Loki

I'm a fairly sound weak-atheist, but sometimes, I feel "the hounds of Heaven" chasing after me. People say they "feel" that there needs to be more. People sincerely believe in religions and dogmas. Is it all because we want to?

I'm sorry this isn't up to the philosophical level consistent with this forum (not even sure it's the right forum), but sometimes I want to believe, and it bothers me.

Daydreamer

If you're anything like me its probably due to the unparalleled way religion can unite people an a micro-social level, such as a community or town.

Then I remember the unparalleled way religion divides people on a macro-social level, with discriminatory legislature on a slightly larger scale and Jihads and Crusades on a world stage, and the feeling immediately subsides.

Free Thinkr

I wish more theists would admit that's why they believe. With all the damning evidence against the bible, that's what it boils down to. "There must be something more!"

Loki

Ah yes. I have been focusing on the positive sociological aspects of religion lately, so my memory of the negative ones has temporarily slipped my mind.

I think of how complex a cell is, and how it seems there must be something more than standard Darwinism to explain formation and specificty of tasks and chemical binding, but that means I think the theory is incomplete, like Newton's theory was incomplete.

It's disheartening to see intelligent people believe that because science can't solve the problem now, it cannot be solved by science.

Ojuice5001

Free Thinkr, this theist does admit it. I believe in gods because the material world seems as if it does and should have something more to it than just itself. But I am not a Christian. This is partly because of the damning evidence you mention--especially the evidence of damnation. I believe in Roman paganism, which seems to make more sense than Christianity and naturalistic atheism put together.

I don't think this reason/motive for believing is irrational, though, as you seem to. It goes beyond what we know for sure in a way that reason allows. I agree with William James's "will to believe." This conception of belief points out that for the typical person, belief in God(s) has three characteristics: It matters existentially, deciding not to decide has the same practical consequence as disbelief, and it is possible to think of theism as being true. BTW, it is not, repeat NOT, the same as Pascal's Wager.

sidewinder

AquaRegia: I would call your feelings moments of "existential angst" or moments of "existential crisis". Are you having this desire to believe because you are questioning if there is some grand meaning and purpose to life?

Bracer

Well of course you want to believe -- in fact, you’d have to be crazy not to want to believe.

It’s incredibly comforting to think that somewhere up there is a all-powerful being who not only created me -- little ol’ me -- specifically as part of some divine plan. And hey, as long as I’m a good person and follow a few rules I don’t have to worry about any suffering or bad luck I may encounter in this life. In fact, I don’t have to even worry about death itself, because I’ll somehow continue to exist after I die. Even better, in a place where I’ll always be happy.

And as others have pointed out, by professing this belief while I’m still alive I get access to a ready-made community, people who think as I do. And they will accept me, again, as long as I follow the rules -- and simply having that kind of set-in-stone structure to fall back on in tough times is a comfort in itself.

The problem is, of course, that just because I want something to be true, doesn’t make it so. If that were the case, by now I’d have found the cure for cancer and HIV in something simple like bread mold, hit the lottery ten times over, and convinced everyone in the Middle East to quit acting like a bunch of homicidal idiots, just to name a few.

The truth is falling back on the simple and the comforting in the face of just how complicated life can be, on both a personal and a social level, is a serious dodge that in the end does nobody any real good. In reality faith alone has spectacularly failed to move a single mountain, while critical thinking and lots of hard work seem to be how things actually get done and problems actually get solved. It ain’t easy, but in the long term it’s a lot more satisfying to say “Ididit” (or better yet “Wedidit”), and it makes life better for everyone.

I think I may have gone a bit off the rails here but hey, that’s my two cents.

Loki

Yeah... I don't think I'm capable of belief, but it seems appealing sometimes. Especially in a deistic sense.

Jefferson

I must admit, I have known people who have experienced the same thing, but I don't think it has anything to do with socializing, but then again that's my opinion.

Think about the "urge" to become a theist--or deist--like The Sirens in Homer's "The Odyssey", they sound so 'pretty and beautiful, so wonderful and irrestible'--but they will lead you to sudden death!! Haha.

BLoggins02

Aqua:

Sometimes I too want to believe, but everytime I examine my reasons I discover once again that it has everything to do with emotion and absolutely nothing to do with rational thought.

I actually don't mind that I'm completely insignificant as far as the universe goes; it just gives me more of a reason to work hard at giving my own life meaning. The main reason I sometimes want to believe is purely social. I go to Texas A&M, and as you can imagine there aren't many non-theists out here, and sometimes it's so frustrating having everyone feel so damn sorry for you cuz you're "going to hell" that I almost want to just throw away rational thought and be a Christian anyway to get rid of the ridiculous pity. I'm serious, people treat my non-theism likes it's a f*cking cancer or something (or even worse, they say "I know you're searching" ).

Not only that, but do you know how hard it is for a non-theist to get a damn date down here