Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dave G on April 4, 2009 at 10:17pm

In my case, I've always been interested in science, even when I was a believer, but I do know what you are talking about. Curiosity is often discouraged, with the general impression being given that asking questions (particularly questions about the religion's beliefs) is sinful.

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Permalink Reply by Pixy Giggles on April 5, 2009 at 12:10am

I really enjoy science, now, a lot more, too. I'm not so sure that it is belief in god, necessarily, that deterred me from science; but more the actual teachings of the Bible because girls just weren't encouraged into the sciences as much as boys were at my high school. I consider this a direct result of the teachings from the Bible that women are subservient to men. My freshman biology teacher was the worst of all of my science teachers with this type of attitude. Needless to say, I don't even remember evolution ever being discussed in his class, lol.

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Permalink Reply by Nivek on August 17, 2009 at 5:27pm

I've always enjoyed science, but now I don't need to be bothered with pseudo-science (the great flood, existence of Christ and his family, etc.). I now have more cycles free to explore truth. Congrats on your "conversion"!

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Permalink Reply by April on November 22, 2009 at 12:00pm

I think so. When you have faith, you are scared of finding anything to counter it or make you doubt your faith. I de-converted pretty young, but I can remember hating science class in 8th grade, because it made it hard to keep my faith in God. I was pretty much an atheist by the time I got into high school (or at least on the road to it), and I remember my interest in science growing when I stopped identifying myself as a christian.

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Permalink Reply by Kat Sullivan on November 22, 2009 at 6:46pm

Thanks guys for your replies. Let me add my own two cents on the question I asked. I think that a belief in God squashes our curiosity for the world around us because there is much less to wonder about when you think you already know how "it" was made or why something is the way that it is. ...the answer for the faithful is always going to be God. Believers think instead about what a marvelous creator he is..."oh how God's glory is displayed so beautifully in the colors of that tropical fish!"

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Permalink Reply by Philip Laureano on November 22, 2009 at 9:07pm

Who needs science when you can have a "god of the gaps" to fill in the gaps of information? The more curious you get, the more likely you are to question the belief in a god. In my case, curiousity didn't kill this cat--it made the cat an Atheist, and that's exactly how I like it. :)

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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on November 22, 2009 at 9:09pm

Yes... if "god did it" satisfies you... then... why ask any more questions... you wouldn't have to.

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Permalink Reply by Kirk Holden on December 29, 2009 at 7:22pm

Science is all about uncertainty -- faith is all about certainty.

I was always a light to moderate believer. I accepted evolution but believed that it could still be inspired or guided by a prime mover. Then, while in a totally unrelated adult Sunday School class, some pin-head went off on a rant about "the argument from design" and mentioned Paley's watchmaker. It was such a blunt attack against reason that I was moved to read Stephen Gould's "Wonderful Life" and "Full House". Even though he left some wiggle room with non-overlapping magisteria, I could see the impact of the directionless trajectory of natural selection.

I was still setting on the fence until I read "The Selfish Gene" and then "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". It finally sunk in that any belief in the supernatural destroyed understanding of the natural.

The belief in god or any aspect of the supernatural will always, ceaselessly and without fail lead the believer to a solid, curiously certain, persistently corrosive logical fallacy. These supernatural detours always come to a dead end. The dead ends exist to support certainty.

Science will always lead to fallacy as well but the fallacies of science are never dead-ends. Subsequent examination of new data falsifies the theory built around the old data but results in a new, superior theory (pending its falsification and on and on). Science lives happily with uncertainty -- faith does not. Faith is an infinite regress from uncertainty and truth.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Maison on June 10, 2013 at 1:14pm

YES. It did in my case. Like any child, I was curious who needed answers for questions. As I got involved into watching space, I became more interested, I never felt any special connection to god ergo it didn't bother me if I said, "god didn't created us, evolution has the answers." The stories of god I was being told were fun and fascinating but not believable. There was a point in my life, in fourth grade, when I asked my teacher, "how was the moon created?" she answered, "god made it." It bothered me that she didn't gave me a definite answer and why gave such an explanation, as if she put off my curiosity on hold. 

I questioned the existence of god more as I grew older and nobody liked it, they said I wasn't supposed to ask such things and that it was sinful. This was really upsetting and it is probably the major reason that why I drifted away from religion.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on June 10, 2013 at 1:26pm

While never a believer, I have two thoughts on this:

i) My belief through much of my life is that one of the major benefits certain religions was to limit the ability to ask 'why?' for people who cannot spend all day standing around asking 'why?'. We have lots of liesure time to stop and ponder these days, but much of human existence probably involved a lot more toiling to ensure survival. Getting hung up on what the purpose of life is, or what happens after we die could very well be problematic if it becomes depressing or obsessive.

ii) My passion in pursuing science also took a dive at one point in my life. I mostly just found the school system limiting and it crushed a lot of my natural urge to explore. Some of it may have been due to age as well. Once I was out of school, my urger to learn and explore rose considerably again. So, even without belief in a god, I may have had similar experiences.

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