1. First, you must want to believe in God.
2. Next, understand that believing in God in the absence of evidence is especially noble.
3. Then, realize that the human ability to believe in God in the absence of evidence might itself constitute evidence for the existence of God.
4. Now consider any need for further evidence (both in yourself and in others) to be a form of temptation, spiritually unhealthy, or a corruption of the intellect.
5. Refer to steps 2-4 as acts of “faith.”
6. Return to 2.
See the full article:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sam_harris/2007/09/religion_as_a_black_market_for.html
2007-09-27 13:48:24 · 18 answers · asked by skeptic 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
D2T: I never complain about that.
2007-09-27 13:57:14 · update #1
Balaam's Talking Donkey:
Excellent point!
2007-09-27 14:00:54 · update #2
Tchaikovsky: Perhaps there is a big difference. But does one have more evidence for the other?
2007-09-28 02:36:31 · update #3
You can actually leave out step one; or replace it with "You must be afraid of the afterlife".
2007-09-27 13:58:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
1. Why? Shouldn't there be a valid reason?
2. Noble? How so? You should be able to intelligently explain this.
3. Another way of saying you must use your imaginarion to the max. Right?
4. Oh Yes, you must block out reality and any need for evidential truth. Now, brother, that is weak.
5. Faith, for your information, is usually brought about some evidentiary reasoning. Where is yours in this instance?
6. In other words there is no 6th.
2007-09-27 13:57:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Shenanigans. Sorry, needed to get that out of my system. That guy should be fired. Sam Harris or Christopher Hitchins or whomever. Here's the steps in order:
1. Have a loved one you trust with your life tell you there is a God.
2. Have a loved one you trust with your life tell you there is a Santa Claus.
3. Have the loved one tell you there is no Santa Claus.
4. Realize there is a big difference between being lied to about Santa and the existence of God.
2007-09-27 14:11:39 · answer #3 · answered by Professor Armitage 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you knew anything about Christianity, you would know that it is not like that. Many religions make people feel better, because they give them an answer to what will happen after they die and it gives them a meaning for life. Christianity shows a person that they are incapable of saving themselves. The Bible says "But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away"
Isaiah 64:6
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from youselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do " (Eph. 2:8,9).
God humbles people. Christians believe in God not themselves. Ask any person what they have to do to go to heaven and they will say, be good and live a good life. The Bible doesn't teach that. Believing in God is not an irrational thing. It is natural to go against the teachings of the Bible and say that we are good on our own. We are proud and we do not want to bow down before God. We want to be in control of our own futures and lives. Only through humility, not irrational thought, do we find God.
2007-09-27 14:03:50 · answer #4 · answered by hope this helps 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All that would prove is that you think you believe.
God is no fool, if you think that will get people to know Him.
The writer of that article surely has no relationship with God, it demonstrates only ignorance of God, no wisdom of His knowledge. Trust me, it's even clear from His view point.
Sadly, that writer is not only a danger to himself, he is literally rallying a crusade against God. The Bible calls his type the Antichrist. Everyone thinks it's the devil but think about it, what does "anti-" mean?
Atheism is a non religion. Are atheist's actually "following" false prophets all the while they're claiming that believers follow false prophets?
So much ignorance so little time!
Ha! Good Riddance!
2007-09-27 14:33:19 · answer #5 · answered by wise1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Well I don't.
2. Sure...what an excuse...
3. No, that is called wishful thinking.
4. Another excuse
5. No, it's not "faith," it's an attempt to con people and corral sheep.
6. No.
Seriously, what you put there, whether it came form yourself or that link, sounds waaaay too much like CULT.
2007-09-27 13:58:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
"do you see any problems with this process?" Yeah. "the human ability to believe in God in the absence of evidence might itself constitute evidence for the existence of God." But humans, without evidence, believed the Earth to be flat. Children believe in the tooth fairy. Some adults believe(d) in the Abrahamic God, others in Vishnu, Anubis, and Aphrodite. That's the most solid flaw. The others are something that varies depending on personality.
2016-05-20 03:01:06 · answer #7 · answered by gay 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I can follow those steps. But those are the steps you need to take to believe in atheism, not God.
2007-09-28 10:03:17 · answer #8 · answered by Joseph 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, anyone can, but there will always be that lingering doubt regardless of how penitent you are. Is there a 7th step perhaps?
2007-09-27 13:54:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
America is a land obsessed with "steps" and lists
I don't care to try...been there, done that, got the t-shirt
2007-09-27 13:53:44 · answer #10 · answered by voice_of_reason 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋