belief in a "god" like a feel good drug addiction?

could belief in god be similiar to a drug addiction

where without your belief you can't go on


the reason this thought wandered onto this page is because i beleive that as individuals we are much stronger than we often know.

i beleive in order to keep us civilized (under a gov't which while often corrupt is needed to keep us from becoming greedy people with no reprocussions for our actions, and yes power corrupts it is human nature even for those with the best intentions initially in gov't.) it is necessary or has been ( but that is another topic) the reason i bring this up is that for the power structure to work they beleive people need to be told what to beleive in order for there own good. i used to laugh at this but it is partially true that many people probably could not handle knowing all they are capable of and be trusted to live in a way that does not take advantage of others ( better a few thousand have it , and are corrupt ) than a few billion .

i beleive we creators of our own destiny's (karma may play a role, but minimally as long as we don't impinge upon people's free will and again this would be something we created, but i digress)

I beleive we are all creators and that we are part of one and that we as creators are very powerful especially in regards to group thought and that if we focus our energy ( through prayer) that our though energy's can manifest in ways that could only be thought of ( in regard to our current understandings of things ) as miracle's

now u need not beleive in god to pray, u see i think people that give "god" the credit when they pray because they see it works are in fact just empowering themselves to be creators and there beleif in god allows them to manifest the energy necessary to do this, however they don't understand that they are the creators and they can do this to ( get the same energy just with a differnt beleif system that we are all created creators and that we at the begining of time or big bang or whatever you will were all 1. and that we are the reasons for creaton wether we know this or not. and that people who didn't have the answers in the past played on human beings desire to think they know things, and since they couldn't comprehend things themselves determined it must have been something much greater than them, like a god, and thus the myth was born , and the powerful were only very willing to support and encourage this beleif and see how they could alter it and there greed (inherent in humans) caused them to desire to make money off of it and it didn't hurt that this belief deflected into robbing people of knowing or understanding there true power ((ironically for there own good of course, (see first paragraph))
which helped maintain there own power structures

and now back to the god addiction. this beleif in god is needed to maintain there reality in a way that they currently enjoy. it need NOT BE TRUTH, because perception is 90% of reality it doesn't have to be. it is true enough to them, and they know other way of changing or need to

so for those it may be more difficult to beleive they are empowered themselves and as long as the intention behind there desire is something that is truthful to the depths of there being they can produce the same effect in there lives though themselves .

but is it a tough beleif to kick? i imagine so who knows but i can see how it could be. maybe this would give them answers to how god let all these little children die everyday, how he supposedly allows them to be subject to such horrible things like molestation and beatings and the like, possibly we are responsible for our own actions, and that scares some until they are given ways that can be truthful to themselves seeing how they can accept and forgive themselves knowing they were only doing the best they could and love themselves and thus empower themselves to find a way to move forward using there hearts. which by the way i beleive the reason love is the strongest emotion is because the vibration of love has the ability to stifle fear in it's tracks ( unless that fear is still life threating in reality) and soothe and (override the lesser "vibrations" of all other emotions that would otherwise hold those back)

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[edit on 16-2-2007 by cpdaman]

[edit on 16/2/07 by masqua]

well, it would make sense

many 12 step programs require you to acknowledge some sort of higher power to help you get through each day of addiciton
most notably alcoholics anonymous

i think that there is a replacement of reliance on a substance to get through the day to a reliance on an external force

hmm
marx may have been on to something with his "opiate of the masses" remark

PSALM 14:1

Psalms
Chapter 14
1
1 For the leader. Of David. 2 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." Their deeds are loathsome and corrupt; not one does what is right.

Psalms
Chapter 14
1
1 For the leader. Of David. 2 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." Their deeds are loathsome and corrupt; not one does what is right.

well, here's the problem, atheists do a lot of good for the world

watson and crick were atheists, they discovered DNA
it's possible that an atheist freed the slaves (abe lincoln may have been an atheist)
together, 2 atheists of our time have donated $67 billion to charity (warren buffet and bill gates)

actually, i'm just going to provide a link that lists off a bunch of famous atheists
LINK

speaker, it seems like you've done nothing more than to point out the sheer ridiculousness of a psalm in the bible and it's prejudice against atheists

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
it's possible that an atheist freed the slaves (abe lincoln may have been an atheist)

Abe Lincoln was an athiest before the Civil War but he was not an athiest when he died. He became a very moral, God believing individual. As far as whether an athiest can still be a good person or not...Of course they can. I suspect some are even better than many who claim to have a strong faith in God. However,I was just pointing out what the bible says about a person who doesn't believe in God.

Now, whether that actually came from God or the mind of the writer of the book of Psalm is something for someone else to debate.

[edit on 16-2-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Lincoln very much believed in God after he ascended to the presidency:

Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Abraham Lincoln

God and Lincoln

[edit on 16-2-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

And yet we find forgiveness exampled in the life of President Ford~!

He liked to say 'i'm just a ford, not a lincoln!'

speaker of truth why would u post something like this as "leverage to support a belief you hold" and then admit it very well may just be the belief of the author and not the "word" of god

maybe has something to do with the psychology of a belief; u can associate anything u like with a beleif u already hold to make it seem stronger in your mind, it does not make it truthful, but truth doesn't matter when perception is 90% of reality anyway

Originally posted by cpdaman

maybe has something to do with the psychology of a belief; u can associate anything u like with a beleif u already hold to make it seem stronger in your mind, it does not make it truthful, but truth doesn't matter when perception is 90% of reality anyway

As Pontius Pilate asked: "Que Es Veritas?"

Belief in a higher power, - who looks over/after us, who exercises a court of natural justice, who rewards us for 'faith' in him/it /her - is like a drug, but not an addiction. (although it can be an obsession).
Its a perpetually attractive way of coping with the human condition, and at a personal level I think its fine (if a little childish). At a basic level it acts as a pain killer, it gives us hope that life is not without meaning or purpose. In reality life has whatever purpose YOU choose to give it.
Personally I find belief in God/Allah/insert diety of your choice as valid as believing in the tooth fairy or santa (sorry, I know thats going to upset SOMEONE).
However, if a fairytale is what it takes to get you through the day, fairy nuff. I would love to see a few miracles happening, to change my mind - I really would - but all I see in the world today is evidence that we are truly ON OUR OWN!



The big problem is that ORGANISED religion functions to allow control of a populace, through the use of fear or the promise of reward.

That doesn't mean I have no spiritual side to my nature, I just don't feel I need someone else to interpret it for me. Nor do I feel the need for a whole load of superstition or mumbo jumbo to validate what I feel.
I guess I would be a Buddist if I knew more about it (although I think thats a philosophy, isnt it? - I don't think they worship anyone, or commit atrocities in the name of Buddha).

I see all religions as devisive, dictatorial and manipulative. If they actually resulted in the practice of what they preach -love and peace - that would be fine, but as far as I can see, they seem mainly concerned with controlling the minds of their adherents, molding their view of reality, and perpetuating their own power.
In this respect there seems little difference between religion in general, facism, communism, capitalism and nationalism. Some of these things are now outlawed, or at least unacceptable, in my culture - others are still tolerated and even encouraged. Ask yourself why.
I am not a christian or moslem, a nazi or a marxist. Bottom line is, I'm a human being, on a planet full of human beings.


'Religion has actually convinced people that there is an invisible man living in the sky, and he has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these things he will send you to a place full of fire, and smoke, and burn and torture forever and ever 'till the end of time.... but he LOVES you. And he needs money.'

George Carlin