Not sure if I believe in God. Makes me feel so uneasy

[doyouknowhim]

Not being sure either way

I have questions I've never got an answer to

Such as that I get this life is temporary, if you believe in God, Christ, etc. As you'll have everlasting life if granted it

I asked this and was given an answer along the lines with 'the person with cancer will suffer now. That's true. Some people will meet horrific ends. But, it's like looking back at something awful and thinking 'I thought at the time I'd never get through it'. And there you are, in eternal heaven. So I get that... if I leave out the bit where surely you wouldn't want your creation to suffer at all if you love them and had the power to stop it, since you do because you're a benevolent God

But anyway, I also struggle to think that someone good can go to hell. There's a woman I know with a disabled child. She has terminal cancer and will die. She's been given an awful hand as it's not just the cancer, it's the devastating impact on her disabled child's life. It's all horrific when she explains who isn't there for him, the care system, etc etc

Why does someone so lovely deserve HELL? I get Jesus is wonderful and the saviour, but why not forgive these people for their lack of belief? Surely if you loved them as much as you're suppose to, they can come into heaven because you can't stand to know an innocent person like that is damned to hell?

I just don't get those parts. And that's before being gay is immoral. I don't understand it probably because I see no issue with it, you can't switch off being gay

So, what are you suppose to do then? Just live a lie? Have awful self hatred because of it? Sounds unhealthy to me

I'd appreciate any responses from non believes and believers

The only reason I am on the fence is because I FEEL in my heart that Jesus is real. I can't think about his face and deny him. So this makes it all the more harder

Which then leads me to think I'm brainwashed

I just don't KNOW

I think it’s beneficial to separate your faith from organised religion to some extent. Leaders are just people, their interpretations aren’t necessarily the directions of a god, if you subscribe to a religion then there’s no reason why the god that speaks to you is any the less important than the one who spoke to an apostle or your vicar.

The question that always gets me is that if we’re all a part of gods plan then is a person who commits a sin really to blame? Are they not part of gods plan too and simply fulfilling their predestined role in the plan? Maybe the actual way to gods good books is to exercise free will and resist any temptation to be a ‘bad’ person (the definitions of good and bad are also very loose).

I’m agnostic at best, but I do find comfort and spirituality in the organised religion I grew up around. To be honest, I think that could have been any religion and there would have been very little difference on its impact on my life overall. I think spirituality is something larger than any earthly religion could convey. I find the ‘rules’ that govern nature and the universe fascinating and believe that there is a level of consciousness that surpasses ours and probably one that surpasses that one etc.

When I pray I tend to see things from a different point of view- a healthier, more accepting one.

I believe in heaven but i dont believe in the bible its been written to many times over.
I like to think we are like trees we lose all our leaves and re-bloom in the spring.
We live we die we are reborn.

The bible doesn't say that homosexuality is worse than other sins. It's debated whether it says it's a sin at all. The Vatican recently formally approved blessing couples in same-sex relationships.

It's also debated whether anyone is in hell.

We live in a chaotic universe where pretty much everything is out of our control, yet we are meaning making machines desperate to make sense and understand. I think religion is one way of trying to make sense of the uncontrollable, but there are other ways people do this too. It's just whatever floats your boat, that's the key in my opinion, just find your own way.

Skywizards deciding on my fate, no thanks.
We can have morals and be kind without having to, because an old book(s) tells us so. I like the architecture of old buildings, churches and catherdrals, temples and mosques. I like the social aspect of traditionally religious life ceremonies like weddings, christenings and funerals but these are now becoming less religious than they used to be.

If you find that religion enhances your life then great, it doesn't for me. If I had to choose a religion it would be Taoism ☯️. Energy flows and enjoying the natural world 🌎.

Try Hinduism. It's not incompatible with belief in Jesus. You can then get answers to the questions about the problem of human suffering. Some of these answers are in the bible, but a lot of Christians have an extremely narrow viewpoint and cannot simply take on board the teachings that are in their own scriptures, such as karma and its logical corollary, reincarnation.

@pickledandpuzzled Thank you for your lovely posts on what belief and prayer means to you.
I'm a Christian and a very questioning one too. It always helps to hear someone else's gentle perspective on belief.

I think there is "something" but not entirely sure what. I wanted a church wedding because it felt "right" and would describe myself as Christian

However animal cruelty trigger warning

To see a post on a rabbit rescue about this poor innocent rabbit who had been run over multiple times by the purchasers children on their bikes Christmas Day that has resulted in his back and back leg being broken that resulted in him being PTS because he was too badly injured to be fixed. I cannot get his picture out of my head

How could that be allowed to happen? Same where any innocent party is injured. Yes you could argue about free will etc but what about the innocent who suffer? What choice did that poor rabbit and other cruelty victims human or animal have? Likewise the people who get cancer (not because of lifestyle). They get no free choice in that but suffer

I can remember a GCSE question for RE when I sat it titled "god cannot exist because there is suffering" I was able to write a great argument from both sides.

Like I say I think there is something, and I do pray if I'm worried, however I'm also struggling with the fact so much suffering is allowed

I think it depends on how you see 'heaven'.

I believe that it means spending eternity under the authority of God. Which I would like. But I can't imagine that that would appeal to a non-believer, so why would they be concerned about not 'going to heaven'?

@doyouknowhim - I currently attend a Methodist church and we have openly gay ministers and many churches perform same sex marriages

Being gay isn't a sin; I don't feel that any consenting love can be sinful. Jesus never really spoke about homosexuality and even the very few times it is mentioned in the bible it is commonly considered to be referencing non-consenting activity - with minors or slaves
In fact how to take care of widows is mentioned 20 times more!

Much of the Old Testament has to be taken in context of happening over 3000 years ago and what was or was not acceptable then is very different to now

So I don't refuse to eat seafood, or go outside the village when I have my period. If my husband died, I wouldn't expect his brother to take me as a wife!

Jesus told us the most important commandments were to love. Love God and love our neighbour as ourself. He upset the religious leaders because he said they were following some old rules, but they just didn't get what God really wanted them to do regarding loving each other

It sounds as if you've let the more 'severe' denominations of Christianity get into your head and lodge there. Many other forms of Christian belief exist, more focused on love and support than on judgement. It's worth unpicking that. The concept of sin for example is a nonsense. According to the more fundamentalist forms of faith, having sex when you aren't married is as bad as committing a murder. In what world does that make any sense? Would a loving deity think like that and teach that to his/her followers? It's worth questioning your beliefs and then finding one that fits with your world views, whatever they are.

I'm an atheist - I believe there is no God and I take immense comfort from that belief. I also accept that it can never be more than a belief, because we cannot know whether or not God exists. I'm at peace with that. I hope you find peace for yourself too.

For myself I find the concept of sin quite helpful - an inevitable aspect of the human condition, more akin to illness than to crime, that I recognise in my own actions and try to move beyond and forgive myself for, as I forgive others, and trust that God forgives me.

My prayers every night start with the very old 'Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner'. My great-grandfather used it as well (though it's many centuries older than him). In the morning I start with the even older 'This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad'. Easier some days than others.

On taking Leviticus literally, I only realised in the last couple of days that it says children who disrespect their parents should be stoned to death! I suspect an AIBU on that would get a firm thumbs down.

Because hell is painful!

Some Christians don’t believe in a hell. If there is one, it’s right here on planet Earth. Look at Gaza, Yemen, any war zone, the terrible suffering that many of us go through.

Do any of the established churches still teach a belief in Hell? I thought that had been given up ages ago.

Well there cannot be a Hell - God loves everyone and forgives all sin, so no-one would be in Hell so it's existence is pointless.

I don't believe God decides our lives, we have Free Will so our life choices are entirely our own.

I don't believe the death of Jesus meant all Humanities Sins were forgiven. I think that's Manmade dogma.

I think there is Something beyond our understanding or ability to comprehend, but I think all Religions miss the mark by miles and end up as a means to acquire and keep control/power/wealth.

My belief in the existence of Something isn't logical. It's just a feeling, a hunch, an intuition.

But Hell? Nah, I'm 100% certain that no such place exists. There's enough of it in Life.

There’s barely any reference to hell in the bible. It’s effectively a man made concept.

As I understand it, what we call hell is being excluded from the presence of God- in other words just not being at the party. It’s not painful.

I don’t actually live in hope of heaven and fear of hell. I live in relationship with God, which makes me a better person. I will die in relationship with God.

If you want to be with God, you can be. There’s no punishment, and it is it’s own reward.

I believe all religions are massively limited by human understanding. They reach towards the truth.

I also know that my understanding of spiritual matters is influenced by where I was born and what I’ve been taught.
I don’t believe it’s the only truth.
Other people of faith also access elements of ‘the truth’.

I thought The Good Place on Netflix gave a very good model of the afterlife. neither heaven nor hell were depicted though the stereotypes of both were played with, and the cast effectively lives in purgatory - perfectly pleasant, but locked in time - until, eventually, the final destination became apparent - and it was perfect. imo

and Ted Danson too

Couldn't have put it better!

I find it odd that people believe “God” exists just because of some stories that were written years ago. They could all be made up/fabricted stories yet people base their whole lives on them. It’s absolute madness.

Thank you for articulating my thoughts on this so clearly!

But above all else, as a non believer who thought God didn't exist before dying, it's not as simple as living in a place without God. It's hell, which is suppose to be more horrific than man can comprehend

It's all fine though, OP, because these days you can just cherry-pick which bits you like. I'm sure I read that most Christians don't actually believe in hell nowadays. Since it's all made-up anyway, why bother believing in the bits that don't sound very nice?

Really though, I don't see why being convinced of the supposed benevolence of god should make you feel it's any more likely that he actually exists. Why would an angry, vindictive god be any less likely to exist than a good one?

This is a brilliant post, @HarpyRampant