I STILL don't understand why faith in Yahweh is more valid than faith in any other god. Can someone explain??

Question

I'm constantly being told "you gotta have faith". Thanks, George Michael, but why should my faith be invested in the Biblical Abrahamic deity? Perhaps it makes more sense to me to have faith in Quetzalcoatl, or Kokopelli, or Ninsun, or Ra, or Freya, or Neptune, etc.

Is THAT faith acceptable to you, or did you REALLY mean to say that I need to "have faith" in what YOU (in faith) believe to be "the truth"? Did you really mean to say that your faith is the only VALID faith because (as you believe in faith) your god is the only "true" god?

And somehow your faith trumps my faith, even if I believe just as strongly and with as much conviction as you that my god(s) is/are the only true god(s)..... right? Because your faith tells you that your god really IS the only true god...... so I must be wrong. Right?


**No actual theistic belief implied or declared on my part. This is purely hypothetical.**

Answer 1

Well from the point of view of the faithful Yawhist that is talking to you it is true.

What I have come to understand is that people have just as much faith in their beliefs (or lack thereof), if not more, as I have in mine.

That causes me to stop and ponder.

Why DO I think my faith is the only valid one and why can I not accept the faith of others?

However, over time, I realized my faith is different and because other faiths believe theirs is true and could possibly be, I just accept my faith and accept theirs as well.

Accepting their faith does not mean I have to change mine. So that frees me from being judgemental like I used to be.

I dunno.

-- Update --

I think the reason you get that kind of response from Christians is that Yahweh makes the claim to be a living God but only a God to his chosen of Israel.

That idea carries over into christianity through Jesus. Jesus was a Jew and practiced Judaism. He wanted disciples to reach his people, the Jews. Once Paul came on the scene God's chosen was extended to the gentiles (everyone else.)

It wasn't until after Paul and when the church grew in power that is was used as a system to rule. Hell became a tool for control that is - you don't follow our belief then you are destined for hell. That is why subsequent rulers often made the claim they were ordained by God to rule. If you went against this idea you would be a heretic and destined for hell.

Same thing for priests in power. You didn't listen to them then you were going to hell.

See a pattern?

Now fast forward to today people sincerely believe the lost will suffer eternal punishment in hell. So christians want to convert folks to save them from this. It is a sincere thing for the most part.

I'm sure to get a thumbs down for this part (from a christian) but it is my opinion.

Answer 2

Bible god was the last one outa the box.
Of course he's real - he said he was real in bible and bible doesn't lie cos it says it doesn't lie in bible.

I don't think any other religion does circular logic better than xianity.

I KNOW islam came afterwards BUT Mo was an A-rab.
Yes I know jesus came from the same area ... but he was a good A-rab.
Yes I know 'bad' A-rabs didn't exist BEFORE the advent of xianity, but, but, but …
STOP IT! your[sic] confusing me.


Constantine was an expert in the use of psychology; the Holy Roman Catholic Crutch followed his line.
They all knew the way to control the peasants efficiently was with the use of FEAR.
Carrot and Stick mentality is still immensely successful.
If you're good you'll go live with God in Heaven after you're dead – yes – AFTER you die; that's what they promise and the peasants lap it up cos they're insane cos they FEAR death.
To them, zombification is the next step of existence.
LOLz.
AND, if you're bad you'll go to live in Hell 'wid de debbil' and burn for ever and ever - no 'sane' person would choose that, would they?
.

Answer 3

Faith in God is a very powerful thing. When I needed God the most when times for me were really bad God answered my prayers. When My family was fighting and abusing me God got me out of that situation and into a much better place. I am now married and I always wanted a little girl. I prayed and I was sent a beautiful little girl. God is amazing, if you call and pray for Jesus and your in need of help, he listens to every prayer.

Answer 4

I so wish more people could understand that. Christians in particular. Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and holds only about 35% of the population. So according to them, God must hate most (65%) of the world. Are they nuts? Further, did God not care about people enough to give them ever-lasting life until Christ. Like he said, oh, oops, missed something here.

Religion has been around forever. It's variation is appropriate to the location of its origin. But I hear you. Have faith in my religion, because my book says that it's rthe right one to believe in. No really, the book says that the book is right. WTF?

Sorry, I'm done ranting.

Answer 5

I think this is an issue that Christians just avoid looking at in depth. Many of them are nice enough to grant that others have the right to believe in things they don't (although a surprising number don't think it's okay not to believe in any gods -- strange), but few Christians are going to think about how this could possibly invalidate their beliefs, or at least reduce it to being equally valid to any other religious claim. They can't allow themselves to dwell on that, because as many atheists know, this kind of thought is the road to non-belief.

Answer 6

Actually, belief in Yahweh can be shown to be much LESS valid than belief in certain other gods. Here is a series of comparisons of facts about Yahweh with facts about a god that I will, for the moment, refer to as "God X"

1.
Yahweh cannot be proven to exist.

God X CAN be proven to exist.


2.
Yahweh cannot be proven to have helped anyone.

God X CAN be proven to have been extremely helpful to humanity.


3.
Yahweh cannot be proven to be capable of harming anyone.

God X is known to be perfectly capable of destroying people.


4.
Yahweh's existence was not originally known to all of humanity.

Every human culture has known of the existence of God X throughout all of human history.


5.
Yahweh cannot be proven to be necessary for the continuing survival of humanity.

If God X was to disappear at this moment, all of humanity would die almost immediately.


6.
Belief in Yahweh is based on texts that are self-contradictory.

Belief in God X is not dependent on any texts at all.


7.
People have to be told about Yahweh or they will never suspect that Yahweh even exists.

All the people in the world know about God X whether or not anyone tells them about God X.


8.
Yahweh was originally known of, and worshiped by, only one small group of humans.

God X has been worshiped by almost every culture at some point in their history.


9.
Yahweh cannot be shown to have any influence over the natural elements of our world, (such as storms, etc).

The existence and nature of God X can easily be shown to have a massive influence on the natural elements of our world.




As you can see from the above comparisons, a person would have to be absolutely insane to think that Yahweh is more likely to be real than our "God X".
So, obviously, belief in Yahweh is definitely NOT more valid than belief in any other god.

(By the way, "God X" is the sun).

Answer 7

i think that Christianity has grown in popularity for a few reasons. Some are geopolitical. But, one of the other deciding factors is likely that it is so fear based.

Me, I'm trying to decide between Orisus (since those ancient egyptians seemed pretty cool) and the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Answer 8

The reason you had to have faith in that particular god it that when they included that in the bible they controlled the largest and most bloodthirsty army in the known world so if you didn't have faith you were probably dead, and in little pieces.

Answer 9

It is very weird but there is something about him. somehow I see his works in the world. And so does my friend, Jim Christie. But I do not want to invalidate any others except ALah, The child of Mohammed, the greedy monger who said he was the last of the profits.

And PS: It in not faith per se that I have but a feeling. About all things.

And, oh, yes. It is not Y... but his form Hashem that I see and feel. To me Y... stone. But so what? My father sent me to tears, as punishment, when I said, against him, that rocks were "non-living" like my 2nd grade teacher said. He said that rocks were alive.

DM

Answer 10

there are many paths, and everyone has the right to choose which one they will walk.

i understand what you're saying...i've heard it before. i just don't understand why.

i would never tell anyone that they had to follow my path, and i would like the same courtesy. for the most part people extend that courtesy. sadly, others do not.

bright blessings to you