06 Oct '07 21:27>4 edits
Originally posted by FreakyKBHIt sounds like maybe the argument is something like the following?
Knightmeister fairly well summed it up, if the post above this one failed to add anything to the same.
1. Every human need has an external satisfier.
2. Humans have the need for God.
3. Therefore, the human need for God has an external satisfier.
If we take 'need' as something requisite for our survival, then premise 1 seems clearly true (otherwise, we wouldn't be surviving let alone thriving -- although I would probably need clarification on what is meant by 'external'😉. But then Premise 2 seems clearly false.
Regarding Premise 2: I don't think you're talking about a 'need' per se but rather more along the lines of an emotional neediness. Yes, to a large extent we are disposed to some degree of emotional neediness stemming from the reflective nature of our consciousness. We have a 'need' for meaningful relationships and projects, we have a 'need' to avoid states that frustrate our prospects of living characteristically free from pain and suffering -- like overwhelming feelings of existential hardship and boredom, gripping fear of death, feelings of dissatisfaction of having to live with and admit ignorance, the cravings for life to be something other than what it appears, etc. But what's any of that got to do with the (de facto) question of whether or not, in fact, your God exists? It doesn't even have anything necessarily to do with the holding of beliefs related to your God concept. In case you haven't noticed, as social and rational creatures we can attend to these 'needs' of ours in any number of ways. My methods are god-concept-free primarily because I think I have obligation not to hold arbitrary, evidentially challenged metaphysics (taking 'god' as some sort of divine agent). Besides, I'd rather pursue meaningful relations with persons that I have good reasons to think exist in the first place. There are lots of reasons why I don't think your proposed methods work to satisfy my 'need' and some of them are just aesthetic: I think your methods are ugly, here and there. Point is, quit trying to pretend like your belief in a divine personal creator is the one satisfier for my and everyone else's 'need'. What chutzpa!