Do you believe in god???

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well considering it was a yes or no question, pretty much any theory, whether it be theistic or even non thiestic, cannot be explained fully by that poll. anyways care to explain your view?

I don't think any gods or any relative spiritual concepts are true;
my view is that if I were to approach this world with no religious dogma whilst attempting to explain its origin,
I would have no reason to think there being a god;
religion has spread by human design, but science is everywhere and can actually prove itself.

That's something I've considered, and it seems a far more plausible explanation than [an] omnipotent, invisible, universe-creating being(s).
If they did happen to be extraterrestrials, i doubt they're as powerful as humans seem to imply in religious texts, also considering Arthur C. Clarke's third law; "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.".

Though I think I'm going slightly off topic here.

I believe in science. I can reckon/guess and think about certain things but generally speaking I will not accept something as definitively true lest in be proven in the way science or courtroom would prove something.

I should add, I don't think the existence of a god would hold very well in a court of law, due to lack of any definitive evidence...
(Not that I'm trying to convince or deter anyone from their beliefs, merely stating why I personally can't believe in religion.)

P.S. If anything, the religion most likely to be true in relation to other religions would surely be that of the earliest known human civilization, Sumerians?

I do not believe in a God. The rub of the situation though is that I am also best friends with a borderline fundamentalist Christian, so I attend church and recognize both sides of the issue relatively well. I know that God cannot be proven, so I am Agnostic, but I also recognize that, until there is DEFINITIVE proof of a God, that there really is no God, so I am also Atheist

see this is the problem with modern day religion, when they end up teaching a literal interperetation of christianity, inevitably people believe it isr the cliche "science vs. religion" argument. people think it is impossible to associate science and religion together because there are the zealots out there who believe the bible is supposed to be taken literaly (i.e. the earth was created in 7 days). many deeply religious christians are strong believers in science as the way god reveals himself to humanity, seeing science is just a term used to refer to "the truth". i mean there are people who believe in the big bang theory (although just because this is science doesnt mean every scientist believes it, although i personaly do) and evolution but see god as the driving force for this.

its because literal interperetation christianity is taught in schools, that this is the only religion people are exposed to that people judge anyone who believes in god as as "backward" or "ignorant". i should note that im not a christian but i do believe that some form of higher being was at the origin of the spiral of cause and effect. read my post on page 6 if you wanna hear my views on the situation.

the problem with discussing this is that were all giving our views on something none of us know for sure, and that even though we know that none of us are dead certain on our views, people get arrogant about it and i've seen this in theists and atheists (i wasnt refering to you by the way)

No, I don't believe in God. I lost my Faith less than a year ago. It hurts to lose something that always comforted you when you were lonely, but I can't trick myself into believing. I'm not sorry that I lost my Faith. I'm now a proud atheist!

No I don't believe in God.

I do not believe in God. It has never even been a question for me.

I believe there has to be a higher being, based on a few past life experiences.

I'm doubtful sometimes as to who exactly it is, but more often than not it aligns with the Christian God, with a few exceptions. I can't say I'm just an ordinary modern Christian.

Meh. There are so many religons out there and so many gods I don't know what to believe anymore.

***Warning - This is pretty long. Speech mode activated...Sorry... ***

I believe in the possibility of a higher power and an afterlife.

I also believe that spirituality (religion) and science are not mutually exclusive. Since neither one's origin story can be proved why couldn't both be true. I personally believe in the big bang and evolution, but logically how did the universe suddenly spring into existence. Something must have changed to cause it. What if that was god?

ex. "God" causes the big bang
big bang causes life
life evolves into humans
"God" still could have created humans, maybe just through evolution.

I also believe that the Bible ( and other religious books) are books meant to teach people. Kind of like a manual on being good.

However, I do not believe that the Bible is full of god's literal words. Historically the Bible has been edited and stories have been changed, removed or added. The bible was written and edited by man. The stories are not meant to be taken literally, it is a book full of metaphors, anecdotes and allegories meant to make a point and teach something. Kind of like Aesop's Fables, were there talking tortoises and hares racing? Probably not. Doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't learn from the stories.

I said earlier that I believe in a higher power, just not necessarily god and certainly not the "traditional" old man sitting up in the clouds watching and commanding us. To me the word god, is used to represent things or people more powerful than us and beyond our current understanding and I believe that there are certainly things like this out there. Things we thought of as being indicative of godhood a thousand years ago might seem pretty common now. A thousand years from now will the same things be thought of as being godlike? Probably not, because our definition will have changed.

Questions...

Why must there be only one (most major religions seem to swing this way)? Couldn't several higher powers share duties? The whole world seems like a lot for one being to watch over. Logically, Polytheism seems to be a more efficient way, one being with one small detailed purview. You...over there... you be the god of oceans. Nope...nothing else...just oceans...

The universe is a big place and, to me, it seems that somewhere out there there must be sentient life or its beginnings...does the one god most people seems to believe in watch over everything in the universe or just us, with other gods for other worlds?


Like a lot of other people, I sort of made up my own definition of god, which is difficult to explain.

Anyway...that's just my thoughts on...a lot of stuff...

...Ya...I just noticed I have been writing this for at least a half hour...

***Speech Over***

Fantastic post, FaithHopeCheese!

Yes, I believe in God! Although I'm not a good practicant of my beliefs, I.E. I'm not very good at praying and going to church, though almost every day I can 'see' His hand in the world, His machinations, in His infinite goodness, to make life dearer for me and everyone else. And I can see the wonder of His creation, the infinite variety and beauty of the Universe, especially when I walk in the woods and other features of the natural world!

i saw him once when i was 7

My thoughts exactly. Especially the science and religion piece.

I also think that the appearance of the higher being is specifically meant to be different to each individual by the being him/herself. So, the belief that there is only one higher being, or God, who looks as depicted in most Western art is correct. While the belief that there are multiple Gods who look as drawn in polytheistic art is correct as well. Whether the higher being is male, female, or without gender can too be correct no matter the choice. It's all based on how a person believes, or possibly is meant to believe, the being to be.

I believe in God but I don't consider myself a Christian. I prefer the term Follower of Jesus

Isn't that what 'christian' basically means?

I, a "stupid and insane" Christian, would like to point out that you began all your sentences with lower case letters, and misspelled these words:
1. who
2. irrational
3. schizophrenics
4. denying
5. don't
6. they're

I also would like to point out that many religion-related experiences can't be attributed to hallucinations. I know a kid who was expected to die when he was an infant, but began breathing independently -- and apparently with no medically possible cause! The entire team of doctors and round-the-clock nurses watching him couldn't possibly have all been delusional.

P.S. Most in my family are Christians and have IQs in excess of 140.