Do you believe in God

[verizyou]

Post comments for why you say yes or no. Feel free to discuss below

 

[Froid]

I'll be the first to chime in here. The short answer is, yes, I do believe in God, although it took me a long time to get there. I've always considered myself to be a practical and somewhat intellectual person. I like for things to make sense, and the idea of an all-knowing and omnipotent being just doesn't make sense from an intellectual perspective. I wasn't raised in church, so I didn't have the benefit of Sunday school, VBS, etc. My folks said that they wanted me to figure it out on my own. Well, it took me about 34 years, but I finally understand.

Having the analytical personality that I have, I spent a great deal of time reading and studying on the various theories of creation. The one thing that I recall from my reading is one simple statement. For the life of me I can't remember what book it was or who the author was, but it essentially came down to this. This one author put it like this, there are only two ways to explain the creation of the universe. Either (a) everything was created from nothing by someone (God), or (b) everything was created from nothing by no one. This is all it took. From there I began to attend church and have spent the last few years trying to understand how to communicate with God to understand the plan He has for me.

 

[Tangent]

I was raised Christian and went to a Christian elementary school and high school. It was actually the years of reading and getting the lessons that was most responsible for me deciding the whole thing didn't make sense...

The argument between "something out of nothing by somebody" vs "something out off nothing from nowhere" had the opposite effect for me. I saw it more as "basic matter from out of nowhere" vs "all powerful being from out of nowhere" and between the two the spontaneous creation of an all powerful being made a whole lot less sense.

 

[tcope]

Either (a) everything was created from nothing by someone (God), or (b) everything was created from nothing by no one.

Those would be true... but only with out _EXTREMELY_ limited intellect. In just a few thousand years we've gone from thinking the sun was a living "god" to it being a big ball of gas. I wonder what will happen in another hundred thousand or million years.

Every day we get better at understanding the universe. Give us a few billions years and we might understand how it was created.

 

[LoyalServant]

I believe there has got to be more advanced beings.
Call them aliens.. whatever you wish.

The universe is too big for our planet to be the only anomaly.
For all we know we are the most advanced being in the universe.
I don't know if I would call them 'god' or 'gods'

I think religion was made up to give people something to guide them and as a control medium.
It keeps a large portion of the population in check and under control.

That being said, there is far too much corruption in organized religion to make it legitimate.
My grandparents ran churches, I know the ins and outs of it all being a young kid and getting to listen to church marketing meetings to drum up tithings and membership.

People are sheep... some sheep need religion and use it to make decisions when it suits them.

 

[PiscatoralCurmudgeon]

Sorry this is only my third post but...

No..

Why? Logic, Reason, Science.

Pleased to read "God is Not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens. Tough read but brilliant nonetheless.

 

[Member138406]

This is kinda the same as the "How often do you pray" thread ya? Anyways, no I don't, I feel there is more logic against a "God" then for. But I still accept other people see differently as long as they are not pushing it upon me.

 

[Wlliam.]

I stopped believing in god when the church and other followers denied the existance of dinasours. Then I asked them.. where do you think your gas/fuel comes from? God gave it to us, they said.

I lol'd, then I left. It was 8 years ago when I was a kid.

Religion was made, invented, created, however you may call it more than 2000 years ago.. if we stop being religous, I think thats just part of our evolution.. 3000 years ago the mayan civilization used to sacrifice more than 350 humans per year believing that the Sun dies every night and needed human blood to come out the next morning. Thing changes, we discover new stuff, and people evolves. sry for bad english

 

[liewbob]

Depends on your definition of God. There's a lot we don't understand - but I'm convinced that organized religion or any belief in an intervening God is basically mythology.

 

[Vihzel]

Why is it since the gay thread came out, that all of a sudden these religious threads come about? lol I wish The Lounge would go back to what it was and not turn so "political".

 

[Wlliam.]

Why is it since the gay thread came out, that all of a sudden these religious threads come about? lol I wish The Lounge would go back to what it was and not turn so "political".

Religious threads always get locked by mods after 2 pages lol...

 

[Turamarth]

I do believe in god. But, I think god is something bigger than a big man in the sky who created everything. Simply I believe that god IS everything. And everything in the universe makes up god. There's a good quote from a band I like;
"This pantheon of Oak, this citadel of stone; if this grand panorama before me is what you call god, then god is not dead".

 

[aiz4andy]

I grew up in the Church and was an altar boy, and studied Religious Education.

A huge majority of religious people (I would speculate at well over 95%) "just so happen" to follow the same religion as their parents. Of course, they will claim that God has personally revealed himself to them, and that they have a close and personal relationship with "him", but the truth is that they were culturally indoctrined into that particular faith.

Its surprising how most Christians I speak to have never read the Bible (I have read it more than twice), yet when I raise some of the atrocities committed by their God, or explain contradictions, their answer is always - "You can't just quote a line from the Bible, you have to understand the whole book" and then go on to quote a line about how God is all loving (or some other contradictory nonsense).

But yeah, If this God does exist he is not your kindly English gent modern image currently portrayed - read the bible and you will see he is an evil, murdering, twisted maniac who does not deserve worship and wouldn't know the first thing about love and goodness.

Incidentally, a very good website illustrating bible stories is The Brick Testament

- also have a look on Youtube for:

nonstampcollector
Pat Condell

(very entertaining and enlightening).

 

[mrqs]

Either (a) everything was created from nothing by someone (God), or (b) everything was created from nothing by no one.

there's also (c) everything always existed
and if you say that's not an option, then your (a) has a problem: where did god come from if one didn't always exist?

btw, the poll is disregarding polytheism and i think a "maybe" (agnostic) option would be good too

i like to keep a distance to any religion when discussing theology - all organized religion is imo bad (building places of worship and holding religious ceremonies never made any kind of sense to me), but i see how a belief in a "higher power" still has a place in some people's lives
i do wish it no longer didn't, tho' i hardly think i'll live to see that day

 

[Zenze]

I voted no but thats not entirly accurate. There is no way to prove or disprove that a supernatrual being or force exists. It is still plausable and I wouldn't be very suprised if there was one.

Either way, if there is a "god" do I think that its anything like the jewish/christian/muslim god or even plays a role in peoples lives? No.

 

[SoFLO]

I'm not looking to get into a giant discussion about this so I'll keep it short and sweet: yes.

 

[Froid]

There really is no use is attempting to convince one another to give up their beliefs, but I truly believe that no matter what you believe now, sooner or later you will have an experience that will change your mind. I argued against the existence of God for years, mostly because nobody could ever answer the question of where He came from. It was always "He's always existed," and that didn't work for me. I doubt you find many atheists on their death beds. He always finds a way to reach you!

 

[FahdR]

Those would be true... but only with out _EXTREMELY_ limited intellect. In just a few thousand years we've gone from thinking the sun was a living "god" to it being a big ball of gas. I wonder what will happen in another hundred thousand or million years.

Every day we get better at understanding the universe. Give us a few billions years and we might understand how it was created.

I Agree.
And I'm quite sure that by then we will figure out It was God who created.

But yeah, If this God does exist he is not your kindly English gent modern image currently portrayed - read the bible and you will see he is an evil, murdering, twisted maniac who does not deserve worship and wouldn't know the first thing about love and goodness.

@aiz4andy
Just because you think someone/something is evil doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Further evil is relative, Christians see King Richard as a hero while Muslims may see him as an evil man and vice versa for Salah-ud-Din.
Secondly, if someone is not able to put ur mind at ease doesn't mean they are wrong just less informed than you want to be.
Finally, no one will be able to answer all your questions, but keep an open mind and search high and low; you will definitely find all the answers you seek.

 

[lunatic59]

The truth is out there ...

cue eerie music

 

[aiz4andy]

There really is no use is attempting to convince one another to give up their beliefs

Many theists make this assumption. Firstly, not having a belief is not in itself holding a belief. Just like not collecting stamps isn't a hobby.

Secondly, I don't try and get anybody to "give up" their beliefs. I don't see it as giving up, I see it as evolving your mindset (I understand if you are not comfortable with the word "evolve") to make an informed decision on what you believe in the now. I have seen no evidence whatsoever that tells me there is a god, creator or superior being - the only evidence I have seen is for physics and nature - which incidentally over the centuries religion has adapted itself to fit in.

Also, your presumption that you don't find many atheists on their deathbeds is flawed. I can guarantee that every single person who has died who has never heard of god or who is from another religion or culture that doesn't fit in with your own is atheist (towards your god at least) on their death bed.

And for all the rest, I find it completely understandable that someone who is scared will offer up prayers in line with their cultural upbringing. Now if you were to tell me about how many hindus miraculously became Christian on their deathbeds, I may be a little more impressed - however we know this is not the case.

As a final argument, I would say that people who step out onto a road and find themselves faced with an oncoming car will more often than not move back, rather than say a prayer for god to save them. Does this make them atheist?

 

[hakr100]

There really is no use is attempting to convince one another to give up their beliefs...

If only that were the case. Unfortunately, the world is filled with proselytizers seeking converts, and in many cases, not gently.

 

[IOWA]

God is an alien from an advanced Race on a distant planet. Adam and Eve were test tube babies.

 

[Zenze]

God is an alien from an advanced Race on a distant planet. Adam and Eve were test tube babies.

Ah, but of course! I should have known!

 

[G.Armour]

God is an alien from an advanced Race on a distant planet. Adam and Eve were test tube babies.

So what would that make us?
I've decided not to take part in this discussion seriously because this topic can really make people hot tempered. It was said before in another thread that religion has caused more war and violence than anything else, and I bet that the title of this thread is one of the questions that may have started some of it...
Sent from Droid

 

[Tangent]

So what would that make us?
...

The result of generation upon generation of inbreeding?