Does God exist?

[Poppet]

rolls eyes... not THIS again...

the Bible and all "sacred texts" are just the ramblings of asorted bunches of ld men trying to get the rest of us to do things according to their view of the world, and invoking humans' natural fear/need to explain the unknown to do so, in what has turned out to be the worst example of social control and tribalism one could possibly imagine.

Get over it.

There are no gods, saints, heaven or hell, except those we make for ourselves.

Take responsibility for your own life.

P

[Grm]

rolls eyes... not THIS again...
the Bible and all "sacred texts" are just the ramblings of asorted bunches of ld men trying to get the rest of us to do things according to their view of the world, and invoking humans' natural fear/need to explain the unknown to do so, in what has turned out to be the worst example of social control and tribalism one could possibly imagine.
Get over it.
There are no gods, saints, heaven or hell, except those we make for ourselves.
Take responsibility for your own life.
P

Well said Poppet.
It is amazing that still there are millions of people around the globe still believe in supernatural entities, despite the evidence that is out there for them to test. It is a blind faith, not based on anything tangible and utterly inexplicable.

[coacheric]

I've said before that to believe in GOD is just beyond me, but to say there is nothing is also beyond my grasp. Having messed with the supernatural as a kid, Ouija board and other things, I could never say that there is NOTHING. I have seen things that I could never explain nor care to ever talk about. I will forever believe that there is another side to what we see, I just will never believe in a singular GOD. My mind is too open to not say that this is it, but it is also open enough to be able to see that organized religion is just that, organized.

[MissBarbara]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

[Grm]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

My God you are right Babs!

[MissBarbara]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

My God you are right Babs!

Jesus Christ, Grm, you just realized that?!?

[Bexy]

I've said before that to believe in GOD is just beyond me, but to say there is nothing is also beyond my grasp. Having messed with the supernatural as a kid, Ouija board and other things, I could never say that there is NOTHING. I have seen things that I could never explain nor care to ever talk about. I will forever believe that there is another side to what we see, I just will never believe in a singular GOD. My mind is too open to not say that this is it, but it is also open enough to be able to see that organized religion is just that, organized.

This deserves a giant woo. Neither religions nor atheist scienceworshippers appeal to me, as they both claim their views to be truth, which quite frankly I find closeminded and arrogant. I too have experienced too much neither side can explain and have found it's usually indeed best to keep ones mouth shut. I stand with the agnostics, the openminded sceptics, the ones that will not let any dogma, whether religious or scientific, influence the reality of what they experience.

[Grm]

Coach and Bexy, I think you are both making an erroneous judgement when you see this as God versus science, or two camps with apposing beliefs.
Science is not a religion nor is it atheism. Humans have always asked questions, all science does is explore ways to answer these questions.
Theory is not an answer, just another avenue to explore, just because we experience things we cannot explain nor understand does not mean there is no answer, only that we have not yet found it. That in a nutshell is science, it the continued quest to find answers.
Humans hate a vacuum of knowledge, so our brains find a way to make sense of this unexplained experience or lack of knowledge, so we fall back on superstition, or others superstition. Organised religion is the use of superstition to attain power over others.

[Poppet]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

NOT true. We only stand up to preserve reality when the mythologists spout forth.
I say again. There is no god. Take responsibility for your OWN life.

Pop

[phtlc]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

NOT true. We only stand up to preserve reality when the mythologists spout forth.
I say again. There is no god. Take responsibility for your OWN life.

Pop

As someone who is basically an athiest, I would have to disagree. What I find odd about so many of my fellow athiests is that they take pleasure in going out of their way to antagonize religious people (kind of the way obnoxious vegetarians always have to make a comment when you order a burger).

Religion is not for me, but if an individual is not trying to cram it down my throat, I see no reason to rain on that persons parade.

[Grm]

The false notion here is that science is exclusive of faith, which is an untruth shared by atheists and theists alike. In fact, the scientific method is based around the idea that any theory is possible, however improbable, until proven otherwise.

Do you really think this "any theory is possible, however improbable?" You obviously haven't a clue how the scientific world operates. Nothing could be further from reality, in fact every theory expounded by enquiring minds is scrutinised endlessly by others in every tiny detail, A theory is an hypothesis based on known knowledge, its not some raving madcap idea like there's a white haired bloke up above sitting on a cloud.
Many theories are yet to be proven, such as the most famous one of all, the theory of relativity, by one Albert Einstein. My intellect couldn't even begin to understand this hypothesis, but part of it concludes that nothing can go faster than light. This theory has been excepted, but as yet it is unproven, but it doesn't mean that it some crazy idea Einstein thought up, its based on deep thought and mathematics, built on proven knowledge. That is the wonder of science, because nothing is settled it keeps on looking and examining. Unlike superstition which puts everything down to bumps in the night and him upstairs.

[TinyDancer]

I have been reading this thread and have gotten many a good chuckle out of some of the replies.

Christians tell you to have faith in "God", that by doing so all your needs, and wants will be answered, making "God" a scapegoat for your own failings.  They should be teaching one to have faith in yourself, that YOU are your own God.

[insatiable]

I have been reading this thread and have gotten many a good chuckle out of some of the replies.

Christians tell you to have faith in "God", that by doing so all your needs, and wants will be answered, making "God" a scapegoat for your own failings.  They should be teaching one to have faith in yourself, that YOU are your own God.

Christians Religion tells you to have faith in "God". FTFY

[TinyDancer]

My apologies, you are correct.  Thank you for pointing that out.

[TPPM]

The false notion here is that science is exclusive of faith, which is an untruth shared by atheists and theists alike. In fact, the scientific method is based around the idea that any theory is possible, however improbable, until proven otherwise.

Do you really think this "any theory is possible, however improbable?" You obviously haven't a clue how the scientific world operates. Nothing could be further from reality, in fact every theory expounded by enquiring minds is scrutinised endlessly by others in every tiny detail, A theory is an hypothesis based on known knowledge, its not some raving madcap idea like there's a white haired bloke up above sitting on a cloud.
Many theories are yet to be proven, such as the most famous one of all, the theory of relativity, by one Albert Einstein. My intellect couldn't even begin to understand this hypothesis, but part of it concludes that nothing can go faster than light. This theory has been excepted, but as yet it is unproven, but it doesn't mean that it some crazy idea Einstein thought up, its based on deep thought and mathematics, built on proven knowledge. That is the wonder of science, because nothing is settled it keeps on looking and examining. Unlike superstition which puts everything down to bumps in the night and him upstairs.

Nit:  I think you mean the theory of relativity has been accepted, not excepted.  They have vary nearly diametrically opposed meanings.

[MissBarbara]

What I find most interesting about this topic is that those who assert the non-existence of God talk about God much more than those who actually believe in him....

NOT true. We only stand up to preserve reality when the mythologists spout forth.
I say again. There is no god. Take responsibility for your OWN life.

Pop

"NOT true"? Look at this thread. Almost five years and 450 posts, the vast majority of them expressing an atheistic or agnostic point of view, without a single mythologist spouting forth.

You are perfectly correct: some believers do exploit a warped view of God and/or religion as an excuse to commit the most heinous crimes and offenses imaginable, and this has happened throughout human history. And it's also true that non-believers have also used a variety of excuses to commit the most heinous crimes and offenses imaginable. Both are, as you put it, "assorted bunches of ld men trying to get the rest of us to do things according to their view of the world."

To my mind, the only truly interesting posts in this thread are not those from non-believers nor those from believers, but rather, those from posters who honestly and intelligently explore possibilities on this area. Read Eric's post #427:

http://www.kristensboard.com/forums/index.php?topic=270.msg155101;topicseen#msg155101

*Link added by Gia1978

[Bexy]

I've said before that to believe in GOD is just beyond me, but to say there is nothing is also beyond my grasp. Having messed with the supernatural as a kid, Ouija board and other things, I could never say that there is NOTHING. I have seen things that I could never explain nor care to ever talk about. I will forever believe that there is another side to what we see, I just will never believe in a singular GOD. My mind is too open to not say that this is it, but it is also open enough to be able to see that organized religion is just that, organized.

This deserves a giant woo. Neither religions nor atheist scienceworshippers appeal to me, as they both claim their views to be truth, which quite frankly I find closeminded and arrogant. I too have experienced too much neither side can explain and have found it's usually indeed best to keep ones mouth shut. I stand with the agnostics, the openminded sceptics, the ones that will not let any dogma, whether religious or scientific, influence the reality of what they experience.

The false notion here is that science is exclusive of faith, which is an untruth shared by atheists and theists alike. In fact, the scientific method is based around the idea that any theory is possible, however improbable, until proven otherwise.

You get a woo even though you misinterpreted my post, but then I also didn't elaborate. Real science to me is exactly the way you describe it: 'any theory is possible, until proven otherwise'. By scienceworshippers I meant the ones who try to use science to disprove the existence of god or to ridicule phenomena they can't explain. So, I think we're actually on the same page...

[Lois]

Does God exist?  The is no fault in the answer "I don't know."

But given what I've observed I think it is highly unlikely.  

I believe what we assign to the "supernatural" is that which we don't know enough about yet to assign scientific explanations.

[phtlc]

Does God exist?  The is no fault in the answer "I don't know."

But given what I've observed I think it is highly unlikely.  

I believe what we assign to the "supernatural" is that which we don't know enough about yet to assign scientific explanations.

I'm with you there to an extent. I have been an atheist for some time, but have recently openned my mind up to the possibility (remote possibility) that there could be a higher power. the reason for that was that some scientists themselves have argued that religion and science are not mutually exclusive or incompatible and that much of our scientific realities (codes and such) could have been created by something higher.

While I am open to the possibility of some sort of diety, I tend to reject existing religions as the likelyhood that any one of the myriad of religions is the one that got it right is a bit silly. Modern religions may have started with the purpose of better understanding things we couldn't explain, and as a basis for some sort of social contract, but whatever their original objectives they have been perverted by humans as tools of control.

[Lois]

Excerpts from

THE NOTEBOOKS OF LAZARUS LONG 8-)

by Robert Anson Heinlein

The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.

History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

"God split himself into a myriad parts that he might have friends." This may not be true, but it sounds good -- and is no sillier than any other theology.

God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent -- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.

'nuff said!