Do you believe in God?

[VirtualPA]

I am interested to know what the majority of people belive.

I personally believe in a Christian God, Heaven and hell etc.

I raised a strict an athiest

Psammead

God didn't paint the pictures of Adam and Eve? Really?

No shit Sherlock!

Generalisations about large groups of people are rarely "useful or illuminating, although they are sometimes enjoyable."

Well quite. But did you object when massive generalisations were being made by atheists about believers?

UQD: maybe you already did: I just proved you wrong and either you didn't understand or you can't bear to admit it

No.

"Seeker, it all sounds so childish. "It's not fair!" "Why should I?" "I don't want to!" It just sounds childish. "

Why is it childish not to want other people to impose their beliefs on me?

Yes, I'm a church-going Christian. I also have a science degree.

They don't.

backtotalk - no, I started writing a response to you (people who say they have "proved you wrong" are usually too cocky for their own good), then decided it wasn't worth the effort.

bloss - I am not "rubbishing" anybody. I am putting it in context alongside other mythological systems which have come and gone.

But I have, it's one of the very rare occasions where the word "proof" can be used.

That's a bit weak, come on. Let's see what you've got .

bloss - BY DEFINITION Christianity doesn't go back before Christ. it might have ancestral links with and influences from other religons, but until there is a Christ you can't base a religon on his teachings or name a religon after him.

I haven't bothered to read the whole thread and certainly can't be arsed to involve myself in a row between believers and non-believers But it's not up to me to police other people's behaviour on your behalf, is it? Just as it isn't up to you to police other people's behaviour for me.

The only reason I responded to your comments is because they appeared directly after my initial post, so it looked like they were directed at me. I don't care to be tarred with someone else's brush, unless I've actually done something to deserve it.

Nope - don't believe in god. Mum was a Christmas Day only CofE person and Dad Buddhist.

My MIL is an enthusiastic Christian and alleges to have personal conversations with God regularly. Like the conversation she had with him recently where he said it was ok for her to commit insurance fraud

DH doesn't believe but won't enter a church in case he gets struck by lightening and proven wrong

I also like this quote

"Isn?t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

and the story of the sentient puddle both by Douglas Adams:

. . . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be all right, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.

All you have demonstrated is that the definition of the Christian god, as given by Christians, is a logical paradox. If we take it at face value. But I'm sure someone could argue, if they wanted to, that this didn't preclude it from "existing".

I don't think it really matters, anyway. If something is so, so unlikely that it may as well not exist - which is what all gods are - you may as well behave as if they don't. It makes no difference.

lamplighter

then I really don't understand this point:

"Also why do we see paintings of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with belly buttons clearly on show.

Who gave birth to them? They wouldn't have needed belly buttons!

Lots of stuff like that really makes me think it is all a bit silly and how can people believe it all."

Or were you being flippant?

Yes you can be a Scientist and a Christian. But you cannot prove that God exists scientifically.

All the suffering and pain in the world exists because of evil forces out there. It is up to Christians to show the love of God to people who are hurting.

Faith is not just about believing in God but about love in action.

Being a Christian is about following Jesus. He didn't force his beliefs on others and neither should we !

Very early on, the point of superstitions was to explain the world - don't know why the sky is blue? Big Blue Bananaman did it.
Very quickly indeed, the sharper elements of humanity worked out that here was a bloody good racket - tell everyone else that you've got an invisible special friend who knows everything and has superpowers. So everyone else needs to be nice to you and do what you say or the invisible friend will eat them.
It is fair to say also that mythology, stories are important to human beings, which is why the same ones keep coming up again and again in new flavours, they are all allegories for something important to human beings, whether that's the cycle of the seasons, universal (or fairly universal) patterns of behaviour, or birth/death stories. But actually believing in any of the various types of Big Blue Bananaman as some kind of real entity - well, that's the point at which you've kind of left the bulk of your brain cells on the bus.

I'm christian and so yes, do believe in God.

Psammead

Of course I was being flippant.

Believing in the bible is the same as listening to Kate Adie giving a 'live' report from the Battle of Agincourt.

Would you take that at face value?

I totally agree with Seeker's comments - very well put, Seeker.

What seperates the mainstream religions from ones which are considered a load of nonsense? Why should we inherently believe in Jesus Christ or Islam as a matter of course, and have these religions impact our every day lives (education, law), when other such religions such as cargo cults and those pacific islanders who genuinely believe that Prince Philip is a deity are rubbished.

Why are your fairy stories more believable than theirs?

How on earth can Christianity pre date Christ?

And of course atheists can respect believers - I respect other people's rights to believe what they like, unless those things are harmful to themselves or other people or unless they seek to impose their views on me. There are Christians on here who understand my point about religion in schools, for example, I have respect for them.

Is it establishment? Is it power?

So, if the pacific islanders carry on in their Prince Phillip faith for 2000 years, and pacific islander will become a powerful world economy, will it be an established religion then?

Will the Duke of Edinburgh;s award scheme become as powerful as the vatican? Will people genuinely believe that Prince Phillip was the son of god? Will slightly off-colour remarks become the new gospel?

Raised a Catholic.

Do I believe in God now at 39?

Yes, absolutely.

Being a Christian is my first and foremost identity that colours everything, what kind of wife, mother, daughter, a person you bump into I try to be.

I believe in a living loving God who I can have a personal relationship with ie he listens to my prayers, guides me in life, helps in times of trouble.

I'm 39. Would have to write a few mumsnet pages long essey on how my faith influenced my life in a positive way. I can see that a lot of good things in my life come directly as a result of my Christian choices earlier on. I also believe I experienced quite a few truly miraculous God's interventions in my life, one very very recently that I still cannot absorb fully as it's amazing.

I cannot possibly comprehend how anyone can be an atheist, how can you live like this, thinking this life is all there is. How can you raise children like this. I'm sorry but I just can't get my head round it.
I lost children to stillbirth/ late miscarriage ( latest only a few months ago). Yes, the pain was horrendous but I received loads of comfort from God and look forward to meeting my babies again one glorious day. It would be total dispair without my faith I can imagine.

I see myself as realistic ie I am fully aware how fragile all our lives are and fast approaching 40 I can now see how short this life really is . So it brings me great comfort and peace to have a strong belief in afterlife, in a loving God welcoming me with open arms on the other side.

I absolutelty attribute it to my faith that now at 39 I am very happy, have been married for 16 years, am totally in love with my husband ( mutually), have fab sex life , three wonderful children and I can actually totally enjoy the eldest twos' teenage years.

It all sounds very smug but I'm the last person to boast. Still, it is all true and before anyone says you can have all this as an atheist, it would not be the case in my life, all the above would be in ruin for certain if it wasn't for Christian choices and God's help in my past.

And yes, I can still believe in a loving God despite my own past suffering and all the great pains of this world. Christian philosophy explains this to a satisfactory level, though some of it still remains a mystery. I believe in a compassionate God who feels our pain and yearns to help but his hands are tied with our free will , will to accept his help and peoples will to bring help to others themselves and not cause sufferinf through our actions.

And by the way I'm 39 in case you missed this

Psammed

Sorry to be glib with you - I have found your previous posts and we pretty much agree on this issue

Seraphine

Nice get out clause at the end. Well done - that explains everything