Is there any value in belief in God? - Beliefnet
ExploringInside:
"What is the value of a belief in God?
The most obvious values concerning a belief in God include conformity to social mores, strengthening of a sense of community, psychological benefits including the sense of personal power, and increased satisfaction from the internal perception of the expansion of knowledge.
What needs does the belief in God address?
Within Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, Safety Needs are addressed directly and indirectly by belief in God. God is identified as the Protector and Guardian of his flock, the unstoppable foe of enemies, source for miracles of all kinds, etc. Love/Belonging/Social Needs are also addressed directly and indirectly by belief in God. God’s grouping of humans is characterized as a “Church;” membership is claimed to earn one God’s love; etc.
How does belief benefit/improve a person?
Belief can be a bridge out of the quagmire of low self-esteem. The belief that one has the benefit of an infallible Guide can instill the confidence to act rather than remain immobilized due to fear of failure or misfortune. Belief “socializes” a person and helps connect them to a support group outside their immediate family.
God is not required to objectively exist to provide benefit to the believers
The idea of God is more powerful than an actual existence of a being: the non-existent God is not required to conform to reality; supernatural qualities, reports of miracles and anecdotes of His supposed exploits are beyond the reach of falsification; His supposed revelations need only happen to His representatives to earn authority: He is not required to meet anyone’s expectations and is not required to conform to any moral code, not even His own."
J'C: This deserves to be rescued from the train wreck don't bother with the link. Please note the critical fact in the last paragraph. The existence of God supernatural, natural, or at all is irrelevant to the benefits of God to believers and non-believers alike. If God makes my neighbor a happier, better integrated, more productive and better socialized person, I am still looking for the downside, for my neighbor and for me.
I do not live in a vacuum, I am dependent on my neighbors at the very least to keep the street a safe and welcoming place for visitors and my children as they walk to school. They produce goods and services that I need, and if they were in that quagmire of low self esteem either because of low capabilities, or incorrectly evaluating those capabilities they would be unable to produce for society. They consume goods and services that support my society providing the critical mass of consumption that makes the goods and services I need affordable. Many of them provide social, artistic, and intellectual support for me through my contacts with them at work, in the stores, in leisure activities, and even in their church if I can wrangle an invitation as a respectful guest.
Next year in Jerusalem
1 week ago
3 comments:
I am preparing for the comming backlash after starting a new thread in the AD Board with these observations on God beliefs.
Your argument for tolerance of God beliefs is good. The obvious counterarguments will arise. The counterargument that tugs on my sense of empathy is the one concerning active discrimination by theists that is focussed upon non-theists. A declaration of Atheism in most Islamic countries will get a person dead in a hurry.
As long as the theist does not expand their belief into the delusion too far, it is usually harmless to others. Figuring out where "too far" is, is another task, altogether.
Another thought:
Your case for the coexistence of persons having various and often opposing religious viewpoints makes good sense from the social and economic perspectives. I believe this coexistence is only possible where it is protected and preserved by law, voluntary compliance and formal enforcement when voluntary compliance is temporarily broken.
Human hormones and pheremones have no religions; when the Romeo and Juliet stories arise in a mixed religious society it creates a friction and tension that often rattles social order. As the individual religious societies "line up behind their member," conflicts occur. If the number of unresolved conflicts of any kind reach critical mass, one group lobs SCUD missiles at the other group.
Discrimination, is as you point out a social not a religious issue. Even if the discrimination is part and parcel of the religion. The solution is to make discrimination socially unacceptable on a global level which unfortunately may involve SCUDs. WWII was not a religious war but the issues were the same.
I wonder how long Israel will tolerate Iranian nuclear posturing, and how long on the secular level China will tolerate North Korea and the Taliban. It will certainly be ugly and the fallout fierce, but evolution doesn't really care. Socially dysfunctional religious beliefs get cut no slack by evolution.
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