The need to question vs. the need to believe
Every time I receive an e-mail from someone religious, I have this mental picture of a great toggle switch located in the human brain. This switch can be set to one of two positions:
- The need to question (because it is natural)
- The need to believe (because it is comfortable)
I suppose that when we are born, the switch is set to The need to question by default. As we grow older, and are exposed to religious (or even other) ideology, the switch either toggles over to The need to believe, or stays put in the default position. Sometimes, some of us are able to overcome the mind virus that causes the switch over, and manage to re-set the switch back to its default position; however a great majority are only too happy to remain switched over to The need to believe.
The latest example of people afflicted with this unnatural switch position, was provided to me by the sender of an e-mail this weekend, titled God is Great, which purportedly portrays photographs of natural formations, and further asserts in the contents that, We Serve An Awesome God. Obviously this was not the work of the sender, but of someone else; however the sender displayed his Need to believe, by forwarding without any scrutiny:
god's teddy bear
Even a cursory examination would lead a person to question the photograph; a person who has his switch set to The need to question, that is. So, I questioned, and pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. I found the photograph below which should always accompany this one, as a set.
Apparently god's rabbit
Fact: the above two photographs are stills taken from the 2001 French film, Amelie, and are exposed as fakes by Snopes.com. The simple truth is that the original composer, by not including this photograph in the God is Great e-mail, either intended to deliberately mislead (as a prank), or deliberately lie to promote his religious cause, knowing that there are willing people out there, switched to The need to believe.
Consider the following example, also contained in the e-mail, and which I have exposed in a previous post. The original is the one further below, without the “hands.” And surprise! Does not appear in the mail.
god's hands (allegedly)
Un-doctored cloud photograph
Finally, this photograph which accompanied the other two exposed (no pun intended) photographs above, is so obvious, it just screams “I am fake, stupid.”
Supposedly, god's sleeping cat
So, tell me, which way is your switch toggled; The need to question or The need to believe?
Find out what's on my mind
fede said…
Hi Lenny , I am a Christian , what is your thoughts on intelligent design , there are many scienctist who beleive that all that exist came from it.” My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind ” – Albert Einstein – Please don’t think I’m trying to be sarcastic I realy would like to know. Thank you
Hi Febe, thanks for re-posting your comment here.
What can I say about intelligent design (ID) that hasn’t already been said? I’ll get straight to it then. ID is creationism all dressed up for the modern age. ID is one of the greatest frauds perpetrated on man. No real scientist would subscribe to this ideology; only psuedo-scientists who are in the employ of religious apologetic organizations such as Answers in Genesis (AIG) and The Templeton Foundation, or clerics.
If you would really like to learn the true facts about ID, Google TalkOrigins or TalkReason or The Panda’s Thumb. You will find a wealth of scientific and other information there, that your Pastor would certainly not share with you.
Your quotation from Einstein is often used by creationists to mischievously portray ID as scientific; the theory is that if Einstein, probably the world’s most recognizable scientist, believed in god, then science can be used to prove the creation myth. The quotation you provide above is often mis-interpreted to mean that he was expressing a belief in a superior power. However if you read other quotations by Einstein, he makes his belief quite clear. Here are a few other quotes which will put what I have said in perspective:
“It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.” Einstein said this in a letter dated March 24, 1954.
“I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own–a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism.” – Albert Einstein.
Hope this answers your question; I apologise though if I came across as somewhat rude.
What do you mean ” no real scientist ” ? I’m a little con.fuse also , I know Eistein Did not believe in Jesus Christ , but by his statement he had to believe in a Intelligent Being that started it all .
A real scientist does not spend his time trying to prove or disprove the existence of god; he is engaged in rational, tangible science, based in reality. A pseudo-scientist is a person who may be qualified in one or more fields of science, but spends his time with ridiculous pursuits such as intelligent design and biblical archaeology. His concern is not with furthering the ambitions of humankind as a whole, but only in furthering the ambitions of his employers, that is the Church or clergy or religious apologetic organizations. I think this is clear enough.
In the quote, Einstein was merely expressing his awe at nature, only he referred to nature as “the illimitable superior spirit.” And nature does not equate to god.
Lenny,
I was curious. Why do you (or do you) believe in evolution?
I don’t believe in evolution as some sort of religion; which it most certainly isn’t. I accept evolution as a scientific fact, because the evidence presented is verifiable, and in fact is confimed with each new scientific discovery in fields other than biology.
Hi Lenny , Does it make the definition of science true to it’s meaning if you don’t believe in intelligent design . What is the distinguishing difference in a intelligent designer or natural selection, when it comes to science . it’s still science,” A need to Question ” DNA is still DNA if God created it or natural selection is the reason for it’s existence . I still would like to understand it’s mystery. Febe
Intelligent design is not science; we refer to it as pseudo-science. ID is an abomination masquerading as science, and promoted by pseudo-scientists, not real scientists. ID in fact flagrantly violates all the rules of science. Please check out the websites I referred you to. I am no scientist; I pass social commentary on irrational thinking, so please be guided by the scientists on these sites.
Hi lenny’ are you saying that when you become a Christian , the need to question switch turns off or before becoming a Christian ?
Hi Febe, I’m not singling out Christianity. I mean that the toggle switch is set to the “need to believe” position when you embrace any religion.
And I’m not talking about ordinary questioning; I’m talking about critical thinking, something that dies a slow death when religion is embraced.
Put in another way, if you don’t embrace religion or other irrational ideologies, then your switch is set to the “need to question” position.
Hi lenny , I was wondering what fields of science are you talking of ? You said you” accept evolution as a scientific fact “, do all non ID. scientist believe this, or that it’s just a theory that there try.ing to prove ? You also said , ” ID is an abomination masquerading as science , and promoted by pseudo-scientist , not real scientist” I found this information ,Professor Henry F. (Fritz) Schaefer is one of the most distinguished physical scientists in the world. The U.S. News and World Report cover story of December 23, 1991 speculated that Professor Schaefer is a “five time nominee for the Nobel Prize.” He has received four of the most prestigious awards of the American Chemical Society, as well as the most highly esteemed award (the Centenary Medal) given to a non-British subject by London’s Royal Society of Chemistry. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Moreover, his general interest lectures on science and religion have riveted large audiences in nearly all the major universities in the U.S.A. and in Beijing, Berlin, Budapest, Calcutta, Cape Town, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Paris, Prague, Sarajevo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sofia, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Tokyo, Warsaw, Zagreb, and Zürich.
For 18 years Dr. Schaefer was a faculty member at the University of California at Berkeley, where he remains Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus. Since 1987 Dr. Schaefer has been Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Computational Chemistry at the University of Georgia.
There are lots of people like Schaefer, respected scientists who are believers in God and very often, creationists. I am going to make such posts a bit more often to continually expose their existence and recent thoughts so that the evolutionists cannot continue to pretend that creation scientists are either almost non-existent, or incompetent .What are your thoughts on this? Also how is your cousin ?
Hi Febe,
Many fields of science provide corroborating evidence for evolution, viz. geology, paleontology, genetics.
Sounds like you don’t undertsand what a theory is: Creationists use the term “theory” loosely as a synonym for “speculative proposal” or a “mere guess”. However in scientific circles, the word “theory” has a specialized meaning which is much stronger and not to be confused with its colloquial meaning in everyday use by the layman. The word “theory” as used by scientists designates a wide explanatory framework that has reached the highest standard of confirmation by factual evidence. When scientists talk about mere conjecture, they use the word “hypothesis”. In the words of Zoologist, Tim Berra: “A scientific theory is the endpoint of the scientific method, often the foundation of an entire field of knowledge, and is not to be confused with the sort of “theory” we so easily propose in everyday conversation”. (Berra 1990:4) [Source: Defender’s Guide to Science and Creationism, http://vuletic.com/hume/cefec/7-11.html. Mark I Vuletic, Ph.D]
I suggest you visit the Answers in Genesis website (a Christian organization) which advises (quite rightly) against some of the arguments you are using.
Coming back to Professor Henry F. (Fritz) Schaefer: He is not qualified in the field of bilogical sciences, from whence the evolutionary theory originated. Further, as an employee of the Discovery Institute ( a religious apologist organization), his ideas concerning evolution are suspect, and his peers at the very university where he apparently teaches, have very little regard for him. [You can visit this website for more information]
In fact the Discovery Institute remains accused of over-exagerating Henry F. (Fritz) Schaefer’s credentials. You can do the research on this; there are plenty of online resources questioning his credentials.
Febe, I suggest you do much more research, because you seem to glibly accept the first bit of information you find confirming your religuious bias, as gospel.
Hi lenny , Thanks for honest anwers you have given me . I am a christian , and I do believe in God , and in his Son, I know this sounds crazy to you , but I’v always believed since I was a kid. I can’t understand how a big bang started it all .How did the star or whatever you call it get there in space in the first place ? How did it start or who started it .It’s hard to believe also that all ID scientist are pseudo ,because it’s coming from a bias source .I’v been reading a book called,The Case For A Creator , authered by Lee Strobel he was an atheist but has come to the faith . He Interviews a lot of scientist who explain away lot of the theorys taught by evolutionist . As you can see I am a novice at science , but I hope to have a greater understanding of both camps.
Hi Febe,
While it is commendable that you have the inclination to search for answers to vexing questions, your choice of resources remain uncritical and religious apologetic in nature. If you are truly interested in finding answers, you need to widen your reading base to include sources that are critical, skeptical or unbiased.
Every single one of the authors or supposed scientists you have quoted in our discussions have been exposed as quacks, liers, christian apologists or worse. Lee Strobel is no different. His claim of being a former atheist is laughable. Consider that all children are born atheists, before they are indoctrinated by their parents/family into the culture/religion they are born into.
In his book, The Case for a Creator, Lee claims to be “neutral and scientifically rigorous.” However he did not interview a single scientist who is opposed to ID. In fact, those he did interview, have doctorates in philosophy or theology, rather than science. Please refer to this website Case Against Faith where an extensive list of resources are provided which debunk Lee Strobel and his book.
It sounds like you have not completed reading this book yet, so I’m sorry to throw a wet blanket on your reading fun. However, I encourage you to complete your reading and then analyse what you have read crictically, using the resources I have listed.
Hey Lenny, How have you been? It’s Hard for someone who is not born again to believe in God .You can’t understand the ways of God With out believing first. It’s not man’s understanding ,but God revealing Himself to man by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to a person when he surrenders his life to Jesus Christ……..Here is some scripture… 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]”
4″How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9″How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10″You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e]
16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”[h]
1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”[b]— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.[c] 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16″For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?”[d] But we have the mind of Christ. Critical thinking-
The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. …
. …You are not born again ,But I am ,I’ve Lived my life with out God, and with God and my intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from, generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, communication, as a guide to my belief and action I stand fully convinced That there is a God and that he created all things.
Hi Febe, it’s been awhile, hope you did some of that research I was talking about.
The problem with a lot of theists is that they take “belief in god” as the starting point to their world-view. What about first having the evidence to support your belief? I have been told many times by Christians especially that they have some sort of (paranormal) experience which sets them on the path to believing that some supernatural entity out there was resposnsible for it. What about exploring other reasons for the experience before settling on the easiest one – goddidit?
Actually, I am born again – I used to be religious just like you; believing all sorts of crazy things. The process of being born again was initially slow, but then the full force of rational and critical thinking hit me. I began to see the wonders of nauture in a new light – a light not tainted by irrational and superstitious beliefs. Yes, I was also born again…
Hi Lenny , “What about first having the evidence to support your belief?” Where is your evidence there is no God ? And that this world was made without Him .There is no science that can prove there is no God…….The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the Universe that is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation.[1][2] As used by cosmologists, the term Big Bang generally refers to the idea that the Universe has expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past (currently estimated to have been approximately 13.7 billion years ago[3]), and continues to expand to this day. If natural selection put it all together, then who is the brain behind it? WHO STARTED IT? You don’t have the answer , but we christian do, Because our believe in God is not because we need to hold on to something so our lifes have more meaning ,but because He revealed Himself to us.How do men change from such wicked lives that they use to live , With out some external power .And this power is real!
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