blau1976 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I don't know if this has been answered or not, but I will ask. What is or was the point of believing in God? I don't understand it. If it is to get to heaven, what if I don't want to go? How do I know, heaven is the place for me, if I have never been there? I don't want to live forever, and if I did, I surely am not going to spend eternity bowing down to some God who wants everyone to stroke his ego. If this heaven really exists, none of my family will be there since no one in my family is Christian. So I won't know anyone and I hate meeting new people. I personally find that the act of religion is boring. So if it is boring, then why should I waste my time? I've talked with several expert Christians about this, and none have given me an answer. They just say, the door is always open... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Ultimately the purpose of heaven is to convince people to put money in the offering plate and follow the pastor/priest without question. If you think about it this God who loves us so much and "wants a relationship with us" is also hiding from us. We see and hear exactly what we would expect if God were imaginary. But according to Christian theology if we will believe in God and accept the sacrifice of Jesus then we will receive infinite reward instead of getting the infinite punishment we were destined for. Yet it is nonsense to punish or reward somebody infinitely. Even more so when this infinite punishment or reward is based on having the right thoughts. Thoughts don't hurt anybody and we can't really control our thoughts anyway. However for those who "take it on faith" and stop questioning with their rational mind now they are convinced that they will get the most wonderful wonders ever so now they must demonstrate that they are grateful. How do you do that? You show that by fellowshipping with other Christians, obeying your pastor/priest, supporting the ministry through volunteer work or through offering payments. It is a well tested formula for creating slaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted December 16, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted December 16, 2014 Power and control. Religion is, and almost always has been, about power and control. gods are a handy way of gaining power and control. If people believe in gods, and believe you are a priest/prophet/imam/holy man, then you have power and control over them. That is the only purpose belief in gods serves. And 130 people, mostly children, died just today as a result of god's purpose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I don't know if this has been answered or not, but I will ask. What is or was the point of believing in God? I can offer one answer to the "was" part. I grew up not knowing that there was an option of not believing in biblegod. I assumed he was real and that was that. Later, when I had left xianity for a while as a teen/young adult and gone back to believing as an adult, the "point" of it was that it offered what I thought was hope for a better future. I was depressed and desperately looking for relief. What kept me going was the belief that when I died, biblegod would wipe away every tear, and fix everything up and I would be blissfully pain free and happy forever. People have different reasons for believing, and different reasons at different times in their lives. For me it was not fear of hell, it was believing the "promises" that were specifically designed to entrap the vulnerable. This is one reason why I am an anti-theist (which means a person who is opposed to religion). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 When I was a child, I was raised to believe in god so I believed in god. I believed a lot of other stupid things adults told me too because why would they lie to me? Thou shalt not lie, right? Most of my family members were strongly religious Christians. Most of my family died when I was at a very young age, and I was told most assuredly I will see them again in Heaven. So as I grew up, I really didn't want to question my beliefs since I felt like I would see them again in Heaven. This is what kept me believing for so long. My strong desire for it to be true that I will see my loved ones again. I don't think it's heaven that's so tempting but seeing someone you've lost again in heaven. I had no idea what we're going to be doing in heaven. I just knew my family was there. Heaven would be great if my family is there waiting for me to join them in an eternal life of non-sickness. I actually wanted to keep believing. It's just that my stupid smart brain wouldn't allow it any longer. I can see how if you had no Christians in your family it wouldn't be that appealing. You would also be stuck with perhaps believing that your family is in hell the whole time you're partying it up with Jesus. I guess you're just supposed to be doped out on God ecstasy the whole time and not care? Like getting high but divinely instead of with drugs... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 People only believe in god and jesus because they don't want to go to hell. Take the whole doctrine of hell and the afterlife out of the bible and believing in god and jesus is utterly pointless. -hugs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey101 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I don't know if this has been answered or not, but I will ask. What is or was the point of believing in God? I don't understand it. . Cultures have a wide range of beliefs and practices. Christianity is just one out of many. I think of indigenous people, like in the jungle who have totally different religious beliefs. If you see people around you that believe in things like the Christian god and Heaven/Hell, chances are those are the predominant religious beliefs in your area. The brain has a 'religious' part that lights up during religious experience. Why do we have it? And why did psychedelic plants evolve with humans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 A lot of good point raised here. I can't imagine what it's like to be raised nonChristian, because I was raised in an evangelical environment. When we say fear of Hell is real, we do mean it. That fear of getting out of line is an undercurrent I didn't even fully realize until I dissected and left Christianity for good. I had set Christianity aside after a particulary fundamentalist phase in my early 20s, but did not do the actual work of taking it apart. Also, like others have said, you don't even really consider the prospect of "not believing." In the most fundamentalist evangelical sense, you really have to consider, there is serious black-and-white thinking, not unlike the terrorists from Al Qaeda or Isis today. It's black-and-white thinking that is drummed in from childhood, for those raised in it, or from the first phases of belief if one is a convert later. Plus you have all the symbolism in the current culture which points to Christianity. It's everywhere, and you don't really know just how "everywhere" it truly is until you're outside it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey101 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Plus you have all the symbolism in the current culture which points to Christianity. It's everywhere, and you don't really know just how "everywhere" it truly is until you're outside it. I agree, it's part of our culture and culture is part of us. It's part of the subconscious, making it seem very real. Doing the work of breaking fundamental religious beliefs / going through deconversion isn't an easy process. For me it seemed to be a process that could only happen through upheavel and mental/emotional struggle... along with a lot of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellinas Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 The point depends on the individual and the particular belief. Some want to keep out of hell. Some want to believe they are supported by something that cares for them. Some simply think there must be something beyond this literal reality and call that something "god" for want of a better name. Some believe "god" is the universe and is impersonal; others find that too bleak, all depending on whether the individual psyche reacts to one or the other view favourably. "What's the point"? Well, I suppose it's a question of who is doing the believing and what that believing entails... Of course, to those who do not believe in god, there is no point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I can remember in high school enjoying hours-long discussions with my friends, of varying beliefs from atheist to born again xian to new age beliefs in "all-is-god-and-all-is-nature," and I remember the general consensus being that believing in something bigger than just us was an exciting and profound thought. That maybe we weren't just little high school kids and nobodies, but that there was some bigger, religious or mystical connection between all of us and all of mankind and all of nature. And that what we were doing and would do in life would ultimately matter in a huge way in the grand scheme of things. That's what I remember from high school. Now, at 50, I just enjoy being here and enjoying my little life and little family and all is well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blau1976 Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thanks for the replies. I was discussing this with some people who were trying to bring me back in. I started out as a non-christian. Got forced into a Lutheran school for about 11 years by my non-religious dad (didn't want me to get pick on by blacks). Got picked on by white kids instead (I'm Chinese). When I left for college, I thought to myself, I'm free from that crap. Then some friends try to re-covert me and I asked, "Why? What for?" They said I wasn't happy, nor could I be happy, without God. I told them I wasn't interested in christianity because listening to people lecture or preach was boring. I had enough of that in school. As a kid I followed the motions without thinking about it. Now, I don't understand why I ever did. I suppose if someone wanted into heaven, they will go follow their god. I guess if there was a god, then there was a verse in the bible somewhere that said some of us are destined for hell regardless of free will and that I am one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey101 Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 "What's the point"? Well, I suppose it's a question of who is doing the believing and what that believing entails... I just see it as people believing different things. I don't have evangelical christian beliefs, to me it has no relevance. But they see their beliefs as their reality, others believe something different, and so on. That's fine with me, but if a pretentious christian looks his nose down because my beliefs are wrong or inferior to his. and tell me that's love, I'm not putting up with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToHellWithMe Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 What definition of belief are we working with here? Belief, as I understand it, has no goal or aim. Do you perhaps mean professing? Or trust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blau1976 Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 I guess my issue is that I really don't care about Christianity. It does nothing for me. People that try to bring me back think otherwise. I have no desire for eternal life nor do I care about eternal damnation. Yet Christians are so happy to point out how miserable I am now and will be after I die. Ask my wife how happy she was before she died at age 30. She told me, "I can't feel God anymore." I guess that's it. That's the crux of my problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToHellWithMe Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Interesting. So what is it that you care about enough to make you so much as talk about Christianity? What draws you toward Christians at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blau1976 Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Interesting. So what is it that you care about enough to make you so much as talk about Christianity? What draws you toward Christians at all? They were my wife's church friends at the time. We would socialize all the time. It's at those times they always tried to get me back to go back. I no longer have contact with them anymore after my wife passed. I don't have any friends that are super religious except one, and we don't talk about religion at all. He is a good friend of mines and I only think he is religious because his wife is. He attends that church with that Osteen guy. But the topic is just something that had been in the back of my mind lately for some reason. Sometimes I get really mad about the topic because I saw first hand how desperate my wife was at the time to find God and not finding him. I never told her there was no God. I just sat quietly, not being able to comfort her. How could some loving being just forsake her when she was at her lowest? I never really had an answer to the question so I thought I would ask. I think I am just venting out some of my past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToHellWithMe Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 god exists because of mans fear of the unknown.this. I never really had an answer to the question so I thought I would ask.What follows from the above is that asking tough questions from someone who sticks to faith (because he cannot handle the uncertainties) of course serves them right, but yields you no enlightened answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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