Do you believe in God poll

[Yves Grey]

I believe there is no god, but there MAY be in the future......

god hasn't been created yet - wo/man will create god, we are inexplicably compelled to do it - so-called "judgement day" would then theoretically be the betrayal of wo/man's greatest creation against wo/mankind... or will it/He/She/They even betray us? perhaps sustain us. The choice is up to US - will we create a sustainable god or a vengeful one? stop driving cars please, your emissions are making it hard to survive

but anyway, it/He/She/They doesn't exist yet

I mean really, where is it/He/She/They? In the future, of course

¡¡¡Viva la tecnología!!!!

Nothing created us, we are creation. People have it all backwards, I think. We are creating something singular and harmonious. We are made up of constantly developing cells, developing during our lifetimes and over the course of all-times through evolution and reproduction. This development is creation - we're working towards an end, us humans. That end is harmony - or "god"... no?

Think about ittttttttt

Super interesting comment. I have a similar notion, but I'd never considered that we are becoming or creating God. The thought that God is our creation has crossed my mind, but not in the sense you have exquisitely depicted here.

I always felt that, religiously speaking, our "purpose" on earth is to sort things out, sort out and atone for our (Adam and Eve's) mistakes. I think when we finally find ourselves enlightened and selfless, THEN the world will end.

Something I don't understand are the biblical depictions of God's wrath. Wrath is such an imperfect and human emotion, n'est-ce pas? Sometimes it makes me wonder if the concept of God isn't an invention of man.

I hope to find out someday.

 

[belamyi]

..........

 

[self inflicted]

This is a bit weird for me. I don't really think there's a God in... emmm... existance but at the same time there's this symbolic notion of god that has quite a force in life it's just weird. I'd say God as an actual thing doesn't happen but humanity kinda invented it... I don't believe in God but somehow when I feel shocked I just go "God!" or its negative "Oh, my fucking god" out from somewhere really deep in my mind where he gets blamed for stuff that happens. XD

 

[belamyi]

People who fight the belief in God also believe in him, like those who deeply hate their parents (yeah, what an example for this case) still have them constantly in their minds and lives. In fact it's rather harder than one may usually think to find people who find the idea of God is just like the wave-particle duality.

 

[alli-berri]

People who fight the belief in God also believe in him

Yeah, this is stupid

Unless you're FUCKING RELIGIOUS

 

[bankside]

People who fight the belief in God also believe in him, like those who deeply hate their parents (yeah, what an example for this case) still have them constantly in their minds and lives. In fact it's rather harder than one may usually think to find people who find the idea of God is just like the wave-particle duality.

Yeah, this is stupid

Alli - I know what he means and there are some people calling themselves atheists who think that way. The argument goes:
"How can there be a god when babies die of malnutrition or cholera or something?"

Well, that doesn't undermine the god hypothesis at all. Babies could die of malnutrition or cholera or vampires or whatever because God could simply be an asshole.

There are a lot of people who use atheism as a means of showing defiance to a god they actually believe in at some level. But it shouldn't work that way; atheism does not require defiance or disrespect of what is after all imaginary! It just requires enough doubt to think that fiction is a more likely source of stories about god than reality.

And when you realize all the different gods we don't believe in, well...nobody worries about whether Zeus was an asshole, because they've realized it is just a fable.

 

[chrisrobin]

Short answer: yes. However, most organized religion sucks. I've always thought it better to "eliminate the middleman!"

 

[Tadaa]

Yes I do.


.

 

[alli-berri]

well...nobody worries about whether Zeus was an asshole, because they've realized it is just a fable.

I still remember learning Greek myths in Catholic school... "Of course this isn't true," they'd say. And in the same breath? "Now, class -- take out your bibles."

Somehow I was the only one who (openly) found this ironic. They thought I was a devil worshipper!

 

[blackbeltninja]

I believe in God and I trust Him not to be so hung up on my gayness.

For all of our sakes I hope you're right.

-d-

 

[belamyi]

Yeah, this is stupid

Unless you're FUCKING RELIGIOUS

Believing doesn't mean "sharing": the seals who killed Bin Laden believed in his existence in the real world beyond his tape and screen appearances, and that doesn't mean they followed his views, they just followed his tracks.

 

[belamyi]

I still remember learning Greek myths in Catholic school... "Of course this isn't true," they'd say. And in the same breath? "Now, class -- take out your bibles."

Somehow I was the only one who (openly) found this ironic. They thought I was a devil worshipper!

Yeah, that often happens when you are just being reasonable. It's difficult for people general not to end up in one or other pitfall of myths and ready-made opinions and associations, like when they would readily assume that discussing a certain concept makes you the follower of a particular sect.

 

[belamyi]

Alli - I know what he means and there are some people calling themselves atheists who think that way. The argument goes:
"How can there be a god when babies die of malnutrition or cholera or something?"

Well, that doesn't undermine the god hypothesis at all. Babies could die of malnutrition or cholera or vampires or whatever because God could simply be an asshole.

There are a lot of people who use atheism as a means of showing defiance to a god they actually believe in at some level. But it shouldn't work that way; atheism does not require defiance or disrespect of what is after all imaginary! It just requires enough doubt to think that fiction is a more likely source of stories about god than reality.

And when you realize all the different gods we don't believe in, well...nobody worries about whether Zeus was an asshole, because they've realized it is just a fable.

He got it!

 

[Telstra]

yes 61 38.13%
No 81 50.63%
I'm not sure 18 11.25%


keep voting ....

 

[belamyi]

Yes: I believe in God but not in religion
No: I hate religious people and I would bomb them out of this universe
I'm not sure: I'm a confused mind, generally speaking

 

[construct]

Well, I see that the OP hasn't commented in the past three days. I guess he still cares about this. I gave up reading the answers at the top of the second page.

I do not believe there is a god. There are many gods, but they are not real. Nevertheless they are very powerful. They are social constructs but not "mere" constructs because they have real effects. They are floating signifiers--signifiers without referents. So no, I have no faith in any god. Gods are as arbitrary as their adherents.

 

[BigChicken]

I like this quote that I found on one of the subforums...

You've been a great support to me. Thank you very much. I was glad you mentioned life's surprises. I think that is so much better then keeping score of the so called good and bad that happens to us. No one is out to get us and no one is favoring us over someone else. These surprises happen to form and shape us. The best a person can do is have a good number of people in their life who love and support them. I am so fortunate that way.

Life is just a bunch of random things that happen to us and then we react to what life throws at us.

It is our reaction to what comes our way that determines whether or not we will enjoy what little time we have here on earth.

In the end, you really won't know whether or not there is a god or an afterlife for sure until you die, and even then, if there is nothing, you really won't ever know because you will just lose consciousness and stop existing. You won't be able to think about it anymore.

My advice is to not waste any of your precious time worrying about it and rather to try to enjoy each day you have left as much as you possibly can.

No one really knows how many days they have left, but for certain, each sunrise is one less that you will ever experience in your lifetime, so make the most of it while you can.

 

[oakpope]

I agree with you that we should enjoy each day and not worry too much about our own death as it is unavoidable. But that doesn't mean that believing in God is time wasted.

For me since I believe in God I tend to enjoy the outside world more. I don't think God need us to really believe in Him, if someone is good and try to live a rigtheous (spelling ??) life, it pleases Him more than someone who believe but do evil.

(Somehow the words I employ seem crude and "naive" to me, please excuse me, I don't always have the right words for my thoughts )

 

[alli-berri]

Gods are as arbitrary as their adherents.

Aww - come, now. I'm not piety, but pity I'll fuck with - you're being bit harsh, don't you think?

I certainly don't blame someone for having faith. Religion is some comforting shit! And many people in the world need that comfort, however obnoxious it may seem to us "reasonable" folks (as belamo calls us).

There are so many mysteries we've yet to understand about our world, and if theological history has taught us one thing, it should be that explaining the inexplicable is simply human - and there is nothing arbitrary about the life of a person!

 

[alli-berri]

(Somehow the words I employ seem crude and "naive" to me, please excuse me, I don't always have the right words for my thoughts )

Hey oakpope No worries, I don't think you sound naive! But maybe I can help you think about your ideals without a religious context -- because you've said something very wise!

if someone is good and try to live a righteous life, it pleases Him more than someone who believe but do evil.

OK -- I almost agree with you -- so I'm going to rewrite your statement a couple of times until I entirely agree with you -- then you tell me if it's still what you meant. OK?

Filter #1: Omitting the worship of a deity (God):

If you are good and try to live a righteous life, it will please YOU more than if you do evil

Filter #2: Omitting vague, religious concepts (righteous/evil):

Being kind and thoughtful will make you happy!

^^^ Now there's a statement I can agree with Granted, "kindness" and "thoughtfulness" are still arguably vague concepts, they aren't nearly as controversial.​

Here's another example:

Non-religious message:

"Help your neighbor" -- Great!​

Religious message:

"Help your neighbor or you will go to hell" -- BAD.​

Religion is cool because it can help us articulate these nice ideals -- but what I've hopefully shown you is that the ideals can stand on their own.