Why do we believe in god?

Too generalized of a question, the same answer won't fit everyone, but a general answer is;

'Because we were taught to'

God is a terrible word, raped, distorted and whatnot.
I try not to use it, but I'm reading these books by Hawkins and he doesn't stop using it, so I go with it. I'd rather call it the Self. funny thing is that it's giving a name to something that cannot be given a name.


but yes, many people were taught to believe in God (unfortunately often the anthropomorphized version of Him: angry, revengeful, judgemental and what have you - projected ego functions) and either still do so or become atheists.
all people live by faith, the only variable is in what.

In india..... god, guru and self, are one and the same

spice wrote:Too generalized of a question, the same answer won't fit everyone, but a general answer is;

'Because we were taught to'

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As indeed for all social conventions.
and add: in space and even just in people's minds there are TOO MANY questions ... probably will never find all the answers.
So, generalizing, many people try to explain to invoking an abstract entity ...
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I believe that all major religions (particularly monotheistic) were born, at least initially, for this reason...

There's many reasons, but mostly I think it's:

we are programmed to, like Spice pointed out.
it's the easy answer, no digging, no searching, just follow.

thats too general a question


i think god is perfection. just as there are varying degrees of perfection, there are varying degrees of godlyness

We weren't "taught" to believe in God, it's just something that is inherent in our design. God is a vortex. Our universe is a vortex. Our DNA is a vortex.

Shamanism was the first religion. Somewhere along the line, we splintered into different religions. However, the common element of all early religions is the use of psychedelics. The whole point of God is to realize that we have the power to create our own reality. Personally, I believe that Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and any other savior/prophet were simply shamans who we're able to view the world from a dissociative state and see the unbiased reality of human nature.

As far as my belief in God goes... While I do believe that we have the power to create our own reality, it's not hard to see that most people fail to realize this. Even fewer are the people who realize it and are able to cut a swathe for themselves. When we as humans are able to individually reach our full potentials and then collectively reach our full potential and create a reality based on such, that is when we will truly find God.

So in essence, we are born with a potential so vast and limitless, yet our application is clumsy and archaic. So this sense of overcoming and evolving in order to reach our full, God potential is a driving force that we are born with regardless of which particular religion or science we practice.

However, it is important to note that religions and governments don't want us to have psychedelics, because they don't want us to realize this. They want us to place our faiths/realities in their hands...

"They want us to place our faiths/realities in their hands..."

thats what I said when I said we are taught to believe in god......we are conditioned.....what, you dont believe that religion is a tool of government?

It is, and in this modern era, thats just about all it is, is a propaganda tool of control.


I disagree that it is inherent in 'our design'. You cant speak for everyone, lots of people are agnostic because they feel that suspending faith is inherent in THEIR design......


More people, I guarantee you, know of the concept of 'God' because it was INSTILLED into them, than those who believe inherently.

The only thing I see inherent in people today is greed and blindness

If you put 8 babies on an island, fed them until they walked, and then let them go, and came back (no influences)

I'm god damn positive these kids would believe in a God. That's just how we are... but why?

Whether it is a sacred tree, a star in the sky, a giant fish... there will be a mythical creature. Ever group of people EVER... had a "God", or some extremely powerful omnipotent being.

Why...?

Religion explains what mankind hasn't yet. We make up lies because, more troubling to the human mind than falsity, is an unanswered question.

IJesusChrist wrote:If you put 8 babies on an island, fed them until they walked, and then let them go, and came back (no influences)

I'm god damn positive these kids would believe in a God.

I'm just as goddamned positive that there will be unbelievers in their midst.

We originally sought god to explain the ineffable, which led to early animism and paganism.


Don't overcomplicate something simple. Nowdays, God is exactly what Marx said it is; the opiate of the masses


In the ancient times, we were taught by the village elders, who anthropomorphosized their ideas of god onto the clouds, the trees, and the water to explain seasonal cycles and natural events.....we have ALWAYS been guided towards
someone elses vision of god, because it was seen early on to be a power play, a control game.


Spirituality and a belief in god should not be confused as the same thing, when you do this you get.......organized religion.

Not good

Spirituality and a belief in god should not be confused as the same thing, when you do this you get.......organized religion.

Yeah I always thought of spirituality as being more of an emotion or state of mind whereas belief in god is more of a... coping mechanism? Social influence?

One thing is for sure though, both of them are figments of our imagination and not based on any scientific evidence.

Please Stop It Now wrote:

Spirituality and a belief in god should not be confused as the same thing, when you do this you get.......organized religion.

Yeah I always thought of spirituality as being more of an emotion or state of mind whereas belief in god is more of a... coping mechanism? Social influence?

One thing is for sure though, both of them are figments of our imagination and not based on any scientific evidence.

I agree.

Also, I think the part that is 'inherent in our design' is simply another anthropormorphizing, that of the father figure.

Most religions have this theme running through them, that of the 'super-daddy'.....this omnipotent male that rules over everything....it's such a crock of shit

seriously

god is not religion, to pull the word out of the many fake contexts it's been implemented into. religion is the ultimate tool for controlling the people, mostly stupid people, that's why it can be abused so badly. maybe god may even be religion and not religion at the same time?

god is a spiritual bond and to view god as separate from yourself doesn't even make sense. maybe you can figure out for yourself why. god is love. or as i heard more than love can ever be.. ?? love is expansive and transcendent.

we are all children of/for the infinite being.

god spelled backwards is dog.

god is good and god is great. it's most probably not what you think of it to be, exclusively.

but then again it's also like it's just a word and words are as we all hopefully are aware of just symbollic representations for some or another meaning..

peace