Do you believe in God or a higher-power?

[MooLion]

As I've said before, I do not believe in God and religion has no place, or need, in my life. But obv. I respect others that do and all that. It's not a subject that comes up in my immediate real life much anywho.

[FlipMode]

No thanks.
I believe only in the words of the magic conch shell.
www.askmagicconch.com

[ScarLoyal]

Hm, i suppose it is very 'easy' to not believe in God. Though IMHO, choosing to 'not' believe in him but yet expect him to bring you to 'heaven' or 'After-life' seems a little 'ironic'. But I do understand why you think he is a 'fairy-tale' designed to scare people who commit crime or sin, especially if you 'HAVE' been hurt so much in the past or just prefer a 'natural' style of life that doesn't involve 'make-believe' and imagination.
I also think some 'Christians' make it hard for people to be open with God, its very disgusting with how they taunt and threaten innocent people who are normal people like they are. I choose to believe in God because the idea of no 'After-life' or 'Eternal nothingness' frankly terrifies me. It also makes me feel 'full' or 'content' that there is truly a reason for everything in 'Life' that has happened so far. It's kinda hard to explain but when I imagine life without God or Jesus, it feels a bit pointless for how life evolves so much, yet only to just die and time forever stopping. But from a 'scientific view' Life is almost like the Universe or 'Cosmos' interacting with itself, yet very coincidental at times. And though 'Science' has answered some questions of the Universe. We still don't know what happens after this life, but IMO when you put '2' and '2' together.. it explains SO much for God to have created 'Everything' and though 'not' perfect but full of 'beauty' and 'wonder'. Also when you think about it, it sorta makes no sense for 'life' to end with only 'blackness' for, black is only a color perceived by our eyes.. What do you think about this?

[Carl]

Do people who aren't religious even believe in afterlives though? If you prefer science to religion of any variety, to imagine a god or an afterlife is going to require a lot of contradictory beliefs. I don't believe in any afterlife, nor has anyone else who I've met who wasn't religious. Only the religious believe in afterlives. Scientifically, life ends with your energy being passed on to other creatures in order to prolong their lives, there's not "only blackness" and there's not mindless and selfish purposelessness in death. And personally, I'd rather sleep for all eternity than just bow before some god (that's all heaven is, according to the bible, just bowing and worshiping) and that's if I'd ever have had a chance to go to heaven in the first place (which was decided at birth according to the bible.)

I'm not saying don't believe in something after death, by all means, believe in an afterlife if it makes you feel better. What I am saying is, I feel better about death thinking my diminished life force will power the lives of the future than imagining spending eternity on my hands and knees... or burning in a lake of fire for happening to be a female whose grandmother was born out of wedlock.

[ScarLoyal]

[quote="Julie Skywalker"]Do people who aren't religious even believe in afterlives though? If you prefer science to religion of any variety, to imagine a god or an afterlife is going to require a lot of contradictory beliefs. I don't believe in any afterlife, nor has anyone else who I've met who wasn't religious. Only the religious believe in afterlives. Scientifically, life ends with your energy being passed on to other creatures in order to prolong their lives, there's not "only blackness" and there's not mindless and selfish purposelessness in death. And personally, I'd rather sleep for all eternity than just bow before some god (that's all heaven is, according to the bible, just bowing and worshiping) and that's if I'd ever have had a chance to go to heaven in the first place (which was decided at birth according to the bible.)

I'm not saying don't believe in something after death, by all means, believe in an afterlife if it makes you feel better. What I am saying is, I feel better about death thinking my diminished life force will power the lives of the future than imagining spending eternity on my hands and knees... or burning in a lake of fire for happening to be a female whose grandmother was born out of wedlock.[/quote]

Well, not everyone who is non-religious doesn't believe in no after-life. I mean, god or not, there can STILL be an after-life, some scientists even believe that our 'mind' still remains even after death. Err.. sorry, but I'm a little confused by this. Why would you 'burn in hell' for your grandmother being born out of wedlock? I don't know about you, maybe you simply just prefer to live your life the way you want.. but I've never heard anything in the bible that says you would be punished for something you can't control. After all, God is depicted to be loving and understanding. But unfortunately 'man' altered the bible and made the contradictions. I simply however just follow God and not the bible.

Hmm.. Sorry, but i was a little confused by this. What do you mean by 'diminshed life force will power the lives of the future?' Do you mean by, our particles that remain after death and will be eaten by the animals of the earth? Quite an interesting point! Well, i once saw this interesting article on the internet about Neurology. Apparently 'Prayer' causes certain parts of the brain to 'activate'. And these parts of the Brain have been dubbed 'God spots' which points to a theory that we are all hard-wired to believe in God, or even have faith for anything. I hope I'm not attacking you personally! I just wanted to see your point of view and have a nice discussion!

Oh, and here is some research I've been doing on the subject! I hope this puts it all in a accurate way.









Mediation is well known for awakening these 'god spots' located in our brain. And during these 'awakenings' we feel a sense of 'oneness' with the Universe, and these 'god spots' are involved with decision-making, processing tasks. While you may not believe it to be true, a process known as 'Controlled-Remote-Viewing' 'CRV' which actually allows scientists to see the 'God spots' in human-brains. In fact, even those that don't believe in God or the idea that consciousness can exist outside the body accept these new Scientific findings. Atheist 'Mathew Alpert' wrote a book called 'The God Area of the Brain' and argued that this area of the brain explains the human delusion that there are spirits and Gods or a God that can affect our lives. The human dilemma for many of us is this: Do we as human beings create spirits and Gods to bring meaning to an otherwise random uncaring Universe? Or can we look to a source of wisdom and love outside our body to find a greater meaning to our lives. It's really interesting and quite 'eye-opening' about how even the world's most greatest Scientists who use 'Science' and none of that 'spirit-nonsense' ACTUALLY accept this idea, of course we are free to believe in what we wish, but, 'things' happen for a reason. God knows we find it hard to accept him, but, one day, or later, we will all find the truth, a truth that cannot be proven 'wrong' until we see for ourselves..

Woah.. that was an entire novel I just wrote. I just wanted to try and help you see from 'my' point of view. I'm enjoying this discussion i gotta say.

[Carl]

[quote="ScarLoyal"]Well, not everyone who is non-religious doesn't believe in no after-life. I mean, god or not, there can STILL be an after-life, some scientists even believe that our 'mind' still remains even after death.[/quote]
False. One can be religious and not believe in Christianity or a god of any kind. That said, one cannot be nonreligious and believe in an afterlife. The belief in an afterlife is an act of faith (of some kind) and therefore, if one believes in an afterlife, they follow some form of religion, even if it is one entirely unique to that person.

[quote]Err.. sorry, but I'm a little confused by this. Why would you 'burn in hell' for your grandmother being born out of wedlock? I don't know about you, maybe you simply just prefer to live your life the way you want.. but I've never heard anything in the bible that says you would be punished for something you can't control. [/quote]
You aren't very familiar with the verse then. It says that bastards (people born out of wedlock) and all of their descendants, to the 7th generation, I believe, cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It also says that women are the property of men and men do not take their property to heaven. Based on this, I've been booted from heaven twice, at birth.

[quote]After all, God is depicted to be loving and understanding.[/quote]
We must be talking about different Christianity. The god I've heard of is quite far from "loving" and "understanding."

[quote]Hmm.. Sorry, but i was a little confused by this. What do you mean by 'diminshed life force will power the lives of the future?' Do you mean by, our particles that remain after death and will be eaten by the animals of the earth? Quite an interesting point![/quote]
Come on, you've seen TLK. "When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat that grass." Okay, it's not exactly like that, but scientifically, that is the kind of thing that happens. No energy disappears or is created. It is all passed on. When you eat chicken, or a salad, or anything that once was alive (meaning everything you eat), you take its energy into yourself. It's diminished life force powers your continued existence. Without absorbing the energy left by an ended life, your life too would end. When we die, the earth, the insects, the worms, the scavengers, and those sorts of things consume the energy we left behind. In turn, other animals consume those creatures or plants, and in turn, humans consume some of those. The energy that we leave behind when we die fuels the existence of countless other creatures, plants, and people, for the rest of time. THAT is scientific fact.

[quote]Well, i once saw this interesting article on the internet about Neurology. Apparently 'Prayer' causes certain parts of the brain to 'activate'. And these parts of the Brain have been dubbed 'God spots' which points to a theory that we are all hard-wired to believe in God, or even have faith for anything.[/quote]
Actually, false, again. "Prayer" isn't the only thing that causes those parts of the brain to activate. As you mentioned, so does meditation, and, whether you believe in magic or not, spellcasting. One does not need a god, or faith in anything outside themselves, to meditate or cast spells. The part of the brain that is activated for that kind of thing is a spirituality center that has nothing to do with god or faith in anything else supernatural. Many people who meditate, for example, simply feel a connection to nature and the universe in general, which has absolutely nothing to do with religion unless you yourself add a religious context. I'm not saying you shouldn't do that, because if you want to be religious, be my guest. But keep in mind that "being religious" is NOT synonymous with "being Christian" or "believing in God." There are religions that do not involve any gods, and you cannot disprove their validity anymore than I can disprove the validity of Christianity.

Religion is a personal choice, and nothing more. Which is why books like the bible should not exist, imo, as by organizing religion and putting specific boundaries on it (such as what I mentioned already about bastards and women) diminishes the personal, individual value of spirituality and replaces it with a set of rules designed to control the masses. If you don't believe me, look up the history of religions. Again, I will repeat that I don't see anything wrong with someone being religious. I mainly dislike organized religion as imo, it defeats the purpose and causes trouble (like wars and other such fun, again, look up history of religions).

Also, as a side note, don't believe everything you read in an article online. Make sure the article is published by a reliable website and even then, you should fact check it. Hell, feel free to fact check the things I've said too. I don't know everything, and I could be wrong about some things. In fact, I encourage you to fact check what I've written. If you find anything that is solid proof I'm wrong, I'd love to see it and learn from my mistake (and I don't mean something a preacher said or some random interpretation of the bible or anything like that. Religion can't be proven or disproven, which is why I don't tell people not to believe.)

[ScarLoyal]

[quote]Also, as a side note, don't believe everything you read in an article online. Make sure the article is published by a reliable website and even then, you should fact check it. Hell, feel free to fact check the things I've said too. I don't know everything, and I could be wrong about some things. In fact, I encourage you to fact check what I've written. If you find anything that is solid proof I'm wrong, I'd love to see it and learn from my mistake (and I don't mean something a preacher said or some random interpretation of the bible or anything like that. Religion can't be proven or disproven, which is why I don't tell people not to believe.)[/quote]

I've researched what you meant about 'Being born out of wedlock' and it says that you have a chance to 'Enter God's Kingdom' because obviously, children who are born 'bastard's' CAN'T tell right from wrong and so have the chance to be good or not do sin, we are 'Born in Sin' like disease and the main part from "Psalm 139:16" explains this very well about 'non-wedded' parents being apart of God's plan, ANY child on this Earth that wasn't born on God's timing isn't 'sin'. It's the action of 'Sin' which falls under the parents who committed the act. But God still has a plan for ALL bastard children including me, JUST as long as they ask God forgiveness.

Tbh, this sounds more like what 'extreme Christians' would say about such a topic. The Bible is FULL of contradictions and inconsistencies only if you see it that way. And when you think about it, WE have all sinned, Jesus paid for our sins and GAVE us this chance to seek forgiveness and enter 'God's Kingdom'.
If I may ask, do you believe 'Non-believers' should go to Hell? You'll probably say 'No' but is it really that simple? Since 'Jesus' has gave us the chance of salvation. We are free to choose our 'fate' for now, but what happens in the 'end' is God's decision, why should such people be allowed in the 'Kingdom of God' if they don't follow him at all? Isn't that a contradiction in itself? Nonetheless, We have all sinned, every human being on this planet has sinned. But we should start obeying God to cleanse us of our 'Sin's. It honestly is fine if you choose to not believe and follow God, if that's what you want then great! Be yourself! But while God is 'loving' and can 'forgive' he has the power to decide our fate after this 'life'. Just something to think about

[Carl]

[quote]why should such people be allowed in the 'Kingdom of God' if they don't follow him at all?[/quote]
By this logic, why should people be allowed in America if they don't follow the president?

It's a narrow-minded view, tbqh. I think any loving "father" would be welcoming of ALL his children no matter what they did with their lives and if he disapproves or not because he'd LOVE his children. Of course, as I already mentioned, I don't like the idea of spending eternity on my knees either, so why should I even want to go to heaven? Not that I want to go to hell either, but quite honestly nothing anyone has ever said or shown me has made me think there is any validity to any religion and I don't think heaven OR hell is real so your "something to think about" doesn't really make your religion any more appealing to me. What if you die and find out a different religion is actually the true one? Would you want to be blocked out of paradise for having inadvertently followed the wrong one? I think the concept of any universal religion is preposterous, honestly. I mean if your religion is true, why can't Hinduism be? What if all religions are true? What if none are?

Basically, you're wasting your time trying to convert me. I have been forced to think long and hard about religion, especially Christianity, and IF I ever adopt a religion, it will most likely be Buddhism. (I have studied religions in college and on my own and it's the only current religion that even comes close to my moral code and belief system.)

[existentialnihilist]

I am an atheist so no, I do not believe in god or any omnipotent idol.

[Squeely]

I believe in the God of the Christian Bible.

However, I do think the vast majority of things in said Bible are meant to be taken more metaphorically, or at least with a grain of salt. The Book is not only a relic of a time long since passed, but also of a language that has been translated and re-translated, so it's difficult to tell what the original meaning may have been in a lot of cases. It's better to look at the positive morals the Book has to offer, than to sweat the small stuff. Especially since a lot of that small stuff, such as "don't eat shrimp", was useful wisdom a couple thousand years ago when there was no FDA, but does not apply in our modern society. I think this is where organized religion fails bigtime. God does not want you to hate or follow everything to a T. He wants you to have a personal relationship with Him, be the best person you can be, refrain from harming others whenever possible, and be repentant of any bad you have done.