Do you Believe in God?

And by the way, one most certainly loses time, energy, money, etc. by devoting their lives to entities that don't exist. If there exists no God the loss to believers is not zero. You have to take time to go to church and worship and you have to donate to the church. That's a loss right there.

 

No, and I kind of think Jesus Christ could have been an allegory for Julius Caesar.

However, I do value idealism, self-sacrifice, codes of personal conduct, cultural identity, catchy hymns and an interesting story every once in a while. If some of us learn that through the passion, eloquence and imagery that a belief in a god and religion rely on, society probably still benefits. In fact, if I ever have kids I'll probably end up taking them to a (small old line protestant) church, just to help reinforce moral values and maximize on family-friendly atmospheres.

Do what's right, have a little optimism, don't piss off the wrong people and don't worry too much about dying - can't really argue with that message.

 

I do not believe in a god. For several reasons.

1 I cannot understand why a perfect god would let so much injustice continue in the world.
2 Most religious aspects can easily be explained by common human behaviour.

but most importantly I do not feel the presence of a god(just like many people who do believe in a god do feel his presence).

I know that will defentily have a problem if i die and there is a god

 

maybe a better choice of words would be 'randomly happening'. I don't see a way that a series of random events can be so well orchestrated. I don't see how without someone running the show we would have an atmosphere with oxygen in just the perfect mixture of other gasses topped off with the ozone layer for our protection. How the solar system is set up so perfectly, how many days are in a year, or seconds in a day, or seasons in a year. If any of this is unbalanced life could cease to exist. I dont see how ALL of this is possible without a supreme being...

Thats my explanation of stuff that has been classified to me by atheists as an "accident".

 

2. Why is it that we have these behaviors that are "common"? Why isn't it common to kill and rape? Why arent humans just born evil sadistic beings?

I believe if there wasn't a god, then there would be no innate feeling of helplessness in our hearts, there would be no conscious telling us right and wrong. Yes we are drilled with this stuff from our society, our parents, our surroundings, but what about the first humans? who taught them the right and wrong? who taught them the "common human behavior".

 

well actually, simply arguing on the topic of the theory. The theory doesn't takei into effect the value of time put into the belief simply because the formula is
a. believe with heart (no actions)
or
b. dont believe (with heart or actions)

So the theory is simply saying that a person who simply believes in god will infinitely be in a better place due to the fact that at the end of the day he believed, regardless of his actions or his worship.

I dont agree with this theory because I feel that actions must be done to show your obedience to your beliefs.

 

It is ok that you believe that mankind needed a god for a conscious. I do not share that believe. I believe common sense is what it took.

I think we can all agree that nobody knows for sure why we are what we are today(either a god, or evolution or something else). We as humans are not smart enough to understand concepts such as: eternity, the beginning of everything etc. we just cannot understand it. So it all comes down to what we believe, you (and a lot of other people) believe a god created us, and a god made us the way we are. I do not believe a god made us.

I have no idea how the world started to excist, but neither do you understand how god started to excist, we both just do not know.

 

I see what your saying. The example is clean and clear. However I just dont see us evolving and adapting to the earth. Even the first of beings that survived on earth would have to in the same conditions that are present today (presence of oxygen, water, other plants) It boggles my mind to think that the earth has a purpose other than to provide us with a sanctuary to live in.

 

But where does that common sense evolve from, Where does it start at? Common sense isnt just created by a group of people.

 

It starts by observing or experiencing the negative consequences of immoral or irrational behavior. On a large scale, over the long term, this morphs into morals, values and laws.

 

This is already answered by others but i will give my 5 cents.

it is important that there is some sort of law in every social group of animals. Amoung animals there is also sort of law. In pride of Lions, pack of wolves and gorillas there is a certain law, which is determined by the alpha male. He make sure that the group members do not kill each other and that a certain structure is kept. So it is logical that if the group expands(like it did with humans) that also the social structure evolves.

Common sense is knowing what gives you the best chance to survive and breed.

I am one of those people who do not think that Humans and Animals are that much different. Of course we are different, but i think many people underestimate how much of human action can still be explained by basic animal behaviour, and needs.

 

Adeelsiddiqui, in a universe that spans tens of billions of years with billions of galaxies each with hundreds of of billions planets; where there are endless permutations of a general set of physics and chemistry that we know has the capacity to produce life (I think therefore I am); the probability of finding at least one Earth like planet (us) is almost certain, possibly even not that unique (though I suspect that it is actually very rare requiring the proper orbits, chemical combinations, electromagnetic filed, stabilizing moon, small sized star for an engine, not to close to any quasars pulsars or black holes etc etc etc)

My favorite quote of myself is " In a universe of unlimited possibilities why would you be surprised to find yourself in a condition that is merely improbable?"

On one hand it sucks not to believe in god because there is no ultimate justice; Adolph Hitler's fate is the same as Mother Theresa's, they are both just inanimate dust. But on the other hand, inanimate dust doesn't give a sh*t that there is no ultimate justice.

Not believing in an afterlife makes living in the present of ultimate importance...the fact that life can suck for most folks sort of makes that depressing and is probably the reason mankind universally develops theories of religion.

I'd be all for anyone having any hope and happiness they can. The problem arises in the fact that to maintain the leap of faith, religions must maintain that air of omnipotence and certainty. When there are two or more people's that have to maintain the air of certainty with differing concepts of omnipotence...then somebody is an infidel. Hence the screwed up relationships of man's differing cultures. Agnostics rarely discriminate or persecute, or organize to promote their beliefs or even talk about it with believers because we envy their hope. If you need a value system to promote ethical behaviour, there is always Humanism; though peer pressure is not quite the motivators heaven and hell are (if you believe in their certainty).

 

I didnt say it was horrible, I said if you dont believe in some type of God, I could potential have a bad result, whereas if you believe in some type of faith, you could potentially be rewarded (this goes for pretty much all religions).

 

good luck with that.

 

It is not necessary to go to church or any other form of worship to believe in a god. You dont have to donate money either. I'm just saying, you could potentially loose much more by not believing in any form of a faith

 

Do I believe in a unifying force in nature and the universe? Yes

Do I believe it's some guy that sits on a throne and says "You go to heaven, you go to hell?" No