Why do some religious people think skepticism is bad?

Question

If you were raised in a therorist group and be taught that killing people is good, wouldn't skepticism save you from that? That's why we need to understand the things we've been taught before accepting them as real .

So then again, why is it bad not to believe in god or in jesus, since you don't understand or find reasons to believe? Human race was made to be this way, why is doubting a bad thing? Please don't tell me (again) that it is your choice (!?) to believe or not. It's a matter of understanding after all, and you don't chose to understand. You simply understand, or you don't.

Answer 1

Most people who would refer to themselves as "religious" are Christians, Jews or Muslim. They tend to believe that their way is the only right way (except Jews, really). So when you express skepticism, you are effectively challenging what they believe. Not only do they not like it, they feel duty-bound to argue you out of it (again, except Jews, for the most part).

I agree with you that skepticism is a good think. The concept of faith is a dangerous one, in that it believes in the absence of evidence, or even in the face of evidence to the contrary. We would not accept that way of thinking in any other area, so why should we accept it in religious matters?

I also agree that it is not exactly a CHOICE to believe or not. I tried. I tried really hard to have faith, because my Methodist Sunday school teacher mother was humiliated by my skepticism. But I simply could not bring myself to violate what I knew to be rational in all other areas (belief based on convincing evidence).

Poor Mom. She tried so hard.

Answer 2

If I told you that Midgard is connected to Asgard by a rainbow bridge called Bifrost, and that the world tree is called Yggdrasil, the present age will come to an end when a serpent gnawing at the roots finally fells it, then would you be skeptical?

Plenty of gods to believe in in Asgard, nice personalities too like Odin the lord of the slain with his blue cloak, rune carved staff, one eye and sword, riding an eight legged horse called Sleipnir.

Answer 3

That is actually a good question as well.
It is good to question in general and the Bible
actually encourages this.
However, there is something to discuss.
For example, your parent loves you, yet
you don't want to believe it in your heart
and miss out greatly and rebel and get
in a lot of trouble. When questioning
occurs out of greed, doubt, and pride,
it goes nowhere and is destructive.
That is the difference.

I would want my child to believe me
if I told him/her to watch carefully before
crossing the street and then, let's say
the child talks back and says, "But I
have already crossed the street several
times without looking and nothing has
happened, once a car was there and
slammed on the breaks and I did not
get hurt, so there is no concern, I can
do what I want."
It is the same thing with understanding
the relationship with and instructions of
God. How and why one questions is
of ultimate importance. Are you testing
to find out or just testing because you
want to rebel if given any opportunity?
The attitude makes all the difference.

Answer 4

A certain amount of doubt is inherent in us all; sometimes we are unsure that our choices were in good judgement. However, to have a skeptical nature in all things leads to negativity. As you probably know (everyone knows someone like this eh? lol) a person with a negative attitude about life leads a negative life.

I may not be stating this correctly, I'm on flu meds lol, but what I mean is that if you never ever allow yourself to believe, you will never believe. You will put up a stone wall of skepticism that no one can tear down. To me, that is just as bad as a person who is a fundamentalist, who puts up that same wall, only it's made of intolerance.

Answer 5

I believe it is prudent to study any one (or belief )to see if they are a servant of the living God,...I'm one that has always been a skeptic,.....but too much skepticism can cause one to contemplate far to long and be indecisive at times when action is needed.

This is why a decision should be pondered and understood,.....when understanding comes then skepticism will no longer apply because now you have faith in your decision,....either way action will need to be taken sooner or later for the good or bad,.......because riding that fence hurts like hell.

Thanks Pete

Answer 6

“If I have been to point that between the Earth and Mars there's a china teapot revolving suitable to the solar in an elliptical orbit, no person may be waiting to disprove my fact presented I have been careful to characteristic that the teapot is only too small to be printed even by utilising our maximum precious telescopes. yet once I have been to pass directly to declare that, because my fact can't be disproved, that is an insupportable presumption on the component to human reason to doubt it, I could rightly be concept to be conversing nonsense. If, even nonetheless, the life of one among those teapot have been affirmed in historical books, taught because of the fact the sacred reality each and every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of toddlers in college, hesitation to have confidence in its life might grow to be a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an until now time.” ~ Bertrand Russell

Answer 7

I'm glad you say some, because not all of us do. Questioning might bring you closer to the truth.

As to your statements about understanding, I believe that it's more than an intellectual understanding. Getting to know certain spiritual truths means going through an experience which brings you to that point where you obtain a deeper understanding of that truth. It means that you will actively seek God, and if you do, it is promised that you will find him.

Answer 8

God knew that there would be people who wouldn't and Couldn't believe , this is why we are told to TEACH the faith,

If everyone believes then whom is there to teach,

( Deepening is what you do to gain more knowledge in your own faith)

Why send all these mesengers, if he didn't know there would be skeptics.

Why leave writtings if he didn't think we would want proof,

Meg
Bahai

Answer 9

some folks think you can stop learning when you reach a comfort level, but in reality were here to learn something everyday of our lives.We were given free will and big brains for a reason, to use them all the time, but people just get lazy.

Answer 10

I myself am very skeptical regarding skepticism!