Do you believe in God?

[allmaple]

i figured that was what you meant. its just i have run into people in my life who did in fact think i was a worse person then them for not being religious (this was even before i admitted to people being athiest) so i thought i would check. thanks for clarifying

 

[Austin]

No problem. I know that feeling all to well. Two words: High School. The people I grew up with were so judgemental about being religious.

 

[csisue]

Yup I believe in god and the hereafter, and that when you die you go to heaven. I don't go to church, I figure I don't need a big building or any building to have faith and believe, or for him to love me in return. God is understanding.

 

[Detective_Burn]

Interesting topic.

Believe? Wide expression. I´m afraid I don´t believe in god. Whenever I have luck or a risky situation gets a happyend I pretend to believe by thanking him. However I guess that´s not what this thread is asking for.

Refering to physical presence I´m with science. If there is a god some spaceship-crew or whoever should definitly have met him; or her.
Nevertheless some people see god as a untraceable thing without a body, or at least without a own body. Looks like for this point of view there are neither proofs for nor against.

Apart from shapes I want to say I´m rather suspicious with religious motives. No offence to anybody, but there´s one danger all religious groups emitt.
You´ll find out what I mean by asking why people believe. In my opinion many people believe in a god (or some kind of) because believe has a soothing power.
Correct I´m talking about the state our world is in now. The polution, torture and wars.
Everything easier to sustain if we say there´s someone who has aims behind all our everyday misery.

Thus what I´m aiming at is believe can pull you away from reality. Make you loose contact to it. I don´t say we can still save this world. But my attitude is that for many people believe is a pretence not to act - unconsciously or consciously.

 

[MyMutantRomance]

I Don't believe in God. The whole idea of one person creating life is just something that I could never wrap my head around, even when I was young. It was about 2 years ago when I embraced my Atheism, and I think I'm more free because of it. I don't spend my days think about heaven and living for God, I live for myself. You only have one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest and not let anything hold me back.

 

[_Hush_]

You only have one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest and not let anything hold me back.

I don't think that people who believe in God are being held back by their religion. We, as atheists, may believe so, but for them faith is a sort of liberation, some kind of reassurance that everything's gonna be okay in the end. And if you know that everything's gonna be okay anyway, you shouldn't let anything stop you from having fun or anything.

But I do get where you're coming from. Religion nowadays has a bad reputation because people abuse it everyday. But is it because of their belief, or because of making wrong decisions? Your religion can teach you anything you want but in the end, it's you who makes the decisions.

I'm speaking from an atheist point of view so I'm not 100% sure of what I said here, but believers, feel free to correct me (You know how I love a good discussion )

 

[Jacquie]

. I don't spend my days think about heaven and living for God, I live for myself. You only have one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest and not let anything hold me back.

I do believe in god but I don't spend my days thinking about heaven and I certainly don't live for God. I live for myself and I like to think that God is watching over me. I just feel that God is pleased with the way I live my life and that I will end up in heaven where I'll meet up with my grandparents and other long gone relatives. My parents are still alive and I expect to outlive them given some of their health issues but who know what may happen. God knows but he ain't telling

Religion nowadays has a bad reputation because people abuse it everyday. But is it because of their belief, or because of making wrong decisions? Your religion can teach you anything you want but in the end, it's you who makes the decisions.

I think it is more of their beliefs than making wrong decisions. So people belief that their minister, priest, Rabbi or whoever has all the answers and is the word of their God. The people that say they are doing this or that in their God's name but did God really intend us to blow each other up?

Some religions aren't allowed to read the bible because their leaders
tell them that they can't interpret the bible so they have to rely on their leaders. So they may not know any better.

 

[_Hush_]

Some religions aren't allowed to read the bible because their leaders tell them that they can't interpret the bible so they have to rely on their leaders. So they may not know any better.

My point exactly, abuse of religion. But do you have to know the Bible/Qu'ran in order to know not to kill another human being? Relying on a leader is one thing, believing everything he says is another. You still have your own mind, your own thoughtprocess, and if you're brave enough, you have your own decisions.

I know that in some cultures it's easier to hide your opinions to avoid getting into trouble. But I think that if a religion is mature enough, it should allow criticism, to show it can resist the critics.

 

[Detective_Burn]

(...) Your religion can teach you anything you want but in the end, it's you who makes the decisions. (...)

You´re sure? Don´t get me wrong, but do people not rather rely on their god he/she will magage world-misery for them (so they don´t have to deal with it themselves)?

(...) Relying on a leader is one thing, believing everything he says is another. You still have your own mind, your own thoughtprocess, and if you're brave enough, you have your own decisions. (...)

I don´t know. Wonder if it´s that easy. Let´s say there´s a religious-leader providing his/her belief. If people believe in the context then there should also be no motivation to question it; at least in the beginning.

Edit:
@Jacquie: My problem was combining the quotes. Luckily it works now. Thanks you for helping me out.

 

[Finch]

It was about 2 years ago when I embraced my Atheism, and I think I'm more free because of it. I don't spend my days think about heaven and living for God, I live for myself. You only have one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest and not let anything hold me back.

My beliefs don't hold me back at all.

Granted, there are some who follow religions/faiths that require them to spend a certain amount of time praying/worshiping/performing ritual but in the long run, perhaps they feel this is just a part of their life, not a ruling factor? I can't speak for those people because I practice my religion pretty er, loosely. :lol:

I don't think that people who believe in God are being held back by their religion. We, as atheists, may believe so, but for them faith is a sort of liberation, some kind of reassurance that everything's gonna be okay in the end. And if you know that everything's gonna be okay anyway, you shouldn't let anything stop you from having fun or anything.

Most of this is true for me. I'm not sure if everything will be okay in the end--I suppose I'll have to find out when I meet my maker! :lol: But yes, I've always lived my life and not had to dwell on Heaven/Hell too much. Does my faith sometimes make me take a step back before I make a decision? Sometimes, but it doesn't mean I'll skim through the Bible real quick to see if I'm making the right choice. I have free will in the end.

 

[miss_blue]

MyMutantRomance said:
The whole idea of one person creating life is just something that I could never wrap my head around, even when I was young.

I believe that there is a God out there somewhere, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I automatically believe that he created the universe. I am actually studying Geology, and it doesn’t go hand in hand with the Creationist Theory, but I’m fine with that, simply because I don’t believe that he created the world. If you believe in a superior being that doesn’t mean that you automatically believe that everything is connected to it. My life does not revolve around God, and I am pretty satisfied with the amount of faith I have. I don not live my life around the Bible.

I don't spend my days think about heaven and living for God, I live for myself. You only have one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest and not let anything hold me back.

You and me both. If I weigh in everything I did in my almost 20 years of existence, according to the religion I have (Christian-Orthodox) I will most likely bur in the eternal flames of hell :lol: If I ever held back on doing something that I would have enjoyed it was because of commonsense or because people talked me out by giving rational and earthly arguments against that.

Detective_Burn said:
You´re sure? Don´t get me wrong, but do people not rather rely on their god he/she will magage world-misery for them (so they don´t have to deal with it themselves)?

Nope, they don’t. Not me at least. I will not expect God to come down from the skies on a white, fluffy cloud and suddenly fixing everything that goes wrong in my life. I failed an exam because I didn’t study. No God in there. I had a fight with my friend because I was too stubborn and selfish. No God there either. I am flat broke because I don’t know how to spend my money well, that doesn’t mean that I go to sleep at night hoping that God will show up in my dream and tell what I have to do. When I barely made it from a surgery I had few years ago, I was convinced that it was because of the skillfulness of the doctors that took care of me. I am happy to make my own mistakes and learn from them. When I did something that was clearly outside of the religious acceptance, the last thing that crossed my mind then was if whether God will forgive me for that. I have a limited amount of faith in God, but it’s there, and it’s enough for me.

 

[Detective_Burn]

^Okay, so far. However it´s not neccessarily about fixing everything. People I´m talking about also say there´s a god-given sense behind world-misery. You see my point?

 

[_Hush_]

Well, yeah... It's a normal response I guess.
Imagine believing in something of which you never had proof of. And that thing is believed to be all powerfull and everything.
And then when you ask: "Hey, why does God (or whatever higher being) let all these bad things happen?", the normal reaction could be that He/She/It meant it for it to be that way. They can't prove that it exists, so they made up dogmas. It's like saying Jesus is the son of God. You can't prove that, 'cause it's a dogma. He just "is".

Plus, if God created man, he would've done a much better job at it.

 

[Missing]

So many good points in these posts. I do believe in God but am not that religious and certaintly will not go to a church. My mom and I just believe in what we believe in, although she was raised Christian and that was back in the days with nuns. I too went to a christian school, then to a public and then back and then back to public and finished in a public school. I think I learned a little more in private school than in public but liked public better. I really never believed in most of what the church taught. I always go hung up on "God loves you and forgives" but then its "You will go to hell"--so how can that be how can he love you but send you to hell. The other thing is that the church has changed there views on alot of things and it seems that if the "donations" are large enough that anything will be overlooked. Church says material possessions are not important but I have seen many pastors with very expensive things.

Now this has made us very at odds with the rest of our family as they are church goers right in the front pew every sunday but give them the chance to screw you over and they will do it. They do not live by anything that is taught and use only what suits them in the bible and then they will fight you tooth and nail on it. I try to respect other people and try to do good and I think that if everyone did just that it would be a better world.

 

[Detective_Burn]

(...) the normal reaction could be that He/She/It meant it for it to be that way. (...)

That´s so right. Isn´t this a promising excuse for not having to act yourself?