New study proves someones "god" is nothing more than one's own image! Religion crumbles...

Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love [to have it] so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

People do indeed create a god/idol in their own image. But it is not the real God.

Responding to the OP none of what you said has disproven God, nor had it disprove the bible as th word of God. If fact he bible predicts people like you in prophecy.

reply to post by rexusdiablos


You are right in a way. If I was reading somebody else's post, and it looked like that, I might think, "They are bonkers."

I was illustrating something. I was not trying to be rythmic or clever. I guess I was shining a light to cognitive dissonance by injecting some. I was showing that we have this nasty tendency to be the things we hate. We, as divided people in a war stance, tend to dance to the same tune, to run around the same circle. Moreover, we project the enemy onto the other. The one necessitates the other. A religious zealot and an atheistic zealot are mirror images of each other. Does that clear it up?

This new thread yesterday was useless until now it booming!

I'm new to ATS and a bit concerned. This is the 3rd thread in a week where the thread owner seems to have vanished. Does it mean "reasonable" is now banned? If so why? I read everything in this thread and did not see any reason they would be banned. I checked his stats and 7,000+ points, 1,000+ stars and 170+ flags.. I liked his posts. Oh well, I do not know what to make of this.

*Mod Edit: Yes it is Off-topic. And nope we don't discuss u2us in-thread.
Cheers -alien

[edit on 1-12-2009 by alien]

Originally posted by reasonable
scienceblogs.com...

Posted on: November 30, 2009 3:30 PM, by Ed Yong

For many religious people, the popular question "What would Jesus do?" is essentially the same as "What would I do?" That's the message from an intriguing and controversial new study by Nicholas Epley from the University of Chicago. Through a combination of surveys, psychological manipulation and brain-scanning, he has found that when religious Americans try to infer the will of God, they mainly draw on their own personal beliefs.

It's so simple, yet so brilliant. Looks like Science and Psychology are truly dismantling religion day by day. Science proves it false and psychology proves it's all in these people's heads.

Psychological studies have found that people are always a tad egocentric when considering other people's mindsets. They use their own beliefs as a starting point, which colours their final conclusions. Epley found that the same process happens, and then some, when people try and divine the mind of God. Their opinions on God's attitudes on important social issues closely mirror their own beliefs. If their own attitudes change, so do their perceptions of what God thinks. They even use the same parts of their brain when considering God's will and their own opinions.

^^^My oh my, that's a doosie..

Of course, correlation doesn't imply causation - rather than people imprinting their beliefs onto God, it could be that people were using God's beliefs as a guide to their own. Epley tried to control for that by asking his recruits to talk about their own beliefs first, and then presenting God and the others in a random order. And as better evidence of causality, Epley showed that he could change people's views on God's will by manipulating their own beliefs.

^^^Oh dear.

Well, I'll stop here because the study is so devastating I don't want to keep twisting the knife. I'm not THAT heartless.

Well it's about time that someone said it was in their heads lol love it

This little topic will just drive the christans mad they'll start quoting scripture and all kinds of stuff like saying the bible predicted people like you.
They'll just have to live with the fact their religion is dying and science and psycology is starting to prove it's all in their heads lol

Originally posted by KeeperOfGenisis
This little topic will just drive the christans mad they'll start quoting scripture and all kinds of stuff like saying the bible predicted people like you.
They'll just have to live with the fact their religion is dying and science and psycology is starting to prove it's all in their heads lol

I don't think it the topic that bother the christian, it the same...whoa...

I just got de javu just now..weird...

reply to post by IceDash


Me too. The mocking accuser is out in full force. The spirit is choosing the person rather than the person choosing the spirit sort of thing. We must not allow that trickster to trick us. It necessitates that left shall destroy right, and right shall destroy left. We are then left with nothing. We should not fall for these tricks.

[edit on 1-12-2009 by orwellianunenlightenment]

Originally posted by onlylonely
I'm new to ATS and a bit concerned. This is the 3rd thread in a week where the thread owner seems to have vanished. Does it mean "reasonable" is now banned? If so why? I read everything in this thread and did not see any reason they would be banned. I checked his stats and 7,000+ points, 1,000+ stars and 170+ flags.. I liked his posts. Oh well, I do not know what to make of this.

In another thread he taunted a mod into banning him by basically declaring his threads were too popular to be banned.

That's not exactly the best way to not get banned.

Can it be said everyone's God/s are personal to their own experience?

Everyone on both sides likes to say that. The answer is no. You cant have 6 billion different gods telling you 6 billion different things and then all believe you only believe in one god. It's simple math. One does not equal 6 billion.

reply to post by watcher73


6 billion parts can certainly equal one whole.
2nd line.

Originally posted by KeeperOfGenisis
This little topic will just drive the christans mad they'll start quoting scripture and all kinds of stuff like saying the bible predicted people like you.
They'll just have to live with the fact their religion is dying and science and psycology is starting to prove it's all in their heads lol

Yes, drive them absolutely mad quoting scripture and making vainglorious predictions, whilst atheists gleefully chortle and make brilliant remarks of superior intellect like this:

Originally posted by MrDudle
Maybe he doesn't do miracles because you touch yourself at night. On a serious note, god doesn't exist, nor is there any intrinsic value in anything. And if you are telling us that by saying god doesn't exist that means we are polluting your thread then you are just closed minded!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAWR I R MAD!!!!!!!!!!! Nah...basically dude/dudette you asked for thoughts. We give thoughts. If you don't like our thoughts then I suggest leaving?

This is the caliber of debate that threads driven by hate bring about and you wonder why people become outraged. Yes, you are so right. Atheists just bring it! Wooweee! What sophists we find amongst you!

Have you thought about actually discussing the OP, or did that just fall away one you knew you had a free trolling pass?

Yes, people make god, their dog, their nation in their own image. It didn't take a genius or a multi-thousand dollar grant to figure that out.

Originally posted by Agree2Disagree
reply to post by reasonable

 

I don't find it devastating at all. I don't even find it intriguing. We were made in His image and hence share similar qualities. Of course when thinking about God we normally reference our own opinions and point of view. What else are we going to do?

This doesn't effectively prove anything...

It actually does, but this writing is on a wall you can't see.

I recall another study that was done a few years back that examined the LACK of Faith in modern American Christians. It was an interesting paper because it started out as a scientific survey of the religious beliefs of a cross-section of American Christians of many different denominations and sects. When thier data was finally coallated they made a startling discovery; the vast majority of the subjects interviewed for their project, no matter which church they claimed to belong to, all were absolutely certain that not only were they aligned with the correct church and interpreting the Bible correctly, but they were also completely positive that their God was not only the Real God but that he was also intimately involved in their lives. Be they Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, 7th Day Adventist, you name it, they all were absolutely certain that not only was their dogma the divine dogma but that their invisible pal was completely real and interacting with them and their lives.

Hence the LACK of faith, for, as the researchers pointed out, faith can only exist in a climate of doubt. If you are absolutely certain the sun will rise tomorrow you cannot be said to have faith in the sun, since having faith admits that the sun might not rise. The ACT of Faith, especially in a Christian context, is to cling to your beliefs in spite of the fact that there are valid reasons for you to question them. Only a few of the Christians surveyed actually expressed any doubts about their church or their personal God.

The researchers probed this phenomena deeper in their questioning. The participants were asked why they were so sure that they were right? The prevailing answers all fell into the realm of "personal experience". The respondants had experienced "feelings" and inexplicabe coincidences in connection with their religious beliefs and they ascribed the weight of ABSOLUTE PROOF to them where their God and their church were concerned. Obviously these people are not folks you could claim were capable of Critical Thought in any form whatsoever. The really striking thing in these interviews is the chilling lack of doubt and introspection on the part of the respondents. Hell! Even Jesus himself supposedly had his moment of doubtr in the Garden of Gesthamene, but the bulk of these guys are 100% sure that they have all of it right! The New Testaments claim that Jesus declared that "you must become as a child" if you want to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. I must admit that childish is an apt description of the people profiled in this research.

So, to finally sum my point up, I'll be completely and brutally honest. There exists a body of psychological work that would suggest to the open-minded individual that most Christians are self-deluded "fictionalists" who's psychological deficiencies compel them into a fantasy role-playing game where they can finally feel that they are "special" to somebody important. They are encouraged to indulge in these self-destructive fantasies by their church, who, in return for the moral support in their dubious pursuit, extracts a tithe of at least 10% of the dupe's income. They are not people of Faith anymore, since any argument against their beliefs are dismissed whole-hat in favor of that comforting role-playing game where they are indeed, someone special. That's their God. The God that allows them to feel special.

Originally posted by JayinAR
reply to post by watcher73

 

6 billion parts can certainly equal one whole.
2nd line.

How does god telling xtians that jesus is him a part of the whole where god is telling muslims that jesus is just a prophet?

Someone has to be wrong and then there is no whole. Your general, thoughtless statement isnt incorrect. Just in this case.

The very fact that 5 billion religious people will give 5 billion different gods is conclusive proof that personal gods not only dont, but cant, exist. This directly correlates the paper that says god=you and your ideas. Even loosely agreeing on a book as a set of standards you can all believe doesnt work. Everyone picks and chooses from the bible or koran or whatever book it is. Not only what and what not to believe but how to interpret what they do and dont believe. Thereby making the one true god back into their personal god which as shown cant exist.

Dont even try to argue with that.

I am the one true god and i already know you cant.

reply to post by reasonable


You (OP) are no better than them. Your god is your view and you are imposing your view onto others that do not share your view. People in general are so very annoying in that they always have to impose their mindset onto others be it religious ppl or atheists, but that is who we are, it's a human thing and we all do it. I just don't appreciate the hypocrisy nor intolerance of ppl like this. BTW I am atheist in the sense that I don't/will not subscribe to any religion yet at the same time am open to idea of something more and something super natural in our universe. But even if we won't subscribe to their beliefs it is none the less disrepectful to # on their beliefs. I take pride in knowing where I came from and what my ancestors stood for and believed, you should to.

Why is it that people assume we are it? - that things exist in one plane?
Surely intelligent people would be able to figure out we are not all that clever.
The instigator of this post is actually partly right. He is his own god! and therefore as religious as everyone else - but in a different way. What if, when he dies (ans his god with him) to find there is somehting to be accountable to in another dimension of existence?
Who says that reality is what we actually see and sense in these frail bodies?
Studity would assume that and the instigator of this post has shown that perfectly.

Originally posted by daggyz
Why is it that people assume we are it? - that things exist in one plane?
Surely intelligent people would be able to figure out we are not all that clever.
The instigator of this post is actually partly right. He is his own god! and therefore as religious as everyone else - but in a different way. What if, when he dies (ans his god with him) to find there is somehting to be accountable to in another dimension of existence?
Who says that reality is what we actually see and sense in these frail bodies?
Studity would assume that and the instigator of this post has shown that perfectly.

The whole idea of god is that its not accountable to something else anywhere else.

Originally posted by onlylonely
I'm new to ATS and a bit concerned. This is the 3rd thread in a week where the thread owner seems to have vanished. Does it mean "reasonable" is now banned? If so why? I read everything in this thread and did not see any reason they would be banned. I checked his stats and 7,000+ points, 1,000+ stars and 170+ flags.. I liked his posts. Oh well, I do not know what to make of this.

You should make of this that we all need to abide by the terms and conditions and remember that none of us are above being banned for breaking them--even the popular folks.

Discussing religion intelligently, sticking to the original post, these are the things you do when you want to stay at ATS. Trolling is a no-no. Abusive taunts and baiting other posters is not allowable.

There were maybe three people who actually talked about the topic. He was not one of them even though it was his thread.