Why do you believe in what you believe in?

[Angantyr]

I seem to have neglected this forum for quite a while

Anyway, first of all the questions is what do I believe in? Well some of you may know I go by the title Pagan, this is partly true but in the sense of their morals and philosophies dealing with life. Though there is no evidence to say the Patheons don't exist I feel it isn't accurate as it is told. I feel there may of been a person named Odin who was quite wise with his family which taught the people of the Nordic Lands ways, and after a long time he became known as a God. Also a lot of Patheons share similar attributes. The way Satanism is potrayed is that of a mixture of Celtic/Greek/Nordic imagry but thats another topic.

Also I have always been intrested in the concept of Re-incarnation, at first I figured it was another idea but according to some people it is very logical. As for Buddhism, I feel it is partly true but partly a way of being peaceful. I do not think if you be a good person your next life will be how you want it, I feel that it depends on what you are drawn towards, like if you are drawn to Japanese culture you could possibly reincarnate into a Japanese person. However I do agree that if you spend a lot of time working on a talent, in your next life you will be a natural with the talent in reason.

So now we know what I believe in, the reason is why: I believe in this because first of all it seems like the most logical reason, Scandinavian countries were very strong during the Middle Ages and had a very strong influence on Europe, which in turn had a huge influence on the rest of the world. Also for the Asian countries, I believe Buddhism teaches a thirst for knowledge and peace, as you can see they are a great force in modern society and also have a high quality of life. So there you have it folks... feel free to comment.

[demonology]

Originally Posted by Piroblaze

Er...doesn't that count as 'something'? Seriously. Even if you say you believe in nothing, you believe in that, and that counts as something. So you believe in something. =P

The reason why I believe in what I believe, is because they fit my personality the most, and because I've done a little research. =P

if you had to research on the tings you belive then that does not fit in who you are because when you belive in something you just belive

[Bunny]

demonology you are being warned for consistantly posting short posts. Please make an attempt to type more when you post in Intelligent Discussion; one-liners are unnecessary.

In addition, researching something that you believe in is not a bad thing. There is faith, and then there is blind faith. The majority of the people(read: all) enjoy actually knowing about what they believe in, instead of just saying "I believe because.. I do." Having a good defense is the best offense; especially if you plan on posting in this forum.

Please continue the discussion without responding to this post.

[Drake Teglen]

I am a believer in Jesus Christ. The only reason I believe is because of God's prevenient grace. In other words, I did not choose to believe because I was incapable of that. He chose to speak to me, and the way he spoke to me was through being raised in a Christian home and being involved in church from my birth. The only part I play in the equation is faith and obedience. I still strongly believe what I do after often questioning my faith in the past, and I realize how fortunate I was to have grown up in the environment I did.

We are all born into a certain narrative, and that narrative shapes our lives way more than our own choices. Most people believe that they decide their own course in life and their decisions are what shapes them. While I believe there are times of choice in life, I also believe that lives are shaped more by the narrative in which we are born than our own choices.

Would I still be a believer if I had been born to drug abusing parents and never entered a church? Most likely not, unless someone crossed my path and made a difference in my life who was a believer and impacted me in such a way that I also believed. The point I'm trying to make is this: The reason people do not believe in Christ is because they have not seen him. It is the Christian's commandment to show Him to them.

[Jin]

I think it's impossible to believe in everything simply based on research and facts. Think about it, people that have never been to China: How do you know it exists? People tell you it does, but how do you know that it isn't a lie? There's really no way to know. You have to trust that there isn't some conspiracy against you. You have to look at what you do know and think to yourself, Why would there be a conspiracy against me telling me that China exists? If you can't find any reasons that are good enough for you to think that it could be true, then you generally decide to trust that it's real. Tis an odd thing.

[Drake Teglen]

Good point. Everyone has faith whether they think so or not. For example, think about the system we have set up for currency. Don't believe the lies about it being representative of gold, it's just paper and ink. Suppose one day everyone decided to no longer buy in to the method of currency used by the U.S. Then money would become useless. Everyone who has money and uses it has faith in the system, even though it is nothing more than a belief system with everyone buying into it.

Also, when you drive, you buy into the principalities of traffic laws. True, most of us bend or break traffic laws, but suppose everyone decided they didn't matter. The roads would be quite chaotic. Many things are faith based, not just religion.

[Lai]

Jintatsu and Drake, I think both of your last two posts were utter mush. I understand the point you were trying to make, Jintatsu, but it held almost no relevence to the topic at hand. How else are you supposed to believe anything? You can't possibly experience every last thing in this world with first-hand experience, so according to you, there's no reason to believe anything else exists besides what you see right in front of you.

Drake, your example about money is completely preposterous. For one thing, it's not supposed to be representative of gold. It's just representative of a certain amount of wealth that you may/may not own. It's not a belief system, it's a way to maintain the economy and make sure that there isn't too much of too many people having much more than they deserve. I also can't see your point on traffic laws. What point are you trying to make?

[OnOneRyder]

A little off topic but Drake is somewhat right. All money at one point (ending about 60 years ago) was backed with gold. For every coin/bill there was in fact gold sitting around somewhere to back it up. This has since changed to flat currency though. Large companies such as shipping or trading corporations still use the gold standard to set a sort of "insurance" in case they go under.

[Edward Elric]

I'm not really sure about my faith right now, because I don't know what I believe in. I know what facts I know, but I don't know what I believe is correct. The closest thing I could be called right now is a Protestant Christian.

[Gorath Sodom]

I believe in what I believe due to a simple trait which so many others seem to lack: Logic. I believe in the emperical. If I cannot see, touch, hear, taste, smell, nor establish telepathic communication, I will not believe in something. There are many things that people claim exist yet they have not emperical evidence. To me that is the only relevent evidence that exists and believing anything else could provide for solid evidence is highly illogical.

[Chez Daja]

Nandaba has the best point in my opinion. Logic is sort of how I would think of my "beliefs" also. See to believe.

I don't belief in what I don't feel is logical, therefore I don't believe God exists. I feel his existence seems illogical -- not to say there isn't one. If there is, I don't know or believe it.

Prove your God to me and I will believe you.

[Dead & Grateful]

In response to Drake's posts, many people would debate your definition of faith. For example, I don't believe I "have faith" in traffic laws. I submit to traffic laws. It's not like traffic laws are a topic that can't be sensed or researched (like God, for example), they are recorded and enforced. They have been proven to work to an extent.

In response to Nandaba's and Chez's posts, specifically:

Originally Posted by Nandaba Naota

If I cannot see, touch, her [sic], taste, smell, nor establish telepathic communication, I will not believe in something.

and

Originally Posted by Chez Daja

Prove to me your God and I will believe you.

1. "Prove to me your God" is a logical fallacy. That would be like if Drake said, "Disapprove to me my God".
2. Imagine a six sense your five can't comprehend. You are completely unaware of it and are unable to grasp the concept of it, but the martians use it to live every day. Opens up a whole lot of new windows.
3. You can't feel, see, taste, hear, or touch X-rays, but do you believe in them?

[MasterSquall]

i believe that this world needs to die,......no other chance for humans.....
i believe we have been created to destroy this world........the job is well done..
i believe that humanity needs to suffer now.....i want to see this world death
lying before my legs

why? ...we have choosen agression, tyrani, ...everybody want to be better like others.....i hate this world......

:-D well its only my point of wiev...so dont be angry on me....

I can only believe in what I see...I know that there's something else out there but I'm content not knowing. Ignorance is bliss. I am a bit of a skeptic, but an open minded one!!! I don't try too disprove anything, I just like to go along my merry little way ^_^

Kaggz <3

[Gorath Sodom]

Originally Posted by Dead & Grateful

1. "Prove to me your God" is a logical fallacy. That would be like if Drake said, "Disapprove to me my God".

It would be a logical fallacy to believe without question. On the otherhand, it would be safe to establish a probabability for such things so long as it's not absolute.

2. Imagine a six sense your five can't comprehend. You are completely unaware of it and are unable to grasp the concept of it, but the martians use it to live every day. Opens up a whole lot of new windows.

How are Martians relevent to this topic?

3. You can't feel, see, taste, hear, or touch X-rays, but do you believe in them?

I acknowledge the probability of their existence but I do not believe undoubtedly.