Do you believe in God?

Well, I was brought up as a religious person, though most likely due to influences from other cultures, I may have become slightly more "corrupted" or rather, more tolerant of things which I really shouldn't be - that is according to my religion.

E.g, I'm supposed to be very anti-homesexual, but I'm not - I have gay friends and I don't see them as doing anything "wrong" at all.

There's always an on-going battle between tolerance in this age and the religions which do not change over the years. I think that's a cause of conflict too. People nowadays think differently - although some may be more accepting and tolerant, some are not.

I think that's true - we seem to have mentally evolved to the extent that some have tried to "play god" what with the breakthroughs in science and technology. At this point, it seems we are looking for something to hold on to rather than guidance (are we that proud?).

I don't think I've made any sense -- it's late and my brain's turning to goo.

 

when the faith is put into writting. when there is a building where people can meet. when there is a man or a woman claiming he knows more about it then others. when people give name to the believe.

I never purposely learned about other religions. Christianity is most spread in my country so you get to see lot of the opinions and the people - some I met could scare you away from religion for life.

some things I learned about Buddhism I liked. I also had a semester long lesson (do you call it that?) on Judaism.

I was raised non-religiously. both my parents are baptized - Daddy is Catholic, Mum is Calvinist. but they never practiced.

but as I said in my first post I dont believe in organized faith. I dont think it is a way to go for me

of course you may, Shazza. I meant you as all of you. that is the problem with English, you never know whether its singular or plural with this word

 

You made quite a point here. I too was "raised" Catholic. My parents aren't really religious but sent me to a Catholic school because of the quality of the education. The fun part was that my religion teacher actually tolerated my visions and as long as I brought up good arguments for my "not-believing", I got high grades.
I think that my not-believing didn't result from failing of the church. I realised at a pretty early age that praying to a god just didn't do it for me and that I'd rather waste my energy on something else. But the obligated visits to church and the endless sermones didn't do my vision on Catholicism any good.

Please try and remember, because you got me really curious here. What I stated was a scientist's point of view, so I'm interested in how you're gonna debate that.

I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying, but I'll comment anyway.
I think no more needing guidance is a sign of evolution rather than pride. The more science evolves, the more man learns to think for himself and no longer needs something/-one to guide him. The good thing about religion is that it teaches about morals and ethics. But those behaviour guidelines are the basics of every religion, and can easily be acquired without religion or even faith.
So are we that proud? Sure, but there's nothing wrong with that. As long as you can consider yourself as a decent human being, with the right morals and ethics without needing guidance from "a higher being", there's nothing wrong with a little pride.

 

Morals and ethics can easily be acquired by upbringing. If your parents and your school did a good job raising you, you should have the right ideas about how you treat the people around you and how to treat your environment. No need to have it written down explicitly. And don't forget that we still have a justice system. You can't go running around annoying people or worse without repercussions.

And continuing the spelling debate from the other thread (yes, I am that evil )
Arrogance is indeed a bad thing, but I don't think pride is. If you're confident about yourself and sure about your ideas, a little pride is nothing to be ashamed of.

 

Yeah, whatever I posted before - mind went to goo. Ever know what you really want to say but can't for the life of you put it into words? Yup that's me.

Yes, true but those that are bringing you up must have the morals and ethics for them to pass it down onto their children. There has to be an origin of it somewhere, and I think it has to be written down somewhere (take the law for example - it has to written down or be challenged three ways from Sunday).

Haha! Yes you can! I do it all the time ! :lol:

 

behaviour evolves just like physical traits. especially as a social species that lives in family units, there is more group selection. i once had someone ask me since i dont believe in god, what stops me from stealing and murdering people? probably the stupidest question i have ever been asked. other social animals have expected behaviour and consequences when these 'rules' are broken. we merely call them morals, ethics, or laws because we have the language to do so.

i did not abandon my faith because the catholic church failed me in some way, i just never had it. i was in catholic school from kindergarten to grade 4, and i never believed what i was being taught. in church, i never prayed, never thought there was anyone listening who cared. i also never kneeled when you are supposed to in catholic mass, i refused to do it. but my mom made me when grandma was with us.

while i couldnt care less what other people believe, im not gonna lie, i do have a problem with the way some people interpret their religions. im not going to be accepting of people who use their religion to hate and discriminate a person for something they cant change. unfortunately this happens much too often. also people who use their religious texts to change or discredit science. sorry, but if you can push your id movement but ignore the fact the bible says the world is flat and pi=3 im not going to take you seriously. but im not going to bother you either.

 

I have a big problem with people who use religion as a means to get away with doing things otherwise wouldn't be accepted by twisting words etc. We have to face the fact that the religious words are ambiguous and it's up to the individual to decipher it for him/herself. It's when you got those few people who decided the words can be twisted to justify the obvious WRONG they're doing that I really get frustrated.

As for religion vs. science, well that argument is always going to be there too. In 20 years time, I doubt the debate would have gone anywhere

That's a very good point.

 

I believe in God and live relgiously. I'm a Christian, and have been for almost six years now, I was brought up as Presbyterian, but I am moving to a Free Methodist Church, I will be getting Baptised there soon. So yeah, I am a strong believer in God and I live religiously.

 

:devil: :lol:

What do you understand under religious/spiritual experience? (maybe a small example?)
For me personally, there's no such thing as a religious experience, since I believe that everything can be rationally explained. (Maybe not with our current science, but we'll get there eventually)
What comes up in my mind is near death experiences. I've read cases in which people who weren't religious at all, suddenly started to believe in God. They all claim to have seen a bright, white and warm light and believe have have seen a preview of heaven.
Well, let me burst your bubbles, because the white light is nothing more than a chemical reaction in your brain. People just interprete it that way because of how they were raised and personal experiences and memories.

I completely agree and actually have nothing more to add.

Adorable_Crazy, I already like you. Be prepared to answer tons of questions.
Why is it that I'm so fascinated with religious people? :lol:

I'll comment on Kant tomorrow. I never liked the guy's theories, and I'll tell you exactly why. Tomorrow.

 

i do not agree with this at all. all we have is this life so i am going to make the best of it. if people live their life in anticipation of heaven as a reward, doesnt that make everything they do an ultimate selfish act? you may be genuine, but in the end you are expecting some kind of reward that may or may not exist. i just try to be a descent person, and i expect to be treated the same. although, the promise of a beer volcano and stripper factory in pastafarian heaven is quite tempting... :guffaw: