Comment by Blue Sage on October 22, 2011 at 5:38pm

This might be what you're looking for :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_helmet

Comment by Doug Reardon on October 22, 2011 at 8:57pm

So typical of someone suffering from delusional disorder.

Comment by Isaac on October 22, 2011 at 9:27pm

If I were going to ask god into my life, I'd want there to be a method of empirically determining his/her/its existence before doing so. Fuck belief without evidence.

 

Burden of proof is on you, David. If there is no evidence for the existence of god, why should anyone believe in god? Faith is not a virtue.

Comment by Nathan Hevenstone on October 22, 2011 at 10:45pm

Um... I think some of you might be misreading David. Granted... it's because the formatting is off... but:

 

"Okay, I don't pretend to be as intelligent as you guys — you're obviously very well read.  But I read the Bible, and nothing you say can convince me that God does not exist.  I feel him in my heart, and you can feel him too, if you'll just ask him into your life.  "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son into the world, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish from the earth." John 3:16."

This is a quote. I'm pretty sure David himself is not saying that. I think the below:

someone needs to do a god damn experiment relating the "feeling of god" to a simple chemical brain function change caused by HOPE. Jesus H Fucking Christ that would be nice. but noooooo it's "immoral" to disprove christianity because (the republican party wouldn't exist without it) God says its wrong!

...is David's response to what he felt is an incredibly stupid comment.

 

David, if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. However, this is how I read your post.

Comment by Kairan Nierde on October 23, 2011 at 1:05am

I also like how that biblical quote concerns salvation but not "feeling" or discerning God's presence in one's life.  Come on Christian!!!

Comment by Tex on October 23, 2011 at 9:36am

I think Nathan is correct, David is just quoting someone. But I do think the quote is typical of many religious people that are anchored to their faith by FEAR, gullibility, and naivety. There I said it, religion is the herding of the FEARFUL. Their affraid they won't live forever in heaven, their afraid they'll burn in hell, their afraid they'll never see those they loved that have pasted before them, so they fight and claw to hang onto beliefs that are contrary to logic, reason and common sense. 

I can remember the day I said out loud I no longer believed in god, a cold chill ran down my spine, even though I had always thought it all sounded like make believe, but after all I had just given up eternity with god. I was no longer going to forsake TRUTH for the COMFORT I received with the promise of the here-after. TRUTH and religion just don't mix, so I took the path to truth, logic and reason and have never looked back, and have never been happier. 

Frankly, and I know this to be a fact, many people are just too weak mentally, there I said it WEAK, to be without their religion, and I have family members that are living proof of this conclusion. If it wasn't their "faith" then it would probably be drugs, alcohol, or some other vise, yes I said VISE.

To me it's no mystery why people believe what they believe and there are many reasons why they got there and why they stay there. Few will be freed from their religious shackles but at the end of the day, it's their life to live as they see fit, and I don't hold anyone's religion against them as long as its peaceful. After all who am I to judge, they've got their God doing that for them.

Comment by Isaac on October 23, 2011 at 12:43pm

If I mistook David for a theist, then my bad and my comment is directed at the theist he is quoting.

Comment by FSM on October 23, 2011 at 1:05pm

A lot of people who believe in a god talk about having the "feeling" that a god exists. There is a lot of neat psychology research out there about the misattribution of emotion (check out Aron and Dutton's research for just one example). Theory suggests that whenever we experience an alteration in physiologcal arousal, we put a cognitive label on that arousal, which can often be inaccurate. If I feel calm and peaceful while saying the rosary, I can apply the cognitive label that god must be giving me this feeling because he is happy with me for saying the rosary. There are many alternative explanations, however. I am sitting quietly and breathing more slowly, I am giving my mind something to focus on instead of ruminating about how angry I am or how worried I am about something in my life, I am taking the time to do something that I find to be a positive experience rather than running myself ragged taking care of everybody else, etc. There can be many positive psychological side effects to religious experiences, none of which require a god to actually exist. (I can go on for a long time about the potential negative side effects of believing in a god, but that's for another post. :))

Comment by John Kelly on October 23, 2011 at 4:36pm

The problem is also that the Bible has a number of passages casting shame on doubt, causing doubt to be a socially unacceptable position in Christian society.  That is a little unrelated, but I think it strengthens what FSM is talking about with triggering the brains reward systems.  It creates another reason to latch onto those feelings.

Comment by David Pietrzak on December 2, 2011 at 6:07am

"Comment by Blue Sageon October 22, 2011 at 5:38pm           Delete Comment

This might be what you're looking for :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_helmet"

 

 

Exactly!

 

I wonder if the spacing will work how I typed it this time... o_O

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