Is it better to be happy or right?

[Myrtle]

no message

[Dave H.]

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I've been thinking lately that maybe I should just stop asking questions and have faith.

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Ever read about St. Augustine? He went through a lifetime of torture regarding the very things you're bringing up now. After many years of this searching, he made the following famous statement:

"Understanding is the great reward of faith. Therefore, seek NOT to understand so that you may believe. Instead, seek to believe that you may understand."

Very, very powerful for me years ago.

[Piers]

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[coffeecrazy1]

Okay...I've read the majority of the posts on here, and I have discovered what may be part of the problem.

The original question posed to the board contains an assumption that a belief in God or a non-belief in Him represents a sort of psychological endgame...like having the belief is the end result of happiness or not having it is the end result of happiness...or worse, that people are choosing ignorance rather than truth.

To me, whether you believe in God or not, I think it is more helpful to think of beliefs in terms of their being foundations upon which to base one's life.

Now...for many, religion and/or belief in God is that base. People draw their social groups and inner peace from a religious point of view, and there is nothing wrong with it, if it works for them.

Similarly, and this is casting my personal beliefs aside to say this, but for others, their personal introspection has led them to determine the absence of a God, and that belief is their base.

To argue proof for either side is fruitless, I think, because either position requires a certain amount of faith. So, people do choose to have faith in something. Everyone has faith in something...it's part of human nature. Most of us, if our core beliefs were stripped away, would go crazy, and for no other reason than we need to feel as though we have a place to begin our thought processes.

[FrogMouth]

Happiness and being right are 2 independant instances, and one doesn't rely on the other.

If you have faith in your convictions, then in your mind you are right. Wether you are happy about your faith is another matter entirely, and totaly on a personal level. And being right in other peoples minds, should have no effect on your happiness.

[Myrtle]

no message.........

[FrogMouth]

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"God does not need to exist in order for the universe to exist or to explain it. There is very little need for God in explananing the nature of the universe and based on the above reasoning, I can conclude to a high degree of probability that God does not exist."

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Lobsters do not need to exist in order for the universe to exist or to explain it. There is very little need for Lobsters in explananing the nature of the universe and based on the above reasoning, I can conclude to a high degree of probability that Lobsters do not exist.

[David Sklansky]

But it would be very unlikely that lobsters exist if none were ever seen. His argumewnt was technically flawed but it is esy to fix.

[FrogMouth]

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But it would be very unlikely that lobsters exist if none were ever seen. His argumewnt was technically flawed but it is esy to fix.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, still doesn't hold water. There are many things in this universe that have not been seen, yet still exist.

Just in my opinion a bad argument.

[Bodhi]

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No, because we can empirically confirm that chickens are not Gods who perform magic.

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This is an experiment I want to see

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Now you put me in the place of Russel trying to prove to Wittgenstein there there is no elephant in the room. He searched the room, opening cupboards, looking under books and desks, saying "is there an elephant here? No. Is there an elephant here? No..."