Why do you believe what you believe?

[Zhade]

This is a serious question for the believers in the house - I want to better understand what makes you tick.

Why do most Christians, for example, believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and was resurrected, but do not believe in the birth-myths of Greek gods or the resurrection of Mithra?

How does a Muslim decide that Mohammed's teachings are accurate, while not likewise believing that Hindu beliefs are valid?

In short, what is it that convinces you, the believer, that your chosen belief system is the right one for you above all others?

Please understand, this is NOT a flamebait post. I really want to comprehend how it is that believers select the belief system they follow, either later in life or through a decision to continue the faith of the family one was born into.

If anyone wants to share, I eagerly await the details of your experiences, and I ask all sides to try to refrain from turning this into an ugly thread.

[Midwest_Doc]

1. I believe that there is no god.

I believe this because there has been nothing in my experience to indicate the existence of a god. Like all of what I believe to be true, I am open to change my position should evidence be presented that would warrant such change.

[havocmom]

2. My beliefs, hardly mainstream by American standards

come to me by observation, logical and critical thoughts about what I have observed and a small mix of hope.

There is very little of what most would call faith at the root of my beliefs.

[catbert836]

3. Let's see

I've had several experiences, just looking out at an untamed wilderness, that I could describe as incredibly spiritual. This has led to my belief that if there is a God(dess) then he/she is nature.

[catmother]

4. i don't believe in god in the traditional sense. but thought forms

can create a reality. so if enough people believe in god maybe there is some manifestation. i learned years ago that the GODS (roman, greek, etc.) exist this way. and if people stopped believing in them they wouldn't exist. that's why it's harmful to have negative thoughts.

okay what i said probably does make sense to most of you, but it works for me. i also believe in reincarnation. it's the only thing that makes sense to me. you keep coming back, till you get it right.

incidentally, i was raised strict catholic, catholic school, the whole bit.


on edit: just read the post Let's see and i also agree with that. there's an earth god/goddess, ocean, etc.

[Martin Eden]

5. I'm not a believer

To BELIEVE is to be CERTAIN. Although it may be comforting to believe in God and a Saviour that guarantees you eternal life in heaven, it is not -- for me at least -- intellectually honest to be certain of a supernatural reality for which there is essentially no empirical evidence.

The diversity of religious beliefs -- especially the tenets and practices -- often contradict one another, yet the adherents of each religion are CERTAIN that theirs is the true one. I simply cannot reach such a conclusion.

Religions at odds with one another have played a major factor throughout history in man's inhumanity to man (and to women). And when I look at the certainty of the current president who wears his religion on his sleeve -- and the "good Christians" who have enabled the destruction he has wrought -- I feel validated in my agnosticism.

I guess I really don't have a deep understanding of religious faith. My family is not religious, but the cousin to whom I was closest as a child (he's 2 years older than me) became a born-again Christian in his 20's. He said he opened the door to his heart, and God walked in. I don't dispute his experience or sincerity, yet I'm more apt to believe that human beings aquire faith because of an inherent emotional/psychological need rather than an actual communion with a supreme being.

I hesitate to open that door myself, because I think that deep down we all WANT the comfort and certainty that faith provides.

But that doesn't necessarily make it true.

[kwassa]

13. I disagree, it is possible to believe in a general way without

the idea of certainty. I think many religious believers are not entirely certain, because the nature of God is so vast that we are limited in our ability to know him. Any who claims to know all is probably a fool.

[Martin Eden]

14. Though BELIEF and CERTAINTANTY are not exactly the same

IMO the difference is more of semantics than functionality. The vast majority of religious believers I've talked to will vigorously defend their belief against any argument that challeges it.

I do my best to avoid holding such a strong belief unless I'm pretty darned certain.

[stopbush]

6. Lesson for the day: anytime you post a thread at DU on a religious

topic, most of the replies you get will be from atheists/agnostics.

That's because atheists/agnostics think more *seriously* and more often about the god issue than do most *religious* people.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. And that would make sense, don't you think?

I'm going to think more about something I wonder about that something I have faith exists.

However, I think a lot of people of faith spend a lot of time framing their belief into arguments that might convince others, hence all the books about the existence of God.

[catmother]

10. i agree with you. over the years i have thought and thought

very seriously about the things that i was taught, the things that other people believe and i still think about them. i do not necessarily believe the same thing that i did 25 years ago, but they are similar.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. An honest question deserves an honest answer

I believe what I believe, first, because it is what I was raised to believe. I did not (and to a large extent do not) know the stories associated with other faiths. When I became old enough to know there WERE other stories, I ascribed to the "all paths can get you to the top of the mountain" belief and I think it is easiest to take the most familiar path.

Then, as an adult, I have had experiences some might call supernatural that convinced me that for ME the Christian faith has the answers I need. These were life-changing revelations experienced while awake, sober and sentient, and I keep them private because I'm not an evangelist by any means.

Thanks for asking. There have been a lot of "fuck all the Christians and close the churches" threads lately that are difficult to read and in my weaker moments almost (but never quite) convince me to shut the computer and go do something meaningful.

[dcfirefighter]

8. Found God recently, in optimism

I believe that overall, everything happens for a reason. Mostly physics if you think about it.

I find it amazing how precisely things work out.

And I think that things will work out well for humanity.

Mostly some sort of Deist.

[Dervill Crow]

11. Because I hope there's something after this, but . . .

if there is not, I want to make sure that what I do in the here and now means something.

I believe the world could not have happened by accident. Every pantheon seems to have a creation myth, so apparently many people throughout time have agreed with me.

I do not believe that God is a male. I believe in a God and Goddess because there seems to be a symmetry in nature and in us, and it just makes sense to me.

My parents were lovely moral people. I refuse to believe that they are in hell because they were "unchurched." I have read the Bible several times, and it was hard for me to decide which parts to follow. The rituals of Judaism struck a chord within me, but there were major roadblocks to conversion.

So I am one of the Other People and instead of challah and wine it's cakes and ale for me--pumpkin ale this time of year. :toast: La Chaim and Blessed Be.

("The Other People" is from an essay in Green Egg Magazine that should be available online. I think it was written by Oberon Zell.)

[NAO]

12. I believe that this line of questioning led to my unbelief

I used to believe that everyone except those who accepted Jesus as their savior were going to Hell.

I found out that other religions had Hells, where they contended Christens went when they died.

I did not want to go to Hell, so the most important thing in my life became finding out which Religion was actually true so that I could follow it's prescriptions, and end up not on fire forever and ever, screaming in pain. This seemed to trump all issues such as employment and social relationships, which were mere temporal concerns, a tiny sliver of time, meaningless in the context of eternity.

I found out that not only did other religions have Hells, they had Satans too - bad guys who would try to trick you so God would send you to Hell for addressing Him by the wrong name. It is VERY easy to go to Hell, in the world of religion.

So how do you decided between contending, mutually exclusive claims? How do you know truth from falsehood? It turns out that there is a formal discipline dedicated to this very task! I found myself in college, majoring in philosophy, and focusing on epistemology.

It did not take long to figure out that all religious claims - taken as propositional statements (e.g. "it is the case that x") were false.

So I believe that that's how this line of questioning led to my unbelief.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. I believe in unity

Technically, I'm a Muslim, as Sufis are, by dictionary definition, the mystical sect of Islam. But I find truth in the Bagavad Gita as well as the Qu'ran; in fact, the Universal Worship I practice honors the different world traditions in a ceremony.

Why do I believe as I do, or how have I come to this place? By the experiences I have had. A Sufi teacher once said that spirituality is not a concept, but rather experience. The experiences of my life have shown me that there is "more", far beyond my senses. They have shown me that miracles can and do happen. My concepts of God and what is have evolved throughout my lifetime, and I can look back on beliefs and ideas that I have outgrown. But in looking at them, I can better understand why others believe as they do, and so can respect them for their beliefs-this is where they are now. Doesn't mean they will necessarily stay there.

What is God? What is everything? You know, it is something I cannot put into words, but something that I know-and something that I find out more about with each breath I take.

[More Than A Feeling]

16. I have felt the necessity for the forgiveness that Christ offers.

I know that anything that I try to do to win favor will seem so inadequate compared to the standard I am being held to. At the same time, I still have to live up to the standard as best I can, because that is the right thing to do.

Also, I think that I may have had a prayer answered recently.

Why don't I believe in Mithra or any of those other things? Because they either do not have anything to do with how I live my life on a daily basis, they are less than the eternal God revealed through the prophets and Jesus Christ, or (for Judaism and Islam) the practices don't speak to me.

The question is, since I am caught in time, and therefore finite and relative, how can I think I know anything about the eternal and absolute? Through faith that God can and has revealed Himself.

Do I expect anyone else to share this faith? No. Do I think I can convert anyone? No. Am I interested in forcing others to believe as I do? No. I found faith through experience, not because someone else told me to. I imagine it is the same for everyone.

[PsychoDad]

17. The teachings of Islam resonated most strongly with me.

It's a fair question you ask.

I found Islam more reasonable in the simplicity of it's core belief.

I had explored and practiced a number of religions before Islam. Each one seemed to hold part of the truth. For me Islam encapsulated the core of all those teachings in the simplest expression of the unity of divinity and humanity.

What also attracted me was the degree of which the revelation of the Prophet(pbuh) and the practice of Islam had been preserved for 1400 years. The chain of transmission authenticated back to the Prophet.

Islam also discouraged blind faith, questions were encouraged. The Prophet placed upon Muslims an obligation to educate ourselves, and to understand the revelation for ourselves, not relying upon someone else's translation or authority. Nor was there the need for the following of some hierarchy, for the relationship between yourself and the divine was one to one, no need for an intercessor of holy guardian angel. In salat(prayer), there was nothing between you and God.

And the truths of other religious teachers are not by necessity excluded. Islam teaches that The One, Allah in arabic, sent his messengers to all the peoples and nations of the earth, therefore all religions do share to some degree the same message, although some of it may have been obscured with time and the ambitions of men.

Peace.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. For me it was experiential

and I actually believe that God is too large and all-encompassing to be contained by the human mind, so all theology is just metaphors to describe the indescribable.

It is important to me to be part of a faith community, though, and I have chosen the Episcopal Chruch as the best fit for me, both culturally and in terms of opportunities for spiritual and charitable experiences.

[H2O Man]

19. It is a way of life

based upon a lifetime of experience. I experience "God" every day.