I believe in God and evolution.

I feel that there is a bigger picture than our world of course and we know that here in this physical plane of existence that we are just a speck in the scheme of the greater creation. Faith is a pesonal thing which one develops not just because of what they are taught but of personal experience-- as many others have their own idea of the world beyond our world or realm. I hear people say that animals don't have souls but who knows? I would like to see my childhood dog again and be able to run through the fields with her playing.

This is one of those topics that is subjective on so many levels, but what I don't agree with is when someone says, their way of thinking or believing is right and the others are wrong-- because in the end-- none of us really know.

I'm agnostic, but I do believe there is something MORE than what can be proved. Whether it's a Christian God, a Flying Spaghetti Monster or what I'm not sure. But I hate the idea of being able to explain everything.

It's like when you go see a magician's show, and afterwards he explains how he does everything. It takes the whole wonder out of it. I'm not one of those people who say "Ignorance is Strength", but I think it's pretty arrogant of human beings to believe that we're smart enough to know everything.

I have to admit though, when I first visited one of the ancient European churches (The one in Dover Castle, England, built in the 1100's) I definitely felt something. Whether it was the presence of "God" or simple awe of the building, I'm not entirely sure. But for the first time in my life I wished I could believe in something specific. I wanted to sit down bow my head and pray. I've gone to church before, but I really only enjoyed the community aspect of it.

This is very common misunderstanding of evolution (willful or otherwise). Humans are not descended from apes. Humans are Apes. We and the other apes that populate the planet are descended from a common ancestor, one that existed in a form that is not living any more. It was no longer as well suited to its environment, or was out competed by those from its line that, by way of genetic mutation, were even more suited to survive. These were the next step in evolution of apes, both us and what are traditionally thought of as apes, like gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, etc. We just divirged at this point in our development.

As to whether I believe in god: eh.

Yes I believe in God.

He created the world and gave his one and only son (Jesus) to die for our sins.[:cry]

That's an awesome Dawkins quote. Why have I never heard that before? Probably because I never got to finish reading The God Delusion, actually. But yeah, that pretty much sums up everything I believe in regards to mysticism. The idea of a god, to me anyway, seems like a cop-out. I think the scientific answers for our questions are much more fulfilling and beautiful than "God did it". And I think that what Claudia said is right; there are a lot of reasons for man to invent a god, and significantly fewer reasons for there to be a god which invented man.

Well said. Couldn't have better phrased it myself.

God is largely an inconvenience. This is largely due to evangelists. For some reason, they think attempting to force their beliefs onto me (and other victims) they are in fact 'saving' us from going to hell. I think this is utterly outrageous. (Grr, they make me so frustrated).

However, for some, God keeps them on the right track in life. Because of God, they may choose to stay away from alcohol, be a good person, be generous, kind, etc. I think scripture teaches some very important lessons. God lets these people believe in something, and have something to strive towards (going to heaven).

Ultimately, God is symbolic of an ideology, but not a person. So I don't believe in God.

It's a very intriguing subject for me. There are so many different theories to how we came to be.
For me I don't believe in a god, i feel more inclined to believe in multiple gods, to think of one person despite being a god were to create the universe, galaxies, humans, living breathing things is mind blowing. I'm not against the idea of gods, but I don't exactly believe they have that much control over the humans.
Example the gods control the weather, fate, death, love, such things as that.
I do like the though of evolution though, very fascinating subject all around. [:?][oops][drool]

This is a very interesting topic. I do believe in a god, personally I believe in one god through the Christian beliefs but always hold out the possibilities that there could be multiple gods/goddesses or no god(s) at all. To me the evolution thing always left more questions than answers since it isn't exactly a straight line along the evolutionary chain. The human evolutionary chain breaks off at a certain point where the opportunity for other species' existence still lies. But beyond all of that, where did the first essence of everything that exists/has previously existed begin?
The big bang theory? Yes, that's possible. But what caused that?
What created the components involved in the big bang theory?
That's really just why I believe there is a higher power, or "god" so to speak. There's just really no defined answer in everything that exists/has previously existed and had occurred/is occurring.
To me it just really makes sense for there to be some form of higher power intermingling with scientific properties.
I definitely don't discredit science, but I don't believe science is the answer to everything. Science itself is also changing and evolving so we can't expect science to give us all the answers.