Also, you have to take into account that faith in itself can make people feel better, both physically and emotionally, and that can be interpreted as divine confirmation.
Regardless of whether or not it's a smart reason to believe, it's still a valid one
Also, you have to take into account that faith in itself can make people feel better, both physically and emotionally, and that can be interpreted as divine confirmation.
I shall answer with a quote.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than a drunken man is happier than a sober one."-George Bernard Shaw
I'm not talking about happiness. What I'm saying is that people have many different reasons for accepting religion, all of which are valid to them, regardless of how stupid they might seem to someone else.
I'm not talking about happiness. What I'm saying is that people have many different reasons for accepting religion, all of which are valid to them, regardless of how stupid they might seem to someone else.
You said it was because it made people feel better i.e. happy.
No I said it could make people feel better, which then they percieved as a sign, and used that sign as a basis to support their beilief in their religion.
The feel better part was more focused diagnosable afflictions, such as cancer, rather than sadness/happiness.
So you were talking about a psychosomatic response?
Not necessarily. That's a possibility, but any factor that heals and could be attributed to faith could then lead to belief, misguided or not. And yeah, we're pretty much covering this in another thread :P
But as far as this thread goes, I don't really see what else could be done. Evolution is a proven theory, and obviously there are still apes because we both evolved from a common ancestor etc. etc.
Because only some apes evolved into humans and some stayed apes.
Humans are apes. Apes are classified as the superfamily Hominoidea This contains the taxonomic families Hominidae and Hylobatidae. Hominidae breaks down into the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae. Homininae consists of the genuses Gorilla, Pan (chimps) and Homo. Homo as I'm pretty sure everyone knows is humans. As such being part of the superfamily Hominoidea, humans are apes.
