AIBU to ask your opinions on God?

[Violetduck]

Do you beleive there is a God? I would like to, but how can he exist alongside modern science?

Aibu to believe in something more?

a philosophy which enables an adherent to type out that last sentence followed by a 'crying with laughter' emoji really isn't one I want anything to do with. I'm struggling with the concept that anyone who could type that genuinely believes it.

I didn’t say I believed it. My amusement is at the absurdity of simultaneously believing in a creator God, believing you will one day come face to face with Him, and imagining you will be able to have an argument with Him like with one of your Facebook pals. It’s risible.

@flaviaritt

But we are not all meant to live in agony from the moment of birth, which is what happens for some people, and again is not normally down to corruption or evil on the part of human beings.

In theological terms, before evil came into the world, nobody died. The world was a paradise and the first people were meant to live forever. So suffering is all down to the presence of evil. If there had never been evil or sin, nobody would ever have died in agony.

I am not saying I believe that, but that is the position.

And yet an omnipotent god, who could have prevented evil coming into the world, decided not to. Even if we say that the whole ridiculous Genesis story is some sort of allegory, it does still come down to god deciding that he wouldn't prevent evil (including things like dreadful genetic conditions and birth deformities) out of some sort of pique at the human race. Surely to have any sort of credibility theology has to be founded in some sort of logic?

And yet an omnipotent god, who could have prevented evil coming into the world, decided not to.

It’s a mystery I can’t say I fully understand.

@flaviaritt

But why does he apparently require people to gather together in specified buildings and at specified times and tell him how wonderful he is?

Let’s assume for a minute that God exists. Let’s assume He made everything, from the virus to exploding nebulae. Worlds, solar systems, galaxies.

IF all that is true, wouldn’t it make sense to see yourself as someone who might not understand His requirements? To admit that you are not capable of critiquing His requests of you, and you should just follow His commands?

Well, no. Because if that were true, he made us also as sentient beings with brains and a capacity for logic, and he must therefore be aware that we would form our own opinions. The question your quote was responding to denied suggestions that he is a narcissist; if he didn't want to be seen as such, he would either not demand that everyone keep telling him how fantastic he is, or explain why he was demanding it.

But, let's face it, that only happens because centuries ago people felt they had to do that to appease a vengeful god and the prayers and hymns were written that way.

Cygne

But as a sentient rational being, why aren’t you more aware of your limits? How could you - or any of us - realistically claim to understand God?

I've never believed in the existence of a god, even though I was brought up in a religious home, taken to church every Sunday, expected to pray, etc etc. There was never anything there, I used to wonder what I was supposed to feel when I said prayers or sang hymns, it was all just empty words to me.

How could you - or any of us - realistically claim to understand God?

'God works in mysterious ways' is the ultimate get-out clause.

I have my own personal faith which is very hard to define and tbh I dont really feel s need to which frustrates my DH.
It brings me peace and comfort at times. I do also have times where I dont believe at all and would say I'm agnostic.
I dont care what others believe but dislike it when people 'bash' religion and compare it to believing in fairies etc.

God works in mysterious ways' is the ultimate get-out clause.

But if He exists, of course he works in mysterious ways. We could no more understand Him than a sandcastle I made in the beach could understand me. How could we be so arrogant as to assume an understanding of (and for many here, superiority to) the thing that designed us? It’s nonsensical.

As a reincarnationist, I believe not so much in a God as a power which enables us to move from one life to the next, hopefully learning and progressing as we "pay off" the bad and benefit from the good of the life that went before

It has some similarities with the Christian belief of judgement after death - and with others, come to that - except that instead of being a once-and-for-all thing it's an ongoing process

Of course I can't "prove it" any more than holders of other beliefs, but for many of us it makes perfect sense and explains a great deal, including the usual "why do the innocent suffer?"

@flaviaritt

God works in mysterious ways' is the ultimate get-out clause.

But if He exists, of course he works in mysterious ways. We could no more understand Him than a sandcastle I made in the beach could understand me. How could we be so arrogant as to assume an understanding of (and for many here, superiority to) the thing that designed us? It’s nonsensical.

Why then leave us his word?

Why then leave us his word?

I don’t fully know. I don’t know if it is His word. But the logic of Christianity is that you must follow it, while accepting that will not fully understand God.

When I hear this question my first thought is normally, "What is god?".

I think of myself as a non believer but my answer might change depending on how people define god.

But the logic of Christianity is that you must follow it, while accepting that will not fully understand God.

So the ultimate get-out clause for the inconvenient parts then.

So the ultimate get-out clause for the inconvenient parts then.

You can choose to see it that way if you like. I just think it’s obvious that I will never understand God (or whatever you want to call an entity that created black holes, humans, water, light...). I know I am not capable of understanding such a being.

But the logic of Christianity is that you must follow it, while accepting that will not fully understand God.

That's not logic by any sensible definition of the word. It's just a tenet of the faith.

My DD was discussing god at her faith school
“religion is just a way to control the stupid people”
She was six, but I couldn’t disagree with her.
( wish she hadn’t said it to the vicar though.)

That's not logic by any sensible definition of the word. It's just a tenet of the faith.

Yes.

I've always thought any particular religion can't be right. Why should millions of people in one country be right and wrong in another? But I do think there is something beyond our knowledge of time and space. Who started the Big Bang? What's beyond the edge of all the universes? Where does the essence of each person go when they die and come from? I actually think it could be something like the movie interstellar Beyond our understanding.

I rather like Philip Pullman's concept of a completely knackered and defunct Authority.

I do find it interesting how Christianity spread across Europe - albeit a while after the cruxifixion.

Apparently there were a lot of people who claimed to be prophets at the time.

So did the teachings of Jesus resonate with people who had power - and with that power, then you had to believe in Jesus and God.

I can see how the Abrahamic religions had so many followers during the centuries. The rulers were all religious and the various religious organisations had (and still have ) a lot of influence.

You can see that now - many US Presidents invoke God in their speeches. God bless America and all that.

I wonder how long it will take for the influence of religion to end.

When will a US President be able to admit they do not believe in God?

If Jesus had never been born - do people who are Christian think they would still believe in God?

People believed in Gods way before Jesus was born.

From my understanding, the Christian God is the same as the Jewish and the Muslim God - but I stand to be corrected.

Other cultures believe in different Gods.

So if you believe in God, do you think your God is the same as the other Gods?

Yes, no doubt. Not very popular or trendy I'm afraid

Hmmm not sure where I stand on the issue of god. I can only speak from my own rather mixed experience.

I was raised non-religious, but became a witch for several years in my teens. I eventually started attending church at 21 with a friend (my belief in witchcraft had started to seriously wane by this point) and became a strong Christian for the next 3-4 years. I began to question things more and more over the years and my faith gradually became weaker and weaker. By age 25, I was pretty unclear about god's existence.

It's now been 6 years and I'm 31, but I still don't know where I stand. Sometimes, I feel witchcraft is true and go back to that. Sometimes, I feel Christianity is true and go back to that. Other times, I tend towards agnosticism or atheism.

I think for me, religion is a bit like a form of OCD. I worry something bad will happen, so I engage in certain rituals/ behaviours (prayers etc) to alleviate worry and try to 'guarantee' a good outcome. But it ends up becoming a cycle. I think fear (not love) has been keeping me hooked on Christianity all these years, which means I struggle to leave it completely. It's been an utterly exhausting journey of several years which shows no signs of being resolved anytime soon.

I wonder if this thread has had an effect on the OP?

Will they return...or are they moving in mysterious ways?

If a group of people in a far remote corner of the globe never had access to education, literature or other cultures, therefore no access to the concept of an organised religion, they could not 'accept Jesus' etc and therefore would go to hell when they died. No matter how good they were, how they loved one another and were kind and productive. Their free will can't extend to accepting a religion they would have no knowledge of. That doesn't make sense to me but according to my catholic school it is a fact - if you do not accept god into your heart willingly you cannot go to heaven.