How can you honestly believe in God.

I believe this thread is bomb waiting to go off. This could quickly lead to a "bitchfest" between some of the believers and non believers on this forum. Mods may want to keep a check on it.

As far as the topic of this thread, I myself am an atheist and I would probably feel pretty silly if I found myself praying one day....HOWEVER, I feel that those who are believers have every right to believe without being called stupid or crazy (or any other words thrown by a weak mind). The same goes for us atheists.


Jasn

Really man kind has always believed in a good and evil.

I think God is a way to keep poeple in check and also give hope to those that need it.I believe in him and throw a prayer out ehre now and then just because if there is no god then it won't matter,but if there is a god i got a few brownie points i hope =)

Originally posted by SimiusDei
I believe this thread is bomb waiting to go off. This could quickly lead to a "bitchfest" between some of the believers and non believers on this forum. Mods may want to keep a check on it.

Jasn

Its ok the bomb aint set yet, it usually sets off when the super religious guys come in, and the super religion hating aethiests come in, then they both battle it out. At the moment, its fine.

Mainly agreed, Project_Silo. But their not called "brownie points". It's called "karma".

EDIT: their = they're.

Q: So, whose there are they?
A: They're their there. So there.




[edit on 1-8-2007 by Tuning Spork]

Ok...


Here is what God is...


Everything in every posibility no matter what...


Everything you see and that is, is God.


Period





Think about it.




Everything that is not 'ours' and is matter and 'substance' would be God.





I think God does not discriminate between anything because God would not be anything but everything.



"The unmoveable mover"


"The Grand Geomatrition"


...




I feel way too many people define God too narrow mindedly...




Feel free to ask me more about this but I beg all readers to think about the true logic and scope of unlimited bounds....

Originally posted by Watchful1



I feel way too many people define God too narrow mindedly...

Yes I agree, I mean there is unlimited possibilities to what god could really be, but one of those possibilities has created us. God isnt some dude, where you go up to and say, wanna go to the bar and have a few drinks, and talk about jesus, and how you convinced noah to build the ark.
There is so much more to god than that, its beyond our imagination.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_


Its ok the bomb aint set yet, it usually sets off when the super religious guys come in, and the super religion hating aethiests come in, then they both battle it out. At the moment, its fine.

True, but with this being on the front page, it's just a matter of time.

Maybe the people that get involved here will keep it in check for the sake of not looking like childish idiots.


Jasn

Originally posted by SimiusDei
I believe this thread is bomb waiting to go off. This could quickly lead to a "bitchfest" between some of the believers and non believers on this forum. Mods may want to keep a check on it.

Jasn



Its ok the bomb aint set yet, it usually sets off when the super religious guys come in, and the super religion hating aethiests come in, then they both battle it out. At the moment, its fine.

I think we should try to leave religion, yay or nay, out of this thread completely. The majority posters who believe in god have said they don't really buy the bible and religion, and so forth. Maybe if it just sticks to god and creationism this thread will be a little different than the others.

For all of you, believers and non believers, do you think we will ever prove how the universe was created?? I have read in a Stephen Hawking and other books that the answer is right around the corner in science, but that is a little understatement in my opinion. The irony in the discovery could be that it doesn't prove either wrong and the arguement stays the same as the present.

Originally posted by SimiusDei


True, but with this being on the front page, it's just a matter of time.

Maybe the people that get involved here will keep it in check for the sake of not looking like childish idiots.


Jasn

Yes and I advice anyone who gets insulted, or feels deeply upset, to just move on, because it will make the insulter look even more childish, and it wont bring you down to their level. This way debates wont go too far.

Originally posted by ingeniouslycorrupt
I have read in a Stephen Hawking and other books that the answer is right around the corner in science, but that is a little understatement in my opinion. The irony is the discovery could be that it doesn't prove either wrong and the arguement stays the same as the present.

Yep. The answer's been just around the corner for centuries. If you really wanna get to the final answer to everything just remember that ancient proverb: It's turtles all the way down.

I was just reading through the topic and wanted to respond to the idea that God must exist as that is the only thing that makes sense. Ultimately, I feel that it makes sense because you make it make sense. I am in no way saying you are wrong or right, simply stating you choose that as your method to make sense of the world. If asked what 2+2 was you would say 4 simply because that is the sense we as people have given to the statement. We have provided the idea that 2+2 is 4 whereas we could have just as easily said 2 was what we think of as 2.5 and said it was equal to 5. I think that this explanation for God is similar in the fact that we as humans connect these things in a way which makes "sense". Ultimately in this manner, people create God just as people created the number system.

If one may look as far as the people arguing in such a debate as to the existence of God each side offers simply human reasoning which they use to justify such ideas to themselves. These ideas work for some while others find different ideas which make sense to them. The important thing is not that something makes sense or not, but what actually IS. Humans have thought but that does not mean that human thought and reasoning can pull together what IS. You perceive everything in this world and even beyond that but how sure are you that what you are perceiving exists? God is simply a creation of human thought and reasoning to make sense of what we perceive.

In closing, there may or may not be a God. If there is a God perhaps some human reasoning is correct? Or perhaps there is no such thing as God and it is simply a way for humans to justify what they perceive to themselves. It doesn't matter if one believes or doesn't believe as long as they find what works for them. The "Truth" can never be found as we simply perceive and reason but can never factually know anything so it comes down to creating a world which you as an individual can live in.

Originally posted by ingeniouslycorrupt


I think we should try to leave religion, yay or nay, out of this thread completely.

I agree, because it gives us a the chance to use our imagination, to figure out, and debate about what god could be, or why god couldnt be. We would be more free to open up to more possibilties.

There really is no way of resolving this other than basically agreeing to disagree. A hardcore atheist will never be willing to accept the existence of God without proof and a hardcore religious person will probably never be willing to accept that God doesn't exist. I'm willing to accept the possibility of God not existing, but since there can never be solid proof either way, I choose to believe what my instinct tells me and what makes the most sense to me - God. Unless a big booming voice comes out of the sky and reveals itself to us, I don't think the debate will ever be settled. Even then, I'm sure there would be those who still argued against it.

Well, frankly I don't buy the big bang theory. It's just ludicrous
to think this whole universe was made by 2 materials colliding with
each other, or a super nova. Where did energy come from to make
whatever materials there were before the big bang?
Because I really don't wanna believe at one time there was nothing,
100 billion years later there was something.

Seriously, you ALL need to watch Zeitgeist, either on google video or do like i did and download the high quality version off of bittorrent, trust me it will change the way you think about religion and everything you have been led to believe your whole life.

Originally posted by TheCosmicSerpent
There really is no way of resolving this other than basically agreeing to disagree. A hardcore atheist will never be willing to accept the existence of God without proof and a hardcore religious person will probably never be willing to accept that God doesn't exist. I'm willing to accept the possibility of God not existing, but since there can never be solid proof either way, I choose to believe what my instinct tells me and what makes the most sense to me - God. Unless a big booming voice comes out of the sky and reveals itself to us, I don't think the debate will ever be settled. Even then, I'm sure there would be those who still argued against it.

Nicely said, I believe that we may be wasting our time talking here, maybe space exploration and future science and technology, would help lead us into the right direction to finding answers, if people, especially scientists open up more.

[edit on 1-8-2007 by _Phoenix_]

Well, frankly I don't buy the big bang theory. It's just ludicrous
to think this whole universe was made by 2 materials colliding with
each other, or a super nova. Where did energy come from to make
whatever materials there were before the big bang?
Because I really don't wanna believe at one time there was nothing,
100 billion years later there was something.

There are many facts that support the big bang theory, if you would like links I can find them but you should know at least a few: The universe expanding/Red Shift. Apparently the only reason you don't believe it is because it's 'Ludicrous'!!! Just because we don't know where the singularity came from doesn't mean the big bang theory is totally shot to hell...no pun intended.

Originally posted by Equinox99
Well, frankly I don't buy the big bang theory. It's just ludicrous
to think this whole universe was made by 2 materials colliding with
each other, or a super nova. Where did energy come from to make
whatever materials there were before the big bang?
Because I really don't wanna believe at one time there was nothing,
100 billion years later there was something.

Almost as ludicrous as "God", except, not as much.

God is anything you want it to be. It is a perspective one has for interpreting the world. To be honest I dont hink i'm ever alone. Not like there is a pair of ghostly, magic eyes watching out for me, but rather an intention all life has to preserve life. A good man sees a bad man as his charge, so the fact that he is bad does not bother him, he sees the opportunity to make good. Similarly some one who is not godless sees all that is void of life as an opportunity to touch it and fill it with our hands of creation, connecting everything to eachother. That to me is the maxim of god. The act of sharing that intention with another living creature.....to know they wish you to be alive...and to show them you will their existance too. It is when we are beside our fellow man, with him in his troubles or alone with our shared mortality, that we are closest to god for he is the common bond we have to the universe. Our intention of him. that is our claim to his divinity. the fact we are capable of loving like him. That is what makes us in his immage. A soul is much more than a spirit one has it is your portion of god...your inheritance of mind. What protects you from becomming nothing...null and void. Light in darkness. ....

Originally posted by 3_Libras
Almost as ludicrous as "God", except, not as much.

Why not? Something from nothing -- whether it's by way of the "Big Bang" or via "God" -- is a ludicrous idea to a causality-minded "godchild".

Apparently the only reason you don't believe it is because it's 'Ludicrous'!!!

Replace "ludicrous" with "illogical" and read that reply again.

Apparantly the only reason we're still debating this is because there is no final conclusion that we can come to.

Incidentally, redshifts are caused by gravitation as well as expansion. In fact, redshifts can be caused by any influence that saps energy. Such as travel. I, for one, am not convinced that the redshifts of distant galaxies to be conclusive proof of an expanding universe.



[edit on 1-8-2007 by Tuning Spork]