Why don't you believe in God?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those that cannot think for themselves believe in fairytales.

That's a pronouncement, not necessarily a fact.

Well, they do blindly believe what other people tell them…

In some cases, not so blindly. When it comes to religion, there may be a long family history and tradition of belief.

Also, religion at some level is often a part of everyday life -- e.g., taking an oath that ends in "So help me God" saying "god bless you" after a sneeze, etc.

Those are all things that people tell you to do. Maybe not explicitly but it’s certainly expected.

Your parents taught you “god bless you”.
Your parents told you what your religion and traditions are.
Religious traditions were created by men.
Oaths are written by men.
Religions are created by men.

Many people do these things without question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

^^ in which case it’s good that they have religion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

PP said “the ones who use their faith to do good works”.

It’s not “lesser”. And I guess it’s good we have religion if there are people who need it to “do good works”. Well at least when they aren’t “doing good works” with ulterior motives.

[Anonymous]

One has only to look at the idiocy and hypocrisy of the current state of Christianity in this country to find it impossible to conclude that such a god exists. If one did, he would surely have smote them all by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

PP said “the ones who use their faith to do good works”.

It’s not “lesser”. And I guess it’s good we have religion if there are people who need it to “do good works”. Well at least when they aren’t “doing good works” with ulterior motives.

You mean like trying to secure a place in heaven? I suspect there are a lot of good religious people who would do good works just because they are good people and their church provides an outlet for their goodness. They may not know themselves that they'd be just as kind without heaven as a motivation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One has only to look at the idiocy and hypocrisy of the current state of Christianity in this country to find it impossible to conclude that such a god exists. If one did, he would surely have smote them all by now.

It's been going on for a long time. Remember the Crusades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One has only to look at the idiocy and hypocrisy of the current state of Christianity in this country to find it impossible to conclude that such a god exists. If one did, he would surely have smote them all by now.

You’ve got on exactly the sort of blinkers the pp’s are talking about when they say they respect people of faith who do good works. That makes you a bigot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

PP said “the ones who use their faith to do good works”.

It’s not “lesser”. And I guess it’s good we have religion if there are people who need it to “do good works”. Well at least when they aren’t “doing good works” with ulterior motives.

You mean like trying to secure a place in heaven? I suspect there are a lot of good religious people who would do good works just because they are good people and their church provides an outlet for their goodness. They may not know themselves that they'd be just as kind without heaven as a motivation.

Yes. “Doing good works” because they think they will somehow be rewarded for it is self-serving.

[Anonymous]

Combination of the Epicurean Dilemma (for me it was the Holocaust -- couldn't believe that a benevolent God would let it happen) and being jaded by bad people doing bad things in the name of organized religion or sponsored/covered up by organized religion. Everything from extreme religious people not vaccinating their kids for measles, to Catholic priest molestation scandal. The Indigenous schools in Canada really got me, too. I couldn't sleep after some of those testimonials.

That being said, I am a quiet atheist and keep to myself about it. I am pretty sure even my mom does not know I no longer have faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

PP said “the ones who use their faith to do good works”.

It’s not “lesser”. And I guess it’s good we have religion if there are people who need it to “do good works”. Well at least when they aren’t “doing good works” with ulterior motives.

You mean like trying to secure a place in heaven? I suspect there are a lot of good religious people who would do good works just because they are good people and their church provides an outlet for their goodness. They may not know themselves that they'd be just as kind without heaven as a motivation.

Yes. “Doing good works” because they think they will somehow be rewarded for it is self-serving.

That’s not why people of faith do good works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

In my depressed/angsty teen years, following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and clashes in my high school between LGBT groups and Christian anti-gay groups, I left religion. To be fair, I had never really liked the religion in which I was raised (conservative Protestantism) and my dad is agnostic, so the leap to agnosticism myself was not such a far jump. When I was agnostic, I felt there was no other way to be. How could a god exist when all these horrible things happened in the world? I could not find solace or meaning in a god that allowed the world to be so unjust, or in a religion (Christianity, both my own brand and the evangelical politicized version on the news) that focused on the sins of others.

I spent a good part of my younger life thinking that religion was for the weak and unthinking, that it was illogical and irrational, full of judgement and hypocrisy. It wasn't until I was older that I began to see more gray areas in life and in religion. So often, we allow a narrow and narrow-minded subset of religious people to claim to represent all religious people, when, in fact, there are plenty of good people doing good work in the name of religion, and people who find deep meaning and comfort in God and their religious community. I only thought of vague other religious people as unthinking, but never my grandparents or the Red Cross blood drive volunteers or the church group running the soup kitchen, etc.

I totally understand why people don't believe in God. I also respect people who have faith.

A feel just like pp about people with religious faith, and like pp, I don't respect ALL people who have faith -- just the ones who use their faith to do good works, or find comfort and peace for themselves and don't use their Fatih to judge others. I know some religious people like that and unfortunately, know others who are not like that.

I guess some people need someone else to tell them to “do good works”.

How do you know the motivation of the person doing good works? Just because someone is volunteering with their church/synagogue/mosque doesn't mean they are only doing so because their religion told them to. What's wrong with a religion acting as an organizing body for good? Is it somehow lesser if "Joe Somebody" donates blood at a blood drive hosted by his church, rather than walking into a blood drive at a community center?

PP said “the ones who use their faith to do good works”.

It’s not “lesser”. And I guess it’s good we have religion if there are people who need it to “do good works”. Well at least when they aren’t “doing good works” with ulterior motives.

You mean like trying to secure a place in heaven? I suspect there are a lot of good religious people who would do good works just because they are good people and their church provides an outlet for their goodness. They may not know themselves that they'd be just as kind without heaven as a motivation.

Yes. “Doing good works” because they think they will somehow be rewarded for it is self-serving.

That’s not why people of faith do good works.

It's not possible to speak for all of them, one way or the other.