You’re asking question that there aren’t any answers for. People have been trying to figure these things out forever… and they’re no further ahead now than they ever were.
When you say that men call themselves representatives of God and use that to force people to war… it doesn’t negate the possibility of there being a God… just the possibility that those guys will ever meet him… hahaha
It is a personal belief… either way. And inevitably to explain yourself to others leads to one form of argument or another. Non believers want proof… and think that if there isn’t any, it can’t be possible… well there isnt’ any that will satisfy those people… its not a science. These same people will embrace the “theory of evolution” though, which has no more basis in fact than God does…or it wouldn’t still be a theory. If science is so much more accurate than theology, by rights I should have no children… and after many medical tests, was told I wouldn’t. And I have two of the most beautiful kids ever born… thats proof enough for me.
I’m not asking anyone to accept my beliefs as their own… just to respect my choice without criticism or insult…
i was brought up to be a catholic,sent to chapel every sunday,and i hated being forced to go.i’m not a practising catholic ( ie going to chapel) and would not force anyone to be. i had an uncle who died of cancer some years back (1984),he had a very rough death and i prayed that he would die due to the pain he was going through.his face and entire body was covered in lumps and within seconds of him passing away they disappeared.now i did not really believe that there was something on the other side as they say,but those lumps disapprearing convinced me that there is life after death.
i also have two beautiful children.for 7 years we where told that there was no way that my wife could have anymore children.after doing every test known to man.it was upsetting to think that we would only have one child ( which we where happy with )we had set our minds on having 2 close together.but that is life full of surprises.it took a long time to come to terms with this but we accepted it and decided to get on with our lifes and cherish the young lad that we had and he was healthy.so to find out 7years later that we where going to have another baby,well that lead me to believe that there is a god somewhere.
i make a point of not talking about religion in my house or in company.as far as i’m concerned people are what and who they are, and we all come into this world the same and will leave it the same.so believe in what you want to believe in or not in this case,don’t force your beleafs or non beleafs on anyone,as said in another post it’s a personnel choice,respect peoples choices and live life according to your own beleafs.
Some good points raised.
Unfortunatley there are people that don’t. (respect)
Has you can see from my posts, I can see the argument from all sides accept from those that want to control, take money or instigate killing in the name of…
Just because something bad happens doesn’t mean there’s no God. And vice versa… just because something good happens doesn’t mean there is.
You see footy players ‘crossing’ themselves when they score and when they win does that mean God was on their side???mmmm
Keep voting!
If there is a God I’d like to thank him for the ‘blessings’ I’ve received.
and pray he’ll bless the damned??
And if not and we’re all just on a big rock flying through the universe,…
Hold on tight and enjoy the ride your not here for long!!!
Colingl wrote:
Voted yes and the only person I have to explain that to is the big man up the stairs.
To me it is a very personal choice, not to be taken lightly.
C’mon Col reasons for■■?
Why is it a ‘personal choice’ there must be reasons. I’m open minded.
Well to put it simply I believe you have to make a conscious decison to accept God in to your life. There are reasons why I did, some good, some bad. I can honestly say I do feel a different person since I did. However it is not everyones cup of tea. Some of my closest friends don’t believe in God and some do. We respect each other’s beliefs.
bloody hell this is a bit deep isnt it!
i voted undecided (hedging my bets ) if there is a god i`m not arriving at the pearly gates and have him tell me to bugger off downstairs
Bit late on seeing this thread, but for those that wanna know, I have voted Undicided…
Mainly coz, there is no physical Proof that there WASN’T an almighty man, that created the world… but there are many theorys that say they prove it, that still do not give any Physical proof.
I have an open mind to it, but a friend just says that, "The day he shows him or herself, and we have a beer together, is that day I will Believe… Until then… "…
Although I voted no Andy, I am inclined to agree a but with your views.
I would truly like to believe, but I can see no actual proof, and if yoou do believ in some mythical being then you may just as well believe in Fairies and the Loch Ness Monster. If every one has a soul and after death that soul carries on, wherever it goes to must be a very over crowded place.
When I hear on the new that over 80 kintergarten children were killed by a fire at a school in India this weekend I fail to see that there can be a God or that he is watching over everyone, or come to that , that he is ‘GOOD’
Did you hear about the Dysexic, Agnostic, Insomniac
He lay awake all night wondering if there realy was a ‘Dog’
robB39:
Just because something bad happens doesn’t mean there’s no God. And vice versa… just because something good happens doesn’t mean there is.
Right there is the point. Some people go to the extremes…either one way or the other.
To deny the existence of God because someone you love died in an accident, or from an illness, or some other random or even violent way, just doesn’t make sense to me. We all die… some quickly and painlessly, others long suffering. If its possible that the meaning of life is to learn and improve life for ourselves and others around us, then these things must happen for a reason… to teach us something. It’s up to us to figure out what that is. How much good in the world has happened because of tragedy? People come together in time of crisis. Hatred and animosity are put aside, commonality rises from it… there’s a deeper sense of humanity afterward… and we work to improve things for the future. Maybe thats the point… love, self awareness, compassion for others, a need to prevent future devastation… all these things come out of tragedy. And those aren’t bad things. The problem comes when time has passed, and we forget.
Those more fortunate aren’t that way because of God… and those less fortunate aren’t that way because there isn’t a God either. Hard work doesn’t necessarily reap the benefits that it deserves… and benefits are given to those who have never worked a day in their lives. God isn’t in control of everything… thats obvious by the state of the world. Men have free will to do good things or bad,… and accidents happen… thats the nature of the world.
Kate Hasler:
If its possible that the meaning of life is to learn and improve life for ourselves and others around us, then these things must happen for a reason… to teach us something.
Bit of a hard lesson, dieing of cancer, or some other bad illness. What about people born blind, deaf, crippled and mentally retarded why should it happen to some and not others.
Like I said I’ll pray God will bless the damned??
Paganism is generally known as a non-Christian, non-Jewish, non-Muslim, polytheistic religion, that is centered around the worship of nature… and Gods of nature… but thats a bit simplistic.
robB39:
Bit of a hard lesson, dieing of cancer, or some other bad illness. What about people born blind, deaf, crippled and mentally retarded why should it happen to some and not others.
Like I said I’ll pray God will bless the damned??
Thats not something anybody can answer… maybe thats why some people have such a strong faith… and others have none. If we had all the answers, what would be the point? Contemplation is good for the soul… or so they say.
robB39:
If we had all the answers there would be no need for faith or religion and surely that would be a good thing.
We would have KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge of a wonderful almighty creator who says live this way. Love one another and don’t fight. (I think I’ve heard that somewhere before )
Or knowledge of beings in other dimensions. (Our ancestors or creators, ‘the spirit world if you like’)
Or knowledge of erm nothing … we’re just here for the ride.
Example people had faith that the world was flat but knowledge proved them wrong.
Some people say that they do have that knowledge or experience with God. Example… near death experiences that have introduced them to a dimension that the average person cannot see, witnessing the existence of ghosts, observing paranormal activity, … all these things have been experienced by people, giving them their own base of knowledge on the subject. The problem is that no matter how much experience one person has on any given subject, until others see it for themselves they usually don’t believe or accept it. There are even people who still believe the world is flat… some people are in denial about everything…even though there is ample knowledge and proof to the contrary.
Thing is, quantum physics theory,* I say theory as yet there is no proof just maths.
But maths shows, that there are more elements to be added to the periodic table not yet discovered.
I digress,- *shows that the mind too, has it’s own dimension and though people may have a ‘knowledge’ it is a knowledge of… their own experience, and we all know how our mind plays tricks!
So not, something we can rely on! I could go into quantum theory but I think I’d just be wasting my time on this forum as it’s for ‘truckers’.#
Absolute knowledge is the ‘Holy Grail’ as far as I’m concerned.
If you want an explanation a lengthy boring post will be forwarded.
I don’t know how anyone who hasn’t experienced it can say that a near death experience is the mind playing tricks. It happened to my father… he was physically dead for 6 minutes, with all vital signed undetected… and yet he’s still alive, and has a very interesting story to tell about those 6 minutes. He has no mental illness, no history of hallucinations… nothing that can otherwise explain what happened to him. By all scientific rights, he should not be alive, or should at least have suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. But… he’s fine. And he’s not the only one who’s had the experience.
The human brain is complex and functions differently for everyone. The separate centers of the brain are more receptive for some people than for others… So as far as seeing ghosts, or other such paranormal activity, just as some people have better hearing or vision, or have an aptitude for music, art, math, or athletics, who’s to say others don’t have an aptitude for sensing what the average person cannot.■■ To dismiss this possibility is ignorant, considering how little we actually know about the functions of so many of the neurotransmitters in the brain, or how each relates to the separate operation centers within the brain.
To accept scientific proof of something as true fact is somewhat naive. Many ‘scientific’ theories and facts have been disproven after a period of time, and anyone who’s ever studied the process of scientific research knows how easy it is to sway the results… I’ve done it myself… just to get the result I wanted. Even math can be manipulated in order to prove a bogus theory. Numbers do sometimes lie. Ask any research student… ya just need to know how to do it. In research methods we’re taught how to beat the unprovable, not to believe every study we read, and to question every ‘fact’ brought forward by the ‘experts’. As eloquently phrased by Kevin Costner in JFK… “quantum physics can prove that an elephant can hang from a cliff with his tail tied to a daisy”… but can it really? I don’t think so.
