"God" is Just a Chemical Reaction in the Brain (Buddhists, Mormonism)
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Leaving the different religious etc. aside for a moment…
The argument that God must not exist because the same chemicals released in the brain while ‘receiving’ the Holy Spirit/Ghost are the same as those released by drugs or sex etc., does not quite work for disproving the existence of God.
Why? What you are describing is a reaction by the brain to something.
If I feel all warm and fuzzy inside after looking at my cute kittens, that part of my brain may light up. It doesn’t mean the kittens don’t exist though— just that that was my physiological reaction to the kittens.
Now if I’m hallucinating that I saw kittens, my brain will still likely light up. However, I know what kittens are, have had experience with kittens— kittens do exist. I’m reacting to something real.
I’m not trying to prove or disprove the existence of God in this post—- just analyzing the argument
You sound like a pretty intelligent individual, Apolona. however, your comparison of God to kittens leaves me bewildered. I can hold kittens in my lap. I can see them. I can feel them. They respond to my stroking with purrs. With God i cannot see him, I cannot hear him, I cannot smell him, I get no reaction from him when I pray. For all intents and purposes, God doesn't exist.
If you're feeling all warm and fuzzy after praying to God, and science tells you that is just dopamine and endorphins that were generated by the belief you were interacting with God, why not just believe the study's finding: that God had nothing to do with it; it's just a biological process that evolved over a million years of evolution for humans to need a belief in a God and that the brain is reacting in a very biological way to spiritual stimulation?
Why not ask, "If God is spiritual, then why a physical reaction?"
So if we analyze the world’s population in the light of your OP, can we conclude that Atheists are a small portion of world’s population who have this brain abnormality for not having this chemical reaction in their brains?
Should there be more research to find a cure to treat this brain disorder so that the minority group of Atheists can start feeling normal like the rest of the world population?
I completely miss the premise of your post, Cardinals. Sorry.
You sound like a pretty intelligent individual, Apolona. however, your comparison of God to kittens leaves me bewildered. I can hold kittens in my lap. I can see them. I can feel them. They respond to my stroking with purrs. With God i cannot see him, I cannot hear him, I cannot smell him, I get no reaction from him when I pray. For all intents and purposes, God doesn't exist.
If you're feeling all warm and fuzzy after praying to God, and science tells you that is just dopamine and endorphins that were generated by the belief you were interacting with God, why not just believe the study's finding: that God had nothing to do with it; it's just a biological process that evolved over a million years of evolution for humans to need a belief in a God and that the brain is reacting in a very biological way to spiritual stimulation?
Why not ask, "If God is spiritual, then why a physical reaction?"
Were did God ever say He is to be found in sentiment?
you think believing in God means you won't be successful in life. You must know of the multitude of successful people who believe in God. May I share few with you?
Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Econet Wireless. He's a telecom communications leader and the richest man in Zimbabwae. And also a Christian. Not only has he built a multi-billion dollar company, he co-runs a charity that provides food, education and healthcare for over 28K children. Very big on philanthropy and generosity to the less fortunate.
Then there's Cher Wang. CEO of HTC Corp. She earned her masters degree in economics and founded HTC in '97, a company that built the first notebook. She and her partners later switched to cellphones because she saw their future potential.
Her Christian faith was a significant factor in her personal and business life, declaring that "Jesus tells us you have to work hard."
Another Christian woman and self-made millionaire is Madam C J Walker. First woman to design a line of hair care products specifically for African American women. This was in 1909 when women, especially women of color weren't well received in business or in live. A truly remarkable woman, a devout Christian and a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her company, Walker Manufacturing was quite successful during the early part of the 20th century and then later shut its doors in 1980.
Of course, you remember John D. Rockefeller. Not much to say about this man that hasn't been said or written. His name is synonymous with success and wealth. He was also a devout Christian and another who lived a life of philanthropy. By the time he died, he had given away over 500 million dollars of his wealth to those in need.
So I don't quite understand why you think believing in God or being a person of faith inhibits you from becoming successful in life or in some way holds you back. Maybe I misinterpreted your meaning and if so, I'm terribly sorry. The thing I find most peculiar however is why, now that you decided God doesn't exist and He's nothing more than a chemical reaction in one's brain, you feel the need to spend so much time extrapolating that belief in a religion/spirituality forum.
If I had shaken loose of something that was burdening me for so long and was finally set free, I'd be doing a lot of other things more enjoyable and where I didn't think about it any longer. You like Karl Marx. Maybe studying more about the man and his mission. Of course, it's your choice to do so, it just makes me wonder why. What's the purpose?
This is what I mean about Christians being woefully ignorant of stuff they post without researching what they are talking about.
Mars, you call John D Rockefeller a devout Christian. Do you even know what that means? Did you know that Rockefeller was one of the most ruthless businessmen of the 19th century? Did you know
"To crush his competitors, Rockefeller would create a shortage of the railroad tank cars that transported oil. He'd then buy up all the barrels on the market so his competitors would have no place to store or ship their oil. He bought up all the available chemicals that were necessary to refine oil."
And that was only ONE of the dirty underhanded business practices he employed. Some Christian!
If Rockefeller was devout at anything it was mercilessly screwing everyone and everything that stood in his way of being the wealthiest oil man in the world.
To call ruthless business people Christians means nothing in today's two and three-faced world.
What I don't want to see is a young person bound for a career in medical research in curing cancer just by happenstance stumbling onto a mentally disturbed fanatical crackpot like John Piper and being lulled into losing that ambition to cure cancer by Piper's deceptive silver tongue and instead start planning to go to Bible college and become an evangelist spreading Piper's brand of poison around the world solely because he had the bad misfortune to tune into Piper's TV show one night and fell under Piper's snake oil pitch of leaving friends and family behind for Jesus.
I want to assure young people lurking in here that snake oil salesmen like Piper and MacArthur and Franklin and others of their ilk are dangerous degenerate nutjobs who are capable of leading ordinary good wholesome people into their deluded madcap world of mythical men gods and some non-existent afterlife where they will supposedly stand before some bizarre crazy god who will condemn them for not deserting their families and ambitions to follow Jesus, and Piper by extension, a sadistic charlatan who couldn't care less about savings souls unless it's under his terms and conditions and with generous donations to his bank account.
Normal people don't need that kind of craziness cluttering and ultimately destroying their lives, like it did this unfortunate victim:
"How this former evangelical pastor lost his belief in God
A mother-to-be, bolstered by Palmer's sermons that anything is possible with God if you have enough faith, believed her unborn child with a fatal disorder could survive. The infant died soon after birth, and the mother blamed herself.
"That triggered, 'How can I preach this stuff?'" Palmer said. "Beneath the appearance and the surfaces of people's lives there was a level of suffering and brokenness for which my theology did not touch."
Those cataclysmic moments about two decades ago sent Palmer down an introspective path that led to him leaving ministry and the end of his marriage."
This is what I mean about Christians being woefully ignorant of stuff they post without researching what they are talking about.
Mars, you call John D Rockefeller a devout Christian. Do you even know what that means? Did you know that Rockefeller was one of the most ruthless businessmen of the 19th century?
I did know that, thrillobyte. There are plenty of wealthy and successful people who are ruthless and still believe in God. That's what this was about, wasn't it? Believing in God vs not believing and whether you can have greater success in life if you don't?
I wasn't challenging your comment on the goodness of people who believe in God. I was saying that your comment that people who believe in God are held back from being successful and happy in life. (Does that make sense? ) I wasn't trying to be antagonistic toward your feelings about the subject, I was merely pointing out that it wasn't very accurate. There's a very long list of people who believe in God but don't live up to the standards He's set for us. None of us do. And we're all free to believe what we choose, right?
Besides, neither you nor I can prove or disprove the existence of God. That's where faith comes in. I have faith that He does exist and you have faith that he doesn't. So, we're both in the same boat. I think that's what people have been fighting about for eons. And it all comes down to what you choose to believe.
I hope that cleared up the confusion. But I still don't understand why people who don't believe in the existence of God would spend so much time talking about the subject. I guess I'll never know.
OK, sorry to go off topic, but then I've really got nothing to add, since I'm not here to defend Christianity in the first place.
Thanks for the explanation of why this is so important to you. I still don't quite buy that you have altruistic motives to save young people from years of distress, but I'm a cynical sort. Carry on.
Logically speaking, there can be no other reason why I pound my head against the wall and give myself splitting headaches otherwise.
from your link: "Specifically, the investigators set out to determine which brain networks are involved in representing spiritual feelings in one group, devout Mormons, "
Where in the study does it conclude that the criteria/results apply to all Christians?
You think Mormons pray to a different god and have a different reaction to god than Christians of other sects???????
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