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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that God doesn't exist and is a manmade concept

569 replies

Perimama · 07/12/2023 01:42

As it is taboo to talk religion politics with people socially, I often wonder whether many people think like me. As a species we have dismissed all the other "Gods" ie Greek gods etc. What makes the Christian God any different? I wasn't born into a religious household although I was baptized Christian. The whole concept seems so unbelievable to me.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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TheDogthatDug · 07/12/2023 01:49

I think we should start worshipping the Old style gods, they're much more interesting and make religion fun 😉 100% agree with you Otherwise

ATadGrumpy · 07/12/2023 01:55

I'd like to believe- but that was what 'trapped' us in the first place. Thinking that there must be better than this? Definitely 'man' made as women come out as lesser- a whole lot less. I can imagine some men getting together to write it as a means of controlling the masses.
Can you have a God without religion?

WandaWonder · 07/12/2023 01:56

It cant be proven either way

ShippingNews · 07/12/2023 01:58

I'm fully in agreement, op.

Oldsu · 07/12/2023 02:05

As Thomas Aquinas once said 'To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Tourmalines · 07/12/2023 02:09

its unbelievable to me too , I do not believe.

chappoi · 07/12/2023 02:11

Religion has never been proven but has a history of people going into war for different beliefs. People need rules and guidence so we follow the law now. But years ago religion was the law.

Inkypot · 07/12/2023 02:12

Oldsu · 07/12/2023 02:05

As Thomas Aquinas once said 'To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Edited

And that sums it up perfectly. Equally most of the time people aren't looking to have their minds changed anyway. There are loads of videos I could recommend by Fr Mike Schmitz on YouTube but I know most people questioning religion on these threads probably won't ever watch them.

auberginefortea · 07/12/2023 02:19

Wow OP, I've not come across that idea before - I simply assumed everyone believed in God. Does this idea have a name?

MassageForLife · 07/12/2023 02:20

WandaWonder · 07/12/2023 01:56

It cant be proven either way

If it being unprovable is a fact (which I have no reason to disagree with), wouldn't the logical conclusion be that it's a manmade concept? How else would the concept exist?

It being a manmade concept however, doesn't disprove the existence of god - plenty of scientific concepts that were imagined by man turned out to be factual, but without the initial manmade concept, they wouldn't have known to try and prove or disprove it.

jonesysy · 07/12/2023 02:21

Possibly the most important point in history was 1859 when our species realised where we had come from via evolution by natural selction. At that point we should have cast off all religions declaring an Adam and Eve or a creator that put animals here for our benefit

tolerable · 07/12/2023 02:28

"am not trying to attract drama or cause any sorta kafuffle" but....

Original poster
Perimama · 07/12/2023 02:37

auberginefortea · 07/12/2023 02:19

Wow OP, I've not come across that idea before - I simply assumed everyone believed in God. Does this idea have a name?

ok Captain sarky. I don't tend to talk about it with people that is why it is good to chat about it on here. According to polls atheists/agnostics are a small minority, I'm just wondering if these polls really reflect people's beliefs accurately or do people just say they are Christian etc if that is what their family background it without putting much thought into it. Does a large majority of people truly believe 100%. I would've thought most people have doubts, but maybe not..

OP posts:
Momtotwokids · 07/12/2023 02:38

Oldus perfectly said. I only care that I believe in God your beliefs don't effect me.

auberginefortea · 07/12/2023 02:41

Ok, I appreciate I was a little sarcastic, but assuming you're in the UK, there have been several surveys that suggests around half of the country considers themselves atheists. Here's one I quickly found which showed 53% of Brits say they have no religion. At least in the UK, atheists are not "a small minority".

Religion (natcen.ac.uk)

Religion

Press release on religious belief from the 34th British Social Attitudes report

https://bsa.natcen.ac.uk/media-centre/archived-press-releases/bsa-34-record-number-of-brits-with-no-religion.aspx

Toddlerteaplease · 07/12/2023 02:42

Oldsu · 07/12/2023 02:05

As Thomas Aquinas once said 'To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Edited

Absolutely this!

Justfinking · 07/12/2023 03:23

I agree. Every society had/have their own myths and legends. Fundamentally they're all the same too.

coldcallerbaiter · 07/12/2023 03:36

You can think any theory is improbable.

Would not surprise me if the real answers have never even been thought of by humans.

MassageForLife · 07/12/2023 03:40

Oldsu · 07/12/2023 02:05

As Thomas Aquinas once said 'To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Edited

I love this quote. Mainly because it is supposed to be pro-god, but it is really saying that religion is inexplicable.

It would be very easy to change the opinion of many people with no faith - all it would need is some actual proof.

DdraigGoch · 07/12/2023 03:42

God does exist. He has four legs, a tail, pointy ears, a fur coat and is curled up at the foot of my bed.

hihihihihihihihihihi · 07/12/2023 03:43

I don't know if I believe in a higher power or not. It's pretty amazing/supernatural that any of us were even brought into existence in my opinion. I don't have to believe in god for that.

Tryingtobeagoodie · 07/12/2023 03:51

I have a very strong faith. I couldn't function without it. But I'm not a fundamentalist of any kind. I'm always questioning and puzzling over things. I really struggle with all the suffering in the world, and why It's permitted. But my faith helps me through the travails of this crazy world.
Loads of my friends are agnostics or atheists, and I respect people of all faiths and none, provided they're nice people.

ABCXYZ17 · 07/12/2023 04:01

Of course God doesn’t exist, it’s an absurd concept. Religion was the easiest way to control people who had no other explanations for things and could easily be scared into compliance etc.
Jesus existed and pretended to be the son of ‘god’ and started the biggest con the world has ever seen. I’m certainly not living my life by ‘beliefs’ that some men in a desert thought up over two thousand years ago and started a cult on the back off.

Catsmere · 07/12/2023 04:04

DdraigGoch · 07/12/2023 03:42

God does exist. He has four legs, a tail, pointy ears, a fur coat and is curled up at the foot of my bed.

Now I'm wondering if he barks or purrs!

(My deities purr. Or, at the moment, snore.)

Cailleachian · 07/12/2023 04:08

I was brought up christian (sunday school, occasional church, prayers at school etc) and as a child I never questioned God. When I was about 14 I went rabidly atheist for about 6 months, then gradually faded back to soft belief as I became an adult.

Over the decade or so, first prompted by climate change I've come to a fairly firm belief in an entity that I think is what Abrahamic traditions would recognise as God. While I wouldn't say I am actually "religious", God is important to me.

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