear to be stuck in "The Matrix", and True Reality where God is located is completely outside our realm. This "Separation" creates an empty deficit in the human condition, causing people to fill up the internal deficit and emptiness with a spiritual seeking and quest for reconnection with God. However, most people attempt to attain this in an erroneous manner, seeking after lesser alien gods and ungodly philosophies and religions of a skewed nature, primarily inspired by the Demonic Nature.

Answer 7

Because the idea of God keeps people in order, as it always has.

Go back to the time of the Nomads, with their Gods of the Lake and The Wolf...it was to keep the people pliable and to help to keep them under control. They threatened the masses with Gods and Goddesses, and they never actually had to get their hands dirty. When they did act, it was in the name of a fictitious God or Goddess, and that gave them power.

In the time of the Egyptians, the Gods were used to help the people in charge to keep the masses under control.

Now a days, if we didn't believe in God, Buddha, Yahweh, whomever, we may not be as easy to control than if we didn't believe. If enough of us do not believe in the law ( which is basically based on be nice to each other and don't kill/hurt each other), then maybe if we believe in an afterlife, then that threat is apparently enough to keep some of us in line.

Besides, we don't know if there is an afterlife until we die anyways,...

Answer 8

It is very good question.
One very famous person (Engels) said: "Religion is the opium for the people". It is so. People want to have "the protector", but not in the earth. People are always afraid of some things like a death, life and so on. Russel proved the modern harm from religion. Person abandon god if he want to be free, not to be a slave. So, Christian religion is the most dangerous for people. As for me, Buddhism is better because it is religion without god. People should think about our world, how to improve this world.

Answer 9

There are many people on this Earth who have conflictning views about "higher beings" such as God, and the vast vast majority of people belive that a God exists in some form. For those who do not believe this (myself included), I believe it is our duty to respect their religious beliefs without being critical and instead focus on more pressing issues. Everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs as stated in the Constitution and it is unmoral for those with opposing views to be so critical. If everyone just accepted that it is impossible for every person to have the same beliefs, religious or not then we could all get along much better. Numerous wars have been started and lives have been sacrificed because of one person not approving of another person religion. We should accept everyone as who they are, no matter if they believe in God or not. You don't judge people on what type of ice cream they like, and you don't turn against them if they like vanilla and you like chocolate because that's stupid and it shouldn't matter. Your friendships shouldn't depend on religion because I guarentee it will be nearly impossible to find someone with exactly the same ideas as you.
As for why people believe in God and such, it is because it gives them a sense that someone is watching over them, protecting them. And if they do get harmed they believe that it happened for a reason. It's comforting for them to belive that they have not suffered in vain and everything that has happened to them, good or bad was for a reason. The only reason some people keep going in life is because they belive that some good will come out of their suffering and in the end all will be right because God is watching over them and God would not let anything bad happen for no reason to any of his children. I recently had this exact converstion with my parents the other night; if you believed that God did not exist and you met a person who did believe in God which gave him a sense of hope and it was the only reason they had not commited suicide would you take that away from him by expressing your views and convincing him of your ideas with the knowledge that he from then on would be compleatly lost in his life? A tough question indeed.
Also, when one is near death, it can be comforting to believe that there is something after death and life doesn't simply end.
Whether God is real or not, we all must accept the beliefs of those around us and not shun those who have differend ideas.

Answer 10

OK, brother, I feel your situation. I come from a similar school as yourself. The human conception of God is rooted in our belief that there is something greater than mankind. A litmus test for a religion to be discounted is the belief that theirs is the only one to be true. Red flag! Cult! The more progressive religions believe that they do not have the answer, but some believe there is some type of entity that created all that we know. The more educated you become, (in relation to life and college) the more you will be able to define your beliefs. If you choose no belief, that's OK because I don't know what the heck is going on either.

Answer 11

People need something to believe in. They need someone to point a finger in the end. The use of religion for control,war and hate is unexplainable.
But people don't want to be honest,good,trustworthy just because is the right thing to do. Everyone want to belong to something. We all have addictions and religion is the answer for some. The use of this imaginary person who is watching everything you do at all times is a joke. Do right, God is watching,lol. Yeah that works for the millions of criminals walking our streets everyday.
Do right, just because it feels good to help others.