Do you believe or not believe in God?
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
Please post your views on religion, if you personally are religious, and your views on why their is or isnt a God?
My own story: My mom's side of the family are typical Italian Catholics. They were raised catholic, attended church and went to Catholic schools.
I never or hardly ever went to church as a kid, and if we did it was just for Easter or Christmas.
My beliefs tend to fall in line with Buddhist or Taoist ideas. Or Native American ideas The idea that God is everywhere and in everything, a blade of grass, or flowers, or trees and so on. But I dont think I would pin myself as one specific religion. I dont attend any church though.
I have major problems with religion in terms of how it is used to justify horrendous things like war, murder, sexism and homophobia.
Lately I have been tending towards the Modest Mouse school of ideology. Just questioning, and thinking, how I feel its kind of insane for people to waste their lives on earth wondering and worrying about getting into heaven or hell, two places that may or may not exist, all the while ignoring the only thing that is for sure, the now, the present.
As a Marxist I also think religion is harmful in some sense. Beyond the wars and violence committed in its name, I think you have people, coming together, banding together in a common cause, raising their hands up. They feel lost. They are down and out. And they are praying to this individual who may or may not exist. More powerful results would come, I think, by banding together and forming a political organization, or activist group.
I also wonder, if God existed, why would he allow all the death, destruction and murder to occur? Why the wars? The rape? Assaults? Racism? What type of God would allow that to occur?
Eckhart Tolle, author of the Power of Now, suggested that, the reason why wars, death and violence occur, is that it forces us to choose, forces us to look at ourselves, to become who we really want to be, to wake up. I think thats an interesting idea.
So whats your view on it all?
My own story: My mom's side of the family are typical Italian Catholics. They were raised catholic, attended church and went to Catholic schools.
I never or hardly ever went to church as a kid, and if we did it was just for Easter or Christmas.
My beliefs tend to fall in line with Buddhist or Taoist ideas. Or Native American ideas The idea that God is everywhere and in everything, a blade of grass, or flowers, or trees and so on. But I dont think I would pin myself as one specific religion. I dont attend any church though.
I have major problems with religion in terms of how it is used to justify horrendous things like war, murder, sexism and homophobia.
Lately I have been tending towards the Modest Mouse school of ideology. Just questioning, and thinking, how I feel its kind of insane for people to waste their lives on earth wondering and worrying about getting into heaven or hell, two places that may or may not exist, all the while ignoring the only thing that is for sure, the now, the present.
As a Marxist I also think religion is harmful in some sense. Beyond the wars and violence committed in its name, I think you have people, coming together, banding together in a common cause, raising their hands up. They feel lost. They are down and out. And they are praying to this individual who may or may not exist. More powerful results would come, I think, by banding together and forming a political organization, or activist group.
I also wonder, if God existed, why would he allow all the death, destruction and murder to occur? Why the wars? The rape? Assaults? Racism? What type of God would allow that to occur?
Eckhart Tolle, author of the Power of Now, suggested that, the reason why wars, death and violence occur, is that it forces us to choose, forces us to look at ourselves, to become who we really want to be, to wake up. I think thats an interesting idea.
So whats your view on it all?
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oh and there is no god. if there is then he should be sacked as he designed the planet Earth very poorly indeed. shifting plates of earths that move around and kill thousands of people is not a good design... instead of doing it in 6 days and then having a rest he really should have taken a bit more time.
What he said.... I think...
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
It's difficult for me to see how someone would believe there isn't a God.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I dont believe in the Easter Bunny
I dont believe in the Tooth Fairy
And i dont believe there is a GOD..............
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Additionally, I believe that everything has a form of energy, and power whether actualized or in potential form - I feel that we can harness this powerful energy. I believe in the integrity of the circles...birth to death is only half of the cycle of the soul...but I don't presume to know what the other half is...I am confident that eventually I will know - but probably when it no longer matters.
The question of why the world is in this state - regarding an omnipresent deity...is a bit of a cop out. "how could god let this happen" removes responsibility from your hands, which is cool since we all need to make car payments and save for concert tickets...it's a hidey hole tho' - take "god" out of that question and the blank spot is you. this is your earth, this is your life. as far as we all know, it's the only one we will have - so, you can hide from it, you can blame an invisible man for it, or you can change it.
having said that - I respect others beliefs, and respect their right to voice them...I do not respect, however when beliefs are used to badger, harm, or infringe upon another's right to live their life. I think that the question of "God" has become (in the U.S at least) a question of Christian-based piety used to govern an antiquated concept of morality. In the U.S. it appears that those who align themselves with a dogmatic view of Jesus have cornered the market on morality...to the detriment of basic civility, and active discourse.
(hey...no cock joke! I even surprised myself with this post)
Am I afraid of him? you bet.
you cant be afraid of something that you dont believe in.... thats almost as silly as saying you believe angels came down from heaven and mated with Cain and Abel... oh wait... bad example as thats what Biblists claim did actually happen.
I don't believe in Micheal Myers, but I'm afraid of him.
Please expand. Why are you a christian and why do you believe in god? Why do you feel its difficult to see how someone couldnt believe in god?
What do you think of the criticisms I made of religion in my original post?
As a christian and someone who believes in god, how do you explain wars, violence, rape, murder etc...? Why would God allow things like that to happen? Especially if you believe in the power of prayer. If you believe in prayer, why would god "grant" some people those wishes, but in other cases, people might die in car accidents, or die of heart attacks or be murdered in their sleep etc.. Why?
(just had a deja moment an hour ago...so that explains that line)
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
happy birthday country joe
i resolve to do like i always do
theres an overweight man with an overweight woman on a sofa just watching tv
hes yelling his opinion at the television she looks up from her food and agrees
they got two bumper stickers on there pick up truck
they keep the pick up parked outside
one sticker says "what would jesus do?"
the other bumper sticker says "power of pride"
i was thumbing through the stations on my own television
when i came across a guy on the religous station
singing "somebodys coming" sounding whiter than me somehow
wow
it took me back in time thru dwindling joy
to when i was such a guilt ridden catholic boy
im evangelical agnostic now
i dont know what we're doing here
you don't "KNOW" what were doing here
now christians dont walk out on me just yet
you know whose name im yelling as im clutching my chest
the one my dad told me to and his told him to
and i probably pray as much or more than you do
believe? shit, every word i sing
but believing and knowing, those are two different things
and if your trying to change the way a strangers life will have to go
i believe this is where i wanna stick to what i know
which is nothing you know, nothing for sure so
just chill til the next episode
now back to the lecture at hand
seems like my neighbor wants to kill what he cant understand
i say we cant just kill what we dont understand
but i turn on my tv and see that oh yes we can
we can and we have since then dawn of man
for countless gods whose only real seeming plan
was to see to it that clinging to life was our fate
and you gotta admit that lifes pretty great
but
can we deny that its killing us?
ill be here all week
happy new year everybody
happy birthday country joe
i resolve to do like i always do
i aint hurtin you
if life is anything its embarrassing
a rusty nail thru a careless shoe
you cant help but sit around and wonder sometimes
why there's never anything the poor nail can do
or think about how unfair it is
that the shoe is only going where it has to too
if you aint the dumb kid out running around
you kinda gotta do what your born to do
hey
happy new year everybody
specifically happy birthday to you country joe
i resolve to do like i always do
and i only ever make it a day or two
--todd snider
Expand on that. Same questions apply to you. You believe something is there, something is pulling the strings, why? Additionally, can you comment on the violence/wars aspect? Why does God allow that to happen? People dying of cancer or AIDS, people losing parents in the Iraq War, kids who are molested. If you believe there is a God, or something that is pulling the strings, I would think you would have thought about these issues as well. Why would God allow such things to occur? Obviously there is such a random occurance of those things. We all know of course good people die of cancer, or AIDS and that good people die in car accidents. Its not all bad people who die such ways. One could maybe understand, a rapist dying that way, or a killer, but good people. Why? Why would God allow that?
I still have yet to hear a response to this idea. How do God believing people respond to such things?
God doesn't allow it. Man allows it.
But thats the paradox. People do pray. And I dont know your specific beliefs but if you believe in God, and what you just said is your opinion of why bad things occur if a God exists, I would say thats a very interesting perspective.
Essentially, it is allowing everything good that happens to be Gods doing. If you get a good job and make a lot of money, your "blessed" but if your parents die in a horrible car accident, thats "man" that did that. Very interesting.
I dont think its just you who believes that. Watch any sports show or awards show. A team or player that wins always thanks God. Yet you never hear a losing team say God allowed them, or made them lose.
Interesting paradox to say the least
Whatever you are, be a good one --Lincoln
Essentially, it is allowing everything good that happens to be Gods doing. If you get a good job and make a lot of money, your "blessed" but if your parents die in a horrible car accident, thats "man" that did that. Very interesting.
I dont think its just you who believes that. Watch any sports show or awards show. A team or player that wins always thanks God. Yet you never hear a losing team say God allowed them, or made them lose.
Interesting paradox to say the least[/quote]
Life is what you make it. As in...you make good money because you worked hard for it. You have no one to thank but yourself. Your parents die in a car accident it's because of unfortunate occurance. (Could be anything)
I think athletes are thanking God (or whatever they believe in) in the gift of life...for the chance to win.
This would be a better place if people were not so concern in what others believe in and more concerned in how we treat each other.
La puta iglesia = Fuck the church
"We don't need God to explain the world, we need God to bear it".
Eugen Drewermann
In a more humorous light, please see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNy6ziOyxoA
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green
funny i grant thee... but it makes no sense to be scared of something that you dont think even exists. :?
funny i grant thee... but it makes no sense to be scared of something that you dont think even exists. :?[/quote]
No it does not make sense you are right. But I still love horror movies cause they scare me.
I believe in God. If people followed Gods word we wouldnt have war, murders ect. Death is nothing, we have to die to get to heaven or hell. People freak out about death but its ok because we must die to live forever. Man makes his own choice in life. Life is about following God, not doing what you want. He wants faithful worshipers and he gives us the choice to follow him or burn in hell. Man creates wars, man rapes, man causes racism. If man followed God it would be a great world to live in. But people these days people try to take God out of our lives. People are to busy watching tv or reading books that mean nothing in this life and looking in the mirror. Helping your fellow man and following God is what life is about.