Do you believe in a god?

[Quinnbeast]

 

[Energycore]

2 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

I would say thats simply bad choices. What reason to believe something if theres no evidence behind it?

You may be surprised at the number of things we take leaps of faith over.

 

What reason to believe that our eyes and senses are giving us the truth? To what extent are they messing with us?

What reason to believe the laws of physics are static and won't change without notice? We don't have evidence of that, but physics make no sense without that assumption, so we make it.

What evidence is there that mathematics, a construct of our brains, are correctly made to model the world around us? The only evidence we have is "well it's worked so far". And the whole of science doesn't work without them.

Our entire moral system is also a leap of faith (or any moral system for that matter). We've decided on things that are good or bad like "killing is bad" and "freedom is good". You can't find evidence for something being good or bad, we just hope that our moral labels that we've already set in stone are good enough to keep the order we seek. But that's no reason to disbelieve them.

 

That's one side to it. The other side is, do you really have the context and knowledge to judge someone's choice to believe or not to believe, regardless of evidence proving or disproving?

[flowalex]

I believe in the prime mover theory, basically there is something, but they don't do anything in life.  I "believe" in a God for my dad, never misses church, rest basically only goes on Christmas and Easter, also why I prefer to work weekends and holidays, other than the time and a half for  holidays

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmoved_mover 

[VerticalDiscussions]

Yes, but only to an extent. He may be the so far known "creator", but science is the current deity of our world and probably will be. Still, something has created the universe and it would be hard to believe any type of civilization, even transcendent ones to be able to create an entirely new universe.

[ThinkWithPortals]

- WARNING: PERSONAL OPINIONS AHEAD -

 

No, I don't.

 

Give me conclusive proof of the existence of a God and I will accept it gladly. Until then, I will continue to assume no such deity exists.

[Godlygamer23]

21 hours ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

My way of thinking is that whether or not there is one (I personally believe there is) it is better to be safe than sorry. So if there is and you believe in one, great. if there isn't, well you don't loose to much

Okay...so what happens if you believe in the wrong god? You know, Flying Spaghetti Monster is a jealous god, and doesn't like you worshiping others. 

 

If you're wrong about the god you believe in, and Allah is the true one, you are going to judgement just like I would likely be(I am an atheist). 

[Godlygamer23]

9 minutes ago, VerticalDiscussions said:

Yes, but only to an extent. He may be the so far known "creator", but science is the current deity of our world and probably will be. Still, something has created the universe and it would be hard to believe any type of civilization, even transcendent ones to be able to create an entirely new universe.

It depends on how advanced the civilization is. This universe we inhabit, or just this reality, could be a mere simulation. Could.

[Misanthrope]

No: 

 

1.- I have no logical reason to. 

2.- I have no sentimental need to. 

3.- I actually believe organized religions to be harmful for society: In this sense I am an antithesit, I respect people's right to believe what they want but advocate for 100% Secular governments without exception. 

[VerticalDiscussions]

9 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

-snip-

The simulation theory is beyond creepy :/. I understand it sprung to life as our technological prowess got exponentially larger, but it still is an awkward reality to be created upon. Its like, were in a simulation, but the people that control our simulation could also be simulated and so on, and on.....

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, VerticalDiscussions said:

The simulation theory is beyond creepy :/. I understand it sprung to life as our technological prowess got exponentially larger, but it still is an awkward reality to be created upon. Its like, were in a simulation, but the people that control our simulation could also be simulated and so on, and on.....

And if that's true, how many simulations would we need to pass through before getting to the real thing? And what caused that original thing to come into existence?...And we're right back in the situation we're currently in. If this universe is real, how did it begin?

[VerticalDiscussions]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

-snip-

I suppose some things should remained unanswered.... humanity wouldnt be able to cope with it.

[TubsAlwaysWins]

30 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Okay...so what happens if you believe in the wrong god? You know, Flying Spaghetti Monster is a jealous god, and doesn't like you worshiping others. 

 

If you're wrong about the god you believe in, and Allah is the true one, you are going to judgement just like I would likely be(I am an atheist). 

To be completely honest I dont't know. But what if you don't believe in one?

If the God I think exists doesn't and someone elses does you at least have a slightly higher chance than not believing in one

 

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

To be completely honest I dont't know. But what if you don't believe in one?

If the God I think exists doesn't and someone elses does you at least have a slightly higher chance than not believing in one

As far as I'm concerned, you are an atheist towards every other god but yours. 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

As far as I'm concerned, you are an atheist towards every other god but yours. 

Im not 100% sure what you mean but based on what I think you mean, then yes.

Im not necessarily saying my God is the god that there is but based on what I have been told I have decided that they are most likely the god. This is just my opinion though, and I could totally be wrong.

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

Im not 100% sure what you mean but based on what I think you mean, then yes.

Im not necessarily saying my God is the god that there is but based on what I have been told I have decided that they are most likely the god. This is just my opinion though, and I could totally be wrong.

Therefore, I do not believe that atheists are the only ones that would experience judgement. Everyone is an atheist to a lesser degree, and therefore using the "atheists will have the lowest chance with Judgement Day" logic, we are all potentially vulnerable to a deity's wrath. 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Therefore, I do not believe that atheists are the only ones that would experience judgement. Everyone is an atheist to a lesser degree, and therefore using the "atheists will have the lowest chance with Judgement Day" logic, we are all potentially vulnerable to a deity's wrath. 

Idk. Religion is just confusing in general

[divito]

I'm ignostic (no, not agnostic). Couldn't really answer your poll.

[Lt.Speirs]

I believe in science and fact, not fairy tale and folklore...

[MrDynamicMan]

17 hours ago, Nuluvius said:

And you are calling me patronising?

Yes. Simply because a statement is hypocritical does not make it wrong. You repeatedly ty and single me out in an attempt to either belittle me or boost your own ego, why?

 

@Nuluvius

[MrDynamicMan]

8 hours ago, Energycore said:

You may be surprised at the number of things we take leaps of faith over.

 

What reason to believe that our eyes and senses are giving us the truth? To what extent are they messing with us?

Can be quite a bit actually: hallucinations, preminitions, etc. however, most of the tim our senses are pretty reliable. If it tastes like sushi, looks like sushi, smells like sushi, and feels liek sushi, odds arr its sushi. Not always 100% accurate but we dont have time to ananlyze the chemical makeup of everything We eat. We do have instruments to accurately measure almost everything.

8 hours ago, Energycore said:

What reason to believe the laws of physics are static and won't change without notice? We don't have evidence of that, but physics make no sense without that assumption, so we make it.

Actually we have evidence of its constitency in background radiation and the light from stars far away that are actually millenia old. Basically all the light from far away objects is a history book we can read to see the physicd of that time.

8 hours ago, Energycore said:

What evidence is there that mathematics, a construct of our brains, are correctly made to model the world around us? The only evidence we have is "well it's worked so far". And the whole of science doesn't work without them.

Maths is entirely objective. 1 unit plus another unit will always make two if the units are equal.

 

~~morals thing, accidental delete~~

Agreed. Morals are evolved but they are very abitrary.

8 hours ago, Energycore said:

 

That's one side to it. The other side is, do you really have the context and knowledge to judge someone's choice to believe or not to believe, regardless of evidence proving or disproving?

Typically, yes. However, my opinion on their religion will not shape my opinion of them as a person. A perfect example would be arch bishop tutu. I dont agree with his religious views but I admire all the good hes done.

[Energycore]

24 minutes ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Maths is entirely objective. 1 unit plus another unit will always make two if the units are equal.

As a mathematician, I got to build mathematics formally from the ground up. We started with sets, and created the number system as a construct based on the structure of the sets (with their operations of intersection, union etc). But maths are all based on a system of axioms that cannot be proved, either formally or empirically, we still believe them because our maths system needs these axioms. In a similar manner science accepts a set of affirmations that cannot be proved formally or empirically. A lot of them you don't even think about doubting because they've worked ever since the inception of science, and make sense, like "our instruments for measurement, if calibrated correctly, won't lie to us".

 

In our maths system, 1+1 is 2 only because that's what makes sense. You can actually define an algebraic system wherein 1+1=0, and it has all the same properties of the number system (the field properties).

24 minutes ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Typically, yes. However, my opinion on their religion will not shape my opinion of them as a person. A perfect example would be arch bishop tutu. I dont agree with his religious views but I admire all the good hes done.

I think you're being reasonable here, there are people that have been amazing for humanity because of their religion. The Jesuits thought it the will of God to teach the people, and we owe a lot of the boons of the education system to them.

 

Originally I thought of answering your question of "why believe, if there is no rational or empirical proof?". One of the reasons to believe in a (carefully chosen) God is that it helps motivate people to be excellent to each other, be generous and happy. Also belief is a requisite if you want to explore the spiritual disciplines, which can allow you to see the world in an entire different way.

[MrDynamicMan]

5 hours ago, Energycore said:

As a mathematician, I got to build mathematics formally from the ground up. We started with sets, and created the number system as a construct based on the structure of the sets (with their operations of intersection, union etc). But maths are all based on a system of axioms that cannot be proved, either formally or empirically, we still believe them because our maths system needs these axioms. In a similar manner science accepts a set of affirmations that cannot be proved formally or empirically. A lot of them you don't even think about doubting because they've worked ever since the inception of science, and make sense, like "our instruments for measurement, if calibrated correctly, won't lie to us".

 

In our maths system, 1+1 is 2 only because that's what makes sense. You can actually define an algebraic system wherein 1+1=0, and it has all the same properties of the number system (the field properties).

I think you're being reasonable here, there are people that have been amazing for humanity because of their religion. The Jesuits thought it the will of God to teach the people, and we owe a lot of the boons of the education system to them.

Well, im clearly outgunned here. I applaud you on your mathematical knowledge.

5 hours ago, Energycore said:

 

Originally I thought of answering your question of "why believe, if there is no rational or empirical proof?". One of the reasons to believe in a (carefully chosen) God is that it helps motivate people to be excellent to each other, be generous and happy.

Id argue that it is weak to need to believe in some ultimate punshiment or reward to motivate us to be good. Couldnt we just do it to make others lives better?

5 hours ago, Energycore said:

Also belief is a requisite if you want to explore the spiritual disciplines, which can allow you to see the world in an entire different way.

Not necessarily. You can still be spiritual without worshipping a higher being, though the two often go hand in hand.

[ZackBarletto]

I believe we are all gods, and have the potential to achieve god like powers.

 

Take this literally figuratively or however else. in one way or another, we have god like capabilities whether you see it or not.

 

Many stories of the gods can be taken this way too. if everything is concrete evidence then it sounds crazy. but replace ever glowing lights, creation, and flying in the sense of possible extra terrestrials.... sounds like they fit to me.... curing diseases, flying in and out of existence, walking on water... I didn't mean to take all the examples from one specific type of religion... but this was the one religion that was attempt to be forces unto me when I was a child..... against my will..... which is not holy or sacred what so ever, and that's a policy of theirs... lol

[eLucid]

16 hours ago, Lt.Speirs said:

I believe in science and fact, not fairy tale and folklore...

+1

[MrDynamicMan]

1 hour ago, Wikiforce said:

synchronity? yes

miracles? yes

magic? yes

life? yes

the creation of whole universe and how complex it is? yes

intellegence of humans and how our body works? yes

 

Why?