Re: A Very Sincere Reply
[ QUOTE ]
Because life without afterlife is awfully pointless.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you asked for a reason to believe in something and I gave you probably the most universal and fundamental one, one that forms the foundation of my belief in Christ.
[/ QUOTE ]
Absolutely! I don't know anyone who believes because of what Aquinas said. I know lots ( my family situation is like Lestat's only likely larger) that believe based on versions of this.."Do you believe in an afterlife?" "Yes, there has to be more than this."
IOW, the bulk of belief is psychologically driven, not research-based. Another common one is the need for moral guardrails, the "we'll all turn into Sons of Sam" fear (hmmm, ok, scratch him) in spite of Japan and europe's example.
So, if you're a person that runs more on logic and seem to have no problem finding moral solidity without threats or rewards, and find the love and caring of those around you has a lot of meaning the 'need' for a religion is minimal to non-existant.
I was around 8 when "who made me - good made me. who made god - god always was and always will be." sounded a bit soft to me. Around 13 I ran across Frasers "the golden bough" and the cultural lights came on, I could understand how there could be all this religion even if there were no god, and of course the xtrian precursors were obvious.
I'm an atheist today only secondarily because of the 'no evidence' or 'logical conflicts' reasons. Mine's based on morality issues, to try to state part of it simply, I have the reverse-NR view, there can be no morality if it is absolute or coerced.
|