Politics Do you believe in god?

Do you believe in God?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • No

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Total voters
    9
i have a question to any religious person: how do you know your religion is the right one? if you're a muslim, why not christianity..? if you're christian, why not islam? people believe in different things based on where they come from. Both can't be right! so why this religion?? I grew up allowed to pick any side, any religion and we never ever talked about religion at home.. or evolution or any of that stuff..

i also want to say: i'm a hard core atheist and that does not mean I'm a bad person. I give blood, give money, do volunteer work and have a positive view on life! and: statistics show that there are more christians than atehists in prison (compared to the number of atheists and christians there are in the US).. so why this image? it's actually the opposite if you look at the numbers..
Who says that if someone is religious, there can only be ONE right religion? Different religions emphasize the same God in different ways. Different religions worship the same God in different ways. To promote the idea of having only one true God is very unhealthy towards building a harmonious society. God is too big to fit in one religion. I am a Christian and the basis of Christianity is to love one another as God loves us. To have an "I am right, you are wrong" mentality is not Christ-like.

Why would you assume that people think athiests are bad people?

Also, what does your statistic about the religious beliefs of inmates prove? It is one thing to statistically be a Christian, but it is another to live as a Christian. Also, many inmates convert while they are in prison to Christianity because of counseling and what not. And, our criminal justice system is racist. It incarcerates proportionally more minorities than non-minorities.

Lastly, why the heck do people think that just because someone is religious, s/he does not believe in evolution?

Moral of the story (again): Don't let the fanatics you see in government and in the media dictate the norms of Christianity.
 
i know not all christians believe in creationism, but apparently 1/3 of all americans do.
and
so.. if you say there is not one best religion, that it is christian to accept all religions, i think it is strange that christianity (not all christians) do not accept atheistm, since it clearly says in the bible that you go to hell if you do not believe in god. so as long as you believe in any god, you're safe? but if you don't, you're going to hell? no matter how good and moral life you life?

and i do know lots of people have a wrong image of atheists. not everyone. but there are lots of them. one girl came up to me and asked me: so if you're an atheist, what keeps you from killing people?
which to me seems very scary. so the only thing that keeps her from killing people is her fear for being punished by god? what happened to morality?
 
I'm an atheist. And as far as I'm aware, God forgives everyone. If that's the case, wouldn't it mean that everyone would go to Heaven?
 
Yes, I believe in God. A God who loves me, and who loves you, whether you believe it or not.

Everyone sins (yes, even people who go to church all the time) and God will forgive you if you repent and ask for forgiveness. God took the initiative by offering his Son as a sacrifice for our sins, and we need to accept that gift. It's our decision to accept God's loving gift of eternal life or decline it.

Life for a Christian isn't about doing good deeds because they will "get you into heaven". It's about having a relationship with Jesus and trying your best to live how He would want you to. It's about letting God's love change you. No matter what your religion, I think that you can be a good person and do good/moral deeds. But eternal life comes from being in a relationship with Jesus Christ, not by the good things that you do. (but my definition of morality comes from the Bible; if you don't believe in God, where does your definition of morality come from?)

Regarding the creation/evolution discussion: I believe that God created the world. How exactly He did, I don't know (and I don't think it's my place to know). It's possible God created through evolution. But note: there's two kinds of evolution, microevolution (small changes) and macroevolution (large changes - like humans descending from monkeys). There's lots of data to support microevolution, but not macroevolution. Personally, I prefer to believe that I am created in the image of God, not a descendant of a monkey.

My only answer regarding how I know that my religion (Christianity) is correct is that I have faith. I believe that what the Bible says is true (though not always meant to be interpreted literally). The books of the New Testament were written so soon after the events happened (by ancient standards anyway) that it gives some historical credibility to them. I see God's work in His creation and I've seen God working in my life and in the lives of other people.

Karen
 
I do believe in God but not all the stories made up around him from any of the religions purely because they seem too far-fetched. I believe in God not just because I'm from a Catholic family, but I remember times before when I have prayed for things and they've come true, even with slim chance. An example is me getting into the Cross-Country team for my school, despite finishing 11th in the practice run and only about 5 were being taken.

Saying that, I also believe in Science which is probably why I don't believe in the stories surrounding God and religion. I like to think if The Big Bang created our universe and all the animals and us, who says it couldn't of created a God-like person.
 
I've flipped back and forth in this subject more than once. At first, I had always believed in God, due to my parents' influence on the subject upon me. However, as I grew older and gained more wisdom, I began to look at things through more of a scientific point of view. Now, I am back to the belief in God. The reason is mainly because I feel everything is simply too perfect to just occur. The question the has always contested my belief is, how was God created? If God made everything, who made him? That's the only flaw in my theory. However, it's a thing called faith that keeps the belief in me.
 
I don't believe in god. I never really have and I don't think I ever will. However, due to laziness I'm still technically a part of the Swedish church. When I was born that was still something that was done per automatic.

My faith, or lack thereof as a kid came down to selfishness. Having been born crippled and being forced to suffer through surgeries, staring and being bullied I started to think that if there was a god, what had I done to deserve being born the way I was. An outcast of sorts. As I grew up and was able to shake the selfishness and instead focus on what I knew I still decided that there was no god.

What I do believe however is that human kind have been influenced. Not by a god or multiple gods. But by extraterrestrial beings. Based on what we know about the universe (Very little that is) we still know that there are millions of solar systems and galaxies. I have never for a second believed that Earth would be the only planet among the billions of planets out there that was inhabited by intelligent life. I'd like to think that the TV-Shows such as Stargate are spot on. Other advanced races have influenced us on occasion. Watching us evolve, learn, leading us in the "right" path etc... That's why some civilizations worship gods in my opinion.
 
.....what had I done to deserve being born the way I was.

Without going into my beliefs, or anything I personally believe in, if I do....

I often have asked that question to people who are devout. I ask tons of questions, because I am intrigued of how they can let something rest on a belief. I ask why do small children die, why are certain people born the way they are, etc. For whatever reason, I always receive the same answer. "God has a plan."

I usually go into another mode and ask why we have doctors.

Everyone always says that God decides whose time it is and isn't. If that is the case, why are doctors even here to heal the sick? If it is their time, its their time. If not, then surely their body will fight off whatever the disease/sickness is... right? A doctor has really no say in the matter then. I never seem to get an answer from that.
 
Without going into my beliefs, or anything I personally believe in, if I do....

I often have asked that question to people who are devout. I ask tons of questions, because I am intrigued of how they can let something rest on a belief. I ask why do small children die, why are certain people born the way they are, etc. For whatever reason, I always receive the same answer. "God has a plan."

I usually go into another mode and ask why we have doctors.

Everyone always says that God decides whose time it is and isn't. If that is the case, why are doctors even here to heal the sick? If it is their time, its their time. If not, then surely their body will fight off whatever the disease/sickness is... right? A doctor has really no say in the matter then. I never seem to get an answer from that.

I get annoyed at the answer "God has a plan." or "God is testing you." I just want to cry out in frustration. If that was the case, then why is he testing me and not my neighbor? And why is he testing me so harshly. I'm adopted, handicapped and I've had so many surgeries and accidents in my life that I've had no control over. Why would he test me this much, and not let someone else have the privilege of being tested as well. In similar ways? It's a poor excuse because they don't want to admit that they have no idea. If only a priest or some other man/woman in "god's service" would just once say that "I don't actually have the answer" my respect for that individual would just go through the roof.

As to the whole doctor argument I agree. Although I've heard priests defend it by saying "God came to them in their dreams and told them to help his creation." Which pretty much makes the argument about him deciding going void but that priest was always a dumb ass..
 
Which is why, at least to me anyway, it makes more sense that we've been visited by extraterrestrial beings that due to the "magical" (read: miracles) things they could perform, they were later viewed upon as gods. Beings in possession of supernatural gifts. It would also explain why man have evolved at a pretty quick pace. Considering the fact that it took us thousands of years to stop living in caves etc..

Yeah I'm one of those weirdos that believe in aliens. :jawdrop:
 
Which is why, at least to me anyway, it makes more sense that we've been visited by extraterrestrial beings that due to the "magical" (read: miracles) things they could perform, they were later viewed upon as gods. Beings in possession of supernatural gifts. It would also explain why man have evolved at a pretty quick pace. Considering the fact that it took us thousands of years to stop living in caves etc..

Yeah I'm one of those weirdos that believe in aliens. :jawdrop:
Absolutely nothing weird about that!
 
Absolutely nothing weird about that!

I was being sarcastic ;) I'd like to think that it's a much more rational theory than having someone create something out of nothing... Because at the end of the day it brings us back to the whole, who created the creator argument. I'd just like to point out once more for the record by the way that I have no problem with religious people.. They have their beliefs and I have mine. Just in case someone might feel like I'm bashing on them or something
 
I was being sarcastic ;) I'd like to think that it's a much more rational theory than having someone create something out of nothing... Because at the end of the day it brings us back to the whole, who created the creator argument. I'd just like to point out once more for the record by the way that I have no problem with religious people.. They have their beliefs and I have mine. Just in case someone might feel like I'm bashing on them or something
It's very un-British of me, but I can be terrible at reading sarcasm! :P

I think that's the beauty of this forum Martin, we're merely debating the subject, with no intention on causing any offence or harm to anyone. I agree though, I know a few religious people, and we have respect for each other as fellow beings, just the way it should be.
 
It's very un-British of me, but I can be terrible at reading sarcasm! :P

I think that's the beauty of this forum Martin, we're merely debating the subject, with no intention on causing any offence or harm to anyone. I agree though, I know a few religious people, and we have respect for each other as fellow beings, just the way it should be.

Sarcasm in the written form is extremely hard to pick up on at times so you're in good company. And yeah I know.. I just wanted to throw it out there just in case there's someone that is religious and take offense. Even when debated in an appropriate manner it can be touchy. :smiley:
 
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