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Do You Believe in God?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by SSP365, Jun 28, 2013.

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Do You Believe In God?

  1. Yes

    55.3%
  2. No

    32.6%
  3. Not Sure

    12.0%
  1. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    Yay or Nay?

    Roll Call.

    Discuss...
     
  2. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
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    What's your definition of God?
     
  3. Kojirou

    Kojirou Member

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    I pray to the gods, but I find the question irrelevant. Even if I knew God existed, my loyalty to the United States trumps that to him. Also, I absolutely refuse to identify as an atheist, not so much out of belief as the fact that fundamentalist atheists are so much more assholeish than most Christians I dealt with - at least the Christians aren't quite so devoted to rampant materialism.
     
  4. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    Jesus, Allah, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Celestial North Korea etc...
     
  5. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    I voted "Not Sure". I believe that there is something greater than ourselves and what we perceive as material existence but that something is so beyond human understanding as to have much relevance to our daily existence.
     
  6. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
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    The human-created God concept you see written down - NO. If there is a God, it seems human limitation cannot conceive of what is God. We can try with stories as we have, but I don't think that can be God, just what we think God is.

    The Great Unknown - YES. We have yet to find out what is reality (if even time and space really exists outside of our perception of it) and so how can we say what is the true nature of things and how true nature becomes.
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Contributing Member

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    Absolutely.

    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/C2SkqaCO9c4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  8. stonegate_archer

    stonegate_archer Contributing Member

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    Flying Spaghetti Monster? Yes. God? No.
     
  9. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    What an odd statement.

    Oh wait...it's the resident imperialist. Gotcha.
     
  10. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    that's a buncha gibberish.

    just go ahead and vote.
     
  11. Dubious

    Dubious Contributing Member

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    What difference does it make?

    There are people who perpetrate genocide that believe in God and pacifist altruist that don't.
    Beliefs mean nothing, actions mean everything.
    Peace of mind is the only goal, it get's you into heaven or heaven on Earth.
     
  12. Caltex2

    Caltex2 Member

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    The biggest problem people have is that they try to define things, often based on what they were raised to believe and the peer pressure that binds them from think truly for themselves. I realize the concept of God is much bigger than we can understand in our current state of mind, so I just let ideas bounce in and out and see what makes the most sense.
     
  13. pirc1

    pirc1 Contributing Member

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    This. There is something(s) that created this universe, but not the ones worshiped by the various religions.
     
  14. bongman

    bongman Member

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    I find no reason to accept the claims that an omnipotent, omnipresent and omnibenevolent entity exists.
     
  15. stonegate_archer

    stonegate_archer Contributing Member

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    It does, religion poisons minds. I would not vote for Romney based on Mormon belief alone. I can't trust someone who believes that BS.
     
  16. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    very nice pretentious post.

    there are kids blowing themselves up because of their belief which in turn spurn them into murderous evil action.
     
  17. Deji McGever

    Deji McGever יליד טקסני

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    As to whether I'm an atheist, an agnostic, a secular Jew, a freethinker or a heretic who will burn in hell is pretty much in the eye of the beholder, but merely to say that I don't believe in God in the Abrahamic tradition would be to disrespect anyone who would ask me and actually care what I think. I don't think anyone can be defined by what they don't believe unless they are a complete nihilist, which I certainly am not.

    I don't believe in superstition, magic, or gods. I can respect the culture that created cathedrals and temples or art, and for expressing more enlightened ideas in primitive times but the post-industrial human being demands something better than ancient mythology.

    I also think that people need rituals for life events and the lifecycle within a year. For me, those events are Jewish ones, and I have respect even for the sanctity of them, particularly Yom Kippur and the reflections that come with it -- but my application of it is wholly secular at this point in my life.

    I am otherwise happy to observe (and eat the food) at Christmas or Rammadan or Diwali or Passover or whatever with whomever I'm around that has cause to celebrate, but I'm simply not a believer and never will be. I'd like to add that I have no issues with public displays of Christmas trees or any of that business, and I'm all down for any opportunity to celebrate peace and love of my fellow human being. I'm really looking forward to being in Berlin next December and experiencing Advent and the local customs that come with it.

    The closest I can get to notion of God is maybe Einstein's or Spinoza's notion of a god, but the Abrahamic Monotheist one? Absolutely not.All are based on outrageous superstitious claims and all contain inherently unethical premises. The best reformed versions of these religions all deal with this by being more humanistic and universal. I came to the conclusion that the highest moral ground is simply take the next step and have the courage to be a humanist and live an ethical life free of exceptionalism.

    As a child when I was told stories about God watching my every move and knowing my every thought and judging me, I found it absolutely terrifying. Who would ever even wish a thing like that to be true?

    If the entire universe operates by the divine will of a celestial Supreme Leader who permits tens of thousands of children to starve to death every day, it is not one deserving of my loyalty and adoration, nor is it likely one interested in my daily pleading by prayer to help me with my own First World problems.

    I studied religion in the Anglican schools my step-father made me attend (where I was scouted at 11 as a candidate for priesthood) and studied theology at a graduate level (required of everyone) as a student in a Jewish university in Israel. I might add that there we were also required to study a lot of Muslim writers from the Middle Ages, who were likely some of the most enlightened in their time regarding skepticism and the inevitable collision of science and faith.

    I also still read the bible, at least the original Hebrew one, for which, in my opinion, no good translation exists in English. In Hebrew, it is an impressive work of literature, a very engaging narrative about human folly written in brilliant verse, but I enjoy it the same way I enjoy reading the Iliad or other works of Hellenic culture. They say more of the brilliance of the human minds that imagined them than they do of the constructs of celestial authority they would have us kneel to.

    So...that's what I think.
     
    #17 Deji McGever, Jun 28, 2013
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2013
    1 person likes this.
  18. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    Sure, I do. What I believe of God might be different than what others who believe in God think of God as.

    To me it really doesn't matter.
     
  19. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SKt9EgENzGI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>



    "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

    -Albert Einstein
     
  20. SSP365

    SSP365 Member

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    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HQJ3sqkdCRE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     

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