I try my best to stay away from most threads like this one. However, I have always been very interested by people's take on religion and faith (all religions/faiths). I believe there is no god of any kind. I do though enjoy discussing this topic with friends and learning why and what they believe, as well as sharing my reasoning with them. I had always been wondering where most of you on here stood on this topic but I was too afraid to ask... :-)
I try my best to stay away from most threads like this one. However, I have always been very interested by people's take on religion and faith (all religions/faiths). I believe there is no god of any kind. I do though enjoy discussing this topic with friends and learning why and what they believe, as well as sharing my reasoning with them. I had always been wondering where most of you on here stood on this topic but I was too afraid to ask... :-)
I agree with Evan. I have not believed in god since I was 8. When I went through confermation our class was asked to attend all the different denominations in the area which took about 5 months (one a sunday) to complete. At the end we were given the choice to pick which religion best suited us and give a talk infront of the church members explaining why we picked the one we did. I told them that I do not belive in god and it was actually well recieved.
I think being a good person is far more important than believing in god.
I try my best to stay away from most threads like this one. However, I have always been very interested by people's take on religion and faith (all religions/faiths). I believe there is no god of any kind. I do though enjoy discussing this topic with friends and learning why and what they believe, as well as sharing my reasoning with them. I had always been wondering where most of you on here stood on this topic but I was too afraid to ask... :-)
I agree with Evan. I have not believed in god since I was 8. When I went through confermation our class was asked to attend all the different denominations in the area which took about 5 months (one a sunday) to complete. At the end we were given the choice to pick which religion best suited us and give a talk infront of the church members explaining why we picked the one we did. I told them that I do not belive in god and it was actually well recieved.
I think being a good person is far more important than believing in god.
agreed,
do i beleive in god? or a god? not for a long time,me and god,a god or any god, have not been on good terms for a long time,i beleive there is a creator of all we survey,but not a god of any type,
I love God and I love people... religion just gets in the way.
I would have to agree... someone with much better knowledge of the Bible than I have will have to tell us all where to find the passage "The kingdom of God is within you." in the Old Testament.
I have found that for me personally, organized religion usually just gets in the way of my one-on-one relationship with the Lord. Everything you need is in the Bible and in yourself IMHO.
Someone else also said so earlier, but I too am impressed that so far nobody has jumped up and said "YOU'RE AN IDIOT! IT'S THIS WAY & NO OTHER WAY" to anyone else's point of view. Just makes me even more proud to consider myself of this group. :-D
I was raised catholic, believing in God. When I got into high school, I started wondering, and for a while, I more or less dropped the faith, figuring things out as everyone growing up needs to do. But after awhile, my faith came back. What brought it back? I've seen way too many coincidences in my life to believe certain events are just random. Now, I'm not talking about "Gee whiz, that was convenient" - I'm talking about events that change your life, where the coincidence between life and death was so perfectly timed that you can't help but think it was the hand of God.
Bottom line is, I think most people doubt their faith at some point in their life; Thomas Jefferson, a man of faith in God, once said
"Fix Reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than of blindfolded fear. ... Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it end in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise and in the love of others which it will procure for you"
The point of the quote, as I take it, is to use your mind, and follow logic and reason, even if they lead you to ideas you disagree with. To me, a person who just says "I don't believe in God" is a total fool who's no different from people who believe paying higher taxes is patriotic as long as someone else is paying. A true atheist, someone I can respect, is someone who's learned about religion, knows about the faith, and then says "It's just not for me" - that I can respect since it's an informed choice, rather than an ideological decision
I've tried to do this, to follow the logic, as much as possible, and it's led me away, then back to God and my faith is all the stronger for it; it's also led me to quite a few opinions that I resisted and later found there was truth in. Following the thread of logic, my political opinions have changed as well as I learned economics, supply/demand, and saw how tax policy changes lives
EDIT - organized religion I can take or leave; kind of a mixed bag for me - some things I agree with, others I don't
"I stopped believing in God when they told me the guy could walk on water, and then turn it into wine. Nice idea, but not true. Anyway, that was sometime around when you get to the age of reason...so perhaps 4?"----George Carlin.
BTW, I think its probably a sad reflection on me as a person, but I think 12 years of Catholic education did more to make me not beleive than anything else in my life....but as I stated before, maybe one day Ill be back there.
someone with much better knowledge of the Bible than I have will have to tell us all where to find the passage "The kingdom of God is within you." in the Old Testament.
Not Old Testament. New Testament, Luke 17:21 - "17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God cometh not with observation':
17:21 Neither shall they say, 'Lo here!' or, 'lo there!' for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
im not 100% sure that God has an everyday roll in our lives.
i do know that i want to live as good a life as i am able. if there is a God, i hope that God understands that i am doing my best to be logical and rational and good. i hope this will not count against me should there be an afterlife.
religion is another question.
... one that i dont know i am even remotely qualified to answer.
Wow. Took the words right out of my mouth. +1 to everything.
Short Answer: No. In the words of Tom Waits, "we're all gonna be dirt in the ground."
I've stuck by my theory that when we die, we're worm food. I understand that this is very hard to accept and people believe in what they believe for different reasons. I, like Vulch, feel I've learned enough about religion (not just Catholicism) to know that it's not for me. Science explains too much that contradicts the fundamental beliefs behind most religions.
I'm not saying faith and religion don't have their place in the world, but they're not absolutely necessary to define a "good" person. Believe what you believe, accept others for their beliefs, don't push your beliefs on others and treat others the way you wish to be treated. That's how I roll.
Short Answer: No. In the words of Tom Waits, "we're all gonna be dirt in the ground."
I've stuck by my theory that when we die, we're worm food. I understand that this is very hard to accept and people believe in what they believe for different reasons. I, like Vulch, feel I've learned enough about religion (not just Catholicism) to know that it's not for me. Science explains too much that contradicts the fundamental beliefs behind most religions.
I'm not saying faith and religion don't have their place in the world, but they're not absolutely necessary to define a "good" person. Believe what you believe, accept others for their beliefs, don't push your beliefs on others and treat others the way you wish to be treated. That's how I roll.
Well, for my first 17 years of life I was mormon, tried and true. Then I had an epic falling out with my family and drifted away and began practice in dark things (my family and I are much closer nowadays). Fell away from that shortly after too. I dated a girl who was catholic and absorbed as much of that as I possibly could. Then I dated a girl who was a peace loving hippie and also took in as much as possible. I explored many religions to find out what GOD meant and was to people and what GOD meant and means to me.
It wasn't till a few years ago that I found where I stand in all this, even though it's not as clear as I would like yet, there is always still more to learn. But I digress; I neither believe nor disbelieve in GOD. It's not that I don't care by any means, I was so focused on finding this omnipotent being that no one can see, when what brings me the absolute most peace is this big ass planet we're on and the history and life it has to offer.
GOD... there might be one... or two. I don't know. It's like the board game Clue, if you say he's real and know it in your heart, I can't prove you wrong nor will I try to convince you otherwise. As a matter of fact, I want you to believe and know without a doubt such things... or vise versa. It makes me happy to see people find that true inner peace regardless of what or who it is.
The bottom line is that I believe as humans in this race we need to believe in something, anything or else there is no point in living. I believe in life, living, and the pursuit of happiness in this amazing world.
Einstein and God has always been an interesting topic to me, he seems to be quoted alot, and alot are untrue. Lukos quote is a true one, but Einstein also said "The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive...If something in me can be called religious it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it". Very interesting man.
One of my favorite reads is the Chronicles of Narnia. It is definitely written for children, but there are some very good things to take away from those stories. Really helps a person understand some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
My favorite quote is when Lucy asks if Aslan is safe. Beaver replies "Course he isnt safe. But hes good." God isn't safe, and a lot of the things that have happened in my life I don't understand, but I believe He is good.
And I agree with a lot of other people here that I am not too big on organized religion, it is really hit and miss. And way too many awful things are done in the name of organized religion.
I was raised Southern Baptist, and was sent to a Catholic high school, so religion leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Even the term God can be iffy for me, but I do believe in a higher power. Me and the big guy in the sky weren't too cool for a while in my life, but after some huge events in my life I came to see something working in my life that wasn't explainable, and wasn't coincidence. My friend Bill W. helped me out there too
This is a toughie for me... Here's why.
Okay so when I was young I grew up in a christian church and never thought of it. But when I got older I noticed something, all cultures have their version of a god or gods. A lot of them parallel themselves then again others are much different. For modern day I look at Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism. Now what do these have in common? Well one of the biggest is that they have a centralized theme of one GOD and there are some other similarities but they are a bit different too. Now they also have in common, bloodshed. Men have killed and slaughtered themselves over who is right. Now I find it ironic that people would kill over a difference in opinion over religion. Now I think about the ancient cultures like the Indians and the Greeks which offer a much different structure. Now I know that Indians were very in touch with the spirit world, much more so than the so-called priests that ruled our little history not too long ago. I have had very close people to me say they've seen ghosts, and had spiritual encounters so I doubt that there is another plain, but do I believe in god, yes I do believe in something greater than us is there however I don't believe that any religion has got it right, though what does it matter? I dunno my wife who is on her way to becoming a pastor (already finished school) discuss this often.
Cmon all you god haters and non-believers like me....I know youre here, lol.
+1
Who's God do you refer to? The Jewish one. the Muslim one, or any of the dozens of others.
Better question might have been... do you believe in Religion? HE LL NO !
The Jewish God, Muslim God and Christian God are all the same God...they all recognize the God of Abraham. The difference is the messenger.
And the belief that Jesus was the Messiah and son of God
yes, this too. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet but Mohammed was the last prophet, and that Jesus wasn't the son of God. Christians believe Jesus was the son of God, and the only prophet. I think I have all that right from my Old Testament class in college.
Cmon all you god haters and non-believers like me....I know youre here, lol.
+1
Who's God do you refer to? The Jewish one. the Muslim one, or any of the dozens of others.
Better question might have been... do you believe in Religion? HE LL NO !
The Jewish God, Muslim God and Christian God are all the same God...they all recognize the God of Abraham. The difference is the messenger.
And the belief that Jesus was the Messiah and son of God
yes, this too. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet but Mohammed was the last prophet, and that Jesus wasn't the son of God. Christians believe Jesus was the son of God, and the only prophet. I think I have all that right from my Old Testament class in college.
Almost - Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and Muhammed was the last prophet, while Christians believe there were other prophets before Jesus (Moses, etc), but Jesus coming was the Son of God, sent to redeem the sins of mankind, while Jews believe Jesus was a prophet like others before him (Moses, etc) and are still waiting for the coming of God.
Cmon all you god haters and non-believers like me....I know youre here, lol.
+1
Who's God do you refer to? The Jewish one. the Muslim one, or any of the dozens of others.
Better question might have been... do you believe in Religion? HE LL NO !
The Jewish God, Muslim God and Christian God are all the same God...they all recognize the God of Abraham. The difference is the messenger.
And the belief that Jesus was the Messiah and son of God
yes, this too. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet but Mohammed was the last prophet, and that Jesus wasn't the son of God. Christians believe Jesus was the son of God, and the only prophet. I think I have all that right from my Old Testament class in college.
Almost - Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and Muhammed was the last prophet, while Christians believe there were other prophets before Jesus (Moses, etc), but Jesus coming was the Son of God, sent to redeem the sins of mankind, while Jews believe Jesus was a prophet like others before him (Moses, etc) and are still waiting for the coming of God.
Almost- Christians are still waitig for the coming of God. The last day when He calls up all the believers. Jesuse was the son of God and a part of the Trinity sent to die on the cross to pay our debts.
I think 12 years of Catholic education did more to make me not beleive than anything else in my life....
the same happened to me. the concept of God never totally left, but how to interact with, how i understand, and how religion in general works were all damaged by going to Catholic schools.
As a teacher and student of the Bible my faith is founded strongly enough to openly discuss it with others without passion. So many people think they can convince others with passion and zeal, but these are human emotions and reactions and have no bearing on faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Religious persons are very often dismissed as weak minded or unintelligent which is very unfair, I am neither and gladly discuss these issues from a Biblical standpoint. The Christian faith is ultimately dictated by the Bible alone as indicated by the writings themselves.
Logic and science will not allow me to have faith in God. For those of you that do,if it suits your desires and your needs,that is great. I treat everyone with respect and kindness.
Comments
I agree with Evan. I have not believed in god since I was 8. When I went through confermation our class was asked to attend all the different denominations in the area which took about 5 months (one a sunday) to complete. At the end we were given the choice to pick which religion best suited us and give a talk infront of the church members explaining why we picked the one we did. I told them that I do not belive in god and it was actually well recieved.
I think being a good person is far more important than believing in god.
agreed,
do i beleive in god? or a god? not for a long time,me and god,a god or any god, have not been on good terms for a long time,i beleive there is a creator of all we survey,but not a god of any type,
I have found that for me personally, organized religion usually just gets in the way of my one-on-one relationship with the Lord. Everything you need is in the Bible and in yourself IMHO.
Someone else also said so earlier, but I too am impressed that so far nobody has jumped up and said "YOU'RE AN IDIOT! IT'S THIS WAY & NO OTHER WAY" to anyone else's point of view. Just makes me even more proud to consider myself of this group. :-D
PS: Gadwin, I want my apostrophe points back! LOL
Bottom line is, I think most people doubt their faith at some point in their life; Thomas Jefferson, a man of faith in God, once said
"Fix Reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than of blindfolded fear. ... Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it end in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise and in the love of others which it will procure for you"
The point of the quote, as I take it, is to use your mind, and follow logic and reason, even if they lead you to ideas you disagree with. To me, a person who just says "I don't believe in God" is a total fool who's no different from people who believe paying higher taxes is patriotic as long as someone else is paying. A true atheist, someone I can respect, is someone who's learned about religion, knows about the faith, and then says "It's just not for me" - that I can respect since it's an informed choice, rather than an ideological decision
I've tried to do this, to follow the logic, as much as possible, and it's led me away, then back to God and my faith is all the stronger for it; it's also led me to quite a few opinions that I resisted and later found there was truth in. Following the thread of logic, my political opinions have changed as well as I learned economics, supply/demand, and saw how tax policy changes lives
EDIT - organized religion I can take or leave; kind of a mixed bag for me - some things I agree with, others I don't
BTW, I think its probably a sad reflection on me as a person, but I think 12 years of Catholic education did more to make me not beleive than anything else in my life....but as I stated before, maybe one day Ill be back there.
17:21 Neither shall they say, 'Lo here!' or, 'lo there!' for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
"God is the oneness of all being"
and
"God is everything or God is nothing."
Wow. Took the words right out of my mouth. +1 to everything.
I've stuck by my theory that when we die, we're worm food. I understand that this is very hard to accept and people believe in what they believe for different reasons. I, like Vulch, feel I've learned enough about religion (not just Catholicism) to know that it's not for me. Science explains too much that contradicts the fundamental beliefs behind most religions.
I'm not saying faith and religion don't have their place in the world, but they're not absolutely necessary to define a "good" person. Believe what you believe, accept others for their beliefs, don't push your beliefs on others and treat others the way you wish to be treated. That's how I roll.
+1
It wasn't till a few years ago that I found where I stand in all this, even though it's not as clear as I would like yet, there is always still more to learn. But I digress; I neither believe nor disbelieve in GOD. It's not that I don't care by any means, I was so focused on finding this omnipotent being that no one can see, when what brings me the absolute most peace is this big ass planet we're on and the history and life it has to offer.
GOD... there might be one... or two. I don't know. It's like the board game Clue, if you say he's real and know it in your heart, I can't prove you wrong nor will I try to convince you otherwise. As a matter of fact, I want you to believe and know without a doubt such things... or vise versa. It makes me happy to see people find that true inner peace regardless of what or who it is.
The bottom line is that I believe as humans in this race we need to believe in something, anything or else there is no point in living. I believe in life, living, and the pursuit of happiness in this amazing world.
One of my favorite reads is the Chronicles of Narnia. It is definitely written for children, but there are some very good things to take away from those stories. Really helps a person understand some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
My favorite quote is when Lucy asks if Aslan is safe. Beaver replies "Course he isnt safe. But hes good." God isn't safe, and a lot of the things that have happened in my life I don't understand, but I believe He is good.
And I agree with a lot of other people here that I am not too big on organized religion, it is really hit and miss. And way too many awful things are done in the name of organized religion.
Okay so when I was young I grew up in a christian church and never thought of it. But when I got older I noticed something, all cultures have their version of a god or gods. A lot of them parallel themselves then again others are much different. For modern day I look at Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism. Now what do these have in common? Well one of the biggest is that they have a centralized theme of one GOD and there are some other similarities but they are a bit different too. Now they also have in common, bloodshed. Men have killed and slaughtered themselves over who is right. Now I find it ironic that people would kill over a difference in opinion over religion.
Now I think about the ancient cultures like the Indians and the Greeks which offer a much different structure. Now I know that Indians were very in touch with the spirit world, much more so than the so-called priests that ruled our little history not too long ago. I have had very close people to me say they've seen ghosts, and had spiritual encounters so I doubt that there is another plain, but do I believe in god, yes I do believe in something greater than us is there however I don't believe that any religion has got it right, though what does it matter? I dunno my wife who is on her way to becoming a pastor (already finished school) discuss this often.
My problem is with organized religion!