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.

‘Religion is the root of all evil’ is a bit daft really, unless you actually believe in gods and devils. If you don’t, then religions are obviously man-made ideologies/control structures, and men are capable of inventing non-religious dogmas and control structures too. Typically they seem to ‘work better’ for longer if they’ve got supernatural components though.

Could you elaborate?

No.

I think "higher powers" are a man made concept to control the masses in the guise of comfort and safety.

It’s not that religion is the root of all evil. It’s that a belief in a “higher power” can make people feel justified in doing evil things. If I do something evil, I’ve got nobody to hang it on but myself.

yes - the obvious extreme is suicide bombers.
There’s a well known quote “With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”

There may be some truth in that, though I think it’s a bit simplistic - non-religious ‘belief systems’ can also cause ‘good people’ to do harmful things. There’s some obvious examples but I don’t want to derail the thread.

I've got absolutely no time for religion, and I don't believe in an intelligent higher power.

But I do struggle with how the universe exists, without anything there to create it. That at some point there must have been nothing, and then there was something. I find that absolutely impossible to comprehend, without there being something above us, creating our universe, whether our universe is a simulation or real or whatever. But then, what created their universe, and the the universe above that etc etc, so a higher power creating our universe doesn't solve the issue either.

I would like to think there is a reason for us all being here, but I am far too skeptical to follow the beliefs of any religion. It's all just too implausable.

No

Not in the slightest.

Honestly, I don't really understand how anyone can. It's so obviously all nonsense.

It's definitely too simplistic for me. secular ideological zealots how done awful things to women's right in this country, in the name off good. Another example for me is that it's known that people's voting decisions often change when their tax bracket changes. Which again brings me back to my belief that it's all just human beings created power structures and then abusing them, whether intentionally or not.

I think religion could disappear from Earth tomorrow and nothing would change. A new power structure would quickly come to take it's place, like ideology has in the UK, because that's what human beings do. Again though, I take no issue with anyone else completely disagreeing with me on this, I'm enjoying hearing everyone's views

Exactly that. I could never be in a meaningful, long-term relationship with anyone who does either as I just couldn't respect their views and I would consequently lose respect for them.

The only thing that makes sense is that there was no time then and there so something just did exist eternally and then suddenly- bang!

I think thinking that way, that we are the remnants of an explosion, makes it easier for anything to be possible, including god, or intelligent design

To those of you who do believe in a god, what evidence have you got to support your belief?

I’m genuinely open minded and curious but I cannot see ANY evidence of the existence of any god like creature. Why would he/she not make themselves known to us??

Yes I believe in God and an afterlife. I challenge my own beliefs regularly though and can understand why other people might not.

@samplesalequeen I find it arrogant to think that this massive unknowable universe would care about one human being, yes. Our own lives whilst important to us, don't usually have impact beyond a handful of other people unless we're changing the world or curing cancer or killing people- we're not impactful or important so why would any grand plan care about us?

Where does it say “decompose” to though? Genuine question, not a conflict. I’m interested in it and I still am not resolute in my belief.

Does it decompose into the earth and become mulch? Plant food? Earth? I think that’s what I think I believe and what I mean by “human energy” being the atoms that make us “us”. They decompose after death and return to the earth to become something else. We exist as us and when we die we decompose into something else, that will then transform into something else in a never ending cycle.

Like you say, stardust. Not sure if I’m articulating myself properly. My brain atoms are currently embroiled in a code red migraine situation 😆

Send in the cults……….

Just want to point out that the war in Northern Ireland wasn’t about religion. Yes, religion was a ‘marker’ for the different sides and there were sectarian attacks, but it wasn’t about different faiths or religious beliefs. They weren’t arguing about the doctrine of transubstantiation! It started as a Civil Rights movement and became violent.

Hm no I don’t think so, but I sort of believe there might be life after death because that seems to be something that every culture throughout history has intuitively known to be true and generally speaking I find the deep rooted instinct that humans are born with tend to be correct.

An afterlife? Another life?

Where? As yourself? At what age? With your same family and friends (and enemies, exes)??? With your pets? How long would that life be????

I often wonder if people attend church in later life for company , to be a part of a community or maybe to subconsciously get on the right side of God because they fear death and what comes after it ? Maybe a fear of going to hell ?

I am not religious and believe in God and Jesus because I had a couple of experiences. I pray to them daily as I feel a strong connection to them now.

Well that's exactly it. That's why I find it hard to respect people's intellect when they say things like 'It was obviously what was meant to happen ' or anything else suggesting something is part of some grand celestial plan, when they are talking about something such as the coin in the supermarket trolley got stuck, which meant they needed to get help from a staff member and in so doing they walked somewhere where there was a £20 note blowing on the ground.... or whatever. To think some almighty power would get that involved in the minutiae of the lives of individuals, and also take such a circuitous route to achieving whatever pointless plan they have for each one, is nothing short of ridiculous.

I have absolutely no belief at all in any religion, higher power, life after death, ghosts, etc etc, I actively think it's all really silly and quite obviously (to me) not real. I think Jesus may have possibly been a real man, but more like a cult leader or magician type, who was written about in a book and people have taken it too literally. I DO believe aliens are real though. Maybe not little green men in spaceships like you see in movies, but there is 100% another planet somewhere out there with life on it. We cannot be the only ones ever.