If God Exists

I don't understand why people worship god or gods. Even if he did exist and he's super powerful, is that any reason why we should worship him? Do his bidding? Why can't god just co-exist with other life form. So what if he did create us. I still don't see why people feel like he should be worship. So he made us, big whoop...

maybe some of you guys are religious and can share some insight why you guys worship a god/gods...

a reply to: reddragon2015

Fooooood

a reply to: reddragon2015

Um.. Maybe he wants to feel loved?

a reply to: reddragon2015

I always thought it was funny how fantasy books that explore the concept of gods interacting with humans tend to explain away this inconsistency by saying that the gods need the humans' faith to survive and thus get their power from it.

originally posted by: reddragon2015
I don't understand why people worship god or gods. Even if he did exist and he's super powerful, is that any reason why we should worship him? Do his bidding?

One of the fundamental paradoxes of a supreme creator being -- an entity that is trans-temporal, multi-dimensional, all-powerful and all-encompassing -- is that such a thing would really have no needs, and therefore no motivation to do anything, including create the universe and us.

That's why a lot of the Gnostics figured that the "God" most people worship is really a pretender. They called him Yaldaboath, Saklas or Samael.

Usually it's the result of a command by an associated holy book, but many religions and cultures that worship gods that have no commandments or edicts usually do it in the hopes that worshiping a god will result in favored status... you know, plentiful harvest, lots of sons, then from there confirmation bias reinforces those beliefs.


From the Christians and Muslims the answer is mostly "Because he asked us to."

From Buddhists its more of a "Well, we don't worship HIM specifically, more his ideals."

Hindu's have lots of gods, so they pretty much worship whoever is more relate-able to them (Shiva is kind of a bad-ass)

Not religious, just my take as an outside observer.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I don't believe in God. But I do think that it's very probable that somewhere in the universe there exists a life form which is way more evolved than mankind - and thus appear as "gods" to us humans.

And if such beings exist, I am quite certain that they will request love - the desire to be admired being the drive behind their evolution in the first place.

a reply to: swanne

Yes, it is conceivable that a more highly evolved organism could have an ego too. Though technically the term "more evolved" is a misnomer. It is impossible to be "more evolved" than anything else. That term implies that evolution is directional, and it just isn't.

a reply to: reddragon2015

I doubt chanting, lighting candles and burning incense gains special favour in the eyes of The Creator
I doubt God would want people to grovel on their knees in praise of Him/Her or It

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What is the point of this..... Believers and non beleiver will never see eye to eye on this question any way.

A non believer will never understand what it means to believe and have faith, because they lack the abillity to.
How can they argue against something they have no knowledge of...?

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Evolution is directional if it is goal-oriented.

If the purpose of evolution is to gain better control over one's environment so to augment chances of survival, then yes, a human will be more "evolved" in that respect than, say, a beaver.

So to my mind, a specie which has better control over its environment than we do (either through superior technology, through superior scientific knowledge, or both) is very probable, and could be interpreted as "gods" by most humans.

a reply to: spy66

By non believer to which God do you refer ...
There are many religions and systems of belief and faith ?

originally posted by: spy66
How can they argue against something they have no knowledge of...?

I'm pretty sure child molestation is a bad thing. Just an example.

a reply to: swanne

Except the idea of being "better in control of your environment" is a subjective thing. For one, "environment" isn't an explicitly defined area and can be anything from a puddle to the entire universe. Plus two environments don't have to necessarily overlap with each other. I mean a shark is by and large the most in control of its environment in the ocean (keep in mind that the ocean takes up more space on this planet than land does). Better than humans at least, so would we call them gods?

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: spy66
How can they argue against something they have no knowledge of...?

I'm pretty sure child molestation is a bad thing. Just an example.

Yes i agree. We do a lot of bad Things in the name of Our religion/God. BUt you should leave God out of it. Because if you dont believe God exists, it sure aint God who is doing these bad Things right. It is selfish mind of men who do as they please, and use their religion as authority to justify their actions. That is not Gods fault but Ours.

originally posted by: artistpoet
a reply to: spy66

By non believer to which God do you refer ...
There are many religions and systems of belief and faith ?

Good question. I gues it would be everyone of them. If you dont believe,... you dont believe in any of them right.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
I mean a shark is by and large the most in control of its environment in the ocean (keep in mind that the ocean takes up more space on this planet than land does). Better than humans at least, so would we call them gods?

Better question: Why do we not call them gods? Two things: we can

1) Overcome them. We have means of neutralising a shark using technologies such as harpoons, which can be fired at a distance, and similar "advanced" weapons. Thus we are the one who have superior power (as a specie, I mean), and thus we know that sharks cannot be "all-powerful" gods relative to us.

2) We know how to modify the environment of a shark. For instance, humans may use their knowledge to, say, cage a shark for entertainment purposes. But a shark does not know how to do the same to a human. Thus we are the one who have superior practical knowledge (as a specie, I mean), and thus we know that sharks cannot be "all-knowing" gods relative to us.

a reply to: artistpoet

"The tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees,
To hear the softly spoken magic spells..."

Incense get you high. "It's all explained right here. In an emergency you are taking giant panicked breaths. Suddenly you become euphoric, docile, willing to accept your fate." Tyler Durden.

But the same happens when you are singing, kneeling, chanting, standing, more singing, more magic spells...

a reply to: spy66

You can believe in something but not be of a religion also

I think perhaps religion serves a purpose for some ... in answering life's questions ...
However ... I think finding your own answers to life's questions is far more rewarding

a reply to: reddragon2015

God - YHWH - is creating a whole bunch [nation] of priests to worship Him. It's not a one-sided affair. Think of everything that makes you feel happy to be alive, loved, etc. and you'll get only a very small glimpse of what is our future destination.

I was always against the idea of sitting on a cloud playing a harp, but have found that it's not like that at all. God made physical sex and it's great, but the spiritual equivalent is far better and that's what we'll get out of the relationship!

It explains that age-old question of 'what is this life all about?'

I read this recently and it explains it too: 'I do not have a soul. I AM a soul. I have a body'. So this reality is not as real as it feels.