Why would you ever have a basis to claim to know what someone thinks or feels "deep down inside"?

Question

Christians do this quite often, claiming that deep down atheists really believe in God, but are just in denial.

I've seen it a few times on here the other way, atheists saying that Christians know deep down inside that their beliefs are ridiculous, but are too afraid to admit it.

I know I've asked a similar question before, but I'm wondering again what is it that makes us so eager to impose our own thoughts on others. I have no way of knowing why you believe or don't believe in God or anything else unless you tell me. To suppose anything else is extremely arrogant. I would hope that there would be an easier way of understanding each other than making something up. What do you think?

LabGrrl - It's a good way to tick me off too, especially after I tell someone what I think/believe and they tell me I'm wrong and then tell me what I really think/believe. Charming.

I know this doesn't happen to me nearly as much as it happens to atheists, pagans, and others though.

Answer 1

A Discordian is Prohibited of Believing what he reads ("Commandment #5 of the Discordian Pentabarf)

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IMPORTANT TIP:
For best reception, make sure you clean out your pineal gland at least once a month.

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CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSE
Article 1
No person, group of persons or government may initiate force, threat of force, or fraud against any individual's self or property.

Article 2
Force may be morally and legally used only in self-defense against those who violate Article 1.

Article 3
No exceptions shall exist for Articles 1 and 2.

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"'It was rumored that in response to the often quoted statement 'it is an ill wind that blows no minds' the wind
blowing at the time shouted 'blow your own damn minds!'"
-The Path of Chaos: Chapter 1; verse 23

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"Semper Non Sequitur!"
-Ancient Discordian Slogan

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"The conclusion you jump to may be your own. "
-Discordian Catma

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"You can't tell a goddess how to behave. "
-Eris (the Pop-Tart verses)

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And Finally.....

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
• People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
• If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
• If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
• The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
• Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
• The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
• People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
• What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
• People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
• Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

Answer 2

Do you really think giving your abusive boyfriend adoption rights is in the best interest of this baby? I can certainly understand your angst, as at 21 I do not know what I would have done if I became pregnant and did everything in my power (ie. protected sex) to avoid that. I waited until I was 35 to have my first baby, and that was the right thing for me. However, I think all new moms go through a period of "cold feet" when having a baby. It's a huge, life-altering event. Hormones are definitely a part of your feelings, but you may want to consider counseling so you can get a handle on your feelings before baby arrives. I also believe that, once the baby arrives, you will feel differently. A newborn is very difficult and we all go through an adjustment period, but honestly - a baby changes your priorities completely. Good luck, and hang in there!

Answer 3

I think we all make the mistake of believing that everyone is just like we are--has experienced the same things, has the same predisposed attitudes, the same value for facts or intuition--but no two people are the same. If it's true of snowflakes, it's surely true of us!

Also, the people of other faiths (or lack thereof) that we come in contact with are often the loudest and most vociferous defenders thereof, while some of the deeper ones probably keep more to themselves. We judge on what we've seen & heard, but it is not necessarily representative of all the adherents of a particular belief system.

Deep down it may be a lack of confidence in one's own decision-making ability--if you are sure your choice is right, it should not bother you how many people agree or disagree with you.

Answer 4

I spents the first 24 years of my life being shure that God was a noble idea, but had come to the conclusion that considering the idea of alieans dropping us off here or at least influencing our develepment was probably a better waist of my time.
At 24 years of age I was cornered by God and found myself reluctantly attendong a Sunday morning service in a holy roller building because I felt obligated to repay a kindness I received from a newly born again believer. (he shared a bottle of wine and a couple fine cigars with me)
That Sunday morning, I sat there as an unbeliever waiting for the time to end so I could go smoke some herb or get a belly full of wine.
The people were singing some worship song when I had what could be called an epifany, I was sure someone was listening to them. I had some strange feeling that I know that their words were being enjoyed by some great being. (I was not high on anything at the time)
The obvious conclusion for me was that it was the God who they worshiped.
I was really moved in a way I had never known by this experence and I decided if then it was true that God existed, the only wise thing to do would be to try and know him.
A few days or maybe a week passed. I was on the top bunk in the military dorm where I was in training as a electronic tec. at Ft. Monmouth NJ. It was past lights out (eleven or so) when laying on my back in the dark I said to the God I was not sure existed," I'm really not a bad person. I've never really hurt anyone in my life. The only person I've ever hurt has been myself. So why do I need a saviour? If I have sinned against you, show me my sin.
instantly I began to recall the many times I had hurt others, most of them with my words. The memories kept coming until I hurt so bad I cryed. I said please forgive me and as the words left my mouth I saw Jesus crucified and I knew I was forgiven. I felt forgiven. I felt clean in my soul but most imortant, I knew I knew Iknew, that God had forgiven me. I knew I was known by the living God. I laughed out loud with a laugh of joy.
The next day I began to tell people what had happened. I told my bunk mate and he said I was the most fowel mouthedperson alive and reminded me of my drunken drug taken ways. I aggreed and added but now I'm a christian. He asked "then which church do you belong to? I said "none, I'm just a christian." He said, "then you are no a Christian. You must belong to a church to be a real Christian."
I told others. they said shut up!
I told my family and friends. They said shut up.
I had woken from dream and could not and did not want to get back to it.
I know God exists! I've met him.
Why you don't know him I can't tell you but you could try.
No, I don't know what's in your heart but I do believe that God has placed a seed of faith in all of us. you could ask him to water that.

Don't let Christians get under your skin. Most of them do mean you good though some of their ways may be clumsy at best.

Actually, I did ask God about himself once befor that time when I was twelve and I was serious at the time. I forgot about it though and it took God 12 more years to get me into place to answer me.

sory no spell check no time.
the Gypsy Christling

Answer 5

People will always base their ideas on what they know, they will make judgements about human inner thought based on their only example of such (their own inner thoughts), the real question is how different are our inner thoughts, are they basically the same with million slight variations which result in a multitude of different personalities, or are we all completely different at the core? it may appear that we are all so very different due to the range of ideas out there, but i think maybe we all have much more in common than we may think. Many people that are so widely off the charts (serial killers, islamic fundamentalists, etc) think much in the same manner we do, there is just a core idea imprinted on their memory that makes the logical decisions their brain makes calculate a little differently than our own.

Answer 6

I agree with your statement. No one would know what a person felt "deep down inside" unless they were that person. You never know what someone is thinking or why they believe in what they believe in. People need to respect others, their beliefs, and their appearance. It isn't fair for someone to say that their beliefs are better than someone elses, but unfortunately people need to feel like they are always right because it makes them feel so much better about themselves. Ignorance is the reason why people choose to not get along with others.

Answer 7

What I find even more arrogant is this idea that one can speak on behalf of the alleged creator of the universe. But I digress.

In Michael Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things", he shows the results of a poll asking people "Why do you believe in God", and another poll asking "Why do you think OTHER people believe in God". He summarized the reasons into just 10 or so answers, but the results of the two polls were very different.

He then points out a psychological act called "attribution bias". To quote one on-line source on the subject, "we attribute the causes of our own and others’ behaviors to either a situation or a disposition. When we make a situational attribution, we identify the cause in the environment (“MY depression is caused by a death in the family”); when we make a dispositional attribution, we identify the cause in the person as an enduring trait (“HER depression is caused by a melancholy personality”). Problems in attribution may arise in our haste to accept the
first cause that comes to mind.[...] there is, not surprisingly, a tendency for people “to take credit for their good actions (a dispositional attribution) and let the situation account for their bad ones.” While we might, for example, attribute our own good fortune to hard work and intelligence, we attribute the other person’s good fortune to luck and circumstance."

So I think some of this is at play when theists presume to know somebody's reasons for being an atheist, or vice-versa.

Answer 8

I think it is just as arrogant to assume that christians have no proof of God when they claim to have received personal revelation of God's existance. What is the difference? You dont know if they did or did not if it is a personal revelation . People that believe in God answer this is their proof to atheists that ask and many times atheists just dismiss it or claim they misinterpreted it or claim they are just plain crazy.

Both sides should probably just let the other believe what they want based on their own reasoning.

Answer 9

I think you're right. Sometimes, someone will make a comment or series of comments or actions that might reveal an inherent discrepancy between what one professes to believe and what one actually appears to believe. In that case, I don't think it's unreasonable to point that out. Sometimes humorously. But making broad, sweeping generalizations is almost always a bad idea. And I've been known to do that myself. I'll be more conscious of that in the future.

Answer 10

I don't think that it's so much about arrogance all the time. What you think is your reality. Sometimes when you're striving to comprehend something, you're going to do so with the realities that you have in your brain. Not because you're selfish and arrogant, but just because I think we tend to believe that others sometimes feel the same way as we do, as it makes perfect sense to us.

I try not to do this as much as possible, but I'm sure I do it most of the time accidentally. And then when someone says, "You don't know what I'm feeling!" it sort of wakes me up to the fact that they're right...I don't know what they're thinking and feeling!!!! :-)