charlie@cca.UUCP (06/13/83)
This is a response to the question "why do Christians believe" asked in the context "why should I believe"? I'm sure the questioner had in mind evidence of the truth of Christian beliefs, and that has been the subject of most responses. I would like to approach the question differently. Most religious claims are not subject to scientific testing. A question like "what is good" or "what should I do with my life" cannot be approached scientifically. Science may have something to say about a means to an end or the implications of a set of moral axioms, but it has nothing to say about the goals or axioms themselves. Similarly, a statement like "the world was created at 9am yesterday with all people, memories, fossils, and the rest in place" is not scientifically testable - meaning that science can unearth no evidence pro or con. If religious claims are not subject to scientific or logical testing, how does one decide what to believe? Evidence might condition the mind to accept one belief over another, but no evidence can be conclusive or, in the final analysis, even relevant. My recommendation is that to evaluate the belief, look at the believer. Look at what the belief has done to his life and decide if you would like that to happen to yours. If you find a belief system that you think will help you become the person you want to be, try to adopt it. This may not be easy. You will be fighting years of brainwashing of one sort or another. But that is all it is. No belief system has any greater *logical* claim to Truth than any other. This is just my recommendation. It is no more or less likely to lead to the ultimate truth than anything else. But it might transform your life. Which is more important?
bch@unc.UUCP (06/15/83)
>>If religious claims are not subject to scientific or logical testing, >>how does one decide what to believe? Evidence might condition the mind >>to accept one belief over another, but no evidence can be conclusive or, >>in the final analysis, even relevant. >> >>My recommendation is that to evaluate the belief, look at the believer. >>Look at what the belief has done to his life and decide if you would >>like that to happen to yours. If you find a belief system that you >>think will help you become the person you want to be, try to adopt it. >>This may not be easy. You will be fighting years of brainwashing of one >>sort or another. But that is all it is. No belief system has any >>greater *logical* claim to Truth than any other. I couldn't agree with this more. 'Nuff said. Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill