I believe in signs. It happened to me so many times. I don't know how to explain it, or how to describe it. But there were several situations when I felt like I got a sign, and it helped me a lot. So yes, I believe in them.
I suppose that's the 'catch 22' if you will, with some people. I'm someone who usually needs proof beyond what anyone can provide but I still believe in God/afterlife. It's strange. I guess I'd like to have some proof, but it wouldn't kill me if I never recieved the satisfaction. I've had quite a few signs as well--or what I percieve to be signs. When my grandpa was dying, he told me to come closer so 'they' could see me in order to "figure out where to send the gift to". Later on he could see his dead sister (my great aunt) and other relatives and every day they got closer and more clear. His brain may have been shutting down (because of the advanced cancer/state of his body) so any number of things could have been happening (hallucinations, false sounds, all sorts of funny colours etc. but I'm not a doctor so I wouldn't know) but I took his word for it. He was just that kind of person, all there or not. And just yesterday, my sister was half asleep and she could hear a man talking despite only myself and her being in the house and he said "She can hear us" and then she heard more voices that weren't quite male nor female say "We're here" and then after that, something tucked her in. I don't think she's nuts and she's not a liar so I believe her as well. :shrug: Whether or not it was proof of something beyond this plane I can't say but it's interesting to say the least.
Interesting I am a girl who needs proof of almost everything, but I can live without proof that God exists, but if we had proof that the whole point of religion will go to waste. If there is physical proof of something, then it means that the certain thing or person is an earthly object which is affected by natural laws: gravitation, magnetism, biology, chemistry, and then it will lose its perfection, and God (or whatever you call it) in no matter which religion is perfect, and it will become a paradox. I have been told many times that I am a cynical person, and through my apparent cynicism I was sure that in one aspect of my life it was God's hand in the middle, because I saw no other explanation. When my parents got divorced (3 years ago) I was called a witness at the trial. The date of the trial was the same date when I had a big exam in school, but I couldn't "defy" the court so I choose to go to court and fail my exam and because of that I was willing to repeat a year. 12 hours before I left to court, there was this announcement that the exam was being postponed with a week, and there I think that God had something to do with it. Conclusion is: proof = imperfection, God = perfection, and that is just not happening.
i think people also read too much into things because that is what they want. they pray to deities for good things to happen, and when those things do happen they attribute it to the work of god. when i sent in my vet school application i said to the flying spaghetti monster "oh please fsm, touch my application with your noodly appendage and get me into vet school" i got into the school, was it my hard work paying off or was it a miracle from the fsm? things happen because we make them happen, as well as absolutely random events. i dont see any of these as a sign of a higher power working their mojo but if other people need to/want to thats perfectly fine.
I need proof for scientific things but when it comes to religion, I don't need any proof. I have my faith in God and that is enough for me. I am glad that one sign might be enough for you Hush, because for most people that say they want a sign, when they finally recieve a sign, it is not enough for them and they find excuses or they want more signs. As for me, I am good without a sign. I want to make a quote from a movie. "Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing." It's not a really religioys quote, in fact it is from the movie The Santa Clause.
Well, I said that a sign could at least make me doubt, but it'd better be a pretty good one since I'm an incredible sceptical person. If I can explain it, it's not a sign. miss_blue's example, me personally, I wouldn't take it as a sign, (no offence there ) but as the result of maybe a technical or a administrative problem. I believe it was Mac Taylor who said: "Everything's connected." And I actually believe in that. Everything has a cause and everything will lead to something eventually.
Chill, I am not easily offended, and plus there was no reason for me to feel that way. Moving on, I said before that I believe that there is a God, but I am not a religious person. I believe in a higher being, but I don't pray, I don't go to church, I just believe with my heart (because my mind is telling me otherwise, but I will not get into that). That example I gave is the only one that made me think for a minute and believe that there is a God, I didn't take it as a proof, but it made me think that it was His/Her hand in the middle.
I thought'd I'd bump this thread up if that's okay with the mods . So for all the newbies: do you believe in God? And if not do you believe in a higher power of some sort?
Wow... I didn't know this kind of thread existed. The short answer is: No. No gods, no demons, no angels, no miracles, no fairies, no ogres, no vampires, no ghosts, nothing mystical, nothing paranormal. Doesn't mean I don't love Buffy, The X-Files and Supernatural, though. I just don't believe any of it's real.
I don't deny that there is a God, I don't believe that there is a God. I think life is too short to dedicate it to a God. What if he isn't real? Then you have wasted very much time, praying to nothing. Maybe he IS real? If I don't pray or believe, does that make me a bad person? Will I end up in hell? Is there even a place called hell? If God is real, why is there so much evil on earth? Why did he create evil? Maybe he didn't? Maybe once upon a time there were no evil? Maybe humanity is evil? There's too many questions. I really don't know.
Personally, No.. i don't believe in God or really anything to do with religion. I think if he did exist then why would he let so much evil go on in the world - sure its humanity that causes it, but why would God create something that would one day turn into pure evil. As for heaven and hell, i don't think they exist either - your born, you live, you die - nothing less, nothing more. If they did exist then who gets to decided who goes to heaven and who goes to hell - what we do with our lives is our choice and there are hundreds of reasons why someone decides to do something - how can anyone possibly know everything that has gone on in your life up until the point that you die, and if they dont know everything, why should they get to choose whether you go to heaven or hell. In Religous ed' we had to study the quote "For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." by Stuart Chase. I guess this kind of sums up what i think of religion and God - If you believe in it, then thats up to you and its nice that you have something that will help you get through everything in your life, but for people who don't then its hard to understand and you will never be convinced unless someone can give you scientific proof that God does exist.
i voted no, basically i categorically don't believe in god or anything paranormal (although like a poster above, i enjoy shows about such things!), but my views on religion more broadly are pretty unsympathetic (and very strongly held) so i won't say too much here!
its not even just the evil that humans cause that gets me thinking. i am taking parasitology right now, and all the worms and maggots that get inside people and other animals. who would think it would be a good idea to have an organism that causes such destruction to its host? not to mention all the bacteria and viruses out there that cause disease and death. some of them have point yes, and the world would not work without certain species of them, but the pathogenic ones? if those were created on purpose the thing that did it is one sick and twisted entity.
As I said before, I believe in God and live religiously, I've been brought up in a Christian home, and have been a Christian for over 7 years. I attend church most Sunday's and take a Sunday school class. A few of you guys have been asking about signs, well, I've saw a few signs in my life, things I've been worried about and prayed about and I've saw signs hinting towards the answer to what I've asked about, this has also happened to a friend of mine recently who was a bit of skeptic, but now he's starting to really think about God and Christianity... Anyhoo... As for the question of "if there's a God, why is there still evil?" well as I've told friends and people before, it's because he gave us freewill, God gave us freewill, allowing us to do what we want, because of this some people have brought about evil, evil wasn't brought about by God, but by man's freewill...
Free will doesn't cover tsunamis, hurricanes, heat waves, blizzards, birth defects, cancer, infectious disease, etc etc. And it's not just evil that poses a puzzlement. There's the Euthyphro dilemma which deals with "good" rather than "evil". Basically it asks: Does God command it because it's good, or is it good because God commands it?