Of course. It's largely down to geography and culture. But being "indoctrinated into that faith" renders the question meaningless. It only has any context to nonbelievers.
Evolution and Big Bang are lies from Hell
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Of course. It's largely down to geography and culture. But being "indoctrinated into that faith" renders the question meaningless. It only has any context to nonbelievers.
- Jan 3, 2012
- 16,685
you've half given away the answer "...the Gods you believe in are the ones you are mandated to believe in by that faith". you are indoctrinated into a faith and accept its god(s).[/QUOTE]
Deliberately antagonistic use of the words "indoctrinated" and "mandated"? It is a matter of choice in this day and age.
I have a strange picture of people becoming Muslim or Christian or whatever, and then being shocked when the find out that this means they have to believe in God(s).
Deliberately antagonistic use of the words "indoctrinated" and "mandated"? It is a matter of choice in this day and age.
I have a strange picture of people becoming Muslim or Christian or whatever, and then being shocked when the find out that this means they have to believe in God(s).
Well I for one didn't mean it antagonistically.
I seem to come across as an atheist to Christians and a Christian to atheists, which is interesting..
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
I don't really understand how you think that my original question is bollocks? Certainly during my religious education lessons at school studying other religions was part and parcel of the class, surely my little church-aided comprehensive in Surrey wasn't the only school in the Western hemisphere teaching its pupils about the existence of Hinduism? - the question I asked could only possibly be meaningless if people are actually unaware of other religions... which they are not.
Deliberately antagonistic use of the words "indoctrinated" and "mandated"? It is a matter of choice in this day and age.
I have a strange picture of people becoming Muslim or Christian or whatever, and then being shocked when the find out that this means they have to believe in God(s).[/QUOTE]
No it isn't. How many Jewish kids are there in Kabul? Religion is very rarely a 'free choice' - children are brought into the religion of their parents. There may be no 'force' involved, but there may be force if they decide to follow a dofferent religion/no religion. Maybe coercion would be a better term to use.
I thought I'd explained why pretty clearly. If you are indoctrinated into a particular religion, the question simply doesn't arise, surely? People don't tend to jump frequently and indecisively from one religion to another. If you are committed to one set of beliefs then that's that. It's only if you aren't that the question makes any sense.
But others have said in this thread that part of faith is doubt. Without doubt it isn't faith, it's certainty. So, even if you follow religion, during moments of doubt, those times when your faith is low, you might question if you have the right religion.
I would have thought not. I think that doubt to which David referred is more likely to be doubt that there is a God at all, rather than doubt that you've picked the right one. I would imagine that a Christian is far more likely to move into atheism, agnosticism, or a different denomination than to make a sudden leap into Hinduism, for example.
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
The Church of England must be pretty rubbish at indoctrination then, I was confirmed (I still have my card) and took communion for several years, before questions like the one I posed brought me to the conclusion that I didn't need Gods to appreciate what a marvellous and amazing place we live in.
Glenn-Murray
Banned
- Jun 24, 2011
- 1,808
Evolution has absolutely nothing with morality, nor does it have anything to do with religion.
Evolution is a fantastic explanation for the existence of life around us. That's all. It's not a moral code or anything like that, it's just a scientific fact. You cannot have an "opinion" on evolutionary theory - all evidence suggests that it's correct regardless of what the uneducated think about it.
As for why I don't kill people... I don't kill people because I'm not a bad person. I don't like the idea of inflicting pain on innocent people, nor do I like the idea of taking the lives of innocent people. I think these acts are morally abhorrent, and that is the reason that almost all atheists refrain from partaking in such crimes. If you're seriously telling me that the ONLY REASON you aren't a murderer is because it says so in your magical book, you have serious issues that need to be addressed with professional help. Also, the Bible is very supportive of murder in some places (yes, there are contradictions with the 10 commandments). God commands the death of tens of thousands of people in the Old Testament, and is completely supportive of genocide. He also accepts slavery, rape and theft, among other terrible things.
The Bible shouldn't be anyone's source of morality. It is a wicked book (like the Quran) and should not be taken seriously. Use your brain and your moral compass to make informed, sensible and loving decisions.
TL;DR Don't be a ****
But you weren't presumably worried you'd picked the wrong God..you just no longer thought there was one at all, which is a little different.
And see my previous response to Acker79..
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
Not quite, I had to go through the what about all those other Gods question in order be able to draw my conclusion.
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
Really? I think you're pulling my leg.
Not at all, I wouldn't have posed the question on here at all if it isn't one I'd thought about myself. I like to thoroughly think about stuff before I do things.
Not at all, I wouldn't have posed the question on here at all if it isn't one I'd thought about myself. I like to thoroughly think about stuff before I do things.
Me too. That's why it takes me about ten years to get around to doing them.
turienzo's lovechild
New member
- Oct 25, 2003
- 23,964
a question that pops up within my group of (christian) friends is the question of evolution and where we stand on it.....and most of us are basically unsure
it's clear (to me anyway) that humans are becoming more intelligent, stronger, bigger, faster over generations, and that other creatures are certainly becoming more intelligent....orca's for example are learning new ways to hunt generation by generation (by passing down the old methods and learning new ones, to then be passed down), elephants have figured out that humans kill them for their tusks so female nelly's are increasingly choosing to procreate with tuskless males to protect their young (so elephants in general are becoming increasingly tuskless).......you also have certain types of chimp who have been observed partaking in TRIBAL WARFARE and creating weapons with which to hunt,....a lot of apes also certainly display human like qualities mentally and we're clearly VERY similar to certain species
my personal view is that i don't see why it's totally of the question that a god would put this system in place...that creatures learn to survive and adapt to changing environments by changing generation by generation...i mean, there's surely a reason why certain animals have outlasted many creatures that were on the planet at the same time (crocs, komodo dragons, sharks, turtles etc.)
it's clear (to me anyway) that humans are becoming more intelligent, stronger, bigger, faster over generations, and that other creatures are certainly becoming more intelligent....orca's for example are learning new ways to hunt generation by generation (by passing down the old methods and learning new ones, to then be passed down), elephants have figured out that humans kill them for their tusks so female nelly's are increasingly choosing to procreate with tuskless males to protect their young (so elephants in general are becoming increasingly tuskless).......you also have certain types of chimp who have been observed partaking in TRIBAL WARFARE and creating weapons with which to hunt,....a lot of apes also certainly display human like qualities mentally and we're clearly VERY similar to certain species
my personal view is that i don't see why it's totally of the question that a god would put this system in place...that creatures learn to survive and adapt to changing environments by changing generation by generation...i mean, there's surely a reason why certain animals have outlasted many creatures that were on the planet at the same time (crocs, komodo dragons, sharks, turtles etc.)
He was a very naughty boy.
Is no skin of my nose David. All part of the great rich tapestry of life (and NSC)