tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post7526384157106638836..comments2024-03-28T12:34:14.649-07:00Comments on dangerous idea: On psychoanalyzing religious beliefVictor Repperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-60739444394870986852021-09-04T09:29:06.986-07:002021-09-04T09:29:06.986-07:00I would not say "irrational", but rather...I would not say "irrational", but rather a-rational. Some thought processes do not require reason to be effective. For example: listening to music, admiring nature, or watching sports.<br /><br />Another is prayer. It is not against reason to do so, but reason is irrelevant to the action.Starhopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18350334327301656588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-88754691153470997722021-09-04T09:19:49.975-07:002021-09-04T09:19:49.975-07:00I doubt we will find any dissimilarities between t...I doubt we will find any dissimilarities between the brains of believers and those of atheists that are not marginal compared to the brain differences within the believing population or atheist population. The same would be true for their psychology.<br /><br />Believers and atheists use similar brains and have similar mental processes. They fall victim to the same types of irrational thinking.One Browhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11938816242512563561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-81654260646187077872021-09-03T14:43:36.392-07:002021-09-03T14:43:36.392-07:00It's the good old critique of Bulverism.
htt...It's the good old critique of Bulverism. <br /><br />https://matiane.wordpress.com/2019/01/15/bulverism-by-c-s-lewis/Victor Repperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-2226705004198931122021-09-03T13:03:41.457-07:002021-09-03T13:03:41.457-07:00I think he is saying that it is better to argue th...I think he is saying that it is better to argue the ideas on their own merit rather than dismissing the ideas by seeking irrational or otherwise poor reasons people have those ideas.<br /><br />For example, your entire post could be dismissed by an atheist with "You were brainwashed, otherwise you wouldn't believe as you do". Or "You fear the idea of a godless universe so you cling to the idea of God for comfort". <br /><br />Such assertions may have their place in some other conversation, but they have no place in the truth of religious belief.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593005679430527458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-26551868317327773822021-09-03T11:16:12.959-07:002021-09-03T11:16:12.959-07:00Victor, if I understand you correctly, you're ...Victor, if I understand you correctly, you're saying we need to concentrate on why people believe what they do, rather than why other people believe differently. Is that correct?<br /><br />As for myself, I believe in God because with that belief, the universe (and existence itself) makes sense to me. Without God, all is unintelligible. So I guess my faith is grounded in a prior belief (or desire) that existence is rational and intelligible.<br /><br />As to why I believe in Christianity, I do so on the grounds of the New Testament, especially the Gospels. To me, at least (to borrow a phrase from J.B. Phillips) they have the "Ring of Truth". I have yet to hear a plausible explanation of how the NT could have even come into being, were it not true. This is not a "because the Bible tells me so" but rather "I have determined the NT to be factual, and therefore I believe in what it tells me.<br />Starhopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18350334327301656588noreply@blogger.com