ff5fan19
Active member
just because it sounds sadistic doesn't mean it is sadistic.
do you believe in God and why/why not?
- Thread starter ff5fan19
- Start date
just because it sounds sadistic doesn't mean it is sadistic.
ff5fan19
Active member
you have a really good point there but I would rather choose to believe and get to heaven then not believe and make it to hell because what if I choose not to believe and there was a heaven all along? then I would be in hell for eternity all because I chose not to believe. it's better safe than sorry
FountainandFairfax
in a VAN down by the RIVER
If I were god these threads would be impossible to make on an anxiety forum.
BlueDays
1
:thinking::thinking:
Maybe threads like these should be re-named.............
"If you don't believe in God I will try and convince you you're wrong, because God does exist". :bigsmile:
hoddesdon
Well-known member
The problem with that analogy is that the choice of leaving and fending for themselves is not intrinsically harmful, and does not harm the other slaves. It has also been explicitly suggested to them or permitted up front, instead of always having been opposed.
No, I do not. This is something I've been in debates about a number of times over the last 7 years, both online and in person. I used to know the names of most of the arguments in favor of believing and who popularized them, but I stopped doing those debates for two reasons:
If you want to convince someone else to believe, make it personal. Why do you believe? Really, ask yourself that and dig down deep to find an answer. If the true reason that you believe is good enough for you, then it should be good enough for someone else. If it's not good enough for someone else, then maybe that's something for you to think about.
But, none of the God talk makes sense to me, so I don't talk about it anymore.
- I quickly stopped hearing new things. It seems like there are only about 5 "arguments" for belief in God, just wrapped differently. If there's nothing new to learn, there's no reason for me to be there.
- I've never believed in God. I was 16 before I realized that anybody believes in God more than anyone believes in Santa Claus. I have no sympathy for that position, no idea how anybody comes to that conclusion or what it's like, except trying to draw parallels to when I used to be into conspiracy theories and noise like that.
If you want to convince someone else to believe, make it personal. Why do you believe? Really, ask yourself that and dig down deep to find an answer. If the true reason that you believe is good enough for you, then it should be good enough for someone else. If it's not good enough for someone else, then maybe that's something for you to think about.
But, none of the God talk makes sense to me, so I don't talk about it anymore.
THeCARS1979
Well-known member
just wondering
Yes but I dont really have a religion anymore. he hasnt really helped me with the dating scene
Megaten
Well-known member
Dude Im not entirely sure what you're saying. Regardless even if I made a bad analogy, it still doesnt take away from the fact that the idea of "worship this god or burn for eternity" is all kinds of messed up. This world is filled with tons of religions. Thats a LOT of people headed for the cosmic furnace. And for what? Because they were born homo sapien? I personally dont try to attack people's beliefs because everyone holds onto something to get them through the day, but telling people theyre headed for hell is equally as damaging.
Bronson99
Well-known member
I still think if you pray to him enough, he'll eventually get you a date.
PugofCrydee
You want to know how I got these scars?
I thought I was jesus up until about 13 years of age.
Every time my mum would see me she would say 'jesus Christ!!'...
Every time my mum would see me she would say 'jesus Christ!!'...
PugofCrydee
You want to know how I got these scars?
Opaline
1
Heh. If there is a god, it's Carlin. Possibly.
For an atheist I say "Jesus" an awful lot
Tino
1
Make no cents bro
ff5fan19
Active member
i know i completely worded that wrong. oh and I'm a girl not a boy/bro
I am in the no and yes crowd. If you're talking about the God that most Christians believe in, then a hard no. I think all my life, being raised Christian, I didn't quite believe it. It didn't seem right some how. There were still many questions with no answers and it seems that the Bible and other lessons learned about biblical times regarding Christianity seemed half way to explain what life is and what it is about. I found more answers and even more questions in Philosophy courses along with science courses.
I don't believe an invisible entity wakes me up or provides me with the daily essentials to make it in life. I don't believe "God" does good for some and bad for others. I darn sure don't need special treatment when there are many disadvantaged, innocent people in the world suffering from serious illnesses and hunger.
I am just fine with out Christianity in my life. My whole family, though, are Christians. It's weird observing their beliefs and habits as an outsider. One even offered to pray for me. I gave up on prayer when in high school and just found a psychiatrist and a book to help me learn more about myself.
We are here in this one life only once. You can be a good person on your own and even live life morally. There is no need for a higher being to make any of those things possible. So, instead, I believe in being good, being happy, being considerate, and live according to what I deem moral and valuable in life like not harming others and being kind and helpful to my fellow man when necessary.
I don't believe an invisible entity wakes me up or provides me with the daily essentials to make it in life. I don't believe "God" does good for some and bad for others. I darn sure don't need special treatment when there are many disadvantaged, innocent people in the world suffering from serious illnesses and hunger.
I am just fine with out Christianity in my life. My whole family, though, are Christians. It's weird observing their beliefs and habits as an outsider. One even offered to pray for me. I gave up on prayer when in high school and just found a psychiatrist and a book to help me learn more about myself.
We are here in this one life only once. You can be a good person on your own and even live life morally. There is no need for a higher being to make any of those things possible. So, instead, I believe in being good, being happy, being considerate, and live according to what I deem moral and valuable in life like not harming others and being kind and helpful to my fellow man when necessary.
Ithior
Well-known member
I'm agnostic, though pending more towards atheist. My dad is atheist. My mum and her family are catholic, I attended a catholic private school (it had its own decent sized church, priests were running the school) from kindergarten to 6th grade. I had religion related classes until 8th grade, after which I decided to stop going to those (they weren't mandatory).
That being said, I often fantasise about the existence of "destiny" or god-like entities, not tied to any particular religion. I guess it's easier to deal with some stuff if you blame it on an external entity. It helps see the bright side of bad things that happen to you, kinda like in movies/tv series where bad events make protagonists stronger down the road.
On the other hand, it can also motivate me to think I have destiny taking me to my goals. By that I don't mean you can just slack off, but that destiny will make sure that, if you do your part, the things out of your control will fall into place.
Obviously I wouldn't even try to argue that this is how things are, but thinking like this brings me some comfort and motivation to keep moving forward.
That being said, I often fantasise about the existence of "destiny" or god-like entities, not tied to any particular religion. I guess it's easier to deal with some stuff if you blame it on an external entity. It helps see the bright side of bad things that happen to you, kinda like in movies/tv series where bad events make protagonists stronger down the road.
On the other hand, it can also motivate me to think I have destiny taking me to my goals. By that I don't mean you can just slack off, but that destiny will make sure that, if you do your part, the things out of your control will fall into place.
Obviously I wouldn't even try to argue that this is how things are, but thinking like this brings me some comfort and motivation to keep moving forward.
IntheLabyrinth
Well-known member
Your last line reminded me of Donnie Darko. You do realize that writing that post was talking about God?
I answered the question being asked, then I rambled a lot to give it context.
More correct statement: I do not engage in debates anymore, or at least I haven't for a long time.
IntheLabyrinth
Well-known member
Haha, I was just messing with you. You actually said that in the beginning of your other post and I knew that's what you really meant... I feel the same way about debating it. People already have their minds completely made up and nothing said will change it or allow them to question any of their beliefs. It has to happen on their own. At least that's what I think. I used to always try to debate it a lot when I first stopped believing. There were not many people with beliefs were I lived. My favorite two arguments that never had a good answer were how free will and an all-knowing God could both exist together, and about Jesus coming down for 33 years as a human since he is actually part of the holy trinity (in other words he is God) knowing full well he will be back in heaven very soon is not really much of a sacrifice.
This is a long post.
I'm an agnostic-atheist. But before I became a non believer, I was a believer of Jesus and God. I couldn't really say that I was religious coz I didn't regularly go to mass, I didn't have the eagerness to do it-- it's mostly forced by my parents. But I'd go to Bible study, I'd pray before and after meals, I'd pray before I go to bed, occasionally we'd pray the rosary, the 3'o clock prayer, the Angelus, I studied in a Catholic school from Kinder to College. My parents family are strong Catholics especially my grandma. I even joined her on large Religious gatherings. Basically, everything leads me to being a Christian. I just automatically accepted this environment that I've grown with.
Although I wasn't religious, I've always been interested to philosophy and the Bible. You see, I am a bookworm and the Bible delighted me a lot. For me, it was like the epic compilation of interesting short stories plus I'd always feel good coz it's a holy book so I'm like being a good Christian as well. In Religion class, I feel like an expert when finding Bible verses. I was so familiar with the parables, gospels and stuff. Basically I know a lot about my religion.
You might wonder what could've been wrong. I should've become a stronger Christian right? Did something tragic happen that made me question God? ---- Nope. My Mom died, we had financial crisis, I was bullied etc etc but I remained a believer.
Actually, my interest to religious/spiritual/ philosophical stuff only went deeper. And that, I think, was the beginning of my enlightenment but for the believers that enlightenment was my fall.
In College, I was introduced to Theology. I liked it so much because this study combines religion and reason. It made religion and existence of god to be logical not just something that you only have to believe. It also teaches how Bible should be interpreted and how Bible inaccuracies were explained or justified.
You see, when we were taught about religion it usually focuses with ‘god’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘faith’… not logic. In short, Theology made me aware of the ‘rational mind’. Eventually, I started to become curious about Jesus… about the real life Jesus and not the ‘magical’ Jesus in the Bible. In the end, I stopped believing Jesus as god. Being him as a god just doesn’t make sense to me anymore. He probably is a real person but more of a prophet not a god.
I then took an interest to other religion like Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism etc. I realized that even if they are different, they seem to have a similar theme. Generally, they all meant well and they’re all about worshipping god. There are philosophical teachings in each religion that I appreciate. I suddenly find it stupid that I am limited to the Catholic teachings and people are fighting against other religions if in truth, they are worshipping the same god. It seems religion divides people and prevents them to think outside the box coz they are all restricted to their own dogmas. So from then on, I decided that I don’t need religion to worship god.
I don’t know when I started to doubt the existence of god. It’s like one day I realized that ‘god’ is not logical either. But then I thought, why is having a god a big deal anyway? Does it really matter if a supreme being exists or not? I think what’s important is to be a good person. I don’t need to be told off that I’m going to hell if I don’t do this or that. Coz for me, even without god or religion…. I would still be humane and respectful to my surroundings. My morality is now coming from within me. I am doing good not because I wanna go to heaven but because it is good. I am not hurting people because I’m afraid of god’s wrath, I just know that it is bad.
It is a scary thought that people’s morality is based from Religion and god. What if suddenly they realized that there’s no god? Will they still be the same? Will they still put an effort to be good citizens of the world? Will they still hope? I bet a lot of people will feel lost and self destruct.
So that’s how I became an agnostic-atheist. I learned too much. I became enlightened
I'm an agnostic-atheist. But before I became a non believer, I was a believer of Jesus and God. I couldn't really say that I was religious coz I didn't regularly go to mass, I didn't have the eagerness to do it-- it's mostly forced by my parents. But I'd go to Bible study, I'd pray before and after meals, I'd pray before I go to bed, occasionally we'd pray the rosary, the 3'o clock prayer, the Angelus, I studied in a Catholic school from Kinder to College. My parents family are strong Catholics especially my grandma. I even joined her on large Religious gatherings. Basically, everything leads me to being a Christian. I just automatically accepted this environment that I've grown with.
Although I wasn't religious, I've always been interested to philosophy and the Bible. You see, I am a bookworm and the Bible delighted me a lot. For me, it was like the epic compilation of interesting short stories plus I'd always feel good coz it's a holy book so I'm like being a good Christian as well. In Religion class, I feel like an expert when finding Bible verses. I was so familiar with the parables, gospels and stuff. Basically I know a lot about my religion.
You might wonder what could've been wrong. I should've become a stronger Christian right? Did something tragic happen that made me question God? ---- Nope. My Mom died, we had financial crisis, I was bullied etc etc but I remained a believer.
Actually, my interest to religious/spiritual/ philosophical stuff only went deeper. And that, I think, was the beginning of my enlightenment but for the believers that enlightenment was my fall.
In College, I was introduced to Theology. I liked it so much because this study combines religion and reason. It made religion and existence of god to be logical not just something that you only have to believe. It also teaches how Bible should be interpreted and how Bible inaccuracies were explained or justified.
You see, when we were taught about religion it usually focuses with ‘god’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘faith’… not logic. In short, Theology made me aware of the ‘rational mind’. Eventually, I started to become curious about Jesus… about the real life Jesus and not the ‘magical’ Jesus in the Bible. In the end, I stopped believing Jesus as god. Being him as a god just doesn’t make sense to me anymore. He probably is a real person but more of a prophet not a god.
I then took an interest to other religion like Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism etc. I realized that even if they are different, they seem to have a similar theme. Generally, they all meant well and they’re all about worshipping god. There are philosophical teachings in each religion that I appreciate. I suddenly find it stupid that I am limited to the Catholic teachings and people are fighting against other religions if in truth, they are worshipping the same god. It seems religion divides people and prevents them to think outside the box coz they are all restricted to their own dogmas. So from then on, I decided that I don’t need religion to worship god.
I don’t know when I started to doubt the existence of god. It’s like one day I realized that ‘god’ is not logical either. But then I thought, why is having a god a big deal anyway? Does it really matter if a supreme being exists or not? I think what’s important is to be a good person. I don’t need to be told off that I’m going to hell if I don’t do this or that. Coz for me, even without god or religion…. I would still be humane and respectful to my surroundings. My morality is now coming from within me. I am doing good not because I wanna go to heaven but because it is good. I am not hurting people because I’m afraid of god’s wrath, I just know that it is bad.
It is a scary thought that people’s morality is based from Religion and god. What if suddenly they realized that there’s no god? Will they still be the same? Will they still put an effort to be good citizens of the world? Will they still hope? I bet a lot of people will feel lost and self destruct.
So that’s how I became an agnostic-atheist. I learned too much. I became enlightened