Do you believe or not believe in God?

catefrances

MayDay10 wrote:

for those of you who do not believe...

how do you find comfort in death... both of yourself and loved ones?

death happens... it happens to all living things. i find comfort, for want of a better word, in the fact that whilst they were alive i loved them and once they are dead i have the memories to keep that love alive.

Cinnamon Girl

MayDay10 wrote:

for those of you who do not believe...

how do you find comfort in death... both of yourself and loved ones?

I don't find comfort in death...death scares the shit out of me.

I think that the fear of death has a lot to do with why many religions plug on. People need that comfort of the unknown and what comes after life. Religion wraps the whole story up nicely with a little bow.

Like I said before, I WISH I had faith....but I just can't.

yellowporch

MayDay10 wrote:

for those of you who do not believe...

how do you find comfort in death... both of yourself and loved ones?

when my dad died, i was 15, my family started going to church and praying, and i just didnt get it, i got really angry that his death made them start praying and becoming spiritual, if there was a god... he would take a father of 3 young children away.. i think not, in my opinion its all just a bunch of hocus pocus, but if its what comforted them then i keep my mouth shut, but i find comfort knowing he was a great guy, and thats all, we all are going to be gone sometime...right? i'd rather just face the reality of it than put a blindfold on and pretend hes still here and some guy had a plan all along. just doesnt make sense i guess...

again this my view, i dont want to mock anyones beliefs, to each his/her own

John Briggs 2008

Interesting reads. Many out there that argue for the belief of a god as well.
http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2007 ... exist.html
http://www.atheist.net/article/article_352.html

TO each there own I say though.

arq

MayDay10 wrote:

for those of you who do not believe...

how do you find comfort in death... both of yourself and loved ones?

death is part of life, I don't know if a fairy tale would change the fact that there's no after life. I could believe that I'm Martian and 2" tall but that doesn't change the fact that I'm human and 5'-10", it may change how I see the world but the facts are facts.

The only after life is the life of your kids and the kids of your kids, that's the only way that part of you may continue going on and on, is not a sad fact or a happy fact is just the way it is.

pandora

quote
ive been an atheist since i was 11 years old. it was a decision i came to on my own after much questioning and soul searching and its a position ive not wavered from nor questioned in the ensuing 33 years.[/quote]

Sounds a bit like me
Hey just try this
ask for a private miracle- but you have to really mean it- from your soul- don't be afraid be Open
I was shocked and was not expecting what happened but since (13 years now) I believe and have comfort in what has been proven to me. I am not afraid to die because we are just "leaving this world" and its ok.
On an entirely different subject for me- Jesus is the MAN
and religion does not = God

Horos

FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR....FEAR....FEAR

CONTROL....CONTROL...CONTROL...CONTROL

This is what it's all about.

I was raised in a similar manner to the original poster. I had twelve years of(Catholic) theology classes. Belief in god is as normal as belief in ghosts. People who claim to have seen either surely where fearful. There is only one place gods exist and it is in the mind.

Horos

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Man-made empiricism might provide tools to deconstruct the dogma, tenets and narratives of organised religion. However, when we stop anthropomorphising or localising concepts of a vast, interdimensional network of extra-universal consciousness and behold the notion of God as something intrinsic to our pre-linguistic understanding, then we are probably coming closer to realising the supreme nature of ourselves and our spiritual potentiality beyond language, beyond dictates of reason, and into the Infinite.

*Passes the spliff your way*

You really should give someone credit when you quote them.

Horos

If everyone followed the Ten Commandments, there probably wouldn't be all those stories in the Old Testament


I'll quote George Carlin(RIP).

We only need 2 commandment:

Thou shalt always be honest and faithful(esp. to the provider of thine nookie.)

Thou shalt not kill(unless they believe in a different invisibl being then you.)

Oh and one more, Thou shalt keep thy religion to thine self!

haffajappa

arq wrote:

death is part of life, I don't know if a fairy tale would change the fact that there's no after life. I could believe that I'm Martian and 2" tall but that doesn't change the fact that I'm human and 5'-10", it may change how I see the world but the facts are facts.

The only after life is the life of your kids and the kids of your kids, that's the only way that part of you may continue going on and on, is not a sad fact or a happy fact is just the way it is.

why am i picturing thousands of 2 ft tall martians rocking out to pearl jam right now?

FinsburyParkCarrots

Horos wrote:

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Man-made empiricism might provide tools to deconstruct the dogma, tenets and narratives of organised religion. However, when we stop anthropomorphising or localising concepts of a vast, interdimensional network of extra-universal consciousness and behold the notion of God as something intrinsic to our pre-linguistic understanding, then we are probably coming closer to realising the supreme nature of ourselves and our spiritual potentiality beyond language, beyond dictates of reason, and into the Infinite.

*Passes the spliff your way*

You really should give someone credit when you quote them.

I wasn't quoting anyone. It might come as a shock to someone of your limited experience in this world, but there are human beings of sentient skill and articulate intellect who can string a sentence together without recourse to quotations from popular culture. Now bow down and beg for forgiveness, before I get really verbose.

soulsinging

It will depend on whether or not I passed the bar exam I've spent the past 3 days taking, so I'll tell you in October.

Indifference71

soulsinging wrote:

It will depend on whether or not I passed the bar exam I've spent the past 3 days taking, so I'll tell you in October.

HAHA. Good luck with that buddy. I had a couple friends who just took it past few days too and they were crazy stressed out.

CJMST3K

OffHeGoes29 wrote:

There is something that is pulling the strings....this isn't random. I don't care who or what you want to call it, but there is something there.....if anything going to school for a science based degree has made me believe it more.

It could be random. With all the galaxies in the universe, there's probably millions or more planets with intelligent life, but we're waaaaaaaaaaaay to far apart to get together... but still, because of the trillions of combinations of planetary matter and energy, it could be guided by nothing more than science.

I hope there's a god. I just don't know if they're a father figure or even know we exist. For me, because there was a beginning of time, and since the universe eventually has to have a physical boundary to it (even if it leads to multiple universes) is one glimmer of hope that there's an afterlife or something... or, it's all just turtle stacking. Turtles, all the way down.

catefrances

pandora wrote:

catefrances wrote:

ive been an atheist since i was 11 years old. it was a decision i came to on my own after much questioning and soul searching and its a position ive not wavered from nor questioned in the ensuing 33 years.

Sounds a bit like me
Hey just try this
ask for a private miracle- but you have to really mean it- from your soul- don't be afraid be Open
I was shocked and was not expecting what happened but since (13 years now) I believe and have comfort in what has been proven to me. I am not afraid to die because we are just "leaving this world" and its ok.
On an entirely different subject for me- Jesus is the MAN
and religion does not = God

okay for starters asking for a miracle just isnt gonna happen. it would make a mockery of my atheism.

i believe jesus was an historic person. however i do not believe he was divine in any way shape or form.

LikeAnOcean

Not in the traditional sense.

lukinvedder

i dont believe in god.

mbangel10

Horos wrote:

FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR....FEAR....FEAR

CONTROL....CONTROL...CONTROL...CONTROL

This is what it's all about.

I was raised in a similar manner to the original poster. I had twelve years of(Catholic) theology classes. Belief in god is as normal as belief in ghosts. People who claim to have seen either surely where fearful. There is only one place gods exist and it is in the mind.

Why must people always associate ghosts with religion? They have nothing to do with one another. Ghosts can easily fall into the law of physics. Look up conservation of mass-energy.

I'm agnostic... with a heavy lean toward atheism. I can't declare myself atheist for the simple fact that there is no proof of existence or non-existence. It can't be tested.

However, what I know of ghosts is what I've personally experienced. I can believe in them because of that experience, and it has nothing to do with religion.

Horos

mbangel10 wrote:

Horos wrote:

FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR.....FEAR....FEAR....FEAR

CONTROL....CONTROL...CONTROL...CONTROL

This is what it's all about.

I was raised in a similar manner to the original poster. I had twelve years of(Catholic) theology classes. Belief in god is as normal as belief in ghosts. People who claim to have seen either surely where fearful. There is only one place gods exist and it is in the mind.

Why must people always associate ghosts with religion? They have nothing to do with one another. Ghosts can easily fall into the law of physics. Look up conservation of mass-energy.

I'm agnostic... with a heavy lean toward atheism. I can't declare myself atheist for the simple fact that there is no proof of existence or non-existence. It can't be tested.

However, what I know of ghosts is what I've personally experienced. I can believe in them because of that experience, and it has nothing to do with religion.

Many people claim to have met god or some other type of spirit personally. I don't doubt for a second that you believe you have experienced the presence of a ghost. The brain is powerful, complex and barely understood by man. Again in my undereducated opinion it's all in your head.

iamica

To address the age-old question of how God can exist when human suffering is present in this world...there's a very interesting chapter in Lee Strobel's book "The Case For Faith" that discusses that question. It's worth a read.