belief

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 13 – Society 1 (Money) – Part 2: Where does money come from?

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Most of us believe money comes from a mint, a vault, something tangible we can touch. But that’s a comforting myth. In truth, about 98% of the money we use doesn’t physically exist—it’s just numbers in a system. So what really gives money its value? It’s all about belief, agreement, and trust. And when we look closer at how money is created, we have to ask: who truly benefits from this system?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 7: Summary – Heads or tails?

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After everything we’ve explored, there’s no clear answer. No airtight proof for or against God. Reasonable people, standing on opposite sides of the same question, each convinced they’re being honest. At the core, we’re not theists or atheists as much as we are agnostics with preferences. Faith doesn’t need certainty—doubt is its companion. The opposite of faith is not doubt, but knowledge—the kind that closes the conversation. Instead, we engage in abduction reasoning, trying to make sense of incomplete evidence. Some see God in the universe. Others don’t. Different stories, same data. The question of God might not be about solving a math problem but about how we reason, what we fear, what we hope, and the uncertainty we can live with.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 6: What has God done for you lately?

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We keep looking for proof of God, hoping for a sign, a miracle. But miracles always come with alternative explanations—remission, coincidence, intervention, or just plain luck. What we call a miracle often depends more on what we already believe than on what actually happened. If God is acting in the world, why are the miracles so selective, so personal, and so ambiguous? A God who could make things clear, but doesn’t, begins to look indistinguishable from one who isn’t there at all. Atheism, for some, doesn’t come from hostility, but from exhaustion—from waiting, hoping, and hearing nothing back. Why is evidence so hard to find? And if God doesn’t exist, why are humans so good at finding meaning anyway?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 2: Does God have dissociative identity disorder?

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If God were a universal, fixed reality, why is there such discord over God’s nature? The contradictions within religious belief—peace and holy war, mercy and vengeance—are normalized. What we believe about God is often determined by where and when we were born, shaped by culture, language, and history. A God who deeply cares about being known correctly would leave less room for confusion. So the real question is: are we projecting different gods based on our geography, or is God truly fragmented across cultures?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 1: Introduction – Are You God?

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What if the God we believe in is a mirror of ourselves? The projection critique suggests that the image of God we carry often aligns with our values, fears, and needs. From ancient gods to modern-day life coaches, we project our desires, intuitions, and hopes onto a figure we imagine to be greater than ourselves. Philosophy invites us to examine our belief and ask: which parts of our God come from tradition, fear, love, and which come from us? Even if God exists, our ideas about God are still human artifacts—and if not, belief is still one of our most powerful ways of understanding ourselves.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 7: Summary – What’s your favorite color?

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The question isn’t whether we believe in God, but whether we recognize that God believes in us. Whether we’re believers or nonbelievers, the idea of God shows up in our values, our sense of meaning, and our relationships. The light doesn’t vanish because we describe it differently; it shines through in our actions, our resistance to meaninglessness, and our capacity for love. Whether we pray, doubt, or live quietly, the essence of God might not be in belief, but in the life we create and the love we give.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 5: Feeling lucky?

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Pascal’s wager isn’t about proving God’s existence—it’s about recognizing that life is already a gamble. Whether we believe or not, we’re staking our time, values, and energy on something. Pascal argues that, given the stakes, betting on God is the most rational choice because it offers the highest possible payoff with the least risk. Philosophy invites us to consider: what are you already betting on, and what do you stand to gain or lose?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 1: Introduction: Where do babies come from?

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existence. Philosophy of religion asks us to pause before the doctrines and definitions, and return to the moment of awe that first gave rise to the word. Before belief, before systems, before certainty, we were simply standing at the edge of understanding, asking: Why is there something instead of nothing?

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