21st century and people still duped by bible?

How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened in this day and age where men have walked on the moon and we are talking about colonizing Mars and cancer is on the way to being defeated just as polio has and mathematics and logic advancing in leaps and bounds as well as physics, material sciences, anthropology, genetics, geology and more, yet those advances don't stop people from even QUESTIONING the validity of those biblical fairy tales. Why is that?

The religious set answer: 'Because those stories are all TRUE and you better believe them or you will burn forever and ever in hell"

Come on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

Originally posted by sonhouse
How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened in this day and age where men have walked on the moon and we are talking about colonizing Mars and cancer is on the way to being defeated just as polio has and mathematics and logic advancing in leaps and bounds as well as p ...[text shortened]... ome on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

Do you think starting a thread asking people whom you think have been "duped" into believing something, why they think they are duped into believing it, is likely to be a runner?

Originally posted by sonhouse
How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened.....

An education system that allows specialization and does not teach everyone science.

I am curious, do you yourself engage in any superstitious practices? Do you 'touch wood' throw salt over your shoulder, avoid walking under ladders, turn round if a black cat walks in front of you, avoid saying certain things because it is 'bad luck' or might 'jinx' something?
I think I engage in such things less than the average person, but am not completely free. I do find it interesting how many people do engage in them whilst simultaneously claiming not to believe in such things.

Originally posted by twhitehead
An education system that allows specialization and does not teach everyone science.

I am curious, do you yourself engage in any superstitious practices? Do you 'touch wood' throw salt over your shoulder, avoid walking under ladders, turn round if a black cat walks in front of you, avoid saying certain things because it is 'bad luck' or might 'jinx' s ...[text shortened]... how many people do engage in them whilst simultaneously claiming not to believe in such things.

I have no regular superstitions whatsoever.

Originally posted by sonhouse
How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened in this day and age where men have walked on the moon and we are talking about colonizing Mars and cancer is on the way to being defeated just as polio has and mathematics and logic advancing in leaps and bounds as well as p ...[text shortened]... ome on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

Maybe it's because many are healed, set free, actually hear from God. Could it be?

Originally posted by sonhouse
How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened in this day and age where men have walked on the moon and we are talking about colonizing Mars and cancer is on the way to being defeated just as polio has and mathematics and logic advancing in leaps and bounds as well as p ...[text shortened]... ome on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

In other words, you consider us all fools.

It then begs the question, why would one want to argue with a fool?

Originally posted by whodey
It then begs the question, why would one want to argue with a fool?

It gives me something to do. 😉

Originally posted by whodey
In other words, you consider us all fools.

It then begs the question, why would one want to argue with a fool?

I must note here that many theists have claimed on this forum that all atheists are fools - and yet continued to argue with us.

Everyone in my family holds a science degree of some kind but I am the only atheist. None of them are YECs though.

Originally posted by sonhouse
How can that be, where people, some with frigging Phd's still be duped into believing fairy tales that almost certainly never happened in this day and age where men have walked on the moon and we are talking about colonizing Mars and cancer is on the way to being defeated just as polio has and mathematics and logic advancing in leaps and bounds as well as p ...[text shortened]... ome on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

It's actually an interesting question - why do people hold religious beliefs? You're not the first to ask it.

The answer is complex, but to give a simplified answer, it has to do with the strong tribal urges of people; as society progressed beyond hunter-gatherer tribes, the primitive urge to belong to a "tribe" remained. These modern tribes take many forms, not just religion but also ethnicity, nationality, etc. People consider these aspects as part of their identity, and will tend not to give them up easily. So it's not so much about the beliefs themselves (which are often ludicrous) but rather about the sense of belonging to something.

Combine this with the fact that most religious people are indoctrinated when they are very young, and young children instinctively tend to believe what adults (esp. their parents) tell them. This makes a lot of sense from a survival perspective, e.g. when mommy says not to eat the poisonous berries it's probably best not to put it to the test (other mammals often have similar ways of behavioural training of their offspring, for instance deer living around the area where the Iron Curtain used to be still tend to avoid it). Once people grow older, such beliefs tend to stick around even when there is no evidence to back them up.

Originally posted by sonhouse

Come on, can't you do better than that? These are frigging FAIRY tales for god's sake, literally.

I have some sympathy for mainstream religionists.

But Scientology and Mormonism?
Both developed by con-artists.
Both disprovable.

Shows how gullible people can be.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I have some sympathy for mainstream religionists.

But Scientology and Mormonism?
Both developed by con-artists.
Both disprovable.

Shows how gullible people can be.

I fail to see how Scientology and Mormonism are any more ridiculous than mainstream religions.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I fail to see how Scientology and Mormonism are any more ridiculous than mainstream religions.

Indeed.

This "free pass" that especially Christianity and to a lesser extent Islam seem to get confuses me.

Break it down and it is still an utterly insane belief that has no place in the mind of a mentally healthy person.