Religion
What are your opinions on religion? Is it good for society, or bad? Is there a God, or are there gods? Or is there nothing out there at all?
I'll give my two cents eventually, but first I want to give my fellow Sharenators the first word.
I'll give my two cents eventually, but first I want to give my fellow Sharenators the first word.
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Posted: 2011-07-28 22:23:53
Psst.
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Personally, I am an atheist. I believe there isn’t a god and I’m a big supporter of scientific evidence. That doesn’t mean, however, that I think religion is a bad thing. I think that religions teach extremely powerful life lessons, even if they are shrouded by the concept of god. People can get over very bad times in their lives through religion and its lessons and support. Despite this, I do recognise that religion can cause people to do very bad and unjust deeds that have been made to seem just to them through religion. One big example of this are the crusades where, as you should know, Christians fought Muslims over control of a country that was, in their eyes, their holy land. I know you’re expecting me to say something about terrorism but I, and the rest of the world, have yet to fully understand the individual motives behind the many acts of terrorism throughout the past few years. To put it all simply, I personally don’t believe in God and the afterlife and that sort of thing, but I am tolerant of religions and religious people as religions doing good in the world, outweighs the bad it has done, in my opinion.
Specifically asking god to solve all your problems is what annoys me too, you should use whatever lessons are in whatever religious text you go by and interpret them to suit your problem
DON'T EVER MENTION POLITICS OR RELIGION.
Because people are stupid and don't know how to accept other's opinions. +3 though
Because people are stupid and don't know how to accept other's opinions. +3 though
Well, I'm kind of late seeing this so I am not going to be bothered with taking to time to read >9000 comments. Here are my thoughts on religion.
I believe God exists. And I have strong opinions about it. I also know none of them can be proven. I believe that nothing can be proved nor disproved. It's fine to have your spiritual beliefs, but as for religion...Religion is a corrupt institution of rules and decrees set forth by man. Never should anyone put their whole trust in man. We are to search for answers on our own. Not let other people tell us what to believe. Religion has provided many years of hatred and violence. Why? Because no one wants to listen to another man that goes against what their priest/rabbi/shaikh tells them is truth. Religion is all about being stubborn in your beliefs and not having an open mind to anything. I believe that this is not what God intended. But, since we are human, we do what we want and don't take heed to anything else. So in conclusion; Religion is bad, spirituality is not.
I believe God exists. And I have strong opinions about it. I also know none of them can be proven. I believe that nothing can be proved nor disproved. It's fine to have your spiritual beliefs, but as for religion...Religion is a corrupt institution of rules and decrees set forth by man. Never should anyone put their whole trust in man. We are to search for answers on our own. Not let other people tell us what to believe. Religion has provided many years of hatred and violence. Why? Because no one wants to listen to another man that goes against what their priest/rabbi/shaikh tells them is truth. Religion is all about being stubborn in your beliefs and not having an open mind to anything. I believe that this is not what God intended. But, since we are human, we do what we want and don't take heed to anything else. So in conclusion; Religion is bad, spirituality is not.
I'm a Christian Baptist from Texas
I'll skip the usual points of arguing this topic and just be simple about it
Let's look at it this way, when you die you'll find out if you were right or wrong
Religion:
Right: Heaven
Wrong: Well dang, guess I was wrong
Atheism:
Right: Yay I was right all that time..... Now there's nothing
Wrong: Hell
I'd rather be on the safe side and have a little faith.
I'll skip the usual points of arguing this topic and just be simple about it
Let's look at it this way, when you die you'll find out if you were right or wrong
Religion:
Right: Heaven
Wrong: Well dang, guess I was wrong
Atheism:
Right: Yay I was right all that time..... Now there's nothing
Wrong: Hell
I'd rather be on the safe side and have a little faith.
What does not being christian have to do with medicine?
I know plenty of "men of science" that have religious beliefs.
Like I myself agree with many scientific views, I think God used evolution and natural selection to create the world. When the Bible says 6 days of creation, who's to say God's "day" isn't different from ours?
I know plenty of "men of science" that have religious beliefs.
Like I myself agree with many scientific views, I think God used evolution and natural selection to create the world. When the Bible says 6 days of creation, who's to say God's "day" isn't different from ours?
I don't understand how science could with 100% certainty disprove God's existence. Like I said before, I view scientific facts as a means of how God created things. We as human beings can never fully understand Gods train of thought, to think you can is foolish. I simply just have faith, I don't let it cloud my judgement.
As it is your right to believe otherwise :)
if you postpone death what do you gain? more taxes, more stupidity from other people, natural selection will be all sorts of messed up, science might move too rapidly for the regular/not scientist to understand or use. whats a positive from that? your body will still age until you turn to dust or until your body can no longer support life at which point do you live in a test tube or a computer? keep in mind you said postpone death, that doesn't mean you are alive it just means that you have not yet ceased to exist.
First of all, I did in fact mean to continue living, not just to postpone death. I should have been more specific about that. Secondly, can you really find no positive qualities about life? You're basically saying, "Life has problems, so why go on living?" If that is, in fact, your opinion, then I pity you, for you are truly missing out on the joy of being alive.
Ima keep this short. I detest religion and personally think its irrational and stupid(keep in mind this is my opinion). Also i detest people who press their beliefs on other and this can go both ways. A good quote i remember seeing is "Religion(or lack there of) are like dicks, its good to have one but don't shove it down others throats".
I live in the south, religious intolerance is every where.
I detest it when people do that, it gives the rest of us a bad image :/
religion i think it's just a false hope.i mean sence when has it ever done something good. i traps the mind keeps i locked away from the real world a bit. like when someone sick and dieing. they wish to life they pry to their god all day and night and they get awarded with death. there is not a gods(or gods) up there to help you. and if so why dont they show themselfs at least once. theres no prove that someone can heal you by a touch of their and a pry to a god. people are so sad degradeing themselfs to another. cuase they are not worthy of their presins. if i saw god i would not fall to my knees unless i was struke. i would actully bitch him out about the shit thats happaning that he doesnt help fix. in movies theres always that crap where im going to leave you in your time of need. i dont think that people should do that not even a god should right now the world is going to shit. wars always rage across the world. and the all mighy being dosent care about it. he lets he fallowers fight each other and doesn't care. the deadly sins are a lie if hey were really deadly no one would be in heaven. almost everyone brakes lust envey greed and gultaney. if you even do one of these you are not allowed in heaven. there is no prove of any religion. how could all of these religions happend at once there is so much conflict in the religons that i say none of them could be true. you can say what you want about me you can call me what you want but I WILL NOT CHANGE MY POINT! think i might have gone off topic and ranted.
ok first off your little speech there made my eye's bleed again. much improved from last time but still bleeding.
second off im about to leave for work so im gonna leave you with a quote to think about until i can post my actual reasoning here. I know that this is from a quite goofy source but it is a great idea about god and his role in life “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” -the god being in futurama. just think about it for a bit and i'll explain more later.
second off im about to leave for work so im gonna leave you with a quote to think about until i can post my actual reasoning here. I know that this is from a quite goofy source but it is a great idea about god and his role in life “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” -the god being in futurama. just think about it for a bit and i'll explain more later.
still put that in the matter of real life you dont do anything at all and you are right
this isn't at all what i meant. this quote is to say that god works through people. god is meant to be built on faith. it's not saying that he does or doesn't exist it is simply saying we can't tell wether we do anything ourselves or wether he does it through us. now i know that this is hard to understand and is completely impossible to prove but the thing is that he is not meant to be proven to exist or not. you go on faith, hope, and are pulled in by the hopes of something better.
this is true people do want to naturally be good and helpful but we are easily corrupted. god gave us the freedom to choose and with this we can choose to believe in him or not. lmao i sound like a preach but honestly i'm just arguing the other side to be honest i believe in him because i just feel like it can't hurt. might as well have faith in something rather than just think aw fuck well that was fun then go blank. at least this way there's some kind of hope for an after life or something.
false hope is hope still dignity is appreciated but when you start saying you are doomed from the start people lose all hope and give up. it is for this reason we run when we can fight when we have a chance and live for the next day. because we have hope that we can survive and make a difference. i see no problem in giving false hope to those who have nothing else to go on. people try to survive and live out there lives but with out hope then they realize all their suffering is for nothing and they just give up and die. let them live with something, let them live for something, don't try and take away the only thing they have left in this world.
So it's better to hope that we're all fallen disgusting creations of a god who will send us to hell if we don't do his bidding, the only alternative being to serve him eternally, rather than to hope that we are the product of an evolutionary miracle? Without god, there is stil hope. Hope that we can improve humanity, explore the stars, study the very fabric of the universe and maybe even find new life out there someday. We've barely started our journey. There is incredible hope in atheism.
no but it is better to believe in something more. i feel like i've been explaining myself wrong. so here it goes again. i believe in god but not all of what is in the bible and all of what has been said in it. it's not even actually a belief. more of a.... a hope. that there was something else at work here. i don't believe that he created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. the theory of evolution and the fact that dinosaurs are real are more than enough proof to debunk this. but what i do believe or at least hope is that he is real and as long as i do then it makes him real. call it my imagination, call it false hope, call it faith, call it what you will but my belief in him makes him real to me. this is the same feeling that others share. i don't believe that he thinks that we are fallen disgusting creations of his because if we were every one of us is destined for hell. i believe that as long as you live a fair and just life you will see some kind of reward be it heaven or another life. atheism to me is a logical answer to someone who refuses to see that there is something more to the universe that can't be explained. and in all honesty i hope to fuck that at least somethings in the this universe never are explained. think of it. we have literally destroyed every form of magic and wonder in the world. knowledge is great but i long for a time where imagination ruled the world and not science. where we were free to believe that gods existed and where couldn't explain the wonders of the world. my belief in god is more of a revolt against logic than anything else. because honestly this is the last thing left that doesn't have to be explained to me and i hope to fuck it never is. i WANT to believe this because i can. if he is real and feels that good honest people should go to hell because we didn't do exactly what he wanted then fuck it i'll go to hell and rot there for an eternity with the good people of the world. if he thinks we did just fine the to heaven i go. but if he doesn't exist then it was nice knowing ya cause it doesn't matter anyhow. im dead and there's not a fucking thing i can do. but for now im going to keep my wondering my imagination and my faith because honestly it's not like we have anything better going for us. like it or not this world is fucked and i wouldn't be surprised if the world feel to shit tomorrow. my hope is in my faith my family and friends. thats all i need to go on.
let me ask you something do you believe in love?
Posted: 2011-07-31 15:42:58 Report
well if love is caused by a reaction in the brain could another human being not produce the same feelings from an individual? then this is not truely love. love is real because you believe it to be so same as god.
Posted: 2011-07-31 16:15:12 Report
The only problem I have with this idealism is that it isn't a case where people are wondering IF he's doing anything, people DON'T think he is doing anything at all. Also, for anyone to say that he is 'concerned with more important matters' goes against hundreds of his 'so called morals'. Two major ones being Omnipotence and omni-benevolence.
A quick paradox to explain the first: "Could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even that being could not lift it?" If so, then it seems that the being could cease to be omnipotent; if not, it seems that the being was not omnipotent to begin with."
And the second point being that if God loves all his children AND is Omni-benevolent, why is it that he lets them die? Now some may speculate that it controls the population, but then couldn't he just make another world within the course of another 7 days for others to live upon? If not, he is not omnipotent, nor omni-benevolent.
A quote by Epicrus that makes so much sense, it makes me wonder how one would argue it:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
A quick paradox to explain the first: "Could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even that being could not lift it?" If so, then it seems that the being could cease to be omnipotent; if not, it seems that the being was not omnipotent to begin with."
And the second point being that if God loves all his children AND is Omni-benevolent, why is it that he lets them die? Now some may speculate that it controls the population, but then couldn't he just make another world within the course of another 7 days for others to live upon? If not, he is not omnipotent, nor omni-benevolent.
A quote by Epicrus that makes so much sense, it makes me wonder how one would argue it:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
like the quote i gave said “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” -the god being in futurama. now through out this episode we see bender trying to play god first by helping them in every way. in this case they become dependent on him for every thing. then he trys to ignore their requests in which case they lose faith and wind up killing each other. in the end he actually meets god who says those words above and learns why god does not make his presence known nor does he completely ignore us. the reasoning is quite simple don't let them be dependent but don't ignore them. guide them to become better beings and to hopefully live in harmony one day. there's a reason why he is referred to as father.
I think with your last bit about not changing your position you are just as bad as those who devote themselves to religion. You are closing your mind to any possibilities that might exist. I'm not saying you are wrong or right for that matter but if you define yourself you will only see one side of the paper when the back of the page contains many important lessons for you to learn. I'm not religious personally but I just wanted to tell you to not close your mind all the way because that's what everyone who isn't religious has that religious people don't, We are able to open our mind to more than one way of thinking.
I am a catholic and while I can see where some of you are coming from, I still believe there is a God and that we all have a purpose for existing. I will admit that the stories told today that happened in ancient times aren't truly accurate, due to the fact that people lie and cover things up to make on side look better than the other. And yes, war over religion is just stupid. But I still hold my ground on being a strong catholic.
I can see that religion offers a strong sense of community and belonging but in the most part if you are a die hard catholic or what have you your morals and main principals are decided for you. I just hope that as you believe you also keep your mind open to different possibilities and what is right and what is wrong (gay rights for example), however that's another debate. Don't be one of those blind faith people that completely deny anyone with a different opinion. I hope you understand my position.
-gemie89
-gemie89
I do. I believe solely on what I choose to believe.
Looking at this scientifically I would like to say I can neither say there is, or deny a 'god' or 'gods' at this time though I would like to give my personal opinion. I think that many of these 'miracles' humans experience are scientifically explainable only our sciences have not advanced enough to explain them. For example cell phones would have been considered impossible in the 1800's but explainable today. I find religion sometimes infuriating because people are so willing to follow one dudes way of thinking and remain closed off to to the entire world.
In all likelyhood god is probably something made up that we used to make or selves fell better and live more peacefully together. I love science and all it has achieved but the way i see it there is no harm in having some faith. even if there is the slightest chance that god is out there somewhere i will continue to believe. it's not harming anyone and if i want to believe i may as well. i live my life trying to be a good decent person not because of god but because i want to. i don't pray every day. i don't go to church but i do try and help people. i feel sad when people get hurt and outraged when some one is unjustly punished. all in all im a normal guy. the only thing that i do is try and hope that there is something more out there and i see no reason for me not to. it is the same reason people believe in destiny, charma, and a hundred other things. it is because we want to feel like this isn't it. i get that many people don't believe or see why we do and many times neither do i. but i always try to keep it in my head that there is something out there.
it's only false hope so long as we think it's false. right now it's just hope.
like i said religion is based on faith i believe therefore he live's. science has proven only some things wrong not all of it.
science has yet to prove wether or not he exists don't right now you're basically saying
"science hasn't proven he exists so he doesn't"
it's the same damn thing. i can believe he exists as long as there is no proof of him but i can deny he exists because theres no proof of him. it's the same concept.
"science hasn't proven he exists so he doesn't"
it's the same damn thing. i can believe he exists as long as there is no proof of him but i can deny he exists because theres no proof of him. it's the same concept.
god damnit you're to logical to argue with. you base all of life on fact and hard evidence sometime's life requires you to let go of what you can hold in your hands and calculate. by doing so you free who you are and open up the world. that is what religion does for you believe in something trust yourself to another being. when the end comes you could be surprised.
all i know is that my faith has no harm on any other persons day to day life i can not prove his existence to you and all we are doing is running around like a couple of chickens with our heads cut off. i maintain my position and hope that i am right. need less to say im sure you think that you are completely correct but hopefully faith comes to you some day :P godfucking damnit i hate arguing for the religious side it makes me sound like a fucking preacher
Posted: 2011-07-31 17:06:31 Report
you think in a logical manner meaning you have zero imagination meaning you can't conceive the possibility of a higher power meaning you will only believe in god if there is proof of god meaning you wouldn't actually faith thereby defeating the purpose of religion thereby destroying the purpose of god.
Ahahah, silly peoples. There is only one true god, and that god is me.
The religion is DarkHunterism and you've all been forced to join it, by Ember! :D
The religion is DarkHunterism and you've all been forced to join it, by Ember! :D
Honestly, i'm an atheist. I would tell you all that i believe in, but im pretty sure through the millions of comments it has summed it up pretty well. But the kicker is that the rest of my family is christian,(not strict christian, i haven't been forced to church in a couple of years) and i live in the mid-west. I don't know about anywhere else, but we have a lot of Jesus freaks up in this place. And i feel if i came out as an atheist, that i would b rejected from everyone. And i have several questions, so plz help!?
ok i have a few questions, do u mind?
Well one, marriage seems like a religious thing, do atheists get married or somthing else?
I remember seeing a good saying in a song lyric(an abysmal dawn song I Beleive)"god is in me" meaning that the individual is god in a sense of they control their fate and sense of morality.
I am a public Jesus-freak, and I love God to the core of my being. I am open to any questions you all have for me. Just because you don't believe in him doesn't make him any less real to me, and I still care and love you all even though I haven't met you in person :)
As another person said (and has been said many times in the past), "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
The point being that the god of the bible cannot logically exist. And before you say "He's supernatural, he defies logic." To be supernatural is to have an exist beyond the limits of the natural universe. Anyone or anything in such a state could not interact with our reality.
More specifically about why christianity is wrong, well, here's a few easy ones.
1. Contradictions in the Bible. Don't believe me? Look it up and check your Bible to see if they're legit. You'll find hundreds.
2. Jesus's story is a traditional religious tale based on the stars. The Egyptians and many others had VERY similar stories. I don't have a link ready but look it up and you can find the evidence pretty easily.
3. The god of the old testament is far different in personality than the one in the new testament. So which is it? Does god change, or is one of the two testaments wrong?
If you can respond to my arguments with logical counterpoints, I'll gladly listen, but I doubt that'll happen.
The point being that the god of the bible cannot logically exist. And before you say "He's supernatural, he defies logic." To be supernatural is to have an exist beyond the limits of the natural universe. Anyone or anything in such a state could not interact with our reality.
More specifically about why christianity is wrong, well, here's a few easy ones.
1. Contradictions in the Bible. Don't believe me? Look it up and check your Bible to see if they're legit. You'll find hundreds.
2. Jesus's story is a traditional religious tale based on the stars. The Egyptians and many others had VERY similar stories. I don't have a link ready but look it up and you can find the evidence pretty easily.
3. The god of the old testament is far different in personality than the one in the new testament. So which is it? Does god change, or is one of the two testaments wrong?
If you can respond to my arguments with logical counterpoints, I'll gladly listen, but I doubt that'll happen.
@ertrov God is one and He is Omnipotent and Omnipresent. He is able to do all thing...
However, the question was "Is God willing to prevent evil" yes he wants to to prevent him until the judgement day another question is "But why?" because He made Heaven and Hell..
the Earth is just like Examination Hall if you forget the spiritual teachings of religion and follow the unwanted thoughts of Devil then you are on the way of Hell or vice versa..
because God created you first time then He will Kill You then again create you in the judgement day then you will be asked...
then according to your sin you will be punished and then will remain in hell with devil in the Hell forever... !
However, the question was "Is God willing to prevent evil" yes he wants to to prevent him until the judgement day another question is "But why?" because He made Heaven and Hell..
the Earth is just like Examination Hall if you forget the spiritual teachings of religion and follow the unwanted thoughts of Devil then you are on the way of Hell or vice versa..
because God created you first time then He will Kill You then again create you in the judgement day then you will be asked...
then according to your sin you will be punished and then will remain in hell with devil in the Hell forever... !
So, what will we be asked? You kinda just put three dots instead of a question. Unless... Does god speak morse code? If so ... means the letter s, it alone is not a question. Perhaps it is a clue hmmm... So now I must ask you .-- .... -.-- | .- .-. . | -.-- --- ..- | .- -. | .. -.. .. --- - |
so if god is capable of doing all things can he make the truly impossible possible? Can he make a stone so large that he can't move it? Can he make light travel faster than itself? and if he is omnipotent and omnipresent is the devil as well, can god be evil and the devil good?
I am a everything and nothing I really just don't what if there is or isn't a god if there is then so be it I lived my life as a free and happy man and will be judged as such and if not then I lived my life as I wanted to and will die pleased with my life and if I am reincarnated then I hope that I get to be a mongoose. I was baptized as an episcopal then I was an atheist for a while then now I practice spiritualism as a means of enlightenment. I think that religion has it's good an bad spots and if I could mash them together there would be parts of all religions that would be in the mix.
To most people, I seem like someone very strange - because I am very understanding and supportive of science, yet I am also fairly religious (Roman Catholic - "The Catholic Church") - go to church Weekly etc.
To me, religion is important to many people, and as the catholic church always says (somewhere in the Catechisms) "It doesn't really matter what path you take, as long as that path ends with God in heaven". That basically means, it doesn't matter what religion you are, or if you even have a religion, as long as you follow the same basic beliefs (not killing, being honest, treating people right, no adultery etc etc) then you will still end up in heaven.
Also, while I was pondering this myself, I thought that even if I have lived my entire life being religious, and then I die, and it all meant nothing, at least I lived my life thinking that what I have done was right. And as my last thought would be that I was going to heaven would be the last thought I ever had, and wouldn't know any different, I would be happy with that.
To me, religion is important to many people, and as the catholic church always says (somewhere in the Catechisms) "It doesn't really matter what path you take, as long as that path ends with God in heaven". That basically means, it doesn't matter what religion you are, or if you even have a religion, as long as you follow the same basic beliefs (not killing, being honest, treating people right, no adultery etc etc) then you will still end up in heaven.
Also, while I was pondering this myself, I thought that even if I have lived my entire life being religious, and then I die, and it all meant nothing, at least I lived my life thinking that what I have done was right. And as my last thought would be that I was going to heaven would be the last thought I ever had, and wouldn't know any different, I would be happy with that.
But is having religion available to provide (a possibly false) sense of security really worth all the death it's caused? Even today, people are still being slaughtered in the name of Jesus, Allah, etc. If it is true, then I guess you could argue it's worth it, although the fact that any god would allow his followers to do such things destroys any argument for him/her/it being "good". If it's false, then all those people died just so people could feel like they have a greater purpose.
science has not proven there is no god. its proven there are loads of contradictions in the bible and people do stupid things in the name of religion. The bible was written by biased men.I do agree with your view of not needing religion. I believed it was created by men who wanted to explain the universe and as a way to control people without violence. Too bad it didn't work that well.
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