Is belief in God/s dangerous?

[altar]

Dear all,
This question is exactly what it sounds like. Is there some drawback to a belief in god/s, or worse, a real danger?
What is meant by God here is anything that acts like an omnipotent creator, overseer, divine providence, or, and especially, commander.

While attacks on the idea of God itself (as fallacious, untenable, etc.) are appreciated, my main concern is on the danger of holding such a belief, that God exists.

[tiltbillings]

Dear all,
This question is exactly what it sounds like. Is there some drawback to a belief in god/s, or worse, a real danger?
What is meant by God here is anything that acts like an omnipotent creator, overseer, divine providence, or, and especially, commander.

While attacks on the idea of God itself (as fallacious, untenable, etc.) are appreciated, my main concern is on the danger of holding such a belief, that God exists.

If one thinks one is doing god's work, flying airplanes into buildings or putting to death unbelievers is not a problem.

[Reductor]

It seems to me that the danger comes from mitigating personal responsibility. When a person doesn't see their own responsibility then the different modes of suffering can be expected to increase.

[Goedert]

Dear all,
This question is exactly what it sounds like. Is there some drawback to a belief in god/s, or worse, a real danger?
What is meant by God here is anything that acts like an omnipotent creator, overseer, divine providence, or, and especially, commander.

While attacks on the idea of God itself (as fallacious, untenable, etc.) are appreciated, my main concern is on the danger of holding such a belief, that God exists.

There is a video talk of Ven. Punnaji that might be relevant to this question. See:

phpBB .

There is a sequence of it. This is 1/5 of them.

Edited: Putted the wrong video code, now its right.

[bodom]

When you look back through history and the amount of bloodshed and violence in the name of god and religion, it is blantantly obvious that it is dangerous. Crusades ring a bell?

[SDC]

Dear all,
This question is exactly what it sounds like. Is there some drawback to a belief in god/s, or worse, a real danger?
What is meant by God here is anything that acts like an omnipotent creator, overseer, divine providence, or, and especially, commander.

While attacks on the idea of God itself (as fallacious, untenable, etc.) are appreciated, my main concern is on the danger of holding such a belief, that God exists.

Our minds reinforce the idea of self. In other words, our mental process keeps recreating the idea. The goal in our practice is to stop reinforcing this idea and see that there is no self. Believing in a God as a creator leads to the believe that God created "us", created this "self". Therefore it makes the idea of "no self" much more difficult to understand, far more difficult to accept, and near impossible to let go.

[OcTavO]

One component of monotheism that I consider "dangerous" to some extent is this: all too often, the concept of a god can become a "god of the gaps" - a convenient filler to plug up holes in knowledge. Don't know why something happens the way it does? The answer is God of course. It's an easy excuse for lazy folks to stop seeking. I sometimes wonder if we'd have a cure for cancer by now, or a unified theory of gravity, had we not had two millenia of monotheism to act as a comfy mattress for the majority of the population to rest their laurels on.

[tiltbillings]

"god of the gaps"

[Tex]

I don't think it's a stretch to say that God's followers have killed more people than cancer.

[tiltbillings]

I don't think it's a stretch to say that God's followers have killed more people than cancer.

How would one come up with reasonable numbers for either side, cancer deaths/kill the infidels? Such numbers have to be very large, indeed.

[SDC]

There is a video talk of Ven. Punnaji that might be relevant to this question. See:

phpBB .

There is a sequence of it. This is 1/5 of them.

Edited: Putted the wrong video code, now its right.

That talk never gets old. Thanks for posting, Goedert.

[Ben]

There's a very good section in one of Ledi Sayadaw's dipanis (I can';t remember which one right now) published under the title of 'Manuals of Dhamma' where he quotes a sutta where the Buddha outlines the dangers for one who has the view of a creator being. If I remember correctly, one who holds such a view holds a wrong view regarding kamma and consequently performs every variety of unwholesome act believing it to be wholesome and ends up, after death, in a state of perdition in one of the lower realms.

Whether or not you personally believe in the lower realms, I think its also very true as a metaphor for the quality of mind and life following gross unwholesome activity.
Sorry i can't find a quote for you right now as I'm trying to get out the door.
kind regards

Ben

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I know someone who used to live a troubled life who has been "born again" through her new-found belief in God. I have no doubt the mindstates she has now are more often based on wisdom, generosity and lovingkindess than they would have been several years ago. It's not how I'd go about personal transformation myself... but if the end result yields a positive correlation to those things which the Buddha spoke highly of, then it doesn't seem appropriate to give a blanket response that belief in God is dangerous.

Metta,
Retro.

[Anicca]

Is there some drawback to a belief in god/s, or worse, a real danger?
What is meant by God here is anything that acts like an omnipotent creator, overseer, divine providence, or, and especially, commander.

The drawback/danger is all in the ignorance of the person. Belief in *any* sovereign has drawbacks/dangers - doesn't have to be a diety - could be a king - queen - parliment - senate - pope - priest - preacher - teacher - spouse - peer. Anytime you hand someone else the reins, the potential for drawbacks/danger exists in proportion to the ignorance.

Metta

[tiltbillings]

Greetings,

I know someone who used to live a troubled life who has been "born again" through her new-found belief in God. I have no doubt the mindstates she has now are more often based on wisdom, generosity and lovingkindess than they would have been several years ago. It's not how I'd go about personal transformation myself... but if the end result yields a positive correlation to those things which the Buddha spoke highly of, then it doesn't seem appropriate to give a blanket response that belief in God is dangerous.

Well, potentially dangerous. Of course, things are never black and white, except when they are black and white.