Prayers and praying.......

[ONeill]

Do those with a relatively strong faith believe that their faith is the one true faith or do they accept that it's just an accident of birth(place)?

Maybe that doesn't really matter.

[Cold tea]

It has nothing to do with faith, it is all about conditioning, get a life and think for yourselves ffs its 2011, we are born and die end off!

[Tony Baloney]

Do those with a relatively strong faith believe that their faith is the one true faith or do they accept that it's just an accident of birth(place)?

Maybe that doesn't really matter.

I would have thought that true faith is absolute and that all other faiths/religions are wrong.

It's hard to mock people for their religious beliefs as it brings a lot of comfort to people in hard times ref. Mickey Harte. A man in work lost his daughter about 10 years ago when she fell from a tractor he was driving on the farm. He is a deeply religious man and it is this belief that it was God's will that has kept him sane. Many non-believers would have gone for the bottle or the rope.

[Aerlik]

I'm a big believer in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, so say the Memorarae.  I pray with my son when I put him to bed at night.  He knows prayers I was taught by my mam.  I think it is a personal thing and I don't condemn anyone for their beliefs or unbeliefs.

[The Iceman]

I don't think any true Catholic will say that all other religions are fine. If they were fine then why be Catholic.
Theres two things out there really apparent in the pews.
Catholic Minimalism: What can I do bare minimum just to hedge my bets? I'll go to Mass every week, confession once a year a say a few prayers and at least I won't go to Hell.
Practical Atheism: People who pay lip service to God once a week and live the rest of their lives like He doesnt exist....

[Maguire01]

Interesting debate this morning on The Big Questions on BBC, asking 'Does Prayer Work?'
I'm sure you can watch it on the iplayer if you're interested.

[pintsofguinness]

Can never understand why those who don't believe always feel the need or feel they have the right to mock those that do believe.

We've people on this board from both sides - some who believe and who think they are better than those who don't and some who don't believe and think they are better than those who do.

Both are equally annoying.

True,anyone who thinks they are better than the other is equally wrong I agree completely with you ,though you will have to point out to me who those posters are that do have faith who think they are better than those that don't.
Send me a PM if you wish.

I don't really care what anyone believes btw each to their own and all that,but IMO some of those who have no faith are often very smug and arrogant about the fact they think they are far more intelligent and wise than those who do have faith.

I'm sure it's often vice versa as well as you get c***ts in all walks of life,I'm just saying I find it more evident in those that have no faith.

Iceman.

[laoislad]

Interesting debate this morning on The Big Questions on BBC, asking 'Does Prayer Work?'
I'm sure you can watch it on the iplayer if you're interested.

I prayed for a Liverpool win today....

[The Iceman]

Can never understand why those who don't believe always feel the need or feel they have the right to mock those that do believe.

We've people on this board from both sides - some who believe and who think they are better than those who don't and some who don't believe and think they are better than those who do.

Both are equally annoying.

True,anyone who thinks they are better than the other is equally wrong I agree completely with you ,though you will have to point out to me who those posters are that do have faith who think they are better than those that don't.
Send me a PM if you wish.

I don't really care what anyone believes btw each to their own and all that,but IMO some of those who have no faith are often very smug and arrogant about the fact they think they are far more intelligent and wise than those who do have faith.

I'm sure it's often vice versa as well as you get c***ts in all walks of life,I'm just saying I find it more evident in those that have no faith.

Iceman.

Read the post back then again and my comments in this thread Pints. I don't think I am better. I am not taking the stance of the opposition as was the argument that those who don't believe are unintelligent or lacking reason.
I don't think I am any better than anyone else nor is anyone better than me. I do think that I will be better off, but there is a difference and I have never argued otherwise.
Iceman

[Hardy]

I am not taking the stance of the opposition as was the argument that those who don't believe are unintelligent or lacking reason.

Not lacking reason but not using reason to reach a decision on belief.

[The Iceman]

I am not taking the stance of the opposition as was the argument that those who don't believe are unintelligent or lacking reason.

Not lacking reason but not using reason to reach a decision on belief.

How can you determine that I did not use reason to determine my choice to believe?
When in fact I actually took the time to fully understand and know the faith before completely committing myself.

[Hardy]

I'm afraid I've misunderstood the definition of reason. I used it to mean the reliance on evidence to support choices and decisions and I understood rationalism to be the philosophy of evidence-based reasoning. Your post prompted me to look up the definitions and I find that reason has a number of definitions, none of which require a reliance on evidence in the scientific sense. Not surprisingly, reason seems to be defined as the application of sensible conduct. Furthermore, the dictionary has several theological references in some of the definitions. So I apologise.

The distinction I meant to make was between acceptance of religious dogma without empirical evidence and the philosophy that only recognises as reality anything that has been proven by observation and test. I'll be grateful if anyone can supply the correct term for this to replace "reason" in my faulty vocabulary.

So, to restate my question – my problem with religious belief is that I don't understand the reasoning process by which one proposed explanation of reality is chosen above another – the God vs. the Celestial Teapot problem. In return, can you or others professing religious belief explain their argument against the requirement for some sort of evidence before accepting religious dogma?

[ONeill]

Hardy, surely you make judgements every day based on non-evidenced reasoning. For example, you would expect your son to report a murder he witnessed on your street to either you or authorities. Yet, you have no evidence to confirm he would act in that way. You have faith in his judgement based on your general experience of his personality. You have no actual proof. Therefore, is it not reasonable for someone to believe in the existence of God in the same way - they have made a decision to believe in something without evidence. Maybe they've had a feeling of enlightenment at certain times which you have not experienced.

Surely the concept of faith/belief can only exist without evidence. I believe that the sun will rise tomorrow can never be I know that the sun will rise tomorrow. The latter is incorrect. I believe there is no God can never be I know there is no God. You have a belief there is no God (I assume) without any form of evidence too.

[Myles Na G.]

Interesting debate this morning on The Big Questions on BBC, asking 'Does Prayer Work?'
I'm sure you can watch it on the iplayer if you're interested.

Sure you don't mean the iprayer? 

[Maiden1]

Can never understand why those who don't believe always feel the need or feel they have the right to mock those that do believe.

We've people on this board from both sides - some who believe and who think they are better than those who don't and some who don't believe and think they are better than those who do.

Both are equally annoying.

True,anyone who thinks they are better than the other is equally wrong I agree completely with you ,though you will have to point out to me who those posters are that do have faith who think they are better than those that don't.
Send me a PM if you wish.

I don't really care what anyone believes btw each to their own and all that,but IMO some of those who have no faith are often very smug and arrogant about the fact they think they are far more intelligent and wise than those who do have faith.

I'm sure it's often vice versa as well as you get c***ts in all walks of life,I'm just saying I find it more evident in those that have no faith.

Iceman.

Read the post back then again and my comments in this thread Pints. I don't think I am better. I am not taking the stance of the opposition as was the argument that those who don't believe are unintelligent or lacking reason.
I don't think I am any better than anyone else nor is anyone better than me. I do think that I will be better off, but there is a difference and I have never argued otherwise.
Iceman

Not that I payed much attention in RE at school but a couple of parabells stood out for me.

http://www.dltk-bible.com/cv/good_samaritan.htm

http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/18_9-14.htm

I'm not sure Jesus is/was that impressed with blindly following rules and thinking you will get into heaven just by saying a decade of the rosary every night.