Are we hardwired to believe in a higher power?, page

reply to post by 1PLA1

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People are not hardwired to believe in a higher power..... we are brainwashed from birth.

reply to post by 1PLA1

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Non-believers don't put faith in a God or diety. The fact that there is a "group" non-believers categories themselves in tells just that. The fact that so many of them crack jokes, attack, or mock what they say isn't real proves they believe, they just don't acknowledge a God as anything to them, a God is a nobody. If there wasn't a God, why have a term for the belief in not believing in something? I don't believe in flying pigs, and I don't have a term for us non-believers, and you don't hear me mocking flying pigs because I would just sound like a lunatic.

reply to post by dontlaughthink

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Belief in a higher power was not suddenly invented in the modern age. Some type of religious belief goes back into prehistoric times.
If we are brainwashed from birth, who was it that first started the brainwashing?

reply to post by 1PLA1

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The first corrupt person...one who thinks he or she deserves more than the rest.

reply to post by 1PLA1

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I think we are hardwired to POINT to a god. What I mean is, if we dropped babies off on an island (and they somehow survived on their own) when they grew and first witnessed thunder and lightning, a hurricane, a fierce and frightening wild beast, they would come to the conclusion that there must be a powerful, intelligent, angry force behind it. If we did this experiment over and over, I think they would come to this first conclusion every time.

reply to post by TheProphetMark

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Thank you for the information in your post. Very interesting.

From your chart I have 7 for the left side of the brain and 4 for the right. But, I did come to faith more from a logical standpoint than from touchy-feely standpoint

My beliefs are currently being overhauled concerning this, here is why:

"Of course, there are human beings who claim the title atheist. They exist. I have met them. My point is, according to Scripture, that every human being KNOWS that there is a God. Ergo, in that respect, there is no such thing as a true atheist because at the deepest level every one does believe in God. "

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
~ Romans 1:18-20

Atheists Dont Exist

God Doesn't Believe in Atheists

"...atheism is an intellectually illogical position to hold. The reason for this is that only an all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent being could know for certain that God does not exist. Simply put, only God could know without a doubt that there is no God. However, God can certainly know that atheists do not exist. He knows this because He has made Himself obvious to them, so much so that they are without excuse."

God Doesn't Believe in Atheists

According to the below quote, people in hell KNEW the truth, but refused to OBEY the truth:

Pope John Paul II in Hell

"But I was only fooling myself, because I saw him in Hell, being tormented by flames. I looked at his face and recognized him. The Lord said to me, “Look, daughter, that man that you see there, is Pope John Paul II. He is here in this place being tormented because he did not repent.”

But I asked, “Lord, why is he here? He used to preach at church.” Jesus replied: “Daughter, no fornicator, no idolater, no one who is greedy and no liar will inherit My Kingdom.” (Ephesians 5:5). I replied, “Yes, I know that is true, but I would like to know why he is here, because he used to preach to multitudes of people!”

And Jesus responded, “Yes, daughter, he may have said many things, but he would never speak the truth as it is. He never said the truth. Although he knew the truth, he preferred money over preaching about salvation. He never told the truth; he would not say that hell is real and that heaven also exists. Daughter, now he is here in this place.”

When I looked at this man, he had a large serpent with needles, wrapped around his neck, and he would try in vain to take it off. He pleaded with Jesus, Lord, help me!” The man would scream, “Help me, Lord; have mercy on me; take me out of this place; forgive me! I repent, Lord; I want to return to earth, I want to go back to earth to repent.” The Lord observed him and said to him, “You knew very well that this place was real… It’s too late; there is no other opportunity for you.”

The Lord said, “Look, daughter, I am going to show you the life of this man.” Jesus showed me a huge screen on which I could observe how this man offered mass many times to the multitudes. And how the people who were there were so idolatrous. Jesus said, “Look, daughter, there are many idolaters in this place. Idolatry will not save, daughter. I am the only One who saves, and outside of Me, no one saves. I love the sinner, but I hate sin, daughter. Go and tell humanity that I love them and that they need to come to Me.”

Prepare to Meet your God

Originally posted by Murgatroid
My beliefs are currently being overhauled concerning this, here is why:

"Of course, there are human beings who claim the title atheist. They exist. I have met them. My point is, according to Scripture, that every human being KNOWS that there is a God. Ergo, in that respect, there is no such thing as a true atheist because at the deepest level every one does believe in God. "

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
~ Romans 1:18-20

Atheists Dont Exist

God Doesn't Believe in Atheists

"...atheism is an intellectually illogical position to hold. The reason for this is that only an all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent being could know for certain that God does not exist. Simply put, only God could know without a doubt that there is no God. However, God can certainly know that atheists do not exist. He knows this because He has made Himself obvious to them, so much so that they are without excuse."

God Doesn't Believe in Atheists

According to the below quote, people in hell KNEW the truth, but refused to OBEY the truth:

Pope John Paul II in Hell

"But I was only fooling myself, because I saw him in Hell, being tormented by flames. I looked at his face and recognized him. The Lord said to me, “Look, daughter, that man that you see there, is Pope John Paul II. He is here in this place being tormented because he did not repent.”

But I asked, “Lord, why is he here? He used to preach at church.” Jesus replied: “Daughter, no fornicator, no idolater, no one who is greedy and no liar will inherit My Kingdom.” (Ephesians 5:5). I replied, “Yes, I know that is true, but I would like to know why he is here, because he used to preach to multitudes of people!”

And Jesus responded, “Yes, daughter, he may have said many things, but he would never speak the truth as it is. He never said the truth. Although he knew the truth, he preferred money over preaching about salvation. He never told the truth; he would not say that hell is real and that heaven also exists. Daughter, now he is here in this place.”

When I looked at this man, he had a large serpent with needles, wrapped around his neck, and he would try in vain to take it off. He pleaded with Jesus, Lord, help me!” The man would scream, “Help me, Lord; have mercy on me; take me out of this place; forgive me! I repent, Lord; I want to return to earth, I want to go back to earth to repent.” The Lord observed him and said to him, “You knew very well that this place was real… It’s too late; there is no other opportunity for you.”

The Lord said, “Look, daughter, I am going to show you the life of this man.” Jesus showed me a huge screen on which I could observe how this man offered mass many times to the multitudes. And how the people who were there were so idolatrous. Jesus said, “Look, daughter, there are many idolaters in this place. Idolatry will not save, daughter. I am the only One who saves, and outside of Me, no one saves. I love the sinner, but I hate sin, daughter. Go and tell humanity that I love them and that they need to come to Me.”

Prepare to Meet your God

edit on 20-9-2012 by Murgatroid because: I felt like it..

I think you can find a few atheists in this thread, easily refuting both arguments.

reply to post by Murgatroid

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Saying I don't believe in a higher power is not the same as saying god does not exist.

It is completely possible for there to be a god. I don't know, and neither does anyone else on this planet. My position is, that I don't care. I think it is irrelevant whether or not a god exists.

I don't require a god for me to have a happy life and sleep soundly at night. It would also seem that if a god exists, that it doesn't care if I care or not. Hence the irrelevancy.

Everything is the way it is.

Originally posted by 1PLA1
reply to post by TheProphetMark

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Thank you for the information in your post. Very interesting.

From your chart I have 7 for the left side of the brain and 4 for the right. But, I did come to faith more from a logical standpoint than from touchy-feely standpoint

If you're interested in learning more about what I'm I've been trying to explain, you should look into Dr.Persinger from Laurentian University who also proposed what I have stated as well. So far, he's developed a helmet that pumps magnetic fields in the right temporal lobes stimulating parts of the brain which induces near death experiences with your deity of choice or alien visitations.

Watch this short this video for more information regarding this so called "God Helmet" developed by Dr. Persinger.

reply to post by watchitburn

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Saying I don't believe in a higher power is not the same as saying god does not exist.

I think THAT is irrelevant...

I don't know, and neither does anyone else on this planet.

From my own experience, God has proven you wrong MANY times. He has personally given me PROOF over and over until I reached a point many years ago where I now KNOW instead of just believe.

Countless millions of others throughout history have ALSO had similar experiences. There is actually such a massive amount of evidence that supports this fact that I find it impossible to believe that YOU actually believe this.

If you DO actually believe that, hang on to your hat because things are about to change.

My position is, that I don't care. I think it is irrelevant whether or not a god exists.

Whether or not you care or what you THINK about God ARE irrelevant.

What HE thinks about YOU is all that matters.

I don't require a god for me to have a happy life and sleep soundly at night.

One of the most IRONIC statements I have EVER read...

The saddest part about that is knowing that you actually BELIEVE this because it is so out of touch with reality that it boggles the mind.

It would also seem that if a god exists, that it doesn't care if I care or not. Hence the irrelevancy.

Once again so far from reality that it causes me to stop and ponder about how I used to believe the same EXACT thing when I was very young. At a loss for words here...

All I can say is that you WILL know the truth but for now the most important thing you need to know is that everything you believe is a lie. When you realize this fact EVERYTHING changes.

It would be pointless to attempt to prove what I am saying here but I do KNOW what I am talking about.

BTW: IT is a HE as you will soon find out...

reply to post by 1PLA1

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Not really. It's a by-product of organic natural selection and cultural evolution and can be studied objectively using principles of evolutionary psychology.

In The Evolution of God, an appendix is given that describes the development of religion (the whole book is an awesome read, and I highly recommend it).

The author, Robert Wright, says this:

An adaptation is a trait whose underlying genes spread through the gene pool by virtue of their giving rise to that trait. Love, for example, seems to be an adaptation. Love of offspring, by inspiring nurturance of those offspring, can help genes get into future generations; as a result, genes underlying parental love seem to have spread by virtue of their conduciveness to love.

You can similarly make arguments that awe and joy and fear—the other sentiments James cites—were, in themselves, adaptations. (Fearing a big aggressive animal, or a big aggressive human being, could save your skin and thus save the genes underlying the fear.) But that doesn’t mean religion is an adaptation, even though religion may involve love, awe, joy, and fear and thus involve the genes underlying these things.

To shift back into less technical terminology: you might say that we were “designed” by natural selection to feel love and awe and joy and fear. (So long as you understand that “designed” is a metaphor; natural selection isn’t like a human designer who consciously envisions the end product and then realizes it, but is rather a blind, dumb process of trial and error.) But to say that these emotions are a product of “design” isn’t to say that when they’re activated by religion they’re working as “designed.”

Similarly, humans were “designed” by natural selection to be able to run and were also “designed” to feel competitive spirit, but that doesn’t mean they were “designed” to participate in track meets. Religion, like track, doesn’t seem to be an “adaptation.”

Both seem to be what the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould called a “spandrel”—a phenomenon supported by genes that had become part of the species by doing something other than supporting that phenomenon. A spandrel is an incidental by-product of the organic “design” process, whereas an adaptation is a direct product. Religion seems to be a spandrel.

And yet, you might say, religion does have the hallmarks of design. It is a complex, integrated system that seems to serve specific functions. For example, religions almost always handle some key “rites of passage”—getting married, getting buried, and so on—whose ritualized handling is probably good for the society. How do you explain the coherence and functionality of religion without appealing to a designer—or, at least, a “designer”?

You don’t. But biological evolution isn’t the only great “designer” at work on this planet. There is also cultural evolution: the selective transmission of “memes”—beliefs, habits, rituals, songs, technologies, theories, and so forth—from person to person. And one criterion that shapes cultural evolution is social utility; memes that are conducive to smooth functioning at the group level often have an advantage over memes that aren’t. Cultural evolution is what gave us modern corporations, modern government, and modern religion.

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