Questioning God's Existence - Page 3

not at all.... a belief stands no matter what, i've molded my ideas so many times. right now they are my "belief" and i use that turn loosely as i have been for this entire thread. Give me a good idea, and i might possible change my "belief"

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right now they are my "belief"

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That just confirms my point that ideas become beliefs. A group of ideas forms a belief system; some of those ideas can change without transforming the entire belief system. But that doesn't lessen the importance of ideas to beliefs.

thats what im trying to say...

keep your ideas to ideas, do not let them go into beliefs, you can believe that they are correct, as long as they are not beliefs...

example:

2+2=4 i believe that, yet it is not a belief, still an idea. if someone was to give a good argument as to why 2+2 does not equal 4, then my belief might change, mabey not... however i will now have more knowledge of other ideas.

to conway.. meaning as the word and whats referd to it itslef does not involve go it can (possibly) exist with or without.. and "athists" as much as i hate that word can belive in afetr life reancarnation in all sorts of ways imaginable or not.. there still is meaining (if for you the only way for meaning is leiving on) or i guess even more specifcly to meet someone (god) to love you there... (i mean it can posibly come from humans loving wch other gicing great meaning there too)

Religions are just natural socially constructed beliefs. They are mechanisms to answer questions in life that will never be resolved. Ideas which only come from your brain are truly inheritantly natural yet consequently just a symptom of the function of curiousty and the quest to question the origins or reasons for 'god' . We humans fear the unknown. We want to explain our deity. And as a result we search for a 'God' who has the answers or reasons. Thinking that we know (truth), when actually we do not, is like a special sickness to which most people are prone to. What we can explain, we can control and be god over. To recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs can almost be a path to enlightenment by discovering that life isn't about following a hypothetical 'spiritual god'.

meaning as the word and whats referd to it itslef does not involve god


(mispelled god as go... and cant edit my post.. just so clear)

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To recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs

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This is no different than the arguement for God. You want an answer that gives you control and so you chose to believe that there is no God. It goes both ways this is an answer that gives you the security that you called enlightenment.

You guys are talking about beliefs and ideas but why do you guys believe what you believe. Is it because you were put in that situation from birth. Every person you have ever met has influenced every thought you have. You believe or not believe in God due to the circumstances that have been put in front of you. Your parents were "good" parents and took you to church so you believe or you parents were "bad" parents and didn't take you to church so you don't believe. Then something happens to you that tests your "faith" like the loss of a wife. I guess my question is why do things happen the way they do? What is the purpose for you to be here at this time and not 1000 years ago or 1000 years from now?

And even aetheists believe in God because they are acknowledging the fact that there is a God to not believe in.

a lot of christians tend to be "certain" of gods existence due to the fact that they have been brought up in christian families. though admitedly there are some who become christians with no christian upbringing, but many of these are attracted to the faith due to the fact that they see christians being better people than many of the atheists that they meet. the point is that there will neer be definite proof either way until judgement day. thats why its called faith

huyties, that didnt happen to me.

i was brought up in a relatively religious family, and i never believed what we believed... not for one minute. almost immediatly i created my own belief system, which is based on ideas which are moldable... this prevents me from being ignorant and fighting for what i believe. It is not necessarily true that you are what you are brought up as. and no nothing drove me away from the religion my family practices, i actually found it kinda fun.

Interestingly enough Cynic-Al, some of the most influential Christians I have ever met were brought up in families that were non religious or even completely against religion. I am certain of God's existence but not because of my parents, friends, or anybody else but God himself. My experience has shown Him to me and I cannot deny His presence even in all the little things in life. Huyties asked the question "What is the purpose for you to be here at this time and not 1000 years ago or 1000 years from now?" And while I don't know specifically why I am here now I can say with complete certainty that I am supposed to be here, this knowledge comes from experiences that I have encountered not stuff that people simply tell me. Proof of God lies in personal experiences I rely on no one's account of God's presence because I have my own, and I wouldn't expect anyone here to rely on my experience but in time you may have your own. God may have all power at His command but He will not force anyone to believe in Him unless they truly want to..

ethereal,

you were probably raised in such a way that you made a connection between the experiences you had, and religion....

think out of yourself for a moment, what would you think of the experiences if you had no knowledge of religion... would you all of a sudden say "HOLY CRAP! there has to be some supreme being!"

i think not.

there is a GOD no matter what you say. Science has roved the christian faith to be true over and over and the christian faith has also proved science wrong over and over.

fnckoff, just for fun, write down that you believe that there is a god right now... then in 20 years when someone you know has died a tragic death and you say "there is no god!" you can look back and say... oh wait, there is a god... nevermind then.

god was created to provide comfort and as a scapegoat to blame death. sure there might be a supreme being, but my idea is that he wouldnt want us to dictate our life by some HUMAN BOOK.

i have to agree whole heartedly with lastresort. if you have no knowledge of religion you dont think that good things, that there is some supreme being controlling it, you think its good luck, or that youve worked to earn it.
As ive said before, i was raised in a christian family, though since i hit my teens, ive stopped taking things as read. ive started thinking about things as read, and recognised the fact that there are too many holes in various arguements, and too many discrepancies that cant just be put down to transcriptional error. A big example of this (though you may think it stupid) is "the da Vinci Code" by dan brown. im not saying that everything he said is true, various parts of it have been proved beyond doubt to be false, but there are certain points that are unexplained, certain points that are plausible.
such as, why are there gospels that have been cut from the bible? it is in theology textbooks that emporor constantine, on becoming "christian" edited the bible, and also that assortted people down the years have changed the odd bit here and there. how can it be that the faith can be said to be 100% true, when it has been changed by people for purely political motives?