I would argue it is nigh on impossible to prove the atheist or theist point of view.
I think you can link the theory of evolution to the origin of religion. Whenever humans have formed social groups there has been religion-true throughout human history. I don't belive this is a coincidence. I belive that religion is part of evolution as it enables humans to co-operate and outcompete other groups.
I belive that theism is propagated through indoctrination, especially of young children. Evolution predisposes children to swallow whatever their parents and tribal elders tell them, as trusting obedience is valuable for survival, leading to slavish gullibility in the face of religious claims.
Children, studies have shown, are predisposed to belive in invisible Gods. I belive that this, combined with the factor of indoctrination reinforce one another. Evolved gullibility convert a child's general predisposition to belive in God into a specific belief in the God (or Gods) their parents worship.
In conclusion religion was created by the human mind and served an evolutionary purpose, thus passing down the concept to the modern day man.
However no one is able to prove this, it is just the most plausible explanation in my opinion.
Sorry iPC. I didn't respond because I've been off for a few days, I think since the day of my last post. Anyway about what everyone's saying. Yes kids do believe in a lot of things, but eventually, if raised properly, they learn to try and have their own beliefs, not just believing in what people they know believe in. Sure growing up with a certain belief attempting to be drilled into your head does make it more likely that that's what your belief is going to be, but doesn't mean that it will be the thing you believe. Young children are naive and ignorant, but I am a little jealous of it, because like the saying goes, "ignorance is bliss." If we could just stop asking questions like this and just not think about it and live our lives, we never would have came up with religion. Now, this is very unrealistic, because that's how the human mind works. We ponder. We philosophize(lol is that even a word? I don't, just makes sense). But I have a question. If we had never come up with religions, would Mary have said that God had made her pregnant with Jesus Christ? Would she have suddenly said that there was a God. I don't think so, and even if she did, who would believe her if religion hadn't been established before? Just something to think about.
I was wondering when was the last our God made a documented appearance. Sort of on a proper scale (instructing Noah to make the Ark, testing Abraham) not just on some persons slice of toast.
If we had never come up with religions, would Mary have said that God had made her pregnant with Jesus Christ? Would she have suddenly said that there was a God. I don't think so, and even if she did, who would believe her if religion hadn't been established before? Just something to think about.
A what-if scenario like this is absurd, because you eliminate the sine qua non needed to provide the correct context and consequently the correct scenario.
I like my theory on God. It would be hard to find it now, lost in the forums. I actually like the FFX afterlife, were if you don't want to go to it, you just walk around as a spirit like you would normally.
I believe in a sleeping God were we are all characters in a dream. This explains why in the beginning things just POOFed into existence, but everything makes more scientific since now as the dream settles. You know how in a dream, you don't remember how you got there? Well do you remember being born? What was your first memory? Nothing is real, but everything matters. You don't die, you just wake up.
That's an interesting theory Talo. Actually can explain some things, but the reason you don't remember being born was because your brain wasn't developed enough to process thoughts like that and store them in your mind. Lol and I like how you point out spam, that's the second time in this thread now. And what does the FFX in the FFX afterlife stand for?
If you read the Bible, you'll realize that it has too many flaws to be real. I personally think the concept of "God" makes absolutely no sense, but I know that at least 1/2 the world disagrees with me.
Well yeah ernie, it has flaws, but some people just believe it regardless of some flaws. Personally, I like my explanation of my beliefs and I say (insert profanity here) believing stuff, I just live my life. Me being agnostic has little if any influence on my day to day life. I just live it and hope tomorrow is a good day. I did say Talo's theory was good, but I'm not saying I completely believe it. It's one of the better religious beliefs I've heard, though.
Well i was just looking for a place to write this down so heres an oppurtunity:
Islam isnt as bad as some come to believe because of Terrorists or some shit like that. Thats really ridiculous, how people look at Middle Easterns or Arabic people. Keep this in mind: If one is a Muslim, he cant be a "terrorist". If one is a terrorist, he cant be a Muslim. (Keep in mind that "terrorist" means one who kills for bad reasons. If a "terrorists" got brainwashed and believes he kills for good, well then that sucks, because he'll claim to be a Muslim (as an example).)
Oh and BTW, "Allah" is simply the Arabic translation of "God". Like "Gott" in German, or "Tanrı" in Turkish, as an example. Its NOT like Zeus, Athene, Ares etc.. Its just THE God. It drives me nuts when i hear the word "Allah" in American movies where Arabic terrorists build shit "as always".
