Why Theology?

[kpux]

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Why do people love to talk about theology so much? I've never found religion to be much use to me at all.

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let me guess, you find material possessions and or information that can lead you to material posessions helpful to you.

think about it

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Of course I do. Who doesn't like having stuff?

I suppose the implication here is that I am materialistic, and since religion can't help me find money to buy more stuff, it must be useless to me. That's not really it at all. I was curious as to why religion is such a hotly debated topic. I don't see what your post has to do with that at all.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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Why do people love to talk about theology so much? I've never found religion to be much use to me at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

let me guess, you find material possessions and or information that can lead you to material posessions helpful to you.

think about it

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course I do. Who doesn't like having stuff?

I suppose the implication here is that I am materialistic, and since religion can't help me find money to buy more stuff, it must be useless to me. That's not really it at all. I was curious as to why religion is such a hotly debated topic. I don't see what your post has to do with that at all.

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They like to buck the idea that anything has any sort of higher power or authority over them. It's an ego/dominance thing.

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My main point was that it was weird for a seemingly large number of atheist/agnostic types to be so engrossed by religious discussions.

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In my experience atheists and agnostics are more willing to discuss religion than the religious. Most religious people I know blindly cling to their beliefs, unwilling to budge from them or even discuss how they arrived at them. People are spoon fed religion at a young age and believers don't want a reason not to believe.

Atheists and agnostics generally arrive at their set of beliefs only after discussion, thought, and honesty with oneself. This doesn't stop once a person has decided that he is an atheist. The discussion continues.

A lot of religions axiomatically preclude other beliefs, so that may have to do with it.

All in all, though, I think that's just your personal experience.

[m1illion]

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Why do people love to talk about theology so much? I've never found religion to be much use to me at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

let me guess, you find material possessions and or information that can lead you to material posessions helpful to you.

think about it

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course I do. Who doesn't like having stuff?

I suppose the implication here is that I am materialistic, and since religion can't help me find money to buy more stuff, it must be useless to me. That's not really it at all. I was curious as to why religion is such a hotly debated topic. I don't see what your post has to do with that at all.

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They like to buck the idea that anything has any sort of higher power or authority over them. It's an ego/dominance thing.

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Oddly enough, I've always held that those who believe in an afterlife are driven by their ego.
As for the OP, the question of why we exist will, I think, always interest the curious mind.

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Why do people love to talk about theology so much? I've never found religion to be much use to me at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

let me guess, you find material possessions and or information that can lead you to material posessions helpful to you.

think about it

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course I do. Who doesn't like having stuff?

I suppose the implication here is that I am materialistic, and since religion can't help me find money to buy more stuff, it must be useless to me. That's not really it at all. I was curious as to why religion is such a hotly debated topic. I don't see what your post has to do with that at all.

[/ QUOTE ]
They like to buck the idea that anything has any sort of higher power or authority over them. It's an ego/dominance thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oddly enough, I've always held that those who believe in an afterlife are driven by their ego.
As for the OP, the question of why we exist will, I think, always interest the curious mind.

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Why does there need to be a why? Maybe things just are... Not more fantastic than a god concept.

More interestingly what is the value/benefit for a species to have such a propensity (belief), lets say from a Darwinian perspective?

An attempted answer (longish! 30 pgs+) can be found here.

Read the paper by Dan Sperber (pdf format) here: http://www.dan.sperber.com/culture%2...modularity.pdf .

If interestyed, there are other very good and interesting papers on his home site: http://www.dan.sperber.com



Enjoy and Good Luck,

MidGe

[Wes ManTooth]

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As for the OP, the question of why we exist will, I think, always interest the curious mind.

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Many people do find this curious, not all, this is why i asked the OP if his thought process is ultimately derived to material possessions. Often those that are, are the ones that are not as curious about creation, religion, philosophy, and in general deep questioning with no straight forward answers. This is often the case, again not always, what is the reason behind this? not completely sure people just have different thought processes and perspectives.

[m1illion]

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As for the OP, the question of why we exist will, I think, always interest the curious mind.

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Many people do find this curious, not all, this is why i asked the OP if his thought process is ultimately derived to material possessions. Often those that are, are the ones that are not as curious about creation, religion, philosophy, and in general deep questioning with no straight forward answers. This is often the case, again not always, what is the reason behind this? not completely sure people just have different thought processes and perspectives.

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I think it has to be in the programming. Some people are just not intellectually curious. That's not a judgement either, it just has been my experience that some find the bigger questions either unimportant or unappealing.