Is there a God?

[abbot138]

Very, very interesting viewpoint.

[Flagg]

A lot of people will argue "Okay, so who created the Universe, it must have been God, it cant have come from nothing!"

But then I could reply: "Okay, so how did God come into being, He cant have just always been around, He cant have come from nothing!"

And in essence, the Universe and God are very much the same thing, and prehaps neither Science nor Religion will ever explain either concept.

[rockinred]

Yes, I know. Satan was God's right hand man, his most beloved angel.
I even said that Satanism uses Satan as a symbol.
I also said that I am not a Satanist, so I'm not identifying myself with anything.

Actually "Michael" (meaning who resembles God) has always been called God's right hand man... he is the one who is to overthrow Satan, and who many believe also carried the name "Jesus" (meaning God saves) while on earth....

What is said about Satan is that a he was an angel "god" that congretated amongst the other "gods/angels" and before the Almighty.... he was the one who always made accusations against God's creation and purpose...hense came "slanderer, opposer of God".... It is also said that he has caused many to also question God and his creation, it states a 1/3 of the stars of heaven have followed him...

One controversial passage about Satan sates in Isaiah 14:12-17
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’

another controversial passage talking about Satan states in Ezekiel 28:13-19
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

[abbot138]

A lot of people will argue "Okay, so who created the Universe, it must have been God, it cant have come from nothing!"

But then I could reply: "Okay, so how did God come into being, He cant have just always been around, He cant have come from nothing!"

And in essence, the Universe and God are very much the same thing, and prehaps neither Science nor Religion will ever explain either concept.

Right and thats what I was getting at with the chicken or egg thing, where did the ulimate powere come from? How was it created? .....Honestly I think you have made me a believer in your line of thinking: that the universe always was and always will be; that "God" and the universe are inseperable entitites; and lastly, along the same lines of what I have been saying from my first post, science nor religion nor any one man/woman will ever be able to explain or truly understand either concept.....good stuff.

[ghettoboyd]

i believe in god but not religion

i agree.there are to many complex things in life that point to a higher power.but with so many religions,somebodys got to be wrong.i feel that all religions are basicly philosophy. thay all have teachings and stories that help peeps live by the golden rule and such.i am catholic so most stories that i was taught are very hard to believe.yet when i whitnesse the birth of my child or how a friend of mine was cured of cancer whith no scientific resoning.it leads me to believe that there is someone or something of a higher power that is watching over us.at least i hope so cus it gives me some sort of comfort in believing.

[WOLFCRAFT]

Actually "Michael" (meaning who resembles God) has always been called God's right hand man... he is the one who is to overthrow Satan, and who many believe also carried the name "Jesus" (meaning God saves) while on earth....

What is said about Satan is that a he was an angel "god" that congretated amongst the other "gods/angels" and before the Almighty.... he was the one who always made accusations against God's creation and purpose...hense came "slanderer, opposer of God".... It is also said that he has caused many to also question God and his creation, it states a 1/3 of the stars of heaven have followed him...

One controversial passage about Satan sates in Isaiah 14:12-17
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’

another controversial passage talking about Satan states in Ezekiel 28:13-19
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

That's quite a read up there... uh... METL RULZ.

[clockwork_killer]

no i dnt beleave in god, even tho i have prayed b4

[xavier_888888]

Yes there is! He was at my neighbors house. I heard my neighbor screamed "My GOD you soo good"

[rockinred]

That's quite a read up there... uh... METL RULZ.

LOL...

I am here for fun too... sometimes I run off on tangeants... anyhow, Peace and good lifting!

[GT2]

I'm going to look at the existence of God from a purely statistical and probable standpoint.

Say you have the skeleton of a house, 5000 or so bricks all stacked up to make the skeleton of a house, there are two ways that could have occurred:

1) The bricks had randomly fallen in place
2) A creator had stacked them together

The probability of 5000 bricks randomly falling together to create the skeleton of a house is highly unlikely, numerically, around 1 in a billion chance, or 0.000001% chance of happening.

However, the probability of 5000 bricks being stacked together by a creator is highly likely, numerically around 1 - 1 in a billion, or 0.999999% chance of happening.

Now let's broaden the spectrum a little. Consider all the minerals, plants, and animals in the world. Sure, they may have just randomly fallen in place, but statistically, this is highly unlikely, near impossible.

If the chance of a brick house (a basic structure) falling in to place by chance is almost impossible, then the chance of the human body, a highly complex system, simply "occurring" is even less likely.

After billions of dollars being spent on scientists producing robots, they have not even come remotely close to creating a robot as complex as a human being. Doesn't this therefore mean the human body is a highly complex system, a system created by something we cannot fully comprehend in this physical world? If we see a robot walking in the street, we KNOW that the robot was created, it didn't just "occur".

So if a relatively complex machine like a robot has a creator, isn't it highly likely that humans, a system far more complex than a robot, also has a creator?

Sure, we may not be able to see or hear or touch God, therefore physically proving his existence is impossible, however, the probability he exists is very likely.

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

I think there is a supreme power. Whether it be God, or any other religious head.

To what extent I don't know. I was brought up in the Catholic Church but haven't been a participating member in many years. God is whatever you want it to be. It may be real, or it may be something fictional that you just have faith in for no other reason then you have no where left to turn.

A few years ago I went through a horrible depression where I was very suicidal to the point where I was taken to the ER for overdosing on some perscription pills. I don't know how I was able to pull myself from that depression, but I feel that I had some guidance from God. He didn't pull me from that depression himself, but I like to think that he showed me how to get through life and percerver (spelling).

If you believe in a god then more power to you. If you don't believe in a god then more power to you as well. In the end we will all find out if we were right or wrong.

I just hope it doesn't turn out to be the one with four arms.

[Flagg]

I'm going to look at the existence of God from a purely statistical and probable standpoint.

Say you have the skeleton of a house, 5000 or so bricks all stacked up to make the skeleton of a house, there are two ways that could have occurred:

1) The bricks had randomly fallen in place
2) A creator had stacked them together

The probability of 5000 bricks randomly falling together to create the skeleton of a house is highly unlikely, numerically, around 1 in a billion chance, or 0.000001% chance of happening.

However, the probability of 5000 bricks being stacked together by a creator is highly likely, numerically around 1 - 1 in a billion, or 0.999999% chance of happening.

Now let's broaden the spectrum a little. Consider all the minerals, plants, and animals in the world. Sure, they may have just randomly fallen in place, but statistically, this is highly unlikely, near impossible.

If the chance of a brick house (a basic structure) falling in to place by chance is almost impossible, then the chance of the human body, a highly complex system, simply "occurring" is even less likely.

After billions of dollars being spent on scientists producing robots, they have not even come remotely close to creating a robot as complex as a human being. Doesn't this therefore mean the human body is a highly complex system, a system created by something we cannot fully comprehend in this physical world? If we see a robot walking in the street, we KNOW that the robot was created, it didn't just "occur".

So if a relatively complex machine like a robot has a creator, isn't it highly likely that humans, a system far more complex than a robot, also has a creator?

Sure, we may not be able to see or hear or touch God, therefore physically proving his existence is impossible, however, the probability he exists is very likely.

And where did the man that built the house come from? Has he always existed since the dawn of time? Or did he, horror of horrors, have parents??

Ive come to decide, and it's with the help of Abbot I might add, that comparing God to the Universe is no different to comparing the number 1 to the number minus 1. Any argument you throw at one, you can throw the same curve ball at the other.

Again, infinity and size defeats the human mind of realization...

[Tambit24]

agnostic here

[GT2]

To those who believe in God, but not in a certain religion...

I completely understand this train of thought.

I ask you a question though...would you have been able to recognize God if it weren't for religions?

Take the movie Cast Away for example, if you were stuck on an island by yourself, would you be able to recognize God?

Or did you learn to believe in God indirectly through religions themselves?

I completely agree that all of the religions bar one, are like an old t-shirt, they're worn out and nobody likes them anymore. They are past their use-by dates.

IMO the teachings in the Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic etc. religions were correct and valid for their own TIME, however their times have now past and a religion for this day and age exists.

I encourage all people who believe in God, but not in religion, to undertake some independent investigation, and I guarantee you will come across a religion with teachings and beliefs that exists for this day and age. I am not going to name anything on a public forum, but with research, you will realize a religion for this day and age exists

[BgMc31]

I'm a PK (preacher's kid). I turned my back on religion because I saw more damage organize religion has done to people than good. I've resigned myself to the fact that no one can answer the complex questions we all have and if someone needs someone else to help them answer those questions to make them a better person, then fine.

I believe in God, because I do. There is no why? Becase the why makes no sense (belief in a higher power is completely irrational and absolutely cannot be proven or justified). I used to be a complete non-believer. But have changed my thinking recently. Just having the thought (absurd as it may be) of someone else helping me bear the weight of real life comforts me and puts my mind at ease. I need that, otherwise I was a completely hyperviolent asshole. As a professional football player, that mentality was great. But as a husband, father, and executive for a large casino holding company I can no longer be that person. Belief in a higher power helps me with that.

Separate religion and belief in a higher power. And remember both SHOULD be personal to the individual.

[rockinred]

I'm a PK (preacher's kid). I turned my back on religion because I saw more damage organize religion has done to people than good. I've resigned myself to the fact that no one can answer the complex questions we all have and if someone needs someone else to help them answer those questions to make them a better person, then fine.

I believe in God, because I do. There is no why? Becase the why makes no sense (belief in a higher power is completely irrational and absolutely cannot be proven or justified). I used to be a complete non-believer. But have changed my thinking recently. Just having the thought (absurd as it may be) of someone else helping me bear the weight of real life comforts me and puts my mind at ease. I need that, otherwise I was a completely hyperviolent asshole. As a professional football player, that mentality was great. But as a husband, father, and executive for a large casino holding company I can no longer be that person. Belief in a higher power helps me with that.

Separate religion and belief in a higher power. And remember both SHOULD be personal to the individual.

BgMc, that is good to hear.. I know we talked about this in the past with differing perspectives... anyhow, sounds like you are a pretty solid dude... we all had our journey's through ups and downs, doubts and fears... they only make you stronger... seems like your dad did you right and I hope i can do the same for my kids... he probably knows some stuff... even though we all have our struggles in life... preachers do too. Peace!

[Older lifter]

I look at it this way.. How religion started in 2 ways....

When we still lived in caves and hunted and gathered the importants in the tribe of being young, fit and strong was paramount,, as one member aged his use diminished he risked being cast out, however what he could give was experience, knowledge of the seasons, where the animals would be a certain times etc etc, he became over time the wise man, the one you went to for advice and soon he was asked about other things, stars, the heavens etc. In order to maintain his position and remain of use he would make up stories of powerful beings controlling events that he could not explain, hence over time these beings became gods of water, fire, storms etc and one form of religion was created over a long time and passed down from person to person getting bigger and bigger (just look at the tests on people in a line, you whisper something to the first and they do the same and so on, at the end of the line of people the story has changed quite a bit)

The other way is very human and simple. As our inteligence grew we needed to feel special, better, smarter than everything around us, we killed anything we wanted too, we were better......... To further that we simple needed to start to believe that we are not the same as everything else, we are special, different and that when we die (like everything else) there is something special there for us because we are so special.
What better then HEY there is a god and we special things get to go somewhere special. It was created by man and over years changed and modified to be used in creating fear and control (The Fear of GOD) so often used in the controlling parties through out the last centry. That has again been modified in modern times but the rules are still there, do this or do that and you go to a place called hell to burn forever blah blah blah, you get the point i hope.

IMO God is nothing more than a creation of man and has all the trait's of it. If it gives comfort to the terminally ill fine, but religion is one of the biggest con's created and was created to explain what our intelligent minds could not solve, it was then used to control, justify and demean our behavour. The various churches got very rich from it too.

I just wanted to try and explain how i see the subject

Oh,,,,, just to add for those that state the origins of the world thing, simple, as people in the past did not have the knowledge of what those bright things are in the sky at night or how the earth was round, so too we have not developed the knowledge of how everything was started yet,, it's just time

[gst528i]

To those who believe in God, but not in a certain religion...

I completely understand this train of thought.

I ask you a question though...would you have been able to recognize God if it weren't for religions?

Take the movie Cast Away for example, if you were stuck on an island by yourself, would you be able to recognize God?

Or did you learn to believe in God indirectly through religions themselves?

I completely agree that all of the religions bar one, are like an old t-shirt, they're worn out and nobody likes them anymore. They are past their use-by dates.

IMO the teachings in the Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic etc. religions were correct and valid for their own TIME, however their times have now past and a religion for this day and age exists.

I encourage all people who believe in God, but not in religion, to undertake some independent investigation, and I guarantee you will come across a religion with teachings and beliefs that exists for this day and age. I am not going to name anything on a public forum, but with research, you will realize a religion for this day and age exists

Why is a religion needed to contemplate that there may be a higher being than us or an entity that we may not fully understand.
In saying you need religion to believe god, does it mean you fully understand GOD. That it us absolute that the specific religion teaches ALL OF WHAT GOD IS.
In saying religion is needed to believe in god, would you then also agree WITHOUT religion AND humans GOD CANNOT EXIST?

[GT2]

Why is a religion needed to contemplate that there may be a higher being than us or an entity that we may not fully understand.
In saying you need religion to believe god, does it mean you fully understand GOD. That it us absolute that the specific religion teaches ALL OF WHAT GOD IS.
In saying religion is needed to believe in god, would you then also agree WITHOUT religion AND humans GOD CANNOT EXIST?

Haha mate you've gone off on a completely different tangent and I have no idea what you're trying to say.

My point was simple...Whether or not we realize, we recognize the existence of God through religion, either directly or indirectly (assuming we believe in God but not in religion). I also provided the example that if we were on an island by ourselves, how would we know or be educated about God? Simple, we wouldn't and couldn't. Therefore, we have recognized the existence or idea of God THROUGH religion.

[gst528i]

Please tell me your not into scientology

[Anabody]

The only prophecy not yet to come true in the bible is the end of this present time. All others old and new have been proven. I believe in the bible being the word of God. The King James version is the closest translation from the original, and can still be proven through numerics to be true. Religion means superstition, the cross, mary,etc are idol worship.I also believe the more America distances itself from God thru government and constitution the more it will move away from the blessings of God, America being one of the tribes of Israel. Trying to keep it basic, hope I dont offend anybody just my 2 cents.

[GT2]

Please tell me your not into scientology

lmao far from it

[Kärnfysikern]

Also wheres any evidence for E vo lution?

You can start by reading through this page.
http://www.talkorigins.org/
First look at these 3 articles.
FAQ
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/e volution-fact.html
Comon misconceptions(remove the space in the link)
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-...ons.html#proof
29+ evidences for macroev olution.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section1.html

The evidence for e volution is so overwhelming that it is as firm a theory as electromagnetism.

[Kärnfysikern]

I'm going to look at the existence of God from a purely statistical and probable standpoint.

Say you have the skeleton of a house, 5000 or so bricks all stacked up to make the skeleton of a house, there are two ways that could have occurred:

1) The bricks had randomly fallen in place
2) A creator had stacked them together

The probability of 5000 bricks randomly falling together to create the skeleton of a house is highly unlikely, numerically, around 1 in a billion chance, or 0.000001% chance of happening.

However, the probability of 5000 bricks being stacked together by a creator is highly likely, numerically around 1 - 1 in a billion, or 0.999999% chance of happening.

Now let's broaden the spectrum a little. Consider all the minerals, plants, and animals in the world. Sure, they may have just randomly fallen in place, but statistically, this is highly unlikely, near impossible.

If the chance of a brick house (a basic structure) falling in to place by chance is almost impossible, then the chance of the human body, a highly complex system, simply "occurring" is even less likely.

After billions of dollars being spent on scientists producing robots, they have not even come remotely close to creating a robot as complex as a human being. Doesn't this therefore mean the human body is a highly complex system, a system created by something we cannot fully comprehend in this physical world? If we see a robot walking in the street, we KNOW that the robot was created, it didn't just "occur".

So if a relatively complex machine like a robot has a creator, isn't it highly likely that humans, a system far more complex than a robot, also has a creator?

Sure, we may not be able to see or hear or touch God, therefore physically proving his existence is impossible, however, the probability he exists is very likely.

Not really a valid analogy though since no one claims the human body just self assembled out of mere chance. Natural selection ensures that good traits are keept while bad ones are thrown away and this happening over hundreds of millions of years. Its a combination of random and deterministic processes.

A better analogy to e volution would be that you are throwing dices, thats the random input(mutations, changes in the environment etc). Whenever a dice ends up as a 6 you put it aside(the deterministic process, natural selection keeps it). After a while you have say 100 dices all with 6 facing upwards.
The probability of throwing 100 dices and getting all with 6 facing upwards in one single throw is astronomicaly small(on the order of 1*10^-78), but by gradualy throwing dices and keeping the 6's its not very hard.

Time wise the first would take the age of the universe times 10^60 to have a chanse of occuring one single time if your throwing 100 dices in each throw each second. Such a unimaginably long time that its more or less equal to impossible. The second one would happen after around 10 minutes if your throwing one dice at a time once a second.

The deterministic selection process makes all the difference, e volution isnt random.

[anaBROLIC]

I to believe in a God but no religion. There are how many religions out there, who am i to decide and pick which one is the correct one to follow.

[redz]

I ask you a question though...would you have been able to recognize God if it weren't for religions?

Take the movie Cast Away for example, if you were stuck on an island by yourself, would you be able to recognize God?

Or did you learn to believe in God indirectly through religions themselves?

1)I dont know what god is to any extent but I belive that something had to start everything so in that sense religion still had nothing to do with recognizing a higher power.

2)I think it is in our nature to wonder how we got here and the answer to that question atleast the part we can understand is that some greater power and/or sequence of events lead to us being here.

3)In my life I thought of god as just that god, I dont know what he looks like maybe its a bright light how knows? but what I do know is religion is straight wrong and no one can deny this because all religions are so different and they cant all be right. Religion is the great divider and the cause of great conflicts, sometimes I think we would all be better off without it.

[Tigershark]

I figure we got here somehow. I do not think there was just a big explosion and then we all went out and got cheese burgers. Someone or something is looking out for us.

[BgMc31]

BgMc, that is good to hear.. I know we talked about this in the past with differing perspectives... anyhow, sounds like you are a pretty solid dude... we all had our journey's through ups and downs, doubts and fears... they only make you stronger... seems like your dad did you right and I hope i can do the same for my kids... he probably knows some stuff... even though we all have our struggles in life... preachers do too. Peace!

Thanks brotha! I appreciate that and as always I appreciate the civil and informative debates we have.

Peace be unto you as well brotha!

[big_k]

I wish there was a god it'd be nice

[WOLFCRAFT]

I figure we got here somehow. I do not think there was just a big explosion and then we all went out and got cheese burgers. Someone or something is looking out for us.

Watch the news tonight, or any night, and tell me someone is looking out for us.

[Gears]

Not really a valid analogy though since no one claims the human body just self assembled out of mere chance. Natural selection ensures that good traits are keept while bad ones are thrown away and this happening over hundreds of millions of years. Its a combination of random and deterministic processes.

A better analogy to e volution would be that you are throwing dices, thats the random input(mutations, changes in the environment etc). Whenever a dice ends up as a 6 you put it aside(the deterministic process, natural selection keeps it). After a while you have say 100 dices all with 6 facing upwards.
The probability of throwing 100 dices and getting all with 6 facing upwards in one single throw is astronomicaly small(on the order of 1*10^-78), but by gradualy throwing dices and keeping the 6's its not very hard.

Time wise the first would take the age of the universe times 10^60 to have a chanse of occuring one single time if your throwing 100 dices in each throw each second. Such a unimaginably long time that its more or less equal to impossible. The second one would happen after around 10 minutes if your throwing one dice at a time once a second.

The deterministic selection process makes all the difference, e volution isnt random.

I`ll agree with this. Most people just refuse to accept that not all questions may be answered with our current knowledge and will fill the gap with anything they can and take answers from almost anyone willing to give it.

As far as e volution goes, I don`t see how it`s a difficult concept to buy into. Yes the probability of humans turning into what they are over various enviorment changes and genetic mutations, but not when you look at it in a time frame manner, this stuff didn`t happen over night.

When trying to explain what we don`t know about the universe, I refuse to buy into anything based on re-doctored re-translated texts wrote hundreds of years after these supposed events happened. I believe they may relate to events that happened, just blown way out of proportion. Either way, I think trying to make a logical assessment of how the universe works without simply having any evidence is off-base, religious or atheist.

Here is a good story of the day I become agnostic. I was in 5th grade and our teacher wanted to teach us a point of mis-translation by having us sit in a circle and whisper a phrase to the person sitting next to us, and they would pass it on. By the time the phrase met the last person, the sentance was completely different than the original phrase. So I began to ask myself since I grew up in a religious home, if in 3 minutes something could be that mis-translated, what could happen to a story over the course of hundereds of years?

I have absolutely no problem with anyones beliefs naturally being a very liberal person, but the moment someone tries to press their ideas or beliefs on me is when I feel no remorse for verbally dominating someone.

[gst528i]

I`ll agree with this. Most people just refuse to accept that not all questions may be answered with our current knowledge and will fill the gap with anything they can and take answers from almost anyone willing to give it.

As far as e volution goes, I don`t see how it`s a difficult concept to buy into. Yes the probability of humans turning into what they are over various enviorment changes and genetic mutations, but not when you look at it in a time frame manner, this stuff didn`t happen over night.

When trying to explain what we don`t know about the universe, I refuse to buy into anything based on re-doctored re-translated texts wrote hundreds of years after these supposed events happened. I believe they may relate to events that happened, just blown way out of proportion. Either way, I think trying to make a logical assessment of how the universe works without simply having any evidence is off-base, religious or atheist.

Here is a good story of the day I become agnostic. I was in 5th grade and our teacher wanted to teach us a point of mis-translation by having us sit in a circle and whisper a phrase to the person sitting next to us, and they would pass it on. By the time the phrase met the last person, the sentance was completely different than the original phrase. So I began to ask myself since I grew up in a religious home, if in 3 minutes something could be that mis-translated, what could happen to a story over the course of hundereds of years?

I have absolutely no problem with anyones beliefs naturally being a very liberal person, but the moment someone tries to press their ideas or beliefs on me is when I feel no remorse for verbally dominating someone.

Thats always been my number one point. You hit the nail dude. Very nicely put too......

[Bojangles69]

I'm one of the strongest atheists alive,
but every night before I go to bed I still say a prayer.

And I think the only reason I do is because whether you believe in god or you don't. Or what ever proof you think you have to believe w/e the fvck you do, you're still just human and really don't know shit.

Does a schizo believe elves rape them when they sleep?
How are we any different? How do I know I'm not getting raped by elves at night? I don't. So I have to believe theres potential for it to be true.

[I_Want_Abs]

its really what you make of it...

scientists cant understand relegion because they are analytically based.....as religious people cant understand science as well because they are faith based


Isn't it ironic that most wars are fought over religion

My father is an Anglican priest and also has a teaching degree and taught science.....

[I_Want_Abs]

Even though my dad is a priest i have not had religeon forced upon me, i was taken to church as a kid but i have always had the freedom to do and believe in whatever i want. I dont go to and havnt been to church since i was probably 11 and im 24 now. Your god or higher being or whatever you believe in is always around you so i dont see the point of gathering at a church to pray and listen to a minister read from the bible.
I believe there is something out there but what, i dont know. Out of all the religeons or followings, whatever they are, i sway more towards Gnosticism...

[Bojangles69]

& one of the smartest things I ever heard in my life from someone who made me believe god may actually exist but was a strict atheist like me (agnostic but prob more towards atheist in reality) said "all religions do to god, whether they preach the koran, the bible, or the torah, is kill him".

Its not even a philsophical or religous reason why, actually the most fundamental/logical reason in the world.
Saying ie god is the color white.

The Koran would say hes blue,
the bible would say hes green,
and the torah would say hes red.

They're all saying hes something different, but they all believe hes the same person, so they destroy his true form simply by defining it.

[sizerp]

After tripping on a 10 strip of AciD and having most of my ego crushed, during my younger years, I realized that the term God relates to ones senses. If you can't sense the world, than how can you define anything, or make a decision - a.k.a. kill something?

All life is - is an existence defined by creation and destruction. When you make a choice you kill something. When you create - you're creating through destruction in a way. We create larger muscles through the original destruction of their fibers.

So, with religion... we're taught or influenced to follow a certain set of beliefs, that have already been established previously, by a working/thinking mind. When we're born, our mind is a blank slate, free for the molding.

It's like an endless circle. Why do we think? We think cause we exist, we exist because we can doubt our existence.

Many of the thinkers during the Scientific R-evo-lution, who helped our world enter an adult train of thought, were also advocates of celestial practices and beliefs; regardless of their mathematical integrity.

All I know is that, we're all in the Matrix.

[FallenWyvern]

“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
…Stephen F Roberts

[WOLFCRAFT]

^^^^I love that!

[kaptainkeezy04]

There is no physical proof of God, or the non-existence of God. All you have is what you believe. Even William Rowe, who is the most respected atheist on the subject of religion, says that Christians are justified in their beliefs. I personally believe in God, because of certain things I have experienced in life, and I truly believe that my prayers are swiftly answered.