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I don't believe in God, but I do believe there is something out there that created everything. I raised by Christian parents, but none the less... I'm a spiritual person, I pray. Just not to God. To whatever is out there that created everything is who I pray to.
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1) God is not a religion. God is a deity of a religion. A religion is a set of beliefs that has practices. Again, God is not a religion. Christianity is a religion. God is not.
2) God does not only represent the Christian faith. There are many religions, if not all major religions, that believe in one singular God, they just have different names for God. Hinduism still believes in a single God. So does Islamic belief. 3) I don't believe in God. As science grows larger, God grows smaller. God used to live all around us, until we explored the earth. God used to live in the sky, until we explored the skies. God used to live in the stars, until we explored that, too. God's running out of places to live. God used to create vast storms, until we discovered how the weather works. If you have a question you can't explain with science, then I will happily find the answer. I certainly don't believe Earth was created by God. Earth was created by the compression of materials that makes up the core of the planet, and being super dense it creates its own gravity, which keeps us to the planet. By chance we're just the right distance from the sun, and we have a breathable atmosphere and amp living conditions. We evolved through time, and through time we developed the intellect we have now. If you believe in God, I'd like you to answer one question.. What about the dinosaurs? It's a fact that they existed. We have their remains. What if the dinosaurs were God's creation, and we're some genetic mutation? |
I'm going to post something about avatvisms and how evolutionarily imperfect we are (and how the Bible explains it!) in the Creationism v. Evolution thread. xO
But I guess the same sort of stuff applies here, to suggest, if we do have a creator, they're not so intelligent or that just have a really SICK sense of humour. @Nathuram - I'm not sure about this, but isn't Hinduism polytheistic? Or... notreallyfittinginanyofthoseterms due to cultural diversity and different understandings. There's an entire myriad of Gods, supporting the idea of Polytheism, but at the same time everything looks back to Brahman? Which, in effect, could be pantheistic. Since I'm not Hindu myself, I really couldn't say, but apprently many of them are less concerned with this modern frenzy for labels and just take it as it is. And the dinosaurs... I've seen that cast off as a joke from God to expose the Faithless, etc... With enough Faith you can make a conspiracy theory out of anything. |
I'm done some research on Hinduism, and it's possible that some/most Hindus believe in a polytheistic religion, with multiple gods/goddesses such as Shiva. But in my research, I've read that Hinduism believes that Shiva and the other gods/goddesses are multiple manifestations of one single god. Then again, I'm not a knowledgeable Hindu, so I could be wrong.
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My personal feeling is that religion was created to explain things that couldn't be explained other ways. Before Darwin and the theory of evolution, some higher being putting us on Earth made sense, in a way. But there are no facts, to my knowledge, backing up the existence of a god of any sort.
I'm a big "conspiracy theory" sort of person, and therefore am led to believe that churches and the like are out to scam you (to an extent). I mean, my friend's church made almost 30,000 dollars IN ONE WEEKEND. |
I'm a Christian, and a Protestant but i don't believe in God. I believe we came of the evolution of this man who's name i forgot. There must be something out there, but i dont believe its god.
God is opinion, some people believe in it, not all. Believing is a opinion, as in, I believe it will rain tomorrow (while today is uber shiny) thats a opinion. A fact is as in, My sister is playing the sims 2 right now. She is doing it, you dont need proof cause she is. But God is your own opinion, is it a fact or a opinion. For me it is indeed an opinion. -Enma |
Well...for me because I personally am catholic I think it's a 'fact' but I can definitely understand that some people who may not have been raised or whatever believe that is an opinion thing. And I can respect that.
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Well I'm Christian too (( =] )) and I should say Christiany and God is belief. I've recently learned there is something called being true and truth.
For example, Genesis 1 and 2 are strange. In Gen. 1, it says God made everything AND THEN humans. In Genesis 2, it says God made humans and then created things around it. Both of these have facts that don't align together so it is not true. But there is TRUTH in them. As in God really did make them, even though the chapters may phrase it differently. Does that make sense? xD Anyways I'm out of the debate because I feel I have put enough ramble jamble into it. Feel free to debate on what I said xD And this is an awfully long post xD Haha! |
I don't think it's a fact or an opinion. If someone believes enough in it, then they think it's a fact. Others might just have the opinion god exists, but aren't really sure. Personally I think it's just all about belief. Besides, how do we even know God is a He. It would make more sense if god was a she in my opinion. So it would be goddess not god... Then the whole Jesus is white thing. He's not. He's jewish, and middle eastern. So he'd have dark skin, brown or darker than brown hair, and brown eyes. Not blue, his skin is not pale or black. I mean people really need to think about it. He was jewish, he lived in the middle east..It's just common sense, so while some believe him to be a blue eyed white guy, and others a black man just doesn't make sense. Of course, that's another subject entirely. I apologize for rambling.
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If I believed in any god, factual or fictitious, I'd still think all people went to hell due to the fact that no one is perfect.
Still, I believe God is not a fact. He is a concept and a basis for a religion, but there is no proof he exists. |
It is hard to seporate fact from opinion some times. I still think Pluto is a planet, while some scientists that they have facts it is not. That's what I belive and there is nothing that will make me belive other wise.
As for as "God" goes, it is a matter of beleif and faith. Most major Monotheistic religions beleive in the same god yet worship him in diffrent ways. It is a proven fact that both Christianity and the Muslim faith came out of Judism. It is beleived, because of it's roots and similaritys in worship that Judism actualy sprang from ancient egyptian religion, though that has not yet been proven. In that case, if it is true, dose that mean that there is more than one god/goddess/powerfull being pulling the strings of life? The 10 Comandments say "Thou shalt have no other god but me" but it never said that other gods did not exist... actualy that's a topic all to it's self... As I was saying though, I think "God" is an opinion in the form of a Beleif and not a fact. |
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There is absolutely no way to prove whether or not God exists. You either have faith in [a] God or not...simple as that. And people that are like, "No, God doesn't exist, i believe in my wiccan/paga/muslim/shinto whatever God(s)" just stfu. If someone asks "Does God exist?" Less they are specifying the Christian God, they are talking about a supernatural entity in charge of the world in some form or another, that people simply refer to as god, no matter what religion it pertains to. So in essence you are like, "I don't believe in God! I believe in God!"
I have my own personal belief that i believe in God, i am Catholic, and i think that our creation was part evolution and creation. That speck of bacteria or whatever that caused the big bang had to come from somewhere! I have faith in him, and no one has been able to convince me otherwise. My boyfriend is an atheist and i respect that. We just don't talk much about religion. His faith is his faith and mine is mine. When we have children it will be an entirely different matter. It all comes down to you making a personal decision as to whether you think there's a god or not. No one can prove or disprove it, they can only provide compelling evidence one way or the other that you can either accept or reject. Period. |
I completely agree with your point of view. Personally, I'm not a beleiver, but I think everybody has a right to beleive what they want. Then again, I've never been that interested in the after life, and, to be blunt, religions have to many d-mn requirements for my liking. To be cheesy, I prefer to be a free spirit than tied down by what's written in a book. However, I can't blame people who do want to live by these books.
I once heard Jesus' remains were found. This blew me away- I personally had thought the man to be little more than a fairy tail. Now, I really just think he's a loony... Don't get me wrong. The principals the bible and such teach, for the most part, are great. But I don't like the fairy tail aspect of it. If I were to follow a religion, I'd need hard facts to beleive it. I'm not just going to beleive someone turned water into wine because someone told me. I'd need hard proof. Facts. Photos, scientific proof, ect, that this person can really perform miracles. Also, I don't like the discrimination that comes with religion. Think about it- How many millions of people have had their blood spilt because they didn't beleive in the same means of finding the afterlife as another group? It sickens me, really. I'm not athiest, however. I beleive there is something that governs over us, as a higher power. I just don't know who/what and exactly how it affects us directly. I beleive the term for that is Agonostic, right? |
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Anyways, no one said that in order to believe in [a] God you have to follow a religion. I, myself, am Catholic (mostly because i was born into a Spanish Catholic family). I embrace Catholicism for the community it holds and what it has done for my mother throughout her life. But the bible has NOTHING to do with my faith in God. I don't need cold hard facts, because then it would completely defeat the purpose of faith. If [a] God has to present you with cold hard facts to prove his existence, not only would it be insulting, but it would be degrading the gifts he gave human kind (a brain to make up our own mind), and it is essentially saying that you don't trust him. [For me] God created this world -- no i'm not talking about creationism, i believe more in evolution but believe that there had to be a driving force behind it, aka God -- and put our lives into motion. I hear the, "If God's all loving, then why is there bad in the world?" argument all the time. Well, my answer is this: A lot of the atheists i've spoken to have said that Christians are morons because they're not using that brain God apparantly gave us. Well, i'm Christian and i have a reverse statement for those people: I do! Evil being present in the world doesn't make me disbelieve in God (what? How could God allow his children to die!). God put us on this earth with a brain that has the ability to think logically, rationally, and abstractly. He gave us free will to make our own decisions without his Hitlerish control. Every murderer, pedophile, thief, whatever was born with the same ability to think as us (some smarter, some dumber...but we're all a family, and families help each other out). Those people, though they don't admit it, made choices throughout their lives that lead them to lead an evil life and harm others. I don't know what's in the afterlife, but i'm sure that God deals with them in his own way. God gave us free will to do as we wish...whether it be good or evil. I, personally, see no reason to not believe in him. I have a wonderful family (yes, we've had our troubles over the years) i have my health (i have some problems, but others have it worse) and i have the ability to decide what i want for my future. Some of my grades will make it a bit harder, but i don't care who you are...if you want a good life, God isn't going to give it to you, he's going to give you the opportunity, by using your brain, to get what you want...you have the weight on your hands as to whether or not you want to take those chances. I respect people that make a choice to their faith for the right reasons (not "I wanna be a shock value to society!" reasons). Do i wish that everyone could see this world through my eyes, see God's work the way i see it? Of course! Will i ever EVER make anyone see what i see, or call them an idiot for not seeing it? No. If that were the case, i should stop considering marrying my boyfriend, as he's an Atheist. I believe in choice. As simple as that. My children will be raised Catholic as children until they are old enough, i feel, to make a rational and logical choice of their own volition as to whether they want to be Catholic or...well whatever. I've never understood Christians condemning people for not believing (as it's clearly spoken against in the bible), but on the other side, i've never understood Atheists who call us closeminded because we believe...yet tell us we're morons for doing it. I like to consider myself fairly open minded to the possibilities. |
it is literally impossible to disprove something like God.
how can we if we don't know what he looks like or where he is? i choose to believe in God. as a catholic, all that i have to support my beliefs is, well, nothing. i go by my faith, which all christians do. i still, however respect the beliefs and ideas of others and their religions no one can tell another that their beliefs are wrong because they are their beliefs God is real to some and fiction to others but the truth is a mystery Whether God is fact or fiction will be revealed to us at the day of our the end of our lives. |
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I think god is real because look on how science says the universe started The Big Bang. yes scientists say there is prove behind this but how did the big bang happen. I mean they have laws that says matter cannot be created or destroyed but there was nothing before the big bang and then all of a sudden some kind of explosion or something like that happened and then the universe is born that sounds weird to me. If any thing god created the big bang to make all this happen.
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Ooh. Finally a topic that I actually like.
Okay, so here's the deal. You ignore both scientific fact and theological premise. You exclude the story of the bible, and concentrate on the principles which it teaches without the religious zeal. And what do you get? Good general guidelines for how a person might best live their life. The New Testament in particular brings to light various values which reflect a more generous lifestyle - that is, not harming or resenting others, and doing what you can for those in need. An example of that last point is a passage in the New Testament, where Jesus favours a poor woman who donates a single coin to her temple over a rich man who donated a whole lot just moments earlier. Now, in the big scheme of things the larger amount would be more helpful, but the woman undoubtedly needed her pittance more. The rich guy wasn't inconvenienced by losing the amount he gave. Taking the 'favour in the Lord's eyes' out of this, it's a parable which tells us that it's the relative scale of what we do that's important. Likewise, if you disregard all the religion in the Bible, it's basically telling you to be a good person. Regardless of what actually happens to you after you die, it seems that being a good person is what counts. So in that sense, religion isn't an inherently bad concept. But then you apply the notion of an all-powerful being who tells people to do things to gain his favour, and things get murky. Murder's carried out in God's name. Mass murder, even. So irrespective of whether or not God's real, the very thought, or belief that she exists, has historically done more harm than God could possibly have wanted for his children. Basically.. what I'm saying here is that whether or not God herself exists is irrelevant to how one should act, and the firmly-held and strongly-enforced opinion (and it is an opinion, as we can't prove a damn thing) that she does has led to an obscene amount of accountable, provable violence. |
I think that God is fact and a matter of opinion. Fact because there is somethings that we cannot explain by science no matter how hard we try. Opinion because not everyone believes in God. There are somethings also that can be explained by science but still people say that is is God. Its a matter on how you look at it.
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Seriously, think on this.
Man (Homo Sapiens... Not the lambs of god.) is a creature of belief and of construance. When we get an idea into our head, we do not like it to be tampered. When the continents split, and the ice melted we only carried one thing in common with us that tied us together. Religious beliefs, or at least belief in some divine force/deity. We are also a beast of normality. We often alienate people who are different or have different beliefs than us. We alienate people such as Nihilists, Satanists, and Aethiests as we think they're "crude" or "barbaric". But in the end, aren't we all "crude" and "barbaric"? Man, also being a beast of knowledge, has yet to prove of any physical embodiment of a divine force/deity. Most people say "Oh, it's just His plan for us not to find proof of him." The Beast of Ignorance. Of course it's an opinion, but we cannot rule opinion out. Let's just call it... "unproven facts". PS: Why does "God" have to be a "He"? Why can't he/she/it be a Female? |
Since religion hinges on "faith" and the idea that if you can't prove it's not true, then maybe it is (along with elements from the holy books that correspond to historical occurences and stories from other sources), I don't think you can make a good case for any religion being a fact, rather than an opinion.
Wait, I take it back. Buddhism (sp.?) but that doesn't quite count, because as far as I know it started as a philosophy rather than a religion, and thus Buddha was a man, and not a legend, and some of the beliefs and stories of Buddhism can be proven, but then practitioners went and built a mythology around and now I can't say what's true and what's not. Wait, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. I think it's rather widely accepted among believers who think rationally about their religion that it's heavily based in faith, which is another word for opinion. (until such time as it's proven, and then people refer to it as intuition) A lot of people try to tell me "It's possible God exists and Christ was his son, and I believe it. But you're free to believe otherwise" (not a direct quote by the way) |
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Just because we can't definitively explain things doesn't mean that there has to be a God. It just means that whatever caused events such as the big bang can't yet be comprehended by us yet. It's horribly naive to say that God exists solely because we don't know how the universe came to be. Besides that.. in the case that one does go to Heaven after one dies.. Do you really think it's going to be a single existence which is wholly unaffected by the perceptions and preferences of the person who experiences it? After leading a whole life of being a good person, do you think God's gonna be waiting at the gates when you enter, and say, "I've got some bad news buddy. You're gonna be stuck in a place you hate for the rest of eternity."? Nah. God's an opinion. A state of mind which epitomises the perfect being in the eyes of the beholder. |
God is not proven true by science but then, who knows? A thing doesn't need evidence to prove it's existence!! Anyway, I think it depends on the religion. Some believe in God just like the Roman Catholics but then, the pagans don't believe in God. They just believe in idols!
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