I have a somewhat similar situation. I don’t have a strong positive intellectual case for the reality of the divine but I do really like religion and like to participate in it. So I do.
Oh, I don’t mind questions, but I may not have very fullsome answers.
Do you hold beliefs about the “divine” in addition to participating in religion?
I find some religious ideas more attractive than others. I’ve found that as I get older I tend to have fewer and vaguer beliefs. To take another example, I’m interested in US politics and have been for a long time but I no longer have any strong opinion on which of the two parties is better. This sometimes bothers me—I’d rather not wake up one day finding that I no longer care about anything.
Would a strong argument against the “divine” change your behavior?
If you convinced me that I would get more utility with different behavior then I assume my behavior would change. I’ve read a whole lot of atheist literature, though, if that’s what you mean.
What attracts you to religion?
I don’t know exactly but my views are roughly similar to those described by this person.
What form?
I find most religions at least moderately attractive. I dislike Christianity less as I get older, though I still have an aversion to the Lutheranism which I was raised with and converted out of in my teen years.
I mostly worship privately and perhaps somewhat idiosyncratically but I sometimes attend the public rituals of a local pagan group.
If you convinced me that I would get more utility with different
behavior then I assume my behavior would change. I’ve read a whole
lot of atheist literature, though, if that’s what you mean.
Your utility response matched my intent. Although I do have a question
related to your second response. Based on your comments you seem to
hold onto beliefs about the reality of the divine, despite your
exposure to atheist literature. Is there a core sense to your beliefs
that the arguments against God have not addressed?
To provide context for my questions, I had a Christian upbringing and
a strong belief in God and the spiritual. I eventually evaluated these
beliefs and found them to be baseless. Then I found that they were
almost certainly wrong, and that they resulted in negative value for
me. Now I am interested in arguments against my atheist beliefs, and
in understanding how other people evaluate their beliefs.
I’d like to answer, if I can find time, but it would probably end up as a fairly long discussion and perhaps you would ultimately find it disappointing. I don’t have any well developed argument thread which starts with premises everyone will accept and ends with “therefore, the divine is real. QED.”. I mostly have a lot of meta-arguments and some criticism of the ways the relevant problems are typically approached.
During the last couple of days I have become progressively more convinced that my daughter is autistic (she is 17 months old and is showing regression in language and imitation skills), a situation that calls for immediate and sustained attention. This will sharply limit the time and energy I spend on philosophical speculation, in particular LessWrong.
I regret that I likely won’t have the resources to engage in what would probably have been an interesting discussion.
Edit six weeks later: Though there is still some cause for concern, the situation is looking a lot better now. I suppose no-one is watching this thread anymore but maybe some other time.
I have a somewhat similar situation. I don’t have a strong positive intellectual case for the reality of the divine but I do really like religion and like to participate in it. So I do.
A few questions, if you are willing to answer:
Do you hold beliefs about the “divine” in addition to participating in religion?
Would a strong argument against the “divine” change your behavior?
What attracts you to religion? What form? Essentially the same questions I asked katydee, but with your preferred group replacing “Christianity”.
Oh, I don’t mind questions, but I may not have very fullsome answers.
I find some religious ideas more attractive than others. I’ve found that as I get older I tend to have fewer and vaguer beliefs. To take another example, I’m interested in US politics and have been for a long time but I no longer have any strong opinion on which of the two parties is better. This sometimes bothers me—I’d rather not wake up one day finding that I no longer care about anything.
If you convinced me that I would get more utility with different behavior then I assume my behavior would change. I’ve read a whole lot of atheist literature, though, if that’s what you mean.
I don’t know exactly but my views are roughly similar to those described by this person.
I find most religions at least moderately attractive. I dislike Christianity less as I get older, though I still have an aversion to the Lutheranism which I was raised with and converted out of in my teen years.
I mostly worship privately and perhaps somewhat idiosyncratically but I sometimes attend the public rituals of a local pagan group.
Your utility response matched my intent. Although I do have a question related to your second response. Based on your comments you seem to hold onto beliefs about the reality of the divine, despite your exposure to atheist literature. Is there a core sense to your beliefs that the arguments against God have not addressed?
To provide context for my questions, I had a Christian upbringing and a strong belief in God and the spiritual. I eventually evaluated these beliefs and found them to be baseless. Then I found that they were almost certainly wrong, and that they resulted in negative value for me. Now I am interested in arguments against my atheist beliefs, and in understanding how other people evaluate their beliefs.
I’d like to answer, if I can find time, but it would probably end up as a fairly long discussion and perhaps you would ultimately find it disappointing. I don’t have any well developed argument thread which starts with premises everyone will accept and ends with “therefore, the divine is real. QED.”. I mostly have a lot of meta-arguments and some criticism of the ways the relevant problems are typically approached.
I would be interested in these if you find the time.
I appreciate your interest.
During the last couple of days I have become progressively more convinced that my daughter is autistic (she is 17 months old and is showing regression in language and imitation skills), a situation that calls for immediate and sustained attention. This will sharply limit the time and energy I spend on philosophical speculation, in particular LessWrong.
I regret that I likely won’t have the resources to engage in what would probably have been an interesting discussion.
Edit six weeks later: Though there is still some cause for concern, the situation is looking a lot better now. I suppose no-one is watching this thread anymore but maybe some other time.