Why do religious people sacrifice personal growth in order to be subservient to an unproven character (god)?

Question

Don't they like themselves?

Answer 1

I disagree with your assessment ...I feel I have the most growth in my life when I draw closer to God.

Answer 2

I really shouldn't answer a  question about religious people, except for the fact that you are probably slandering, I mean referring to Christians.  

As a Christian, the only thing I sacrifice is the right to do evil.  I actually sacrifice that right in order to further personal growth.  

There are no proven characters, so I am not sure what you mean by an unproven character.  If you want proof, you will have to limit yourself to mathematics.

Why do atheists sacrifice logic to deny the existence of God.  It is obviously absurd for a finite being to deny the existence of an infinite being.  I mean you can see where such a denial is laughable right?

Answer 3

I am on a fast and tough track of personal growth under the will of God.  God may be unproven, but there is so much evidence for the existence of a God.  So much evidence that it is truly foolish to say "There is no God".  

Answer 4

Fear and greed.

Answer 5

I can only speak for myself. But I have personally grown more in the ONE year that I have been saved than the other twenty years of life combined. Before I came to know Jesus Christ as my Savior, I professed to be an Aetheist. And as most aetheists, I thought the Bible was not scientifically correct. Boy was I wrong. After finding the truth in the Bible, I began to grow closer and closer to God, and strong in my Christian faith. God has changed my life so much in only one year, I cannot wait to see what he has in store for me. I only pray that you can come to know the same joy. God bless you and I will pray for you!

Here is a video that you might find interesting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGFtNXdSi...

Answer 6

Even as a non-religious person, the idea of personal growth seems rather trivial compared to the idea of how one can contribute to the greater good. I don't develop for its own sake - I develop in the intention of accomplishing something.

Perhaps what makes religion more passive in this regard is that in a religious sense, the greater good is already being maintained. Consequently, the onus on the individual to acquire skills, knowledge and wisdom necessary to further greater endeavor no longer exists - since all you need to do to make things better is do what God tells you. And, you know, path of least resistance and all that.

Answer 7

Why do nonreligious people make blatantly false claims about religious people?

Don't they like the facts?

Answer 8

My personal growth comes through knowing God as a proven entity in my life. He is not unproven.

Answer 9

The fact that you even asked this question shows that you have absolutely no religious experience.  We are not subservients, we are believers.  And who says we sacrifice our growth? Because we've accepted God into our lives we've grown so much more then if we had tried without him.

Answer 10

I think people have different ideas of personal growth. While I agree with your take on it, other see it as growing in spirituality rather than "personal" growth. I feel that the more I learn about different ideas, religions, philosophies, the richer I am. It forces me to define what it is I really believe in the light of many ways of thinking. The narrowly religious miss out on this chance for self-discovery.

Answer 11

I dislike sweeping generalizations no matter which side of the aisle they come from.  A) not all religious people believe in a God or Gods, or does Buddhism not qualify, and experiences people have as Buddhists get dismissed? and B) many people who believe in a God or Gods nonetheless know that actions speak louder than words, and that personal growth can be synonymous with correct actions.

Answer 12

Your question shows a complete lack of understanding of the religious experience.    

Answer 13

I think it is more a matter of being essentially lazy.  If one takes full responsibility for personal growth...it can be hard work and a painful look at one's motives.  Much easier to let religion tell you what to do, what to believe and how to behave...then if it all falls apart, it's not the believer's fault...it's God's fault.

Answer 14

I think it's all relative...I've known successful religious people, I've known lazy atheists...and the lazy ones are usually the extremists in either case - that or they're just plain friggin' crazy...

And not every "proof" is mathematically reduce-able...some of the best "proofs" of anyone's life are the lessons they've derived from subjective experience...for good or ill, a lot of what gives a person their drive to achieve is their personality, not the label they want to stick on their sleeve...

Answer 15

Emotional and psychological weakness. They need a crutch for they cannot walk by themselves or they fear what may happen if they dared attempt to step out alone (remember Eve?).

Of course Christianity tells people that being weak and needy is a good thing so Christians deceive themselves about the very nature of their horrific impotence.