We all have a core of beliefs that we use as scaffolding for the rest of our life, a way to quick and dirty assess our stances or views and organize our belief patterns. For example, if you are atheist which means you don't believe in a god, you will most likely also subscribe to the belief that there is no life after death. If you are a liberal you most likely also believe man is causing global warming. If you are conservative, you most likely support the death penalty. If you are religious or any defining term, that is usually attached to certain adjacent beliefs. Which of those beliefs do you question the most?
I question man being pompous and arrogant, thinking they can justify morality. They talk of atrocities with man killing man, saying it's immoral, but they watch as animals kill themselves all the time. If you truly believe in natural selection, then you should have zero problem with a man killing another man. It is just nature.
I was trying to ask what you doubt about your beliefs, not what you doubt about others beliefs. Me, I am fairly liberal and support a system that distributes wealth and provides a wide net to those less fortunate in our society, healthcare, food stamps, etc. I guess I wonder sometimes if coddling people ends up creating more sad sacks than it helps. This is me doubting my belief. We all have doubts, what are yours?
Well than in that case, I hate the judging from Christians. I think they have this arrogance that they are somehow better than anyone else and they are justified with judging others for either their "lack of belief" or "how they live their lives". I hate when Christians say "Oh that person isn't saved, etc"
But I'll still respond. There is a difference between nihilism and atheism. Nihilism is the belief that nothing matters, so kill pillage and rape to your hearts content. Atheism just means you don't believe in God. But I still believe in mankind. I know what pain is, I know what heartbreak is, evolution has created a thinking, feeling creAture in me. I have empathy and hurting others makes me feel rotten. I have killed, pillaged and raped every person I have wanted to, and that number is zero. I personally worry more about the people who only do good for the same of god.
I consider myself an "atheist" in that I don't believe that there is an anthropomorphic, all-power deity pulling the puppet strings of the universe from a golden throne in the clouds, but within that framework of beliefs I do find myself wondering about "first cause" and if there might be some metaphysical "intelligence" or forces at play. But I'm mostly content with the knowledge that I'll never have the answer to that question.
I don't believe in the supernatural due to lack of evidence but I am inclined to have an expectation for life (or previous life) existing outside our planet with precious little evidence for that, either. Does that count as cognitive dissonance?
The Earth environment most closely resembling the current conditions of Mars is that of the Antarctic deserts. However, even the most hostile environments on Earth are far more suitable for life than the surface of Mars.
It's funny to think Mars is so close. I think the closest distance on the various orbits is around 35.8 million miles away. That is a huge consideration when we can see great climate differences in just a few thousand miles.
When I am exhausted from 2 hours of psychically willing the Blazers' every play, and now in the last seconds, I focus even more, yelling at the morons to do something right, with every fiber of my being concentrated on a desired outcome, shooting laser beams from my eyes to the pixels on the screen to organize each player's movement...and they lose...I question all my central beliefs. To feel better, I then get on this board and easily manipulate the thoughts of all you fools. My central beliefs are reinforced and I return to my normal omnipotence.
That's my fault! I don't know what they should be doing, so I don't tell them to do anything but "score" or "pass"
I too get the impression that Mags isn't picking up on the real theme here. But we know that he has changed his belief that evolution may be real, and that the world most likely is not just 6000 years old. I think he changed his mind within the last year or two because of S2. So that is quite some "doubts in beliefs he holds dear."
I know a lot of Christians that feel the same as me. I will admit that a lot of Christians do think in this way though. Maybe 70% of Christians I know think that way.
This thread is about your feelings and beliefs. Completely forget about other Christians. Which of your own beliefs do you doubt the most?
Another area I doubt at times is I am a believer in physics, and yet I had a weird incident when I was 16 that made me at that time believe in Psychokinesis or telekinesis. Moving something with my mind instead of inertia. As time passed, I have convinced myself that the incident was just a really weird coincidence. But doubt sometimes creeps in and for fleeting moments I wonder if I have some special ability. Then I shudder thinking about buying a crystal necklace and return to reality.
That God is like us. Creating us in his own image. Probably the biggest thing for me. I actually view God like this pure conscious energy. I think out souls are the same type of pure energy and when we leave our body, we won't look like ourselves in a sense.
Believe it or not; I've seen ghosts on several occasions. And it wasn't something manifesting or shit like that. I watch my coach actually throw itself across the room and my kids toys turn on when I even took out the batteries. Maybe that's why I believe in the supernatural so much