Do you believe in God?

[Gaelen]

could you be in a relationship with someone who has the opposite view?

I personally could, and have The important thing in that situation is that you don't try and impose your views on the other. Forcing the other person to see things the way you do isn't going to do much but just create anger on both sides. I'm not a narrow-minded person so it was fine with us, but for someone who is dead set on what they believe in, that there's no alternative - I think that would be difficult to impossible for a relationship to work.

But then, what would I know? :lol:

I dont think faith or beliefs have anything to do with facts or knowledge. faith comes from within and as long as it is inside of you it doesnt really matter what anyone around you says - which is both beautiful and dangerous

I agree. I think as long as you believe in god, he/she (why is GOD always a he?) will always exist.

Besides, I'm more interested in how you could prove God doesn't exist! That would be interesting (and somewhat fun) to see

 

[miss_blue]

Besides, I'm more interested in how you could prove God doesn't exist! That would be interesting (and somewhat fun) to see

The opposite can work just as fine, how can you prove that God exists? I think that in the end faith becomes more of a matter of a choice. You choose if you believe or not and as the choice is made by you, there is no need to explain it to anybody. It is pretty easy actually: yes or no!

And I agree with you, why God always have to be a "He" Which brings us back to the movie Dogma :lol:

 

[_Hush_]

^Fun, indeed
The fun being, that we can't prove God exists, but we can't prove he doesn't exist either.
But we can always try

A lot of arguments can be stated against a omnipotent, all-knowing god.
I remember the most fun argument was the omnipotent paradox. The question was if God could create a rock he could not lift.
So either he can create a rock he can't lift, or he can't lift the rock he created.
So if God created a rock he could not lift, then he's not omnipotent (because he can't lift the rock). And if he creates a rock he can't lift, he's not omnipotent either since he can't lift the rock. Therefore, God is not omnipotent. Still with me? :lol:

More to say, but I promised a friend I'd run a few miles with him.

Beware :devil: :guffaw:

 

[Jacquie]

I think as long as you believe in god, he/she (why is GOD always a he?) will always exist.

I think God has always been pictured as a He because of public belief at the time that man was more important than women. I'm not say it was correct but that was probably the feelings back then. Even today some religions feel that man is more superior to woman which is why in those religions you won't find women priest.

Now could I be with some one that had a different belief than I did. I think I could as long as that person didn't try to change me or push their beliefs on me. Since I'm happily married I don't think I will have to worry about that though

 

[Gaelen]

I find it slightly funny that we give God a gender. I mean... why?

Oh just one of those questions that's not meant to have a proper answer I guess - lol.

Btw, does anyone know what the "youngest" religion is? I'm in that curious but lazy to research mood.

 

[allmaple]

pastafarianism emerged only a few years ago. most people will call it satire, but i feel it is just as valid as any other religion. scientology is viewed as a religion and gets tax exemption from the government as such, so i guess they are technically the youngest religion at 50 or so years old (i forget what the exact number is).

and i agree at the time many of the religious texts were written women were viewed as little more than property, so that could be why god is always 'he'. and even though there are some passages in the bible against male homosexuality, im pretty sure there is nothing about lesbians in there :lol: this is also why i dont buy into the 'virginity is sacred and keep it til marriage' thing, it was all about property in a male dominated society.

and speaking of dogma.... there is a video clip from a news program about people who were protesting the opening of dogma in their city. but the best part was, kevin smith was one of the protestors and the others had no idea! :lol: if you dont know, kevin smith is the director and one of the actors in dogma. some people will protest anything, even if they have no idea what they are actually protesting.

eta: heres the video

 

[xfcanadian]

its like the people who burn Harry Potter books because they are 'anti christian', however they don't even bother to read them :lol: Only in America...

the whole virginity thing was a way to ensure for men that their babies were actually their own. Now that we have birth control and DNA testing, its just a little bit out of date. Also it is meant to dominate females, for control. That is why its always seems to be a sin for females, but guys can do what ever they want.

What is really funny, places in the US that are hardcore about no sex before marriage, has the highest divorce, adultery and teen pregnancy rates :lol: This is why i am don't buy into religion, they aren't using logic and reason, just following the pack of doing something just because its tradition. If God really exists, i doubt he/she cares THAT much about sex, its been blown way out of proportion by people.

 

[Jacquie]

i

What is really funny, places in the US that are hardcore about no sex before marriage, has the highest divorce, adultery and teen pregnancy rates :lol: This is why i am don't buy into religion, they aren't using logic and reason, just following the pack of doing something just because its tradition. If God really exists, i doubt he/she cares THAT much about sex, its been blown way out of proportion by people.

This is why the Catholic schools have high rate of teen pregnancies. If they taught any type of sex education in schools the kids would be much better off.

I have seen the movie Dogma and I didn't understand it or find it funny. allmaple I did know that Kevin Smith directed the movie and I do think that that was funny that he should protest his own movie :lol:

 

[TallyHo]

Not all Catholic schools refrain from educating about sex and the health issues and responsibilities which go along with this issue as a lot depends more on which countries (down to diocese level) these Catholic schools are located and also the school's individual curriculum.

In the same vein, I would imagine the overall incidence and prevalence of teen pregnancies in Catholic schools in different countries tends to be significantly influenced by family background and the general sociocultural and socioeconomic elements of the teen population in question.

I went to Catholic school and we did have sex education in the curriculum.

 

[allmaple]

i was in catholic school until grade 4, we had one sex ed class in preparation for grade 5 when you have more. i dont know what their cirriculum was like though, because my parents switched my brother and i over to public school the next year.

in the states the abstinence only programs arent limited to religious schools, but the students who go through these programs have the highest teen pregnancy rates. kind of counter productive eh?

 

[Gaelen]

its like the people who burn Harry Potter books because they are 'anti christian', however they don't even bother to read them

You're sure it's not a cover-up for cheap heating?

in the states the abstinence only programs arent limited to religious schools, but the students who go through these programs have the highest teen pregnancy rates. kind of counter productive eh?

I think it's because of the age the programs are implemented and also the methods. Teens like to rebel, and if you set down ground rules without proper explanation as to why, you're just setting yourself up to be stepped over. Simple as that. Educating and telling people what to do are two very different things.

I'm not very familiar with Pastafarianism, do you mind giving some general info for poor lil' ol me?

 

[Amanda_Ruth]

I believe in God, though I am Protestant. My upbringing has been more open and I have been exposed to a lot more of life than most Catholic School children have been. I have my OWN beliefs, I share them with no one. If someone tried to tell me how to live my life, or whether or not to be abstinent, I'm not about to run against them, but I'd certainly not be happy about it. The whole point of having my beliefs is sticking to them, not spiting the people who challenge them.

And, by not living religiously, I don't mean that I go around drugging up and having sex... I mean that I don't go to church as often as I should. I have beliefs that would be counterproductive in a religious environment (at least, I'm worried they will be). My views on homosexuality have gotten me in trouble in the past (basically, I'm so liberal that it'd probably cause any normal person to spontaneously combust). I've learned that you just keep your beliefs to yourself in the church, but fight without abandon in the political world. It's quite fun!

 

[TallyHo]

in the states the abstinence only programs arent limited to religious schools, but the students who go through these programs have the highest teen pregnancy rates. kind of counter productive eh?

Indeed. I guess I'm looking at this relationship having a strength of association and statistical significance i.e. the outcome being teen pregnancy and the exposure variables in this case being targeted at sex education in religious schools; sex education in non-religious schools; sex education in Catholic schools etc. Add all the other variables and biasness for analysis and it gets complicated. It would make a good study which I'm sure must already been done in various countries looking at this particular outcome.

Religious schools and religion in schools brings up another case in point. Why does anyone attend or have their children attend religious schools? Is religion i.e. being immersed in a religious environment the actual reason for this choice?

 

[allmaple]

I'm not very familiar with Pastafarianism, do you mind giving some general info for poor lil' ol me?

why of course! :lol: hope youre prepared, cuz this could get a little nutty...

about 5000 years ago the flying spaghetti monster was drunk and accidentally created the first mountain, tree, and midget (not my word, its from our gospel!). the next morning when he was hung over and saw what happened he thought 'oh crap!' and had to go create the rest of the universe and some fossils and stuff to make it look like he knew what he was doing. he did not create any creatures in his image, because he is a perfect being, but dna as the genetic molecule of all species is made in his noodly image.

pirates are the holy chosen people of the fsm, and in response to their declining numbers the fsm has caused global warming. the relationship between number of pirates and global temperature is very tight. this winter was colder than predicted, and piracy was up! the holiest day of the year for a pastafarian is talk like a pirate day in september.

pastafarians would never bother people into trying to convert them, and have never started wars or hated people because they are from a different religion. we have no hell to scare people into behaving, and even if you are not a pastafarian you can still come hang out at our beer volcano and stripper factory in our heaven.

but it is our mission to ensure that if schools want to teach intelligent design in their science classrooms they must also teach the fsm. you cant teach id as an opposition to evolution if you wont teach ud (unintelligent design )


eta: because Tally posted while i was typing

Religious schools and religion in schools brings up another case in point. Why does anyone attend or have their children attend religious schools? Is religion i.e. being immersed in a religious environment the actual reason for this choice?

i have no idea why my parents put my brother and i in catholic school. probably because they went to catholic school and go to church every sunday. they switched us out because the teachers and principal seemed to be singling out my brother and suspending him a lot for nothing (sharpening his pencil without asking? come on!) for me, being switched into public school was the best thing that could have happened. not only because i dont care to learn about the bible, but once we got to highschool i wouldnt have been able to take music throughout and into university becuase i would have to accomodate the religion class in my schedule.

 

[Jacquie]

Religious schools and religion in schools brings up another case in point. Why does anyone attend or have their children attend religious schools? Is religion i.e. being immersed in a religious environment the actual reason for this choice?

I don't know the whole answer to that but in some cases the education can be better at a Catholic School than at a Public School. And no I'm not picking on catholics here but when I went to school you basically had Catholic and Public Schools. Parents may choose religious schools over the public schools to help with the religious training required for confirmations, first communions and bar mitzvahs and such.

Now going back to the teen pregnancy issue. We went to a public school back in the 60's and 70's. We didn't have much to in the way of sex education classes back then because you waited until you got married before you had sex. Yeah right tell that to my sister who was just shy of her 18th birthday when she got pregnant. I also blame some of this on my parents who idea of sex talks was to hand you a book and they said 'read this'. But hey that was what they were brought up with. So yes the schools can't be blamed for all the teen pregnancies happening these days. Parents talk to you kids!

allmaple I did like your info on FSM. It certainly is an interesting 'religion'