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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What I don't understand are devout people that keep doing the same bad behavior over and over or do it in hiding such as cheating or stealing money. Do they really believe in God? If you really believed in hell or this promise of heaven, wouldn't you quickly change your ways to ensure you were chosen? Religion just doesn't seem to have much of a hold on people, even religious ones.[/quote]

I think believing in God is kind of like believing that someone else loves you or loves their children.  There is no way to know for sure, but there is a lot of good reason to suspect it’s true.

I don’t know you, but I suspect you believe that most people love their children and that your parents love you the same way you love your children.  In theory, that knowledge should inform our behavior.  You and I should be kinder to our parents and our in-laws.  As a society and as individuals, we should provide food and money to low income parents and assume they will do what’s best for their children with it.

However, in practice, you and I forget this knowledge sometimes when it’s convenient for us.  Because we don’t know it’s true, and it takes an act of faith to believe it, we can ignore our belief when it gets in the way of doing what we want.

It’s the same with religious belief.  You can believe it intellectually and know that it’s true, but also ignore it at times when it gets in the way of doing what you want to do.  
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I don't think so.   I think people just do what they want to do -- whether it's believing in eternal life or screwing over people.[/quote]

Most people love and care about their children and feel loved and cared about by other people in their lives.

Saying that you don’t believe this and you think people just do whatever they want, even if it screws over other people, makes you sound like kind of a psychopath.  [/quote]

At least I don't like twisting what people say to make it sound crazy and then call them awful names.[/quote]

I didn’t mean to twist your words or call you names.  You responded to a post saying that believing in God is like believing that other people love their children. Rationally, you should always act on this belief, but often people don’t.

You said that you don’t believe that other people love their children, and you think people do what they want—whether it’s believing in eternal life or screwing other people over.

I interpreted this to mean that you think people do whatever they feel is best for themselves without regard to others or their own conscience.  That’s a pretty dark view of the world.  I don’t think you are a psychopath, but saying stuff like that makes you sound like one.  [/quote]

Truth is, you don't know anything about the pp about whom you are commenting, just as I know nothing about you or why you'd say such a thing to a stranger.[/quote]

I guess I would say the same thing to anyone who told me they believe that (other?) people are don’t love their children, and that everyone is completely self-serving and willing to screw other people over.

I don’t have to know anything about it who said it. It’s a terrible thing to say. Period.  [/quote]

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