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Honestly, the idea of God(s) intrigue me. When I was younger, I was raised Christian. But after watching some philosophy videos and videos about opposing views, I realize I don't really know if there is a God or even multiple gods.
To put it simply, my view of God, if there was one, would be a Creator and a Supporter. A Supporter, meaning that you would have a personal relationship with that God. It's interesting, I'm actually going over the philosophy of God.
I wouldn't say I'm an atheist. I wouldn't say I'm agnostic either. I believe in "God," whatever that is, but not religion. I think religions are the most damned things to ever happen to mankind and forever will be. It's caused some of the biggest genocides in history. People are afraid, thus people need answers. People piss me off. I will say up front that I am Buddhist, though I consider it more a way of life rather than a religion. I don't believe in these random "Gods," such as members of the Trinity, Allah, etc. running around. I would post more but I'm gonna limit myself as to not make you guys read a research paper..
I'm catholic but refer to myself as Christian because my beliefs are combinations of alot of different denominations of christianity. I'm very open to certain practices and beliefs of other religions like Buddhism, Judaism, and Hinduism etc.
I try to pray almost every day and always look to God for strength because he has gotten me through so much and always listened when I needed him.
I believe in God, and that he had a God and He had a God, and so on and so forth. Everyone has the potential to become a God if they live a worthy life. (I am a Mormon)
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
I am Catholic, but use to be an atheist and an agnostic. I believe in a just God and accept his son as my my savior. I respect all beliefs, regardless if I believe their canon or not. I have friends of all faiths and friends who are atheist or agnostic. I myself believe he is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. A lot we won't know until either the Apocalypse or death/afterlife. Apocalypse doesn't actually mean 'end of the world', it's Greek word meaning 'lift the veil'. All we need to know will be either then or when we die. I read and study Revelation and I attend a Christian College.
I believe in a single God because I simply want to. I don't care about the apparent lack of evidence or the quotes, some of which have appeared in this thread, against Him. I just choose to believe that He exists.
Why do I believe in a God? That's a bit of a different question really. I actually grew up in a household, tbh extending almost into an entire community, of atheists, so I was as surprised as anyone when I recently found myself contemplating the idea of the existence of God.
...Or rather, I grew up in a household of people who reject the Bible. That, to me, is a different matter; while I believe in a God, I don't follow any sort of holy text or what have you. As He didn't write it, I don't think anyone can say that it's representative of what He should be like. So, I guess that's why I find it easier to believe that He exists. To take the above quote for example,
Epicurus said:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
I'm assuming that God himself hasn't told Epicurus that he is omnipotent; if he had, then it would be instantly proven that God exists. So we must assume that Epicurus was told by a person. Who is a person to say what God is and is not? The way I see it, arguments for and against religion which are made with respect to the qualities of God (for example, omnipotency) are generally flawed since I don't believe we can know what God should be like. I'm not saying that every argument against God is invalid, as there are plenty of arguments which I can't really find a fault with. I'm just saying that I find it hard to listen to people calling the idea of God out because there is evil in the world when we have very little evidence that God was intended to stop evil. Not saying that God is evil, ofc, but if the life on His world goes down certain paths which cause evil to exist, is it his 'job' to clean it up? I don't really think it is, and I don't believe that it is unless someone who was told by God himself can tell me otherwise.
I personally don't take comfort in believing that God will resolve my problems when I ask him to or whatever as I don't think that this should be expected of Him. In a world of 7 billion or so people where every single one of us probably has problems of one sort or another, it'd be impossible to correct them all, even if he was able or willing to do so! I just like the idea of there always being someone there to at least hear me. He may not act on it or may not respond, but I'd like to think that He hears me regardless. So that's why I choose to believe in Him. To me, it's no big deal.
I'd like to state, btw, that I'm not trying to attack anyone's opinion here, especially not Charlie Kelly's; I was simply using the quote in his post as an example. This is just my perception of God and, according to common religious practices, it's pretty terrible and certainly out of the ordinary. But that's just how I am, I guess!
I believe in God. He is the inventor of the whole wide world and the things present in it. He is the highest of beings. I know God is there and the evidence is all around us. Just because you can't see, feel or hear him, it doesn't mean he doesn't exist.
That's what you say. I'm sure a lot of people would gladly disagree. Also, I don't believe in God myself, but I do believe that he exists in the minds and hearts of people, and serves as something to rely on and a feeling of trust.
I believe in God. He is the inventor of the whole wide world and the things present in it. He is the highest of beings. I know God is there and the evidence is all around us. Just because you can't see, feel or hear him, it doesn't mean he doesn't exist.
For some time I've just drifted in and out of this thread to see what people thought, and for some reason just now I really want to tell what I believe.
America is one of the most developed and successful countries in the world. Guess what?
Spoiler:
United States Pledge of Allegiance: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Let's look at many communist states. Communist East European States promoted atheism. Look what happened:
Spoiler:
If you're still not convinced, because above, along with all of this are supposedly complete coincidence, what a complete bogus. There probably is more chance of God "existing" than all above to be 100% coincidence and naturally happening.
Religion was one of the greatest creations of man. It endears men to one another, it unifies, it comforts, it restrains, it encourages, it vilifies, it supports. Religion was one of the parents of education, but also one of its murderers. It is a scapegoat, it is indeed the culprit.
I'd agree with this completely. Some just have to be ultimate pessimists and only find the negative aspects of religion, when there is much more to it.
I'd throw in quotes from the bible to try to "persuade non believers," but what is there to prove when not everybody follows the Bible?
However, at the end of the day, it's only faith that separates believers from atheists. I could go bit further on this issue if I felt like it, but again, atheists don't believe in much of the bible, so it's useless trying to argue.
My view is that he is real. But he hides up in the Heavens, watching our every move, and he lets us see him if we are destined to. I'm Christian, so is my family.
1st of all, I believe in science, reason, and logic. Next, I would like to inform everybody that I am an atheist. I don't believe in a deity/god/sky daddy/supreme being since there's no scientific and logical proof for one. I believe in the Big Bang theory rather than creationism.
By the way, if I'm asked about my view on the Christian god, I would say that the Christian god is quite confusing. Let's do a simple math first. What's the answer in the equation below?
1 + 1 + 1 = N
Well, if we're going to use simple math, the answer is 3.
1 + 1 + 1 = 3
1 + (1 + 1) = 3
(1 + 1) + 1 = 3
But according to Christianity, particularly those who believe in the Trinity:
1 + 1 + 1 = 1
1 + (1 + 1) = 1
(1 + 1) + 1 = 1
Other thing is that the Christian god, especially during the Old Testament times, is a very cruel and rude god. He even commanded to kill gays. (See Lev. 20:13)
I'm generally pretty tolerant of religious folk, but this really set me off. I feel like this is very destructive in the sense that it's very single-minded.
For some time I've just drifted in and out of this thread to see what people thought, and for some reason just now I really want to tell what I believe.
America is one of the most developed and successful countries in the world. Guess what?
Spoiler:
United States Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The "under God" section of the Pledge of Allegiance was added in the mid 20th century. It was not initially part of the Pledge. However, I can buy the argument that the US was initially a Christian nation (though it no longer is nor should be; secularism is a good thing). Still, I fail to see your point. So what if the US was a Christian nation? I can name plenty of empires that lasted longer, reached farther, and influenced much more than the US and weren't Christian. The first Roman empire, for example. Or the Egyptians. Or the Greeks. Or Persia. The Chinese at multiple points in history. The Yamoto. And, as you cover below, the Russians (both pre- and post-Bolshevic Revolution). Some of these are empires that lasted thousands of years, not just a few hundred, and spanned the majority of the known world. And, I might add, were not Christian.
Let's look at many communist states. Communist East European States promoted atheism. Look what happened:
Communist Russia fell because of an inherent flaw in Communism, not because they didn't believe in God. And are you really, really arguing that Christianity hasn't done things far worse than Communist Russia? What about the Crusades (and "chivalry" in general)? How about the Catholic Church's policy of non-involvement during the Holocaust? What about one of the things listed as a cause for the Protestant Reformation: the selling of indulgences (basically, paying money to the Church to be able to sin)? And don't forget, some of the first people to leave for America did so because of the religious intolerance and bigotry of Christians. Oh, and those Westboro folk I'm sure everyone here loves so much are also Christian. Oh, and since your knowledge of history seems so limited, there was one other empire in recent years that was very strongly Christian. They were known as the National Socialists, or the Nazis, and they were very, very strongly Christian. As were all of the Axis powers in WW2 (excluding the USSR, which, I might add, became an Allied power once betrayed by their Christian ally).
The point isn't that Christians are bad people because for the most part, they're not. The point is that there are good and bad people in any group and that pointing out one failure associated with atheism does not make any atheist philosophy an automatic failure. Don't just cherry pick one or two things from history to justify your position.
If you're still not convinced, because above, along with all of this are supposedly complete coincidence, what a complete bogus.
Please don't make me go out and post fifteen thousand links to people who spent many pages making counter-points to stuff like this. I've got a project I'm supposed to be doing. If you look for the opposing argument, you'll find just as many justifications and counter-points to that sort of thing.
There probably is more chance of God "existing" than all above to be 100% coincidence and naturally happening.
Let me present to you the "God dilemma," as I call it. It's not even an atheist argument; it's just an argument against any particular religion. Why is your religion more right than any of the 80 thousand others in existence? What about Judaism? Islam? Hinduism? What about things that are somewhat religious-based, like Buddhism and Taoism? Why are they any less justified than Christianity?
First of all, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that, in our infinitely large universe, there happened to be a chunk of rock the right size and and distance from a star to support life. In fact, the wonderful people at NASA have found dozens of planets similarly suited to sustain life. And if that's possible, the justifications our scientists have made regarding the origin of species are not that far-fetched either. Maybe right, maybe wrong, but still a reasonable possibility.
Believe what you will, but don't for a second try to tell me that (a) a conclusion we've reached purely through logical analysis of the world is completely bogus and that (b) a conclusion reached through building up logic around an ages-old story makes perfect sense. Either you can be a skeptic and say that both are probably wrong or you can say that either is a possibility but one makes more sense. Don't just flat out deny anything that goes against your worldview. Refusing to consider different possibilities pushes science and the world as a whole back into the dark ages. Expand your mind a bit and you might find that things aren't always black and white.
For some time I've just drifted in and out of this thread to see what people thought, and for some reason just now I really want to tell what I believe.
America is one of the most developed and successful countries in the world. Guess what?
Spoiler:
United States Pledge of Allegiance: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Let's look at many communist states. Communist East European States promoted atheism. Look what happened:
Spoiler:
If you're still not convinced, because above, along with all of this are supposedly complete coincidence, what a complete bogus. There probably is more chance of God "existing" than all above to be 100% coincidence and naturally happening.
I'd agree with this completely. Some just have to be ultimate pessimists and only find the negative aspects of religion, when there is much more to it.
I'd throw in quotes from the bible to try to "persuade non believers," but what is there to prove when not everybody follows the Bible?
However, at the end of the day, it's only faith that separates believers from atheists. I could go bit further on this issue if I felt like it, but again, atheists don't believe in much of the bible, so it's useless trying to argue.
Pretty much. Until you realize religion has a major impact on American culture and politics when compared to pretty much every other modern economically developed country.
Let me present to you the "God dilemma," as I call it. It's not even an atheist argument; it's just an argument against any particular religion. Why is your religion more right than any of the 80 thousand others in existence? What about Judaism? Islam? Hinduism? What about things that are somewhat religious-based, like Buddhism and Taoism? Why are they any less justified than Christianity?
Well some proponents of religious worldviews argue, that their religion is not based on faith alone. Rather they adopted their worldview because it is justified on rational grounds. If you are willing to give a benefit of doubt, then the answer to said dilemma appears in sight. Because with that assumption we have a criterion to tell true religions apart from false ones.
Details of the assumptions are however way beyond the scope of this discussion, or even this forum.
Well some proponents of religious worldviews argue, that their religion is not based on faith alone. Rather they adopted their worldview because it is justified on rational grounds. If you are willing to give a benefit of doubt, then the answer to said dilemma appears in sight. Because with that assumption we have a criterion to tell true religions apart from false ones.
Details of the assumptions are however way beyond the scope of this discussion, or even this forum.
"Scientific" justifications of religion (at least the ones I've seen) argue about creation theory. I haven't seen any arguments that would really exclude other religions.
The Big Bang Theory is a theory that really makes no sense at all, and really can't be proven. Same as the scientists who are trying to make us believe that we came from Monkeys, which is really not true, there might be similarities, but we are not monkeys.
I'll stand firm with my christian beliefs, rather than believe false theories that are out there.
