Dear Christians, Belief is not a choice
Organized religion teaches people not to listen to that internal voice that says "this is rediculous" and trains you to be able to force yourself to change your beliefs until they fit the narrative. Doubt is unacceptable and must be crushed until you genuinely accept their version of the truth. My partner is an ex orthodox and gave me a lot of insight, they said one of the things they were most proud of as a child was their ability to believe anything, and when they eventually became self aware of what that actually implies about religion, thats when they were able to start breaking away
most organized religions have long histories of philosophical and theological debate. I have relatives who are currently orthodox christians and "make yourself able to believe anything" isn't a precept.
No shit lol, manipulation by nature is covert and insidious. If they just up front admit it then it doesn't work lol
people in organized religions, especially ones difficult to practice, are usually in them because they believe them. there is no sinister conspiracy.
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Itâs not.
I'm glad you understand that, very few people do. but I've actually had more trouble explaining that to atheists. I used to be stuck in a cult, and as far as they were concerned, the fact that I "chose" to believe in the things the cult taught me made me unworthy of help.
It literally is tho
I have a flying purple hippo that lives in my garage.
Ok good for you, whats the point?
Great. Then choose to believe the flying purple hippo is real. Not pretend to believe. Believe, genuinely, with your whole heart. Iâll wait.
where did this line of thought even come from? humans make themselves believe things often, even consciously at times.
You can fake belief, reinforce belief, or avoid questioning belief. But you donât choose what genuinely convinces you. If belief can be turned on consciously, choose to believe in my flying purple hippo right now.
where is the empirical evidence of your claim? just because something makes sense to you doesn't make it true. anecdotal evidence isn't going to get you there.
Believing something doesnât make it true. We arenât talking about whether something is true or not; we are talking about whether you can force yourself to believe something you arenât convinced of. People can fake belief, reinforce belief, avoid questioning it, or eventually become convinced over time. But thatâs not the same as choosing belief on command. If belief is a conscious choice, then choose to believe in my flying purple hippo right now. Not pretend. Not âact like you do.â Actually believe it. If you canât, then congratulations, you understand that belief isnât a choice.
Religion is stupid
Well, if there is a God, I want to know what the fuck he was thinking when he made me! đ¤Ł
The Christ consciousness is what gave us individualization and free will so yes actually it is a choice to believe and should be a conscience self aware and knowledgeable choice to be made by a single person of their own free will, desire, and reverence not because they where told to not because it's what they want to do not because it's the "right" thing but rather because all the knowledge they collected and thought though on their own all lead to the same place
âChrist consciousnessâ isnât a biblical phrase, and this still doesnât prove belief is a choice. What youâre describing is someone gathering information, thinking it through, and becoming convinced. Thatâs not the same as choosing belief. If belief is a choice, choose to believe in my flying purple hippo right now. If you canât, then belief depends on being convinced; not merely deciding.
Okay so if we're going to get caught up on semantics of so called biblical phrases? you know something that's not a biblical phrase Christianity do you think your Christ was a Christian??? Right he was Jewish ... Also Jesus said we are the temple and do not worship in a place of stone so why do we?? Mother Teresa said it best when she said Christianity is a beautiful religion it's too bad no one practices it. Belief is as much a choice as anything else yes if I choose to believe in your purple flying hippo I have the free will by God to do so however I know your imagination is pretty bleak so I'm guessing there is no purple flying hippo in your lackluster life
You said you could choose to believe in the hippo, but then immediately said you donât because you âknowâ it isnât real. Exactly. You are not convinced itâs real, so you donât believe it. Thatâs not choosing belief. Thatâs belief following what your mind finds convincing. Also, this isnât âsemantics.â Saying âChrist consciousnessâ is biblical when it isnât matters if youâre using it to support a Christian argument.
Yea I always found faith to be something beyond grasping for me like not the arrogance some religious people have but the complete faith in what they cant prove, it's not inherently wrong or bad either
What is it?
Itâs something you have to be convinced of. You donât choose what you find convincing.
Yeah but you chose to believe in it
I have a flying purple hippo in my garage. Choose to believe me. You canât choose what youâre convinced of.
Yes and if you read it and belive it you ate making a choice to belive what you read, making belief and believing a choice, you choose to belive,
Ok, so you believe in my flying purple hippo now? If not, then why? You should just be able to choose to believe me if belief is a choice.
Is jesus holding you hostage?
No
Sounds like it if there's no choice. Blink twice if you're lying
I think you misunderstood the post. You canât simply decide to be convinced something is true. But you canât force your brain to be convinced something is true just because you want it to be.