Preserved Topic: Why I don't believe in God. (Page 3 of 3)

Not much to bring to the table... however, what an amazing thread.

On the issue of religion- does it not all stem from doubt? Or to use a nicer word, ignorance? (Maybe thats not nicer...)
We dont know how much we dont know. And it is human to want to fill those voids with things so we can lean our elbows on tables that aren't really there, so to speak.
Often times we get so caught up in the different ways we, as people, fill these voids- that we forget that we have some innate sense of what is right and wrong.
It is easy to be preoccupied with disagreeing about God, or Gods, or customs, traditions, what it means to be Christian or Buddhist, and forgetting that no one will ever have the same standards or ideas, exactly. We are different. So, our beliefs, or theories, will differ.

I personally believe it is beautiful to wonder, to not know, because that is essentially what makes us human, the ability to question, and our trains of thought. But with that, why cant we accept, and deal with what we do know, to some extent. Why not concentrate our effort on the obvious- being a good person , being kind to others, and so on.
Many religions teach this, in one way or another. On the subject of Buddhism, the beauty of eastern religions is that you can take some of one and some of another to create your own structure of faith and reason without many contradictions, which most people do anyway. To call yourself a "Buddhist" defeats the point- are the labels what matter? We all sometimes give and take from sets of beliefs.

A lot of dust got blown up talking about these things we dont know, or think we know. I suppose thats where faith comes in. And good luck with that. We've been liberated with consciousness and feeling, the ability to have singular opinions and the blessing of debate, and it is wonderful to see it exercised.
But lets not make preconceptions about others. We won't all be the same, and thats beautiful.

quote:

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Why not concentrate our effort on the obvious- being a good person , being kind to others, and so on.

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I'm curious to know why you say those are obvious. I am also very interested in how you would deal with someone who not only thinks those are not obvious but thinks that harming others for personal gain is perfectly natural and proper.

[edit] poor wording [/edit]

[This message has been edited by Bugimus (edited 02-09-2004).]

Hmm.

This is a good point. Touche.
(bit of gathering thought time-)

I think my saying these things are obvious may be presumptuous. We do create the society we live in, so I suppose stepping on others' faces to get a few inches up may seem the obvious answer to life's problems for some.
Its debatable whether compassion, kindness and the like are innate to humans or whether we really are shaped by the society we live in. Though its a circle, because not only are we shaped and created by society, but we created society in the first place. Would that make society a representation of the average human?

I believe mankind (** humankind) is inherently good.
And I can see how people would argue the other way.
What I meant was, perhaps concentrate on the things intrinsic to yourself, the way you interact with others- would you naturally be horrible just because?
I can see how faith would be a stepping stone and guide to how to live your life to help others. And questioning may be second nature to others yet. I just personally believe that rather than concerning ourselves with these questions (which for most is inevitable nonetheless) we could spend our time trying to do what is (ahem, sorry for this highly debatable statement) generally accepted as right (eesh that sounds bad) and though we can argue the details of that, I believe most people would do good. In a vastly general sense. Because we all have a sense of pain and pleasure, and that much is relatively clear cut.

Thank you, though.

[edit]sorry, political correctness (hmph)[/edit]


[This message has been edited by helloelise (edited 02-22-2004).]

I believe we are born neutral, but that without some sort of positive intervention it is much easier and common for us to be wicked. It takes much more effort to do the "right thing" in most circumstances and I believe most opt for the path of least resistance.

So what about my second question?

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I am also very interested in how you would deal with someone who not only thinks those are not obvious but thinks that harming others for personal gain is perfectly natural and proper.

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How do you personally deal with people like this?

Preferably with a baseball bat. =)