Why you do or don't believe in God?

[summerbloom]

Interested to hear people's views on why they do believe in God or on why you don't believe in God.....

BBT789 - what's the point in god then, if he/she created man who is fallible and is going to stuff up god's 'perfect' creation?

What about natural disasters which have nothing to do with manmade global warming, things like earthquakes.

And what of people who believe in a god/s, but just not your god. Are they inferior?

BigBang, if God were that perfect, would he really allow famine to happen despite our failures? And is it really our fault if land which is normally entirely adequate to sustain the local population suddenly becomes incapable of doing so because the rains fail?

Dawnviews

God created the laws of chemistry in just the right way so that life would be possible.

And the proof of that is?

If we are to believe in God and therefore everlasting life we must know that God is timeless, and what makes us think that God wants us to have perfect lives here on earth.

And the whole 'free will' thing.... I mean, if there really were a God who were powerful enough to set this whole thing up, why would he be so cruel as to let his creations suffer so much? It requires so much mental gymnastics to believe in that warped view of a creator you are supposed to revere.

I want my children to learn to make good decisions but I certainly intervene if I think they are going to do serious damage to themselves or others.

Welll, dawn, what does God want then? He seems in your description to be rather capricious and malevolent - capable of creating amazing natural things and life, but wanting people to be imperfect and suffer. In one sentence you say there must be God because everything is perfect (in what universe? ) and in another that he might not want everything to be perfect. How does that all add up?

I don't know for sure.

I was brought up in the Mormon religion.

This is what I cannot get my head around.... different churches believes in a different God. So which one is real? It cannot be all of them.

But I do feel strongly that some pastors/leaders are complete frauds.

The people of faith I know are kinder to those around them and more interested in the world beyond themselves than those who don't believe.

Tell that to the children abused by nuns and priests and the people affected by violence in the name of religion.

I don't believe a word of it it's a wonderful fantasy but ultimately the creation of man to provide understanding back in a time when science wasn't there to give us the answers .

I wish I didn't believe it it's a wonderful notion it must bring much comfort and if you're wrong youll be dead and you won't know that you are wrong.

fintress it's been proof enough for many renowned ex atheist physicists who can't explain the unbelievable complexities of our DNA. That alone was enough to convince them that we have been designed.

How could anyone possibly blame God for the man-made diseases and illnesses?? HIV/AIDS is completely man-made and spread like wildfire through Africa, that is down to Humanity's failure...

We drop bombs on countries and wonder how God can let it happen? Seriously? Stop dropping the bombs???

We watch Children in Need each year where they tottle off to Africa and ask for money to end hunger for decades now but if Human Greed was stalled and we left the resources in those countries to them and stopped causing unnecessary wars, those people would be able to make enough food for themselves, instead we blame God...

We, as a Humanity have failed considerably. In Islam we have the holy Quran as a guide on how we should live, to me it is the perfect religion, but unfortunately we are imperfect beings. If we were to follow the religion properly we would all be at peace, instead culture gets in the way...

Don't you see that God continuously gives us chances? We just choose not to listen...

Anois "I like the community that religion brings, I do wish there was something like that outside of church."

There is though. Have you looked for humanist groups, atheist groups? Also I found a strong local community through volunteering and Twitter. Some are believers and some aren't but we have a great sense of local community in a very boring outer London suburb. I think especially if you're a commuter, it can seem like local stuff isn't happening but it is. Community exists in many ways, a place of worship might be one but there's loads of others.

But I do feel strongly that some ALL pastors/leaders are complete frauds.

There you go fixed it no charge

If we are to believe in God and therefore everlasting life we must know that God is timeless, and what makes us think that God wants us to have perfect lives here on earth.

Why would the fact that he is 'timeless' mean that he wouldn't want all people to at least have a life free of terrible, undeserved pain and disaster? And why would anyone want to worship a god who didn't want that?

So people dying, disease etc is free will but God is the first to be given the praise when a child is cured.

The people of faith I know are kinder to those around them

Not those that I know. Neighbour, very religious. When she found out my ex had left me she gave me a big lecture on how divorce is frowned upon, and had I been a member of HER church, this would never have happened.. I could have learned from the church how to forgive him and live in peace with it. WTF. So he was shagging all and sundry but if I went to her church it would make it all ok.

In the frikking meantime, this is the same neighbour who is having an affair with my other also very religious neighbour.

Needless to say I didn't join them as per the invite the next Sunday...

I don't - my family are not religious at all so it is not something that I was brought up with, and I find it quite surprising that anyone still does, to be honest. I think that religion is interesting as a historical and cultural phenomenon, but it so obviously not actually true (and as PP have pointed out, even if you believe that YOUR religion is true, all religions can't be true at the same time). I am a bit taken aback if I find out that someone believes in God - I think that I lose a bit of respect for them (to me, it is qualitatively the same as an adult telling me that they sincerely believe in Santa Claus).

That said, I can see that must be a comfort, and there have been times in in my life when I have wished I could believe in God in order to have that comfort. But that's sort of like saying that I wish I could believe in Santa Claus because it would make Christmas more magical.

But BBT, what about all the diseases that aren't man made? Viruses, bacterial TB, the plague.... What about tsunamis and earthquakes? How are they man made? We didn't create the tectonic plates. That's apparently part of God's 'perfect' design. Just terrorise the natives from time to time to remind them who's in charge? Or just plain old evolutionary chance?

I don't.

I saw DM in a coma after a catastrophic stroke from which she never woke up again. That killed off any lingering faith from being dragged to church as a child. It was so clearly a biological machine that had broken irretrievably in the most heart breaking way. What would happen to a soul if someone were in limbo like that?

Dawnviews

it's been proof enough for many renowned ex atheist physicists who can't explain the unbelievable complexities of our DNA. That alone was enough to convince them that we have been designed.

I would be interested in reading any peer reviewed journal articles by those many renowned ex-aethiest physicists.

coldcasechristianity.com/2015/why-the-information-in-our-dna-points-to-the-existence-of-god/

Yes it's from a Christian view point but that doesn't mean it can be discounted (by atheists) of course.

JustAnotherPoster00

I think I love you

Not read the thread yet but weighing in.

Op I presume when you said 'god' you meant the god of the three main monotheistic religions (a theist interpretation of god)? Some people believe in 'a god'- a higher power that goes as far as creation but doesn't involve him/herself in our lives per se, but do not believe in organised religion (deists).

I am a non believer, for the very reason many of my friends of faith believe- but just the opposite!
They use the tired old 'without the bible/torah/quran book of mormon where do we get our morals?' I believe that morals are part of our existence and play a part in our biology, nothing to do with the bible. Also, anyone who would suggest getting their morals solely from the bible is probably a psychopath.

Non believers can live happy, fulfilling, generous, caring, grateful lives. Some might even argue that we appreciate it even more because we accept that we do not survive the destruction of our brains (and therefore our consciousness).

I see religion mainly of one of two things, sometimes both simultaneously- a comfort blanket, or a way to control others.

I don't believe in god because he is too easily explained away with logic/ and there is really no test conclusive enough to prove his existence, until there is I'm willing to change my mind (as all decent non believers should be)

I don't. I gave up on God by the age of 10 and around-about a year after regularly watching the news with my parents.

But that article takes as truth lots of things that can be challenged. Look for a start at the very woolly sentence "Our personal experience tells us information comes only from intelligent sources." There are some things beyond our personal experience. And what is 'personal experience'? And what do we actually mean by 'information'? And what does 'intelligent' mean? I get information from my thermometer. Is that an intelligent source?