Do you believe in God/a higher power?

[CuriousAboutWhatYouThink]

Not religion. I have no time for organised religion and the associated man made rules.

But do you believe in 'something'?

For context, my grandad was a CofE vicar but my parent rebelled against it and we were brought up broadly l in the religion (eg we celebrated main religious festivals like Easter and Christmas) but not as practising Christians and without a particular belief in God.

As an adult, I have friends of different faiths and none and it's something we have discussed from time to time. It's also something I used to discuss with my grandma who had a very strong belief in God but also believed the Bible until she became older when she still had a strong faith but admitted she thought the Bible was largely nonsense!

I suppose I've always felt that there is 'something' but I refer to it as the universe. I don't know, I always feel that there has been 'something' looking out for me.

That doesn't mean bad things have never happened because they have and religion/belief doesn't protect anyone from that. And it doesn't mean my life is anywhere near perfect because it's not. But the universe has always seemed to 'step in' when needed.

I don't know. I'm going through a tough time at the moment but I have a feeling everything will turn out to be OK because it always does.

Also, I love the questioning, and God Himself gave us minds for this reason. However, we must be aware that the finite mind is ultimately unable to fully comprehend the infinite mind.

@CurlewKate

And it’s also important to remember when talking about scientists in the past being Christians that you had to say you were a Christian to enter University or hold any position of authority.

That is true, but there are numerous examples of scientists who, from what we now know of their lives, definitely genuinely believed in the mystical, the spiritual, the paranormal. I'm not just talking about Christianity here, I'm talking about the mystical/occult generally.

Newton 100% took alchemy seriously. Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-founder of evolutionary theory, was a big proponent of spiritualism (the movement that popularised mediumship/communication with spirits.)

Scientists are still carrying out research into psychic phenomena and mediumship to this day. Dean Radin, Rupert Sheldrake, Julie Beischel, for example.

No! Especially not after my Catholic education. (Was very happy at the school but it put me right off religion)

nope, and I cannot get my head around why anyone would believe there is a higher power (in whatever shape or form) when it's so obvious there is absolutely nothing at all.

@dizzydizzydizzy

I can understand why it would put you off Catholicism or Christianity, but there are quite a few religions that do not operate or have the same premises as Christianity, so it needn't necessarily put you off them.

Pagan religions, for example, are VERY different, and based around entirely different premises.

Not saying you should be one, just that there's no reason a negative experience with a particular religion should put you off every single one.

@Southshore18

For me and my fellow polytheist pagans, it's because we have experiences that we interpret as being with deities, as well as taking the accounts of others in our communities seriously.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2020/01/irish-american-witchcraft-do-i-believe-in-fairies/

This blog post by Morgan Daimler is about her belief in fairies, rather than deities (though she does believe in deities as well) - but her underlying reasoning is the same. Some people have experiences which makes it hard for them to accept the premise that it's "obvious there is absolutely nothing".

This is a genuine question: why is it obvious to you that there’s nothing beyond what we can see? I’m interested to know your thoughts.

A higher power is the catch all explanation for things we don't understand and cannot explain. Science and nature are my higher powers.

I can take this a step further: consider that we do not obviously have brains in our heads. If you look for it and scan, there it will suddenly be. I wonder why

No

Do you really believe that there’s a god who keeps an eye on and understands the views of all the billions of humans currently on the planet? Do you honestly think that that is possible??

Well, MY response to that is that if I’m presented with something that goes against what we know now, and seems completely impossible according to current knowledge, I’m not going to believe it. Should we make new discoveries which make those things possible, I will change my beliefs accordingly.

Yes I do. If you consider how tiny our planet earth is in comparison to the universe (and that’s just the known universe) doesn’t it make sense that there are things that are bigger than we can comprehend?

So why would this god want to follow all of us around and see all our actions and thoughts? What’s in it for him??

She/He’s not doing a great job then.

Either God is NOT omnipotent and cannot prevent suffering or God IS omnipotent and he/she is very cruel.

Yes

No

I don’t think the Alpha course could answer the sort of questions I’d have.

I suspect I’d get shown the door pdq!

Of course.

But "God did it" is just a human invented cop-out to fill in the gaps we don't understand. Ultimately everything has an explaination and I can guarantee you it has nothing to do with what is in the bible or any other religious book.

The old saying goes “”If God did not exist, man would have to invent him!”

Yes. I don’t follow a religion, but I do believe there is something. I feel it most out in nature, and I feel deep gratitude.

He loves us.

@CoffeeCantata

That's the pagan polytheist perspective on deities. Pagan polytheists do not have the same premises for deity as Abrahamic monotheists. We do not believe, or claim, that the deities are all-powerful or all-knowing, or even necessarily all-loving.

We do believe they have skills, abilities and powers, just like any other entity, but there are limits. In polytheist theological frameworks, deities have specific skills and abilities related to certain fields.

So unnecessary suffering exists, I would say, because the deities do not necessarily have the power to prevent it, and may not be aware of all of it.

Well you’ve hit on the great conundrum. God is omnipotent and allows suffering for various reasons that are explained in the bible but never quite to our human satisfaction, because suffering is very hard to experience and witness. So your question is valid. No one believes in God ultimately because the arguments make sense.

I had an OBE a long time ago. I could see a soft white light emanating from the walls and surfaces, and I could see that the material universe was made out of it. Maybe that's what god is. I felt very happy and at peace there