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Power of Belief - When you think about it, no actual god is required
- Thread starter Rhea
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Thomas II
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Strength, fortitude, and love...
TomC
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I know few if any people who just do "Faith in God" for much benefit. Usually such Faith comes with a community. A community that is sincerely supportive, but not dysfunctionally enabling.
That community might also hold to some unsupported beliefs that bind them together. But that's not terribly important. It's the community itself.
Tom
Elixir
Made in America
There have been studies of trauma victims where faster recovery rates from major injuries correlated with people’s faith.
The sticky part of those findings for the religious is that it did not seem to matter what that faith was in. This god, that god, themselves, a golden calf, Donald Fucking Trump - none of those faiths were broken out, so no; it doesn’t appear that prayers help people recover faster from traumatic injury. But the patient’s faith that they shall be healed does seem to help, and it’s not hard to surmise how some actual physiological effects might arise from that belief.
To me, this raises the question about whether delusion can be a functional asset that can be deployed without being otherwise harmful.
Thomas II
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It's all delusion, so whatever works for you...If Jesus works for you, fine...If Buddha works for you, fine!
Whatever gives you strength, fortitude and love is FINE!
And that's what I'm sending you (and all)... Strength, fortitude, and love...
TomC
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While I definitely appreciate your sentiment here, there's a dark side to it as well. As human history has made very clear.
I don't know if Voltaire really said this or not, but:
"Who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
is attributed to him. And it's true.
Much of the most horrific behavior humans have ever indulged in was supported, in their minds, by God. Global genocide, slavery, every imaginable kind of oppression has been supported by some version of Faith.
Tom
Thomas II
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TomC
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Elixir got what I was saying...We're probably older than you...
You'll get there...
I'll be 65 next month.
I'm pretty hardened.
Tom
bilby
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It seems rather strange not to believe in oneself.
Particularly if one owns a mirror.
Particularly if one owns a mirror.
TomC
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Or the OP, apparently.
Tom
Learner
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I see the phrase of the OP in a similar way. Just like saying...
You don't have to be Christian to do good things - being a good 'Samaritan'.
You don't have to be Christian to do good things - being a good 'Samaritan'.
Thomas II
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The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Isn't that a great parable? Amen to that!
Jimmy Higgins
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mattsidedish
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It's gotta be more in the human brain than anything. Keeping yourself focused on a mindset of positivity, calmness and some kind of contentment has to be more beneficial in times where you're trying to cope with a loss, focus on meeting goals, overcome adversity at work, etc. I've always said that if there was any positive aspect to modern religion as I know it, it would have to be the (and I should emphasize for the most part) general attitude of positivity, love, acceptance (well, it's supposed to) and a certain kind of drive to meet goals. I think religious founders who were pivotal to writing texts, making up rules and details of its supposed history, etc., used this to create a mirage of validation among its constituents.
I may be wording this differently than I intend to, but it has always seemed to me that making your bandwagon seem more moral or generally positive would entice people to join more often.
I may be wording this differently than I intend to, but it has always seemed to me that making your bandwagon seem more moral or generally positive would entice people to join more often.
TomC
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Years ago, I rewrote this as "The Parable of the good Nigger"
I'll paraphrase, it was a long time ago.
A traveling salesman, a white guy, ran out of gas on a deserted country road late one evening. Some locals beat the crap out of him, put some gas in the car and stole it. Left him for dead.
A cop drove by and saw him. "Fuckin drunks" as he drove on. A preacher drove by and saw him. "I gotta keep driving or I'll be late for the Revival", and kept driving.
A poor black man came by in his rickety pickup. He pulled over. He felt bad for the guy. He put the salesman in the back of his truck and drove to his baby momma house.
"Sweetie, I'm gonna be late for work. Can you make this guy some soup or something? I'll be back after my shift."
Tom
bilby
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Issac Asimov wrote "Lost in Non-Translation" about this exact issue, focusing on the book of Ruth and the pointlessness of a story about a Moabite woman, for an audience who don't have any problems with the Moabites coming here taking our jobs and our women, stinking up the place with their Moabite restaurants, and generally causing trouble.
For that matter, when was the last time you heard someone saying that they were worried that property prices would fall now that all those damn lazy good for nothing Samaritans have moved into the area?