Why?....your thoughts

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BornAgain2010

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I have a question I have been wondering about lately.

We all like to defend our own beliefs, even if its not religious nature. Even if its a compare and contrast between our favorite tv shows or favorite books…we still defend our opinions.

Why?

Do we feel that something bad may happen to us if we dont defend our opinions?
Do we fear that if we dont…that we will somehow be reduced to a “dying breed”?
Do we fear that if the above does indeed happen, that it may somehow risk Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? namely belongingness?

Why do we cling to some opinions and not others?
Why do we feel so threatened if someone else’s opinions differ from our own?

Why are free-will, formation of opinion, and self-importance so closely laced with fear?
Furthermore, why is fear such a strong emotion?

Why?
 
I don’t know about everyone else, but I defend my opinions because I am right. 🙂
 
Equites_Christi said:
I don’t know about everyone else, but I defend my opinions because I am right. 🙂
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Opinions are like ******** ( elbows) almost everyone has one. This is not to say that yours is wrong, … just that it may be … wrong.
 
po18guy said:
Go back to the fall in the garden of Eden. Ego.
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Yeah, it’s ego. Man has inherited a self-based righteousness rather than the God-based one intended for us. And as long as we prefer our way to His, things stay that way. That’s why God exalts the humble and opposes the proud.
 
What is this “fear” that you speak of? I have never been fearful of opinions that differ from mine.

For example, I am “fearful” of Islam in the sense that I would not want to live under Sharia law. But I do not “fear” Islam itself, nor the people who profess it, as long as they also bear me no ill will and do not wish to impose their ideology upon me.

If a Muslim wished to debate the merits of Catholicism, I would gladly defend my Catholic beliefs to the best of my ability. But that’s not fear - it’s belief. If someone wanted to propose a perpetual-motion machine, I would debate it, because I happen to believe in the laws of thermodynamics, which say such a machine is not possible. I don’t “fear” a perpetual-motion machine, but I don’t believe such a machine could be possible, because I believe in the laws of thermodynamics, and I will debate the point with anyone who rejects these laws. I don’t “fear” the error, but I reject it.
 
DavidFilmer said:
What is this “fear” that you speak of? I have never been fearful of opinions that differ from mine.

For example, I am “fearful” of Islam in the sense that I would not want to live under Sharia law. But I do not “fear” Islam itself, nor the people who profess it, as long as they also bear me no ill will and do not wish to impose their ideology upon me.

If a Muslim wished to debate the merits of Catholicism, I would gladly defend my Catholic beliefs to the best of my ability. But that’s not fear - it’s belief. If someone wanted to propose a perpetual-motion machine, I would debate it, because I happen to believe in the laws of thermodynamics, which say such a machine is not possible. I don’t “fear” a perpetual-motion machine, but I don’t believe such a machine could be possible, because I believe in the laws of thermodynamics, and I will debate the point with anyone who rejects these laws. I don’t “fear” the error, but I reject it.
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I think he’s asking why we even care to be right. We often seem to have some sort of preference for being right on given matters regardless or in spite of the truth of the matter.
 
I personally feel compelled to defend my spiritual beliefs because as a young man I was afforded the oppurtunity to explore everything (spiritual and “metaphysical”) save for Orthodox Christianity. If one does not proclaim his/her Good News than who is going to hear it? If we do not defend our beliefs who will respect them? If it was merely between the individual and God than there would be no need for a Religion or the Bible that came from it. God’s singular revelation would have been enough, the case would be closed. The world would end with the individual and God would have said His piece. But there is a whole wide world which it is commanded we preach to and spread the Word. Scripture commands we be prepared to give a defense for our religious beliefs, the hope we have within us. If we do not than someone else will. Look at those who proclaim when the Church and her individual members remain silent and allow the growing majority to rule. That is why religious people should defend their religious opnions. To do otherwise leads to the weakening of the Faith. As for other opinions that don’t fall under the umbrella of religion, I suppose they aren’t that important.

God bless,
 
BornAgain2010 said:
I have a question I have been wondering about lately.

We all like to defend our own beliefs, even if its not religious nature. Even if its a compare and contrast between our favorite tv shows or favorite books…we still defend our opinions.

Why? Because we all understand everything based on our lived experience. And life has taught us some hard lessons which have, in turn qualified our beliefs. So when someone comes along and says that we are wrong in some belief, in our subconscious mind they are discrediting our very lives.

Do we feel that something bad may happen to us if we dont defend our opinions? No, but if we don’t defend our opinions(unless proven to be wrong, in which case we ought to let humility rule over us), then something bad will happen to us[we become a coward]

Do we fear that if we dont…that we will somehow be reduced to a “dying breed”? We will become a “dying breed” if we don’t. Not like an endangered species but like a wick whose light [Christ]is going out

Do we fear that if the above does indeed happen, that it may somehow risk Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? namely belongingness? If someome feels fear of losing this then the above has probably already happened

Why do we cling to some opinions and not others? Why does a door latch in only one direction? Because it fits.

Why do we feel so threatened if someone else’s opinions differ from our own? Because our very lives are at stake and we need for our lives to have meaning and purpose.

Why are free-will, formation of opinion, and self-importance so closely laced with fear?Pride! And prides only true fear is humility, which if we sought after it and embraced it we would not be so concerned with defending our own opinions but would rejoice with others in their own faith journey and thus we would not be having this conversation.

Furthermore, why is fear such a strong emotion? Because one of Satan’s greatest weapon against us is fear and so he fools us into dwelling on it.

Why?]Christ said many many times in the scriptures, “do not be afraid”, and we do not listen to him very well. Satan just wants us to do the exact opposite of what Christ tells us

So in conclusion, gain humility to lose our pride to drive out all fear so that we can rejoice with those around us in that common thread of hope which is our salvation.

God bless you and you families!
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Why? For me it helps shape my thought.

Because scripture says that iron sharpens iron.

If I challenge your thought and you challenge mine, we have the opportunity to be refined.

We need the anvil of truth though. As our thoughts are beaten against the anvil we learn truth. If we just challenge each other without truth then nothing meaningful is accomplished, other than espousing our opinion and another poster has already enlightened us on opinions.
 
The exchange of ideas will leads to a better life for us all. Truth can reach all members in this way. If no one cared to talk with one another, the flow of truth would be stanched. Also, two minds are better than one, for many things.

Fear is strong, just like pain, to keep us alive.
 
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