STORY OF THE WEEK: Are Humans Beings Pre-Disposed to Believe in God?
The Enduring Mystery of Why We Cling to Faith
Would I believe in God if I wasn’t raised by parents who believe in God? It’s a question that I’ve been wondering lately.
When one of my readers, a loud-and-proud atheist, suggested in rather accusatory tones that, on the whole, people believe in God because they are indoctrinated as children, it gave me a moment of pause.
What he was really saying is that if children were brought up in a situation where there was never any mention of God, faith, or any other spiritual concepts, such as an afterlife, then they would never believe in God. Or, to put it another way, the default position of a human being is non-belief, and belief is something that is taught.
I like to think I’m reasonably open-minded, so I decided to do some research on my atheist friend’s premise.
I started with the question: “Are human beings predisposed to belief or non-belief?”
What I discovered was fascinating.
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