Do you believe in God ?

[George_Bud]

Do you believe in God or a Higher Being the us ? I ask this because I am curious. Please dont start a "war" in the comments.  

[rn8686]

No, I would rather believe something with proof rather than a old pedo holding a 2000 year old book.

 

/s

[George_Bud]

4 minutes ago, rn8686 said:

No, I would rather believe something with proof rather than a old pedo holding a 2000 year old book.

 

/s

What is that "/s" for ?

[rn8686]

1 minute ago, George_Bud said:

What is that "/s" for ?

It means sarcasm. 

[Misanthrope]

No, I have no reason to. I understand some other people might fight comfort and solace in believing in God, Destiny, etc. I completely understand those sentiments (however I can't relate) the people I do have a major problem with are Clergy and organized religions: they're a cancer that needs to be extirpated from the face of the earth.

[stconquest]

I tried to "believe".  I thought there might be something to it.  I gave up around 18 years old.

 

15 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

No, I have no reason to. I understand some other people might fight comfort and solace in believing in God, Destiny, etc. I completely understand those sentiments (however I can't relate) the people I do have a major problem with are Clergy and organized religions: they're a cancer that needs to be extirpated from the face of the earth.

Our Greek Orthodox priests here in Toronto have become more and more adaptive to changes in global culture during my whole life.  It is just a job. 

 

I know, I know it is not the case in most religions... even Greek Orthodox in other places.  I have been to hateful/harmful sermons, they were not Greek though.  Protestant.  There's no feeling like having someone indirectly call you a moron (for not believing) over and over as you sit there.  It put a smile on my face, then fear in my heart.

 

I still like going to church.

[Paytend01]

As someone above me said some people view it as a source of hope and values... From my experience and history it just seems to cause problems and war. There is 0 proof on the existence of any deity.  I would rather put my trust in something that has fact backing it up like science than nothing. Many religions hate each other even though alot of them stem from the same tree. 

[Misanthrope]

7 minutes ago, stconquest said:

I tried to "believe".  I thought there might be something to it.  I gave up around 18 years old.

 

Our Greek Orthodox priests here in Toronto have become more and more adaptive to changes in global culture during my whole life.  It is just a job. 

 

I know, I know it is not the case in most religions... even Greek Orthodox in other places.  I have been to hateful/harmful sermons, they were not Greek though.  Protestant. 

 

I still like going to church.

They might "try" and some might even legitimately believe they're doing the world a service by trying. Ultimately their ideology it's just fucking poisonous and should be denounced as such along with the people preaching it.

[stconquest]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

They might "try" and some might even legitimately believe they're doing the world a service by trying. Ultimately their idea it's just fucking poisonous and should be denounced as such along with the people preaching it.

The latest priest that I have had contact with (weddings, funerals) has had it passed to him in a way.  Father was a priest too.  The guy is down to earth.  Spent his youth drinking and partying.  It is just a job.  His sermons are based on reality with a hint of religion thrown in.  Kind of enjoyable.  

 

I have never seen anything bad any of the Greek churches here... and yet, I will never believe. 

 

It would be hard for me to say all religion is bad.  If given the choice to remove or keep it... I would lean towards doing away with it.  One less distraction.  People can commune without a belief in god.

[ThinkWithPortals]

Nope. Give me evidence of a God and I'll accept it gladly. Otherwise, God's on par with Santa Claus and unicorns in my book.

[stconquest]

1 minute ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

Nope. Give me evidence of a God and I'll accept it gladly. Otherwise, God's on par with Santa Claus and unicorns in my book.

TWP.

 

This is god.

 

I am here.

 

*did it work? 

[Misanthrope]

4 minutes ago, stconquest said:

The latest priest that I have had contact with (weddings, funerals) has had it passed to him in a way.  Father was a priest too.  The guy is down to earth.  Spent his youth drinking and partying.  It is just a job.  His sermons are based on reality with a hint of religion thrown in.  Kind of enjoyable.  

 

I have never seen anything bad any of the Greek churches here... and yet, I will never believe. 

 

It would be hard for me to say all religion is bad.  If given the choice to remove or keep it... I would lean towards doing away with it.  One less distraction.  People can commune without a belief in god.

To me that's like saying "Oh he was a nice guy, usually cool to hang with, compassionate even. The fact that he was a violent mobster? That was just a job"

 

Hyperbole aside the very core believes around religion, almost any religion, are to abandon reason and thought and submit your will to another human being (Which conveniently represents "God") under the threat of eternal torture. That's fucking sick.

[stconquest]

1 minute ago, Misanthrope said:

To me that's like saying "Oh he was a nice guy, usually cool to hang with, compassionate even. The fact that he was a violent mobster? That was just a job"

 

Hyperbole aside the very core believes around religion, almost any religion, are to abandon reason and thought and submit your will to another human being (Which conveniently represents "God") under the threat of eternal torture. That's fucking sick.

Don't get me wrong.  I do actually cringe when a sermon attempts to associate the religion to fact-of-life.

[ThinkWithPortals]

8 minutes ago, stconquest said:

TWP.

 

This is god.

 

I am here.

 

*did it work? 

*falls to knees, begins praying and repenting for sins*

[George_Bud]

4 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

Do I believe in God?

 

That depends on the context of what you are referring to.  If you mean the Abrahamic deity known by Jehova/Allah/Yahweh, no.  However, from a historic point of view, God is an old war cry for Odin by a Norse tribe that settled just outside of Rome, according to the Odin Brotherhood.  During the Dark Ages, they feared pretty much everything.  It got to a point where they thought saying the Hebrew or Christian/Catholic name for the Abrahamic deity would do all kinds of bad things. 

 

Do, I believe in a higher power?  No.

 

I believe we aren't alone, but I don't believe in concepts of dead tribes.  I just view religion as the science of ancient times.  I do like mythology, though.  Mainly for the philosophy aspect like the 9 noble virtues of Odinism.

Please do tell me more about the 9 noble virtues of Odinism. I am curious.

5 hours ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

Nope. Give me evidence of a God and I'll accept it gladly. Otherwise, God's on par with Santa Claus and unicorns in my book.

What are you willing to do to find out ? ( Just curious )

[WolfDeville]

What I believe is something created the universe, and that something is God. Whether it be a holy spirit or the big bang, it's God imo. Might sound silly but I truly don't care.

[Misanthrope]

3 minutes ago, TehStranger said:

What I believe is something created the universe, and that something is God. Whether it be a holy spirit or the big bang, it's God imo. Might sound silly but I truly don't care.

Why do you believe it had to be created? What makes you asume the Universe has a beginning or an end?

[SurvivorNVL]

17 minutes ago, George_Bud said:

Please do tell me more about the 9 noble virtues of Odinism. I am curious.

[SurvivorNVL]

I believe in God.  I was an atheist for several years.  Eventually refound my faith in Russian-Orthodox Christianity.  I also believe in the theories of rainbow gravity, which is also the old belief that the universe has no beginning or an end, but instead the repurposement of the elements found within it(also multiverse theories for certain unexplained phenomena).  I also believe in Symbiogenesis / Endo-Symbiosis as opposed to Darwinian evolution.  

[Bleedingyamato]

1 hour ago, stconquest said:

I tried to "believe".  I thought there might be something to it.  I gave up around 18 years old.

 

Our Greek Orthodox priests here in Toronto have become more and more adaptive to changes in global culture during my whole life.  It is just a job. 

 

I know, I know it is not the case in most religions... even Greek Orthodox in other places.  I have been to hateful/harmful sermons, they were not Greek though.  Protestant.  There's no feeling like having someone indirectly call you a moron (for not believing) over and over as you sit there.  It put a smile on my face, then fear in my heart.

 

I still like going to church.

Do you mind if I ask why you go to church if you don't believe in God/religious stuff?

 

No judgement just curious as usual.  

 

52 minutes ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

Nope. Give me evidence of a God and I'll accept it gladly. Otherwise, God's on par with Santa Claus and unicorns in my book.

Wait, you mean unicorns are not real?!  ?

 

(Just joking not making fun of you.)

[DutchTexan]

@George_BudThere is a huge difference between religion and spiritually. I think that has to be highlighted.

 

There are people who take the bible literally. Personally, I think that is foolish. The bible, any ancient writing or symbolism, can not be taken literally. I like reading a different book on philosophy or holistic divinity at least once a month. I also love my bible. They are separate, but the same. Regardless of my reading [speed] capabilities, I read the bible very^very_very slowly. The literal words and meanings are mostly lost through translation. It is about interpreting the concept or the message.

 

There is this term within philosophy: "The illness of language." Whatever we actually think or feel is filtered by society. Every thought is filtered via the images that we have already seen and the language(s) that we have learned to speak. I read the bible very, very slowly becasue, regardless of these societal filters, the fundamental truth in the message is still there. There will or will not be merit within the bible, in my opinion, based off an individuals perception.

 

I believe the biggest lie about god is that people should think that god is this magic, visible, sensible or provable entity. That is just wrong. God is inside of us. God is inside of everything, our existence, every other galaxy and every other dimension. The soul. The mind. Nature. The seed of life can be interpreted as the fist 7 days of creation, for example. It is all about how you see, sense and interpret your own reality, individually. That is what I believe.

 

If everything 'real' is nothing but a mental signal communicated as touch, smell, sight, sound or taste, then what makes that little signal in your brain 'real'? 

 

Without god, my life and understanding would never be the same.

[stconquest]

12 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Do you mind if I ask why you go to church if you don't believe in God/religious stuff?

 

No judgement just curious as usual.  

 

Weddings, funerals, christenings... I also like the artwork... and the people... and hot girls... and the incense... and the bread & wine (communion)

[WolfDeville]

55 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Why do you believe it had to be created? What makes you asume the Universe has a beginning or an end?

Well I never said it had an end. You can believe whatever the fuck you want, I ain't gonna argue because neither of us are right. No one in this world is right about the existence of the universe or humanity.

 

I don't necessarily "believe" it was created, nor do I have any theories as to how it came to existence.  All I know is no one knows anything about anything and that's all there is to it.

 

There is no evidence leading to the existence of God (as in a holy spirit) or proving God doesn't exist. Whatever "proof" anyone may think has been discovered about our world isn't proof, just a possibility, and everything is a possibility.

 

Say the big bang did occur, how do they know it actually created the universe? Might've just been some occurrence after the world was created.

 

The people gobble up shit and believe in just what they're told are fucking pathetic. You don't know shit, if there was a being much higher than us and created us, they could choose to not allow us to know shit.

 

The only thing that's certain in this world is that life is short, make the most of it and do what you want without fear of consequences (unless it's a serious crime :P).

[George_Bud]

1 hour ago, TehStranger said:

Well I never said it had an end. You can believe whatever the fuck you want, I ain't gonna argue because neither of us are right. No one in this world is right about the existence of the universe or humanity.

 

I don't necessarily "believe" it was created, nor do I have any theories as to how it came to existence.  All I know is no one knows anything about anything and that's all there is to it.

 

There is no evidence leading to the existence of God (as in a holy spirit) or proving God doesn't exist. Whatever "proof" anyone may think has been discovered about our world isn't proof, just a possibility, and everything is a possibility.

 

Say the big bang did occur, how do they know it actually created the universe? Might've just been some occurrence after the world was created.

 

The people gobble up shit and believe in just what they're told are fucking pathetic. You don't know shit, if there was a being much higher than us and created us, they could choose to not allow us to know shit.

 

The only thing that's certain in this world is that life is short, make the most of it and do what you want without fear of consequences (unless it's a serious crime :P).

How do you know life is short ? You said that no one knows anything.

 

Heh... Dont take it seriously.

[Soundsystem90]

No but i like astrology.