What you think?

Do you think God is real? cuz i dont and i dont know if i should belive or not

I don't think it works to have people tell you what you should believe. If you think something just because someone tells you to, you don't really believe it. This is one of those topics where you can research and do some deep thinking, and take in lot of information and ideas, but you can really only decide for yourself what you believe and wish to follow.

^^

What Sibs said.

Holy holy holly
Tis time to be jolly,
Many may without
rhyme or reason,
put their faith in
a season.
Is there not enough
ink,
To make the doubtful
think
What they may know in their
heart is true.
That the Holy Spirit can
live in me and you?

If you ask a bunch of people you won't get your answer... people who believe will tell you to do the same and give you reasons which you may not agree with, people who don't believe will tell you not to and give you their reasons. The questions to ask lie in yourself and your personality, you need to ask yourself these questions and look up the information you need to answer them and only then will you make your final decision, none of us can tell you what you believe.

Questions which can help clear your mind and help you feel better:
*Why do you think god doesn't exsist?
*What influenced you to think in this way?
*Why are you doubting yourself?
*What arguments do you have in your mind about the existence, or non-existence of god? what concludes these arguments?
*Make a list of thoughts regarding both sides.

I know you have already decided and you're only thought now is why you feel like you should believe. Don't answer these here, they are only for you, and you are free to believe whatever you want to, you don't need anyone to validate your beliefs.

I remember a nun telling a story about parents wondering how their child got the idea that God is a string bean. The nun concluded that he only heard string bean when she taught that God is a Supreme Being. As we study the history of relgion it becomes harder to deny that God has been packaged as any other good has. Thus the observers see a praise the Lord and pass the beans mentality among some converts. Man does not live by bread alone and many would find it easier to share bread than spiritual nourishment

If the majority in this world were not Believer's, it is very likely we will still be a nomadic society with little respect for the values that we call morality. Believing in a higher force, gives you an inner peace, respect for others, and righteousness of actions. And when depressed or alone, He is the only one that is still with you.

I have quite a few stories of my own, when my belief in a higher power saved me from all the actions, I would not have been proud of as a child and a young adult.

Always challenge someone else's blind belief's if you do not agree with them. But, when you believe in Him, it is always easier to evolve your own set of guiding principles in life, and you will have peace when the end is near, and no one else is near.

"If the majority in this world were not Believer's, it is very likely we will still be a nomadic society with little respect for the values that we call morality. Believing in a higher force, gives you an inner peace, respect for others, and righteousness of actions. And when depressed or alone, He is the only one that is still with you."

That is utter nonsense. You are clearly not a fan of history. Anyone who believes the human race got its morality from religion is simply lying to themselves.

Numerous Greek philosophers managed to create moral systems and awareness of morality without religion, the Buddha managed it without a higher power, Mahavira the Jane Patriarch managed it. When Moses lead the Israelites to mount Sinai, do you think such a large group would have ever made it in one piece without morals and ethic of their own.

Religion gives us bad reasons to be good, when good reasons already exist.

The human Psyche or should I say the godess Phyche seems to have been born of greek mythology which may or may not have had anything to do with the Magi or astrologers that sought to honor a child that would change the world.

I think there is a difference between God and all religion as of now.

Fair points Mikey.

All i'm saying is, people the world over, throughout history have always had the capacity for moral and ethical intelligence without religion.

We see this in primitive tribes not aware or linked to any of the worlds religions having honour for their elders, and a community sharing or work and child rearing, to give two very simple examples.

It is a common mistake of religious people to think they have a monopoly on ethics. They never have.

"It is a common mistake of religious people to think they have a monopoly on ethics. They never have."

That is an excellent point. It seems the zealots of religion crucified The God of my religion. CS Lewis got into trouble for calling Jesus a mythical character even though he had a different concept of the word myth.

I don't think you have to have religion to be good. In fact I think people take it so overboard you get the hypocrites and "bible thumpers" that make people who are spiritual look bad. One thing my church preaches is to just love each other, be loving, but also don't allow acidic people in your life (love them from a distance).

I think Mike made a great point with there is a difference with God and religion now. Another thing my pastor says is to stop being religious, this isn't a religion thing, it's a God thing. There is definitely a huge difference.

That being said, I know plenty of people who believe in God who are crappy people, and plenty of people who don't believe in God (or believe in another higher power) who are great people. A bad person is going to be a bad person until they want to be good - no amount of atheism, other higher power, or God is going to change that. It's the invidivuals will, so for people to say you have to believe in God to be a good human being is ridiculous.

Acidic people demanded Christ be crucified. Britt makes a good point God will not take your free will from you, and it still fills my intestines full of acid to see people free fall into a pit or be thrown overboard into a sea of darkness.

I do love discussing this topic... I embrace all peoples views on this subject and in the end, we are all spiritual in some form or fashion. I agree with the above as a whole that human society chooses to taint or highlight the views of which they follow or believe.. follow your heart and what it tells you... not what others try to "cram down your throat"...

"Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots (oxys) ("acid", literally "sharp", referring to the sour taste of acids)" If an alchemist proclaimed we could avoid aging by not breathing in acidic gases woujd he have discovered a fountian of youth?" Free oxygen is too chemically reactive to appear on Earth without the photosynthetic action of living organisms, which use the energy of sunlight to produce elemental oxygen from water. Elemental O2 only began to accumulate in the atmosphere after the evolutionary appearance of these organisms, roughly 2.5 billion years ago.[4] Diatomic oxygen gas constitutes 20.8% of the volume of air." An original poster who expressed doubt in chemical balance whould not have to have full knowledge of any reality to enjoy the positive effects

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."
C.S. Lewis

The only thing I wish to do is testify to my own experience.

http://youtu.be/bxJfKonTBjk
I think chemical balance and spirituality is more than a game

I think something is out there

I think gods real....(:

I believe in chance and humanity. I have no right to push my beliefs on others, and not to sound harsh or condescending, but I usually equate religious belief and blissful ignorance. That being said, it is none of my business what somebody else believes in and I never condemn or dislike those who follow a religious doctrine.

He's real lol...

If you like being a slave to a celestial dictator, sure go ahead and believe in God.

I prefer to put my faith where it matters.

In people, education, art, science and love.

God is Love

Tell that to the homosexuals Mike.

I believe in a creator/God whatever name people use ..........anything is real if you believe in it ............what if you live in the desert away from modern society ........and live a simple life interacting with the creation of the creator ........your idea of God may be different I think .

God's Love is unconditional and salvation cannot be earned . I could not stone a homosexual even if I wanted to because you know as well as me I am not without sin.If anyone judges same sex love in the bounds of respectful love a sin

I am not attracted to my own sex but that by no means makes me worthier of any understanding

Nah dont believe in it. I do believe that theres something more then just this though.

I think maybe hes just made up for people just that they have something to believe in that will make life better and such, just to give them more hope in life.

We are all made up of energy and only transforms after death ........so to me the creator is the main source of energy etc

Science has come too far for me to believe in a higher power. It can easily explain the universe. The only thing that we haven't figured out is gravity, and that's on its way.

Were we created in God's image? Or are vessels for spirits which are destined to return to Brahman? Perhaps we're just little balls of light that float around aimlessly after we die...

Or maybe we're energy. Energy that's been recycled on the planet for billions of years. Atoms.

I have no time for ethereal beings unless I'm reading fiction.

Tolkien once wrote a bible that could have been just as credible as any other ancient scripture were it written during times when people didn't have better sense when deciding to what and what not to believe. It's called The Silmarillion.

To me, It's fine if someone can experience love by meditating on the notion of a god. That being said, I can just as easily experience love by meditating on a tree, over a warm cup of coffee or by being around loved ones and experiencing comfort in numbers.

Love is love. God is god. People are people. None of them can be fully replaced by the other. If any of these concepts were one and the same then we wouldn't have separate referents to describe them.

They aren't one and the same...although they can IMITATE each other.

We're too busy feeling empty and looking for answers. We think too deeply too often. Because of this, we can't accept the fact that we are nature and are therefore left wallowing in our own sense of awareness; depressed and feeling responsible for anything and everything.

We're intelligent, but we're not intelligent for a reason. We just are. Just as a cat is a cat, a dog is a dog, a desk is a desk.

People are people.

"Why" is an utterance that comes from the language center in your brain. A pattern of frequencies that exits your body in a wisp of air.

"Why" is a man made concept.

"Why" is what keeps us from going anywhere.

"Why" doesn't matter.

Life is what matters and life is not a question, it's just the answer.

Scientists might be surprised by your first claim, Bear!

I don't think you should discount the importance of the question "why?" Even if it's man-made and has no physical substance or inherent meaning... I think we're pretty powerful creators. We can create our realities in the only way that's actually meaningful to us, by forming (socially, psychologically, physiologically?) our perceptual frame.

"Scientists might be surprised by your first claim, Bear!"

Why would they be surprised?

"I think we're pretty powerful creators. We can create our realities in the only way that's actually meaningful to us, by forming (socially, psychologically, physiologically?) our perceptual frame."

My point exactly. Key word: 'create.' Maybe you misread my post, because we seem to be at least partially on the same wavelength. Don't think I'm trying to discredit the word 'why.' No. It is a very powerful term. What I'm trying to say is that we ask it too much. People tend to use it as a crutch because they are afraid to simply say 'yes' or 'no.'

I have hands. Why? Did God put them there? Did I evolve in a very specific way to develop them?

On a purely utilitarian level, the term 'why' is useless in this context. It simply causes me to dwell on things that I will never experience or understand fully.

Why? Because we do not have time machines.

Obviously, as an atheist, I believe in evolution, but to me the question above is not important because I will never experience the past. My ancestral history leading up to this point is something that I can appreciate, but it has no bearing on my present or future. The only thing that matters is that I am. I thank my parents for that, but my thankfulness goes no further than the love and appreciation that I show them.

Here is the key as far as I'm concerned: We are conscious. We own our existence. It's never the other way around.

People tend to use it as a crutch because they are afraid to simply say 'yes' or 'no.'

To me, that is like saying man would not need a capsule of air to get out of this world alive if he was not born with an oxygen dependency
Egocentrics have the illusion that everything is understood but innerspace is as complex as outerspace and Steven Hawkins would admit that he has no understanding of the opposite sex lol
No one got here by a single set

Evolution is a fact. You cannot dispute this anymore unless you are a moron.

Evolution totally destroys the Christian creation myth, which is the foundation of the entire religion and the Bible.

It follows then God cannot be real because evolution is real.

Class dismissed.

Is anyone disputing evolution? I surely hope not.

Well i believe God is real am a christian but am not one of those people who goes around proclaiming it if you dont want to believe then no ones forcing you its a decision you have to make for yourself

One who refuses to believe in the soul is not soulless no more than one who cannot feel with their heart is heartless ,but the mindless cannot simply tell me which came first intelligence or design

Micheal, you are asking the wrong questions.

If I were to guess I'd say that intelligence is accidental and that the concept of design stems from intelligence.

Earth is a product of a series of improbabilities (to put it simply). What the spiritual might call one or several miracles. That is what makes it so beautiful.

Intelligence accidentally came from a brain that must have design to think. I think that begs another queston about why the reproductive system remembers and copies the parent

There's no question, Mr. Nalley. That can easily be explained by genetics. It only makes sense that the genes you pass on are copies of your own - after all, our bodies are just machines which produce cells. There's no question about why reproductive cells are half-copies of our own body's cells - they're created the same way that your body creates any other cell. Logic, applied to our knowledge of biology, can easily account for why this happens.

I have always pecieved the origin of logic to be the mind ,but the natural observation of the mind on the lowest level of human life envolve millions of sperm cells that appear to have purpose or at least an instinct to swim to the egg If we answer all question by saying there is no question ould not that be ignoring intelligent design rather than anwering the question?

http://www.rs.org/science2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene

What I think involves questions in my mind that involves intelligent design

""Scientists might be surprised by your first claim, Bear!"

Why would they be surprised?"

Just with your "science can easily explain the universe." Maybe you meant "science has the tools to eventually explain the universe," or something, which I could get behind. If not, I would say that there are plenty of high-level scientists out there who will readily tell you that we don't know much at all, yet. Don't put them out of a job!

As for the "Why?" I thought you were discrediting it by saying that it doesn't matter, but I think we're probably just approaching the word differently. To use your example, it doesn't really matter to me whether I have hands because they evolved or because God put them there, or both. Right? Practically speaking, on specifics like that, it makes no difference to our experience. I think that's what you're saying, and I agree. I was coming at the "why" question in a different context, but maybe my question word should be "what," as well. "What do we make of our existence? What does it mean to live a good life? Why does it matter?" That's my important "why" question. Like you said, I think we might be on the same wavelength, we just haven't agreed on a definition of terms yet.

Sorry, I know this thread has moved in another direction since I chimed in, but I just felt like responding.