Why believe in a god?

menrov

if you consider that the god they believe in:

- cannot be seen or heard and is only known in books written by writers we do not know nor do we have the original writings
- does not listen to prayers from believers for security, safety, health, survival, protection, rescue, food etc
- promises things that have not come true though had plenty of time to act on the promises
- does not provide what you need to live
- let's you suffer, struggle, work etc equal to non-believers, treated equally

.......

How does a believer look at his/her parents if they hide themselves, do not provide for you (shelter, food etc), make promises but never live up to these, does not provide what you need to live, treats you like anyone else but not as their child? Would you copy that behavior as best practice? If not, why believe in a god?

peacefulpete

It's like an insurance policy that you never use.

Linda14

Well God does answer prayers. But another question will be how do I prove it to you. That will be hard.

However for one who wants a proof of miracle, the Miracle of the Irish Global Ministry, Global Awakening and even one Baptist pastor has been confirmed by medical evidence that to the extent that even the miracle of the Baptist pastor appeared in a medical journal as a reality. The evidence for these miracles are peer-reviewed. There is also a SendProof video on the subject.

There is this Global Medical Research Institute that investigates these miraculous claims.

My point is, there is a God out there even though He is not seen.

Disillusioned JW

Linda14 instead of Irish Global Ministry, it looks like the ministry is called Iris Global Ministry. Is that correct?

There are articles online commenting as to whether supernatural miracles took place as a result s to the prayers (by Iris Global Ministry and Global Awakening) or not. The examples I saw (as a result of a very brief online search) took place in Africa (at least for Iris Global Ministry), and that were no control groups used, to test the alleged power of prayer by the church groups.

menrov

Linda14.... I am sure there are people who believe their prayers are heard. Even if they are correct, it would be a very selective hearing of prayers as the majority of prayers since creation of the earth are not heard or rewarded.

If your child will ask you for food because he/she is hungry, you will give it if you have it; give medicines if needed and can afford it, provide protection where required whenever you can etc. In other words, a normal parent will give whatever they can and is required for their child to be safe and fed and healthy. And if you are short in resources, you will see if others can help because you want to help your child.

Would you trust someone to take care of your child if that person is not willing to do any of the above?

Does the god you believe in do this for you, because you are considered to be his child and because he can? Would it not give more peace of mind to accept that the god many believe in, is actually not showing his power, not that he cares for the meek and the poor, and is not willing to act on behalf of his believers?

JW and also believers from other denominations just say that in the future, everything will be better, without actually having any proof it will be. I was a JW and thought like that. When I left, I observed how believers behave and think. And to me, it was very surprising to see people believing, trusting and hoping on a deity that they have never seen, never heard, that does not act in order to protect the lives of innocent people, to support and protect the meek, weak and others suffering etc. It strikes me that believers accept all these shortcomings from their god and still continue to believe and have faith but would not accept this attitude from their fellow humans, family or friends. Isn't that strange?

peacefulpete

You haven't given money to them have you?

The supposed 'study' involved 24 people who self identified as deaf or blind who were 'recruited' by the miracle ministry being tested. No controls, not even a sound booth but hearing tests were done in noisy crowd. Two were un-retested (supposedly because of time constraints). In the end some had worse results after, some self reported as better but tested with no improvement. some tested better.

Regarding the blindness tests the same left-right symbol chart was shown before and minutes after. 3 or 4 out of 11 tested with improvement. Excuse was made to dismiss the unsatisfying results, as being the fact that healers charged more for 'successful' healings. It does admit that suggestion and hypnosis have also resulted in similar 'improvements.' This was perhaps the poorest excuse for a scientific study I have ever read. It seems clear the sham was done in partnership with the preachers for featuring on their webpage or by complete amateurs.

The primary author (McClymond) of the "study" is a Christian author, The next (Williams) is the author of a single other article, also suggesting the power of religious belief, that's all we know about her. Brown is a Pentecostal alternative medicine advocate. Mory is the leader of the Next Door ministries (if you call, the opening phone message is how to donate), The paper has never been 'cited' by authors apart from the authors themselves.

cofty

Linda - those reports were debunked by a christian on the 'Unbelievable' podcast.

God hates amputees.

KalebOutWest

Why believe in a god?

I guess people do it because they aren't Jehovah's Witnesses and aren't under the influence of the Governing Body that tells them what they can and cannot believe in.

Sure, it might seem silly to you and even against reason. But people don't have to listen to you (or anybody, for that matter).

And especially not those idiot men that act like Puppet Masters via the Watchtower publications and tell people what they should and should not wear, should and should not do, should and should not think, and should and should not believe in.

When you don't live under a harsh, ugly, and controlling system like that, you have what is called freedom.

With freedom I can believe in anything that isn't real, like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, even the US Congress--well, uh, maybe scratch the last one. But you get my drift.

It's great that you have found freedom and have come to your own conclusions. But in a world of freedom you will also have to get used to the fact that people don't give a flying fuck about what you believe (or don't believe) as long as you respect their customs and convictions.

If you don't, you're messing with that freedom you're cherishing right now. That's why people hate the fuck out of the Watchtower and the Jehovah's Witnesses. They want to put everyone under their mighty thumb, extinguish freedom of thought, destroy other customs and convictions, and just make everyone wear the same uniform and think the same way.

Do you want everyone to think like you? You can't have it both ways. Freedom doesn't allow for that.

Why believe in a god? Because you are free to do so when you are outside of the control of a system that says you can't do anything but their way, that's why.

cofty

KOW - That's a terrible answer.

I assume 'if you care about what is objectively true' is implied in the question.

It doesn't need to be said that everybody is free to believe in anything that pleases them but if you care about reality there has to be a better reason for organising your life around an idea than subjective feelings.

KalebOutWest

Prove, objectively, that you have the ability to determine I do not care about what is "objectively true" in the question.

I would love to see how you can do that from all the way over there...

Why believe in a god?

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