chekmate

This may be a dumb question. I was talkign to one of my friends, and we got to talking about God, as she is a devout, but the bible is open to interpretation, type Christian. Anyway, we got to talking, and I brought up many different points to her, and it got to the point where I asked her if she would admit that there was a chance that she was wrong about it. Even a small one? 1%? .001%? Nope, she said! She was absolutly, 100% sure that she was right.

What is it that makes people so absolutly SURE that the religion that they picked (got indoctrinated into) is the right one, out of hundreds, and that the other 80% of the world is wrong, with no evidence to back up their claim, other then a 2000 year old, oft-(mis)translated book, and the word of their parents. Doesn't make sense to me...
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Thor Q. Mada

Them being so sure would be OK, were it not that another bunch of people is convinced they have it right , and yet another bunch of people are convinced they have it right etc, etc.
Some of them are even prepared to die for their perceived rightness, taking innocent people with them to their early graves.
When doubt disappears from a person's mind, darkness sets-in, and backwardness takes over.

Koiyotnik

My best friend is a very spiritual person. Interestingly enough, she has a complete opposite view on the conviction of faith.

She is a Christian (albeit very liberal), and feels that each religion is simply a different path to the same goal. Essentially, she views each doctrine as right in its own way.

She becomes flustered when I ask how non-belief fits into this pattern, though, so maybe she doesn't have all the answers.

It's somewhat refreshing, nonetheless.
Then again, she also thinks I'm going to Heaven, regardless of my atheism.
Now that's just confusing. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Arrowman

Having never been sure of anything, I can't relate... Religion is a very important thing, if you're religious. I mean, it defines eternity for you and the costs of the wrong choice are horrendous. So some people can't afford, won't, let themselves think about the possibilities of being wrong. Even a little bit. Your friend would probably admit to the possibility that her pension fund might go belly up one day, leaving her poverty stricken in retirement. or any other bad thing in life. But she can't afford to admit to any possibility that she's wrong about her chosen path to eternal life.

CX

I think Richard Feynman said it best:

"The problem with the world is that fanatics and fools are so sure of themselves while thinking men are so full of doubt."