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.....

I don't pity people who believe

There are many people I admire who have strong religious beliefs

I'm strongly agnostic because the existence of a god has not been disproven. I doubt it could be, so I cannot accept atheism as a tenant any more than I can accept one of the myriad world religions. I suspect lack of a god is the most likely situation. But I am open to the possibility that I'm wrong.

If there is a god, I cannot believe that it would be one of the highly human-defined descriptions we have in the various religions - how could one group of people in history be 'right' and every other single human be 'wrong'? My two personal suppositions, if there is a god or higher power is that it is either (or perhaps both of): some kind of emergent property of life - we or perhaps all life on the planet (universe?) contribute to something greater than us (gaia-like), perhaps including allowing consciousness to extend beyond death or allow rebirth; and/or the supernatural power is so far beyond human understanding that every religion that has existed in the course of humanity is an attempt to understand the same thing filtered through the human mind, just getting very different perspectives on it, and the fact that they seem so different to us only reflects the poor ability of the human mind to understand the reality of this higher power.

And thanks for the pointer to that book, tabby. I am absolutely fascinated by comparative religion and trying to understand why people believe what they believe. It looks like it could be quite informative.

I do.
As someone else said, I have a day- to-day relationship with the Lord; and I have seen personal prayers answered in miraculous ways. I do not think the magnificent design of the world, the universe , the human body and every part of Nature could have happened by accident!
I do understand though that people who equate organized religion with God, could be put off. People are imperfect and every institution that we create becomes corrupt, including religions and churches.

Mega - I would answer your question with the intricate design of our bodies, each cel harmoniously speaks to the other, our brain is faster and more brilliant than any computer ever built, how every nerve and muscle works together, the veins in every human body in which could wrap around the whole earth twice, our DNA manuscript..... as for people and children dying or naturally deformed in some way, I can't help but think that is due to generational disease, the environment which we have and continue to ruin, the spreading of disease etc...

Baby

Annandale - a scientist and mathematician once predicted the accuracy of fulfilled prophecies within the bible, the chance of someone's luck in guessing what would occur was a number incomprehensible. Basically impossible.

Ta1kin - but that isn't scripturally sound?

Older - I chose to become a Christian because of a profound experience before I married....

Kitty - no, not at all, that's not what I'm implying. I was merely reacting to people's thoughts on religion causing wars etc... basically, I believe, religious or not, if we all followed Jesus' teachings then we would all be better off. In terms of sickness etc, I personally think that is a mixture of all sorts of things, not necessarily God pointing the finger IYSWIM

Dedication - just to throw this in there, what do you believe caused the Big Bang? As science has taught us, everything has a cause and effect.....

Deadsouls - we know that Jesus walked the earth, most scientists believe that also due to historical and archaeological proof. His teachings have also been documented in non-religious texts. The age old question and reason for disbelief is whether he was divine or merely a teacher....

I don't. I envy per that do, it must be very comforting. But on a deep, fundamental level, I know that, for human consciousness, there lies nothing beyond death.

At best, it's Santa Claus for adults.

At worst, a justification for terrible cruelty.

If you need pie in the sky when you die to motivate you to do good things, can you really say you are a good person? That's not to dismiss the good works that many religious people do - but why credit religion instead of the person him or herself?

You feel it or you don't.
I don't.

OP why did you pick Christianity, do you think that if you grew up and lived in a culture that was based around Islam/Buddhism/Hinduism or something else you would more likely to join one of those (assuming you are from an Christian country)

Yes, but they were humanoid too Olderthanyouthink.

I wonder why say hamsters (opposible thumbed mammals) didn't discover radium or invent the wheel (they just run on one).

Do you see what I mean? A poster upthread mentioned alien intervention? Is this idea any more bonkers than any other religion? They mostly all boil down to a creator from outer space (heaven) when you break it down.

I'm fascinated by children that remember past lives too.

Where does the energy that pings round our brains go when our body can no longer host it? Our soul, our thoughts, likes, dislikes, ideas, opinions, memories, are no more than electric currents, it's not a tangible thing.

I do. I feel his existence, the world makes more sense with him than without him. 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. I'm amazed by what other people assume I believe. I do not recognise the faith that other people don't believe in and are so angry about. It isn't my experience of God and faith.

OP "Goldfish - I linked them because there have been prophecies written in the bible that have come to be fulfilled which has been recorded not only in religious texts but non religious texts alike"

1. how does that relate to a concept of a good decent being as god?

2. if the non religious texts predicted them too, what does that mean?

3. The West Wing. That's not intended as flippant. I say it because it's really interesting how prescient the show was in terms of foreseeing current politics. It's not that the writers have special powers, it's that a study of human nature will always predict certain things correctly. Isn't this just evidence that sometimes people predict things correctly?

I think the Jehovah Witnesses last said the world would end in the 1970s. Clearly it didn't. Some predictions will be right and some won't and a stopped clock is right twice a day. What has any of this to do with theism or atheism?

Also, the world would be a better place if we were all kind decent people but that has nothing to do with Jesus.

Summer your question to dedication was what does she believe about the Big Bang?

My answer to that would be: I don't know. And I'm ok with not knowing or understanding everything. I don't need to believe in some all seeing being - I'm happy with accepting I just don't know stuff. That science doesn't know everything. We know a lot, but not everything. Maybe we will know one day, or maybe it just goes too far back in the history of time to ever really know.
The idea that either you must know, or you must provide an alternative answer is a bit odd. Sometimes, it's ok to not know. And that goes for the human race as well as individuals.

I do, but 'believe' suggests a choice or active will to buy into it all which I don't have. It's something I know and feel iyswim.
I've not rtft, not because I'm scared I might see something that challenges this but lest I 'see' someone I like and they don't
I fervently want everyone to 'feel it the same way as I do'- my paraphrasing for believe.

I believed wholeheartedly as a child. I grew up in evangelical Christianity. I prayed every night for years for the terrible things happening in my family to stop. Night after night. I completely 100% believed God heard me and would help. Eventually I started to think more rationally as I grew up and realised I didn't actually believe.

As an adult I don't believe because I believe in science. I understand why some people need to believe. I don't like religion but I've had someone tell me I'm in their prayers and it's quite a lovely thing despite my childhood because it means they care.

if we all (every single person) followed Jesus' philosophy and teachings, don't you think the world would be a better place?

A bloke who believed himself to be the "son of God"?

Who assembled around him a group of devoted followers?

Who labeled those who didn't believe him "doubters"?

Sounds a lot like a cult leader to me. He shares all of those things with Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite and Charles Manson. None of whom are particularly inspiring or admirable people.

So no. I think Jesus (whoever he was) was nothing more than a cult leader.

Point taken. However, what about the crimes against humanity committed in the name of Jesus? Are those also following Jesus' teachings?

Summerbloom, I didn't mean that the prophets had to guess what would happen, I just think that when the time came to write down the prophecies, the ones that got written down were the ones that could be seen to have been fulfilled, with hindsight.

This is not unusual or terrible. We all remember the coincidences in our lives and forget the hundreds of non-coincidences. What would have been the point of writing down all the prophecies that could not have been shown to have come true? What beauty or meaning would there have been in those? Religion is not in my understanding a game in which we try to measure or test God and if he passes the test, we believe. We believe, and then find meaning in God and the scriptures. Only I don't believe.

I don't - among other reasons, I don't want to believe that there is any all powerful being that would allow children to be born into the world with unbearable, incurable diseases/disorders. I have worked with children with life-limiting diseases and there is nothing that could ever convince me that a power allowed it.

That last comment was addressed to summer

I don't, but I can see why people invented him. It must be comforting to feel watched over etc and to think that even if this life is shit then the next will be better. It's a shame though when people cling onto an afterlife - the version of which depends on which religion - to the detriment of making the most out of this current one.

Pickle - can I say, that's a bit insulting?
I don't have faith. I'd say I'm pretty caring. Spent my life working in low paid charity work because I believe in looking after other people and the world around us. Sponsor 2 kids overseas because I don't have much but I have more than they do. Etc etc.
On the other hand, one of my defining moments as a teenager was listening to an argument between my mum and one of her best friends, who had recently found religion. He argued that anyone who didn't believe in God was wrong, could never lead a good life whatever their actions, and was bound to end up being a nasty individual as they were not following the teachings of Jesus.
Pretty nasty. Horribly judgemental, not at all kind, and not at all tolerant.

I don't, I believe it's been made up by man first to try and understand the world, cycles of the seasons, nature etc and then as a form of control.

Fairy stories in my eyes, so many ancient (BC) religions and myths mention the same things - son of a god and born of a virgin birth. Some of the ten commandments are remarkably similar to the Egyptian book of the dead iirc?

All being said I do wish I did have some sort of faith as it does seem to provide comfort and I am going through an existential crisis at the moment

"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."

Then you can't know many people who don't have faith. I know several horrible mean-spirited Christians and very many kind, generous, philanthropic, curious, intelligent non-believers. Of course I know some religious people who are kind, generous, philanthropic, curious and intelligent as well. But faith has very little to do with it.

If you invented God now, no-one would believe in the idea. The default, straight-from-the-factory setting for a human brain is not to believe. Largely because there is actually nothing to believe in and you wouldn't make it up if you hadn't been told about it. It's easy to think it must exist because of all the edifices, physical and intellectual, that have been constructed in the name of religion.

There would also be conflict and arguments (as evidenced) about whose interpretation of Jesus' teachings was the right one. Some would believe that their understanding was the right and only way, other would be different ly, and then they'd probably end up killing each other.