Do you believe in god?

[Unicorndreams24]

i have recently been thinking a lot about religion and wondering how many believe in god and also what made you come to the decision of believing?

No, but I think it must be comforting to believe that you’re going to a better place, and I can see the appeal of the social side of going to church, for example. Just not for me.

It sounds like you've been through a lot. 💐

The bible teaches us that all have fallen short, we all have sin. The Good News is that Jesus has washed it away and there is no condemnation for those who follow Him.

Believing we are good enough by our own moral standards or church attendance or some other act is not biblical, it is pride. We need a saviour. Jesus is the way to God, not our good deeds, works and false sense of purity. He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

I respect the views of everyone on here, and hope that mine are also met with respect. 🙂

(edited for a spelling error and to encourage anyone who is curious to look into their nearest alpha course)

Oh yes, I do believe in God and that Jesus is the son of God.
Certainly I accept science from the Greeks who were the astronomers to Oppenheimer, there need be no conflict. I am coming to terms with the idea of free will and responsibility that we have been given.

No. I was brought up in a Christian family and believed it … but the more I experienced and thought, the less it made sense. As soon as I accepted that there was no god, everything was much clearer and made more sense.

Do you pray? Do you think it will give you preference over a young child in danger with no one to pray over them? As a believer, do you get preferential treatment in this life or the next?

Are the dinosaurs a test of faith? No evolution? You can’t follow one rule dogmatically without the others. Do you want to punish homosexuals?

It’s like my parents, I am ‘insert faith’ but I don’t believe in that bit obviously…. Well you do if you support that religion……

I was brought up a Christian and had a very strong faith and was very involved in a local church until about 10 years ago.

I was taught and believed 3 things.

God loves us more than anyone ever will.
God can do anything.
God is omniscient. (All knowing)

I grew to realise that those three things are completely incompatible. If there is a god, they are cruel and unloving.

Having said that, I do miss having a faith, especially at this time of year.

No I don’t and I never have. My parents were completely non-religious and god was just some abstract thing that got mentioned in school assemblies. I live in a country that is more religious than where I grew up but I suspect most of that is down to the social aspect of church/ temple/ whatever, rather than any actual belief that god exists.

No, of course not.

Religion may offer comfort to some but I prefer to face reality. Dealing with provable scientific fact is much more reassuring in the end.

Which God?

And why that one?

And what do you mean by "believe in"?

No, I think it's an utterly ludicrous notion to entertain in 2025.

If I am completely mistaken and there is such a thing as God, he's an arsehole.

There is an answer to life, the Universe and everything but, as an agnostic, I believe this answer is beyond human comprehension. Perhaps it always will be. Or perhaps the answer really is 42! :D

We can choose to believe the things that other people made up a long time ago if there’s comfort to be found in it…why not? Personally, I’m fine with not knowing.

I think agnostics are widely misunderstood, seen as fence sitters, but in reality we’re just saying the answer can’t be known.

No but I really wish I did.

Nope!

Was born to atheist parents, unbaptised but they were very careful about letting us know we could explore belief systems and choose a religion if we felt it was for us. I went through a phase of believing in a "something" as PPs have outlined, and thought of myself as agnostic. This waxed and waned over the years until logic gained an outright win.

While I do say things like "thank god", the thing I actually thank if I feel abnormally blessed is "the universe". I don't believe the universe is conscious or gives a shit about little ol' me, however. It's just a basic desire to express appreciation of a stroke of luck.

I believe in a creator of some kind but not a personal god who takes some kind of interest in us as individuals. For all I know there may be more than one creator. I dont belong to any organized religion but am interested in religion in an academic sense.

Not even a tiny bit. Grew up in what was an averagely religious household for 1970s Ireland. Began doubting in my early teens, atheist by 18.

This is my favourite doorstep evangelist topic 😂 No, I don't know where the original super-dense atom came from. You don't know where god came from either, so we've both got the same unanswered question!

Difference is that what happened after it expanded into - or deliberately created - the universe makes a lot more sense scientifically than religiously.

No. Brought up Catholic, stopped believing around 14. Really tried again in my late teens but couldn't find an ounce of credibility.
Religion, I think, was devised by men to control other men and keep women 'down'. Scientific explanations make a lot more sense but beyond that, Paganism has a lot more going for it than any other 'religion'. Looking after the world and being thankful for nature makes more sense.
Good people have tried to influence behaviour but any teaching has been massively corrupted by man's desire for power.

No. But I believe in morals and fairness.

I spent my whole childhood in a state of perpetual anxiety about death. I was on medication at one point when I was 10/11. I was brought up in NI during the Troubles and was just a very anxious child and death was everywhere every day. In my early teens I discovered ‘being saved’ and became a Christian, mostly because it gave me hope that death wasn’t the end. It was a massive part of my life for several years. It was everything in fact. I ignored any inconsistencies by burying my head in the sand. I had lots of questions I was scared of knowing the answer to so I only spoke to people who would tell me what I wanted to hear. Then, when I was about 20, something just clicked in my brain and none of it mattered anymore. I stopped caring about an afterlife or even thinking it was realistic. And once I made my peace with that, I stopped believing in God. That’s the potted version😅

I try to. I find it difficult. I am always looking for evidence that never arrives.

You could try the book "The Case for Faith". It is written by Lee Strobel who was an atheist investigative journalist who set out to "rescue" his newly converted wife from Christianity by examining it all. It's been a long time since I read it, but it is very interesting.

No.

No. Religion is the bane of humanity.

@Fibonacci2 Let me treat your questions as genuinely enquiring not goading. I think of God during my everyday.
No, I do not think of getting preferential treatment anywhere. How would that happen? My relationship with God is just between us. No one else is compared to anyone anywhere. We are all equal.
Dinosaurs? Why do you mention them? Of course there is evolution, broadly I accept the Darwin theory as explained by David Attenborough. It is science there is proof. For Astronomy, the BBC program “The Sky at Night” is about right.
There really is no conflict. Why people try and fabricate is beyond me. Wanting to punish homosexuals? That is ridiculous.