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is there something wrong with not believing because you don't want to? and what if the reason you don't want to is because you define belief as something that r

is there something wrong with not believing because you don't want to? and what if the reason you don't want to is because you define belief as something that requires evidence in order to practice? i really don't appreciate what you're doing here. I was trying to simply say that everyone has their own path in life, but instead of trying to meet me halfway and understand that, you're telling me that there is an over abundance of evidence for the existence of Jesus (which I will agree, there probably was a guy named Jesus, but hell there were probably a lot and the character of the Christ was most likely a syncretic mix of all of them) compared to that of other religions, but that being said i clearly mentioned that I am an atheist, so the supposed lack of evidence of other religions (which I personally believe doesn't really matter because since when was religion entirely evidence based anyway? faith is the art of believing that which you have no evidence for!) doesn't really change anything in my case. I was more trying to defend other people that you were isolating by making such a claim, and by extension, stress the fact that there is no absolute guarantee that if one submits to Jesus that one will absolutely have a better life. I've met plenty of people who have done so who may pretend to have a better life on the surface but really just have an invisible guy in the sky to point to and say "well this must be your plan so who am I to question it?" anyway, i respect your right to believe what you want, but i think you're living in a really small bubble if you think that Christianity, and specifically the Catholic sect thereof, is the only way to find happiness and comfort in life. it's sorta poisoning the well by outright assuming some specific conclusion is already true and then arguing based on that conclusion without providing evidence to support it. if you have sufficient empirical evidence, maybe you should lead with that rather than suggesting that there is more of it than other religions. burden of proof, etc.

sdegutis 7y ago
Look around you. Nobody is truly happy in life that you've ever met. Not consistently, not genuinely happy. When hard times come, most people buckle. The only people were the Saints. They were happy even during suffering. This is the power of Jesus. Like you said, many people pretend to be happy but are not. The Saints truly are. And as if that wasn't enough testimony of Jesus's resurrection, consider the many miracles that attest to Catholicism. A significant number of undisputed miracles are attributed to the Saints, and Marian apparitions, and Eucharistic miracles, and intercessory miracles. Even in our times! Consider that in our own times, a woman was instantly and miraculously healed of a very deadly internal bleeding by crying out to John Henry Newman for his intercession. A baby dead for 61 minutes came back to life through the intercession of Fulton Sheen. These have been officially verified by medical professionals. There is an overwhelming superabundance of proof for Catholicism. The only reason people make excuses to avoid looking into it is because they know what it means: real change. And they're afraid of change, because they have no faith that God is good and that God's changes to our lives will be good and that God wants good for us. "For no one can draw near to God unless they believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him." Many people believe one or the other, but few people have faith in both.
- ozzmotik 7y ago
  i personally never said anything about being happy. I said pretending to have a better life. just for what it's worth, i don't think that happiness = a better life. if anything, being a slave to happiness is just another mundane chemical attachment that we all allow to control our lives. i get that most people want to be happy and it's easier to convince other people to believe you it you can point to something and say "ah but look how happy it makes me and other people", but unfortunately you're not going to convince me with that. i personally believe that the only way to a better life is in having balance in all things; sadness is just as important as happiness. when you cut one side of the equation off, you cause a decline in homeostasis and your body and mind must react in order to try and get back to balance. as far as miracles, im sorry but I don't believe in magic spells and third party attestations as to their veracity. humans will see and believe what they want to see and believe. and they will do whatever they can to maintain a consistent worldview, even if that means discarding a rational explanation for what happened. as far as God being good, I'm sorry but have you read the old testament? the new testament and the word of the Christ might be the foundational text of Christianity, but the fact of the matter is Yahweh of the new testament is still Yahweh of the old testament. he may have made a new covent with humanity, but imagine some serial killer killed hundreds of people, then suddenly one day said "ok i know I did some bad things but I totally promise that I won't do those things anymore." would you believe him? if not, why would you believe Yahweh meant it? because he gave divine inspiration to people and essentially guided them to write a bunch of propaganda that says "God is good!" despite all the atrocities that were committed in his name and according to his word? need i mention, say, the canaanites and the amalekites? I'm sorry, but God is not good. he is a vengeful, imperfect being who is jealous and even admits it and yet people just ignore that to take what they want from the religion because it suits them. and it's fine if that's what you're doing, just be willing to admit it and accept that if you can do that, then I certainly can just as well take what was said in the Bible as proof that it is nothing more than allegorical and somewhat historical, and made by man to justify the behavior of a very restricted group of individuals.
  - sdegutis 7y ago
    > if anything, being a slave to happiness is just another mundane chemical attachment that we all allow to control our lives. You confuse happiness with comfort and pleasure. This happens to people who have never experienced true happiness. You can't describe color to someone who's blind. > as far as miracles, im sorry but I don't believe in magic spells and third party attestations as to their veracity. humans will see and believe what they want to see and believe. and they will do whatever they can to maintain a consistent worldview, even if that means discarding a rational explanation for what happened. You don't want to believe. That is why you don't believe in facts that are attested to independently by competent medical professionals under oath.

sdegutis 7y ago

Look around you. Nobody is truly happy in life that you've ever met. Not consistently, not genuinely happy. When hard times come, most people buckle. The only people were the Saints. They were happy even during suffering. This is the power of Jesus. Like you said, many people pretend to be happy but are not. The Saints truly are. And as if that wasn't enough testimony of Jesus's resurrection, consider the many miracles that attest to Catholicism. A significant number of undisputed miracles are attributed to the Saints, and Marian apparitions, and Eucharistic miracles, and intercessory miracles. Even in our times! Consider that in our own times, a woman was instantly and miraculously healed of a very deadly internal bleeding by crying out to John Henry Newman for his intercession. A baby dead for 61 minutes came back to life through the intercession of Fulton Sheen. These have been officially verified by medical professionals. There is an overwhelming superabundance of proof for Catholicism. The only reason people make excuses to avoid looking into it is because they know what it means: real change. And they're afraid of change, because they have no faith that God is good and that God's changes to our lives will be good and that God wants good for us. "For no one can draw near to God unless they believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him." Many people believe one or the other, but few people have faith in both.

ozzmotik 7y ago
i personally never said anything about being happy. I said pretending to have a better life. just for what it's worth, i don't think that happiness = a better life. if anything, being a slave to happiness is just another mundane chemical attachment that we all allow to control our lives. i get that most people want to be happy and it's easier to convince other people to believe you it you can point to something and say "ah but look how happy it makes me and other people", but unfortunately you're not going to convince me with that. i personally believe that the only way to a better life is in having balance in all things; sadness is just as important as happiness. when you cut one side of the equation off, you cause a decline in homeostasis and your body and mind must react in order to try and get back to balance. as far as miracles, im sorry but I don't believe in magic spells and third party attestations as to their veracity. humans will see and believe what they want to see and believe. and they will do whatever they can to maintain a consistent worldview, even if that means discarding a rational explanation for what happened. as far as God being good, I'm sorry but have you read the old testament? the new testament and the word of the Christ might be the foundational text of Christianity, but the fact of the matter is Yahweh of the new testament is still Yahweh of the old testament. he may have made a new covent with humanity, but imagine some serial killer killed hundreds of people, then suddenly one day said "ok i know I did some bad things but I totally promise that I won't do those things anymore." would you believe him? if not, why would you believe Yahweh meant it? because he gave divine inspiration to people and essentially guided them to write a bunch of propaganda that says "God is good!" despite all the atrocities that were committed in his name and according to his word? need i mention, say, the canaanites and the amalekites? I'm sorry, but God is not good. he is a vengeful, imperfect being who is jealous and even admits it and yet people just ignore that to take what they want from the religion because it suits them. and it's fine if that's what you're doing, just be willing to admit it and accept that if you can do that, then I certainly can just as well take what was said in the Bible as proof that it is nothing more than allegorical and somewhat historical, and made by man to justify the behavior of a very restricted group of individuals.
- sdegutis 7y ago
  > if anything, being a slave to happiness is just another mundane chemical attachment that we all allow to control our lives. You confuse happiness with comfort and pleasure. This happens to people who have never experienced true happiness. You can't describe color to someone who's blind. > as far as miracles, im sorry but I don't believe in magic spells and third party attestations as to their veracity. humans will see and believe what they want to see and believe. and they will do whatever they can to maintain a consistent worldview, even if that means discarding a rational explanation for what happened. You don't want to believe. That is why you don't believe in facts that are attested to independently by competent medical professionals under oath.