Do you believe in God?

I think the question should be "Do you believe God exists". To ask "Do you believe in God" could be interpreted to mean do you believe in the goodness/superiority of a God that does exist. So answering "No I don't believe in God" could be interpreted as "yes I think there is a God but I don't believe in God, I despise him and his nonsense".

I don't reject God, there is no God to reject afaic.

the beer revolu wrote: »

It's been said before but I'll say it again.
You do not know that god exists. You cannot know that god exists.
You believe it that existence. You may well think that you know but you are deluded in this matter.

I have complete belief that there is no god. I'm am unshaken in this belief. Still, I won't go around saying that I know this to be a fact because it would make me seem lika a bit of a twat.

I would never think you a twat! God, whom I know exists, said judge not lest you be judged. Also, it is generally accepted even by the infidels, that Christ lived and as we all know, Jesus is God just as the middle leaf forms part of the shamrock.

randd1 wrote: »

If you do a body count of all the people killed in the bible, and why they were killed, you could only come to the conclusion that God is an unhinged psycho with extreme genocidal tendencies, but who had a top notch PR crew that were so good they were able to pin the atrocities on Satan, who practically does nothing other than get cast out of heaven for questioning the psycho.

Ah but you forget, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Even today, a lot of people get killed on the pretense of wolves in sheep`s clothing but at the end of the day, God calls us when he wants us, he does not need people to kill for him. Do you think you would live forever in this life? Sooner or later, you must die.

I do not believe any god as portrayed by any known religion, exists.

BUT if I'm wrong, and the christians are right, then according to the bible, god is the greatest mass murderer in history. He stood idly by while 6 million jews died in the holocaust despite previously freeing them from Egypt and he stood idly by while the catholic church raped and abused children. So either all of that is true, or there is no god.

I go with the latter.

donkeykong5 wrote: »

Just reading through this thread. Such negativity. Makes me glad that yes I do believe in God. Thank God.

In a poll which is almost 3:1 against belief in God, you hardly expected positivity.
That's taking faith to a whole new level.

voldejoie wrote: »

What terrifies me though is that I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't know how I'll cope in life when people close to me die, because I don't have the comfort of believing that I'll ever see them again.

In fairness, very few people seem to be comforted by this stuff initially. You see shock, grief, despair unless the loss comes after a long illness and people are already used to the idea. Very seldom see "Sure, it's grand, I'll see them in a few years" directly after a loss.

People who say they are comforted by the thought their loved ones are in Heaven or whatever are usually saying it quite a while afterwards, when the shock and grief have worn off anyhow.

voldejoie wrote: »

What terrifies me though is that I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't know how I'll cope in life when people close to me die, because I don't have the comfort of believing that I'll ever see them again.

Nor do I but it has never stopped me coping. It is amazing what we can cope with when we are actually called to do so. It is the thinking about having to cope with things before they happen that tends to be harder than the thing itself. The worst part of a dentist visit for example very often tends to be the week leading up to the appointment, not the appointment itself.

But one of the ways I cope with the loss of loved ones is merely to be grateful that they existed at all. For every person who existed and lived a life, countless billions did not get that chance. So rather dwell on their loss, I remain mindful of the wonder of their having existed at all and cherish the time I had spent with them and the memories it gave me.

Further gold is precious because it is rare. If you flooded the market with endless gold tomorrow, it's value would waste to nothing. Similarly the lives of our loved ones are made precious by their transience. The concept of an after life, especially an eternal ones, cheapens the value of their life in the same way as infinite gold.

That is why the Christian fairy tale has always been pathetic to me. The claim was that some god "gave" us his son and this son "sacrificed" himself for us. Then we are however told that said son is sitting at the right hand of his father in a state of eternal bliss and dominion???? It seems "gave" was more "infinitesimally lent" while "sacrifice" was more a "trading up".

A legend where the son was OFFERED eternal bliss and dominion but instead opted for the true death, much to the anguish of his father.... now that would be a legend worth telling rather than the pathetic insult to parents who actually have lost a child to a person, place or ideal that we are usually pedalled.

voldejoie wrote: »

I don't believe in God at all.

What terrifies me though is that I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't know how I'll cope in life when people close to me die, because I don't have the comfort of believing that I'll ever see them again.

Well, according to the RCC if you are a Muslim or a Buddist or worst of all a Protestant, you're not going there anyway. Even their own flock were not guaranteed for hundreds of years, unless of course, they had money.
It would seem, according to the boys in Rome, that there'll be plenty of room

Of course not, it's 2019. No one should be believing in that nonsense.

realitykeeper wrote: »

Wasn`t that during the arch of the covenant? The Israelites were invincible then but only as long as they did the will of God. The enemies of Israel quite possibly needed to be humbled in order to become righteous and defeat is one way of humbling a nation. Besides, being killed or raped only causes temporary discomfort as these things take longer than an instant, I`ve no doubt the fallen had their chance to repent and those who did may well have been spared hell fire for all eternity. So you see, God is good.

How do you equate that to a loving God? If your children and your extended family upset or offended you would you consider this fit punishment?
Remember Jesus tells us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek and we're supposed to believe that Jesus and the guy ordering all this mayhem are one and the same.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Have you considered the possibility that you're kidding yourself?

dead