• Play-doh
    9
    I believe that there is a fallacy in believing that one's childhood religious beliefs are wrong simply because those were the beliefs instilled in us when we were young. I agree with John Hick wherein one should be suspicious of instilled religious beliefs. This does not mean, though, that I advocate for turning away from those beliefs simply because of the suspicion; I think it is important to question the beliefs that you were raised in and come to the conclusion yourself to decide whether or not you truly believe it. Continuing from this, I am not saying that if one chooses to change their beliefs from that of their childhoods that they must turn away from religion completely. There are other denominations of religions (and other religions) to explore that may more align with the beliefs you hold currently. Different Christian dominations also have different ways for adults to reaffirm their childhood religious beliefs—for Catholics, there's Confirmation, and in other denominations, there are baptisms or second baptisms—showing that these institutions themselves encourage a questioning to make sure these beliefs are truly the ones for you.

    Individually, the different variations of the “Elsewhere, Elsewhen” objection I’ve come across are weak in nature. Xenophanes of Colophon's, for example, claims that different animals (if they were able to have the capacity for it) would describe God differently—as looking similarly to them (ex. a horse would imagine God as horse-looking). This, however, does not disprove the fact that God could exist. God could be interpreted differently based on the circumstances. As with Christians and Muslims, their "God" is different in practice and doctrines, but could possibly be the same God. Depending. The same could be said about the lion God and the horse God and the oxen God. And God is depicted as human by humans, but God could not even look like us. Xenophanes is right in that fact that we draw God to better appeal and relate to us. However, Dante in Paradiso depicts God as simply light—a trinity of light and fire. There is no shape to God, but we interpret God as we see fit. In the end, we worship "God" how we choose to, and simply because certain practices are different doesn't mean we do not ultimately pray to, worship, and respect the same deity.
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    I was raised an atheist. I'm happy to stick with that.
  • CFR73
    5

    It seems like you are giving an argument similar to the one as follows:
    1. If there are many ways to see God and practice worshipping him, then it must be that God manifests himself in these many different ways for whatever form is being used and practiced.
    2. There are many ways to see God and practice worshipping him, given the numerous amount of different religions in the world.
    3. Thus, God manifests himself in these many different ways for whatever form is being used and practiced.

    I think this is something similar to what you were trying to say in regards to the "Elsewhere, elsewhere" objection in your last paragraph. In regards to this argument, I think one of these premises to be false, namely premise 1. It does not seem like the most plausible answer to me to conclude that in light of there being so much religious diversity and many ways to worship and practice religion it then must be the same God manifesting himself in different ways for each different manner that he is seen or worshipped. Instead of solving the problem of everyone seeing God differently by saying that everyone is in fact correct in their ow n way, why can't it be that everyone is simply wrong? Or that there is only 1 (or a few select) religion(s) that is correct and that the rest have skewed view of God? It seems like assuming first that there is indeed a God and that second he is the same God being worshipped by everyone is a stretch of a solution to explain religious diversity and different ways people worship in the world. There are other options to be considered that I think are initially more plausible to go towards in light of this issue, so I think that premise 1 is false in that it immediately rules these other options out without addressing them.
  • OmniscientNihilist
    171
    dont start with god idea and then see if you can prove or disprove it

    start with nihilism. and dont go anywhere until each step beyond it is proven
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