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 Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:24 am
Mankind has always, it seems, worshipped some kind of higher power. But, in this day and age, Atheism and Agnosticism have surfaced in greater force and with greater numbers then ever before. With the question so prevalent in our world, we cannot avoid the issue; does God exist?
Personally, my feeling is, yes, but not in a way that we will ever be able to comprehend, so he may as well not. I'm basically an agnostic. But, what does the rest of the Herd think?
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:20 am
This day in age you can still be allowed to live if you announce that you don't believe in God(s).
After hearing enough people talk on the subject I find less substance for me to hold faith to. But then again you're also asking to prove the existence of something less substantial than emotions, eg. love.
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:30 pm
I don't believe in the traditional God. However, whether there is a higher being or not....I'm still undecided. I don't think it's possible to prove a universal negative, other than through the 'A, B, C, and D house a contradiction somewhere. One (at least) is false. Which one?'
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:59 pm
Right, I don't think anyone here is going to try and disprove the subjectivity of reality (although 4 months ago I would have), but what exactly does that mean as far as higher powers are concerned? I'm holding answers to see what the rest of the Herd has to say.
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:58 pm
I think there is a god. Now, who/what he/she/they are, I don't know. I think that the god up there doesn't really mind being called by different names in prayer/worship. That he cares more about the worship itself than the name.
That said, I'm not a practicing anything. Mostly because my parents forbid religions other than christianity.
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:55 pm
I'm not sure, really. But if I were to pick something to believe in, I'd probably do the Norse gods. They seem like the most realistic. Other than that, agnostic to the extreme. There may be a greater force, but I just can't feel it. At all.
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Questionable Autobiographer
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:18 pm
The discussion isn't really meant to be about what god; I really just want to discuss whether or not there is one.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:54 pm
No. The existence of the god seems illogical and unnecessary. If there were to be a god, no religious teachings could be right, or he would be a sadistic, contradictory a*****e with nothing better to do than screw around with his ants.
When I look back over what I have learned and thought, I can't help but think that belief in a higher power comes from a wish to be dominated, a wish that the world isn't as bad as it is, a wish for meaning, or a wish for superiority. (Yes that was a lot of different reasons, but all are important)
The same runs true for the occult as well. Even if the person is not personally aware of it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:21 pm
I sometimes envy people who can believe in god. It's like a get out of jail free card for when you're down and have no one to help or blame.
It's a free dose of hope for everyone. Hope that there's a reason you're suffering, that there's a purpose for life and everything else that's happening, hope that there's someone else up there who'll make things better, or that you'll have a life that's less terrible when you're done with this one.
People need hope.
But it's also an eternally valid excuse to blame someone else for your problems. God or fate or whatever means for me to do this or that. I flunked out of school because I was meant to, I'm broke and an alcoholic and it's all gods fault, my family is dead - how could you do this to me, god? It's so much easier than just admitting your mistakes or dealing with your problems.
Whichever route you take with it, it's like a weight off your shoulders.
Sometimes I just wished I could believe in or care about anything that strongly.
It's also a good way to get out of caring about things like global warming, because obviously god wouldn't let that happen. You know, unless he realized that we're all worthless and decided to flood the world again. Using another 40 days of rain would just be tacky. Global warming is so much more creative and suspenseful. xD
...Actually, maybe you're not supposed to have faith that he'll save you, but take it as a warning and shape up. If you can change the course of things, he won't have to drown us.
Man, I wish there was a god. Theorizing about him is fun.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:02 pm
Ah, but the only way to theorize about him/her/it is to believe they must be sadistic in some way. One particularly thoughtful question was brought up in the Morality forum: Why was Jesus necessary?
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:16 pm
You can theorize without assuming that he's out to get you.
Because he made for one hell of a best seller.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:23 pm
fallenseeker The discussion isn't really meant to be about what god; I really just want to discuss whether or not there is one. I was trying to get to that. Guess it didn't work. In that case... No god, I've got to say. It's just not... feasible. Possible. I'd rather think for myself, so I'll assume that I do.
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Questionable Autobiographer
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:23 pm
Ffaux Pas You can theorize without assuming that he's out to get you.
Because he made for one hell of a best seller.
I suppose, unless you assume humans wrote that. You can theorize about gods without believing in the myths about them. But it makes you wonder, how many people who buy the Bible actually read it through?
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:29 pm
Probably a very small percentage. People are lazy and the bible is long. I've read most of it myself, but I suppose the philosophy is,
Why read it when you can go to church and have some other brainwashed bloke in a dress summarize it for you? Keeps you from having to wade through the slow chapters. It's like reading the cliffnotes.
rolleyes
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:22 pm
The bible get's pretty bad arse and the clergy are nice enough to edit most of the cool Rambo parts out or gloss over them in sermon.
I am of the opinion that there is no omnipotent god nor that there is any god in the definition we know as god. The idea that god may be a race of intellegent life forms far more technologically advanced is a possibility, in fact a probability if compared to the idea of god.
That being said the existance of god cannot be questioned because simply put God is nothing more then a concept that people have. Thus with concept the idea of god god exists, whether that can be translated into something tangible or influenceing on our perception and interaction with reality is something yet to be proven as the burden of proof falls on those who believe in the tangible existance of God.
Come to think of it my problem with organised religion is it's failure to prescribe itself to the idea of Burden of Proof.
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