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Do They Really Believe?

We are fully aware of what theists claim to believe, but do they really believe it? We've seen the hypocrisy, and it certainly looks like many do not live in accordance with what they claim to believe. They often attribute this to human imperfection, but I cannot help but wonder if a better explanation might be the incomplete nature of their belief. If they believed - I mean really believed - wouldn't they devote themselves completely to their god? How could they not?

I am suspicious that theists claim to believe certain things more because of social pressures, real or imagined, than because of actual belief. We know full well that faith confers all sorts of social privileges on the faithful. Couldn't this be far more important in driving religion than belief itself?

Tags: belief, faith, religion, theism

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Permalink Reply by Buffy on July 30, 2008 at 11:07pm

The Boy Scouts will not admit atheists, agnostics or gays as scouts or leaders. Granted those who stay "in the closet" can slip in, but anyone who is open about who they are is denied.

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Permalink Reply by Tedster on August 1, 2008 at 11:19pm

When I was 13 I was in Boy Scouts. It felt strange because I wasn't used to being around an institution that incorporated religion as part of its tenets. I also didn't yet accept my sexuality, but I felt very uncomfortable around the homophobia that was ubiquitous.

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Permalink Reply by Undo on July 31, 2008 at 7:53am

Wow. That is a lot of results. Why can't they just let the kids have fun without god? Jesus!

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Permalink Reply by Marc Sacks on July 30, 2008 at 11:11am

I one hundred percent agree with you. Well put.

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Permalink Reply by Az on July 31, 2008 at 2:25am

Luke 6:30. If you want to test whether a Christian really buys into their own dogma that's the verse to hit them with to see if they really accept it.

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Permalink Reply by damian on July 31, 2008 at 6:54pm

I haven't given it much thought, but this is a unique question. I wonder if all the times i was pressured, jumped, yelled at, etc., was because they wanted me to be a part of the club, and not be an outsider. Now that i think about it; the times when i had enough and decided to debate (which is normally a no no for me), they found a way out, and just said that i was angry, or i need to search my soul or something. This way of ending a debate really makes me mad. It's almost like they practice this weaseling out of the issue tactic.

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Permalink Reply by Sarutobi on August 8, 2008 at 11:28am

I cannot quite grasp yet how someone can claim to believe in a religion and not be a fundamentalist. It is not self-coherent to only cherry pick the parts that suits you. If you do believe, you know that you will burn in hell for not adhering to each one of the rules.

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Permalink Reply by funk Q on September 17, 2008 at 6:46am

I used to have a similar opinion but some investigation proved otherwise.

Fundamentalists aren't very different from other theists. There are major parts of the religous tenets and dogmas which they either ignore or refute. Even the the 'perfect' aren't perfect! Their sacred texts are contradictory so you can only expect incoherence from those who claim to believe.

All humans choose what appeals to or suits them according to the circumstances.

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Permalink Reply by LeaT on September 17, 2008 at 7:55am

I know people who strongly believe in god but have adapted it in a more secular view. They more or less took the basics (god, heaven, to be a good person) and ignored the rest. This might maybe arguebly make them more deist than f ex Christian. Regardless, they are believers.

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Permalink Reply by Antonett Ewan on December 8, 2008 at 1:39pm

Well...this is a perfect example of someone who is given an answer to their question and does not accept it.... Why is it so hard to believe that someone can believe in something without entirely living up to it? You would hope that at least that is the one thing respected of the Christian religion...it's okay that we make mistakes.

Evolution is the explanation for the complexity of life....but I cannot help but wonder if a better explanation might be...