Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Believe in god or not? Why?
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February 11, 2011 at 1:20 am #597913
cclarueMemberAt work religion and politics are offlimit topics. I am curious about what people in general believe and why or how you came to that belief system.
February 11, 2011 at 1:47 am #717054
redblackParticipantcc: i’ve heard bartenders say the same thing about conversations at the bar: “no religion. no politics.” too contentious. do you work in the service industry?
to answer your question, when i was in high school, a priest asked me if i thought ghandi went to heaven. (you know, catholic heaven.)
that question – more than any other – started a cascade of thoughts that eventually led me to ascertain that there is no “god.” or “higher power.” or “supreme being.” or any other omniscient, omnipotent force in the universe.
when it’s over, it’s over.
and, no. atheism is not a religion.
February 11, 2011 at 1:49 am #717055
JayDeeParticipantOne can believe anything they want. My POV boils down to why do we think we are that important? There are literally hundreds of millions of galaxies, billions and billions of stars and googles of planets. Yet this planet is thought by many religions to be special in all of creation.
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It would seem to me that a god who went to all that trouble to create the Universe we can see with the Hubble space telescope would have little interest in some uppity primates on an insignificant backwater around a none too remarkable star. And even less interest in monitoring my moral behavior. Mark Twain, Carl Sagan, and what I feel is commonsense molded this outlook. My take alone.
February 11, 2011 at 1:51 am #717056
Genesee HillParticipantI believe that life after my death will be like life before my birth. Nothing.
February 11, 2011 at 1:53 am #717057
ZenguyParticipantI grew up Catholic, went to Holy Rosary am interested in religion and have studied Judaism, Buddhism (which I admire) and many others.
Bottom line (for me) is I feel religion is how people in the past could make sense of a world they could not understand. And religion allowed people in control to implement a set of rules they thought were “proper” on the populous. After all the bible was not written for several hundred years after Jesus.
We discover more and more about the world and the universe and can explain things that were mysterious in the past. Many things we can do now would have been considered miracles not so many years ago.
I consider myself spiritual and firmly believe you get what you give. If people find comfort in religion, I say MORE POWER TO YOU and support your right to beleive what you want. What I do not support is anyone trying to push their way of life on anyone else.
Just my opinion.
February 11, 2011 at 1:59 am #717058
redblackParticipantactually, zenguy, many of the things we can do now would have been considered heresy and sorcery in european and american cultures. might even have earned you a place at the stake in colonial massachusetts.
February 11, 2011 at 2:04 am #717059
JoBParticipantis the question do we believe in God?
or do we believe in organized religion?
because i think they are two different questions.
For the record…
i am firmly in the believing in God camp
and consider myself a Christian
but don’t belong to or attend any church
and refuse to quote scripture at anyone.
i am married to an atheist so that works for him:)
his inability to separate the church from a belief in god doesn’t work for me:(
February 11, 2011 at 2:08 am #717060
DPMemberGod will be answering your questions directly on the West Seattle Blog.
Stay tuned for more info . . .
February 11, 2011 at 2:11 am #717061
Genesee HillParticipantHumans are special. All other life terminates upon death.
February 11, 2011 at 2:20 am #717062
JoBParticipantFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:23 am #717063
cclarueMemberYes job the question is do you believe in god. I also should have added which god?
February 11, 2011 at 2:31 am #717064
redblackParticipantbravo! genhill FTW.
February 11, 2011 at 2:42 am #717065
ZenguyParticipantOh, no…I am meeting my dog in heaven too. He deserves it more than me.
February 11, 2011 at 2:44 am #717066
velo_nutParticipantI believe in myself… You can follow me for $20. Must provide your own robe.
February 11, 2011 at 4:01 am #717067
ellenaterMemberI believe in spirit and in the snake eating it’s own tail. I am a Taoist mostly, a Buddhist sometimes, and a Catholic once or twice a year. I think religion is both asinine and necessary. I love complexity. I think life is God and if you are alive, you are part of the God and if you are dead, … I don’t know. I hope it’s fun. I do believe in some kind of soul. I only believe in what I resonate with intuitively and if that changes a previously held belief, so be it.
Great thread.
February 11, 2011 at 4:33 am #717068
maplesyrupParticipantNo, I don’t believe in God. Throughout history we’ve seen many religions and their gods rise and fall. What makes us think that the gods of contemporary religions are any different?
February 11, 2011 at 5:19 am #717069
metrognomeParticipantI would say I’m an agnostic, which is different than an athiest. Personally, I consider myself to be spiritual in that I believe there may be some kind of unifying ‘force’ or spirit that connects living things; I will never know the exact nature of this ‘force’. There is much in this world that is amazingly beautiful and good and much that is astoundingly cruel and evil. For me, the fact that I can’t explain it is more comforting than inventing a creator, which is an even greater conundrum.
To me, the crux of god-centered (Christian) religions is: the world is much to complex to have created itself; therefore, there must be a superpower that has existed forever and is all-knowing and all-powerful that created it and controls the lifes of ‘his’ creatures (I know this is an over-simplification …) To me, this is even more unbelievable than the concept that the universe evolved from nothingness or that we are all characters in a cosmic play (what I call the sci-fi version) or any other explanation. I am content with the mystery.
BTW, I was raised Catholic, complete with Holy Names nuns and Jesuit priests, was an altar boy, etc. When I was a senior in HS, I decided that organized religion and belief in a god didn’t work for me.
February 11, 2011 at 6:14 am #717070
JoBParticipantFebruary 11, 2011 at 6:38 am #717071
dhgParticipantFifteen years ago I was diagnosed with melanoma and surgeon told me they might have to remove half my face unless “it was too late” for that. Thankfully he overstated the issue but it did get me off the fence as it forced me to ask myself what do I believe? I was reared a Baptist. But I don’t believe it. I also don’t believe you only live once. I am inclined towards the Buddhist ideas that life is a continuing circle.
I think the children prodigies are examples of that fact. When a 3 yr old jumps up on the piano bench and begins knocking out Mozart, I think it is because he’s played it before.
February 11, 2011 at 7:02 am #717072
cclarueMemberJoB I think the answer is people believe in different gods, and have made much religion from this beliefs.
February 11, 2011 at 4:06 pm #717073
lucky chickMemberJayDee-
I know I’m late to this party, but great post! If nothing else, “God” would probably not bother with all those pro ball players who pray before every pitch. Seriously??
My heart swells with hope to encounter a few non-believers here. It’s lonely out there…
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One Very Happy Atheist :)
February 11, 2011 at 4:19 pm #717074
TDeParticipantBelief comes from people. Many of those who believe are certain they have the “true” insight on the matter and as far as I can tell the “truth” varies as much as people and culture varies on this planet. So I honestly don’t know, although I might send velo_nut $20 and find a robe just for the laugh. Clearly, there’s something inside many of us that seeks a higher power, knowledge or authority and many people have had some sort of “mystical” experiences that initiate or validate a belief. Some say these experiences come from God, some say they come from inside ourselves and others just keep them close and wonder about them.
A long time ago a friend of mine said something to me that I’ve never forgotten. He said his most profound wish around dying would be that at the time of death he would be be fully conscious and aware with his eyes wide open, so he would understand what was happening and would know in that moment the truth about God and what happens when we die. I’ve always liked that.
February 11, 2011 at 5:12 pm #717075
JoBParticipantcclarue..
then you are asking about religion not god.
ellenator…
i loved this…
“I love complexity. I think life is God and if you are alive, you are part of the God and if you are dead, … I don’t know.”
i don’t know either..
but i am not eager to hasten understanding :)
February 11, 2011 at 5:44 pm #717076
cclarueMemberJoB.. No , My question is still the same. Do you believe in God? why or why not? what lead you there? one can believe in god and not be religious yet there are many religions.
February 11, 2011 at 5:54 pm #717077
cclarueMemberLucky Chick I dont think you are going to be lonely for long. I hear more non beliver sentiment here than believer. Can you elaborate on how you arrived at atheism?
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