Believers' Gullible-ness

In your opinion, is being a believer (especially in christianity) a sign of being gullible or at least influencial?
I am asking your opinion. This question is based on something I heard not my own thinking.

 

I think being a christian is all about finding the answeres...I dont think being gullible has anything to do with it. Im a christian and I believe that im not gulible what so ever. To be a christian you must feel stongly about that religion and only. If you are gulible then you will worship other gods...and that is stricktly against the 10 commandments.

 

I think beleiving things only because you are taught them makes you gullible....so yes, some are

 

I think some are gullible, but you definitely don't have to be religious to be gullible. But the religious meme of christianity especially calls for a believer to not ask too many questions, and to rely mainly on faith. Some may call that gullible. Others simply call it faith.

I may not be the best person to answer the question, though. Most christians I know were raised christian, raise their children christian, etc...so they basically don't have a chance. They believe in god because they were taught it from the time they were able to comprehend it, even before. And christians put a lot of dogma around questioning the faith. It is almost wrong to them to question it. So they basically accept what their pastor says as truth, and don't even think about it beyond that.

 

they have a chance, I was raised christian and I even went to a catholic school but, I am no longer christian

so what you are saying is you have to be gullible to belivee in any god but yours but, being gullible has nothing to do with believing in your god

 

They are not gullible per se. It is about the perceptual set they have become accustomed to. While an atheist may first want to assure validity based on scientific probability or evidence, the religious have a far different way of looking at things. They first accept God (their first unfounded presupposition) and within this outlook there lies the possiblity for the improbable existing [necessarily if it applies to what they want it to] (this desire is not premeditated, but ingrained through doctrine and conditioning)

Similarly the value I hold for science, the religious value the possibilities presented by the concept of God. Mine presents a real view, and theirs presents a desirable view.

 

I don't think some religious people are gullible, because to me gullibility is accepting or believing anything presented to them; I think it's the opposite. I think many people are far too pedantic and set in their beliefs, and will attack anything which they feel threaten their faith, which is far worse!

I'm gullible by nature so I refuse to believe nearly anything I hear until I have total proof from heaps of sources, which is quite good but kinda bitchy. I wish everyone was brought up exposed to everything, so even if they chose a path and stuck to it they'd appreciate other ways of life.

 

No, I disagree completely. I used to think that for years, about followers of organized religions. Now I have seen enough miraculous events that I don't think it is for me to say whether gullible or influenced. If someone is an atheist, are they gullible for believing the theories of science? Many of those are based on accepting certain things as fact that are unprovable as yet.

 

Hehe ...

If you are a believer (I mean, you stick to that religion), then you aren't gullible. You're gullible if you change your religious views constantly based on the suggestions or ideas of other people, but if you have certain unwavering views, you can't really be considered gullible.

And if you grew up under a certain religion, and just so happen to stay that way, I wouldn't call it gullible then, but weak to influence, as all infants are weak to parental influence.

"Gullible" means you often end up believing things that someone said, when they aren't true and are at least somewhat unplausible. Since we can't take ANY religion and call it unplausible (though some of us try way too hard to do that, hahaha), then a believer can't be called gullible just because he or she is a believer.

In my mind, believers in religion are not any worse off than atheists or agnostics just because they believe in a religion. I do believe that most believers, however, haven't (or don't) questioned their faith, and simply take it for granted, and I also see more believers than non-believers that start and escalate conflicts between them and other people, based on beliefs.

That being said, I don't deny that there are still a fair amount of religious people (even those who belong to Christianity, etc.) who actually do challenge their faith, and who don't start fights over religion, and who do have good heads on their shoulders, like Jatom from these boards. Despite the fact that I don't agree with Christianity (and I'm sure he doesn't agree with my religion), he's the first person who I wasn't able to defeat in a religious argument/discussion, or at least completely dumbfound with logic. So, those kind of people DO exist, but unfortunately, the majority of them don't have the courage to challenge their faith, nor the intelligence to think for themselves. My parents being a great example of those kind of people ...

 

Meh, there's nothing wrong with having a bit more of a romantical viewpoint on how the world works, and dont forget most people are raised to be religious, and its hard to break from that.

 

miraculous events, you say? (this may get interesting) please just name a few, "miraculous events"

 

My personal ones include half a dozen precognitive dreams, a visit my fiance's spirit made to someone hundreds of miles away, and the following event which happened 20 years ago.

I used to work with a fellow who's wife died of lung cancer, though she was a nurse who never smoked. It was less than a year from diagnosis till she was gone. Around a month before she passed on she told him that she was going to send him some kind of a sign. He is a very honest, family-oriented, devout Catholic. Then, from her hospital bed a week before she passed on, she told him she knew what the sign would be....lightning.
I have only been to one funeral in my life, hers, and it was at 1PM at St. Anne's Church. As we arrived it was pouring out, really hard, the sky was low overcast thick clouds, and it was dark like twilight. We sat down, and got settled in, and then boom, thunder, and the lights in the church went out for a couple of minutes. Kelvin told me that when the thunder struck, he looked at his watch and it was 1 o'clock on the dot.
After the funeral, we came outside to find that there was not a cloud in the sky, I swear. Everything was soaking wet, and dripping, and the sun was shining in a clear blue sky.

 

I have had "miraculous events" happen to me then to, did you ever think that religon had nothing to do with it?

Please don't interpret this as me attacking your faith, I am just trying to find mine. To do that I must be the enemy to all I talk to.

 

I am a christian and don't believe because i am taught it..but because it is real and active in my life...im living it daily with God. I'm glad u said some are coz that implies that ur not closed minded and generalised - good on ya!
Roly.xxx

 

If anything i would say that being a Christian gives u a less romanticised viewpoint on the world, u see its flaws and the sadness of the worlds fall ever so much...its just we have a new found hope throug christ whihc helps us bear what others accept. As christians (followers of christ) we wish to change this by the way we live our lives ( just like christ) and that is why people think we have a romantic view of the world and are wrong.
Roly.xxx

 

I do think that they were completely to do with religion...you just don't see it that way. ever heard the hymn amazing grace? the lines "was blind, but now i see" im not meaning this offensively...but because for whatever reason you are not acknowledging these works of God and therefore blind. I was too...but now i see. Being a christian is exciting...loads of things happen in your life that are really cool...God is ACTIVE in our lives whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.
Roly.xxx

 

So does this mean that Hindus are gullible? You believe in your own god which is different than Hindu gods (or any other religion's deities). Would it be fair if a Hindu labeled you as being gullible just because you don't follow their religion?

 

As we are not aware of any god until we are taught, then belief in god all stems from the original teachings. It is only gullible if you have never questioned what you have been taught, asked questions and looked for answers that could strengthen or weaken your faith.

 

I get alot of talk about how I should open my eyes to the Lord, I am technically a christian I even go to church. I am just now opening my eyes and looking around, I see tons of fault in the christian belief and I have recently realized there is no substancial proof whatsoever of God's existence. If you think about it most christian's talk about non-believers like the are the ones at fault but, alot don't even think about if their own religon makes sense. If your religon is so believable, how do others automatically get ruled out, cause the bible says so? How come you never studied the ancient Egyptian religon, the Islamic religon, Judism, the ancient Greek and Roman religons? How come all of those are so far-fetched yet christianity is so fuckin' believable?

 

that is a great point, I wish more people thought about that.