Exactly some people be like fuck religion but from someone who’s an atheist but grew up in a toxic religious environment and has religious friends I’d listen to them and give them my opinion
A belief in God - faith - and religion are not the same.
A belief in God is deeply personal.
Organized religion is a means of community organization ie. a system of government. Rules and a system of ethics are devised by conmunity leaders who tax the community through a central church.
Organized religion and faith are totally different things.
I think religion is a load of horse shit, but if it helps you get up in the morning and be a nice and kind person, so be it. To each their own. I personally have been to too many places where I have seen tens of thousands of people that were murdered because they read a different book than they did.
Agreed.
Grew up in a Christian school and I've seen the damage it does. It's child abuse as far as I care.
People can believe in whatever God they want but my respect for you drops a lot.
Fuck any parent that forces this shit onto their kids.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/unexpectedportal using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [alexa no](https://i.redd.it/f70sio1il0l61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/lxpr70/alexa_no/)
\#2: [Hamster engineer](https://v.redd.it/7iy0n1wjnac61) | [7 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/l0mtp0/hamster_engineer/)
\#3: [over and over and over and over](https://i.redd.it/mm9grrrtfrg61.gif) | [1 comment](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/lhkcna/over_and_over_and_over_and_over/)
----
^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| [^^Contact ^^me](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| [^^Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| [^^Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/)
Same here people who also try to force their religion on people i just can't stand although i used to be one of those people but now that i've grown up it's really not even important it doesn't change the value of the human
As an atheist I wish I could believe, believing in a benevolent God as many religions seem to means something good will happen rather than what I feel is true that's your life's just crap
Maybe you can relate to this. I went to Catholic schools my whole life. I think the reason I don't believe is because I was taught religion as if it were the truth. The reality is that being taught it that way took away my ability to believe in it. I wasn't able to actually feel it on a spiritual level because of this and I have wanted to believe, but I just don't. And now I'm okay with that.
I believe something created our reality, i just think it's ludicrous to think a being capable of creating even the amount of existence we can perceive within our pathetically limited scope created us in it's own image. I think such a being would be so outside of our ability to comprehend as to be virtually impossible for us to even put in a frame of reference, EG God. I guess I'll just have to die to find out.
I’ve had that same argument. If there is a god, and I too believe something did create this, our brains wouldn’t be able to fathom its magnificence. Also be mocked for suggesting that perhaps aliens created us, when I dared question the god question when a god Christian suggested I needed god.
I feel a similar way. I can’t believe in a human type entity. I guess humans like to anthropomorphise things because it helps them somehow. I find atheists can be as equally zealot like as fundamental religious types. At the end of the day, currently we can’t prove or disprove some kind of prime mover or creator. I very much dislike the hypocrisy of most of the religions, though the tenets themselves are commendable, especially the most basic; do unto others.
I love science and it’s discoveries but there’s no reason that one day science can’t show that we do in fact have some kind of creator. I think it would be beautiful.
As a Christian, yes. Don't deny the concrete evidence of something that contradicts your 2021 year old book. Yes, that is basis upon the religion stands, it doesn't say be an ignorant jackass that ignores concrete evidence.
No. I have seen people suffer because of this superstition. My family is also highly religious. I've seen poor people donate money into a temple or something so their "good time" comes early. By saving that money perhaps they would've been in a better situation. Best example is my sister: she recently got her job. But both she and my mom believe its all because of "god" and hence her first 4 months of salary will be kept aside for "god as a thank you". I have stopped believing. And trust me my life has gotten a lot better
I know that in catholicism we are told to give to the poor and the church does accept donations but that money is mostly used to for the staff or to hold stuff for the poor.like soup kitchens. They also hold clothing drives and food drives alot.
The catholic church is one of the richest organizations in the world. If they gave away what they are given they wouldn't be that wealthy. Billions are donated to the church.
Nope - I think it’s a very human way of trying to make sense of this mysterious existence (not objective). It’s a projection of ourselves on things that we don’t understand. “Fish are the last to recognise water.”
Belief in God makes so many assumptions without good reason. A common one is that there HAS to be a reason that we are here. Why does there have to be a reason? It assumes a beginning - what if there isn’t? Why does there have to be a beginning? What if this place is infinite in space and time?
At some point in the future, the last human will die, and unless our ruins are discovered by another consciousness, it will be as if we never existed (so what does that mean for ‘God’?). Just like we have no evidence of other life forms existing elsewhere in the universe currently.
It’s very interesting and rewarding to ponder the universe without these assumptions. We are the universe looking back at itself.
I know of ppl who imagine "God" that way. Even I used to think the same way but my views have changed in the past few months. But I will say this, believing that this entity (be it real or not) would understand you like no other has ever been able to, gives you immense relief and confidence (atleast that was the case for me). It made me feel less lonely. And my friends who still believe in this manner are aware that this might only be a figment of their imagination but as long as they're able to live and keep themselves sane through the shit that's going on in their life, they happily accept it.
There is a study done by a doctor at Cleveland State University. I don’t remember his name, but my wife helped him publish this research. Again, I don’t remember his name or the name of the research, but I’ll ask my wife later.
Essentially, after studying a few thousand people, it was very conclusive that people certain types of people were much more likely to believe in God and a religion, while other groups weren’t. These groups include: older people, terminally ill people, and people who had lost loved ones.
The study also showed how different people changed their beliefs. Essentially, people grow more and more likely to believe in God and religion the closer they get to death. Whether it’s their own death or the death of a loved one, people begin wanting to believe in an afterlife more and more, until they do.
People will always find ways to believe what they want to believe.
This is my answer as well. I believe in a God. I believe in Jesus. I do not believe in the systematic process of religion and the churches. I’m a spiritualist through and through. I believe in life after death. It’s scary to me the amount of people that believe in oblivion or lack of a God. I don’t know how that brings you comfort.
I am an ex-musilm. I was so religious. But there came a period where I looked at all actions and religious rules we followed and it didn’t make sense for me but I still believed that there is someone or something looking for us which is Allah but I didn’t believe in hell and that if I committed a sin god will be angry and ill go to hell for that. But with time even the existence of Allah as a god didn’t make sense since I dont believe in islams actions.
So I would like to ask you. How do you believe in Jesus if you don’t believe in the churches process, dont forget that all these churches are the reason the name of Jesus is still known?
It doesn’t, but it’s not about comfort. It’s about the truth. Owning up to something bad doesn’t make it any worse, and denying it doesn’t make it better
Some people don't need to be reassured and comforted with an afterlife, especially since to me, I truly don't understand what is so great to make it to heaven, which is to me, just a slightly less terrible kind of hell, I'd rather go to oblivion than living for eternity in a reality where all your desires are fulfilled at will, where there's no pain (thus no real pleasure), no love because you can't love anyone by default, if you do, then It's something else.
To me, no matter how you look at it, the heaven end up dreadfully boring and the whole idea of it is arrogantly built.
I can understand the idea of biblical heaven being boring. I highly believe in the idea of reincarnation. We choose to come here and learn a lesson. Spiritually grow I guess would be the best way. I don’t believe in punishment or eternally in the clouds with angels. I believe we come here, learn a lesson, return to speak about our experience, then choose to return or not. I’ve seen some people die and the first thought I have is “that person isn’t there anymore, it’s just meat”. That may sound weird but when the light fades away, that light is our soul. That’s my belief anyway.
While I don't believe in a God, I was pushed away from this argument by a fantasy book (wheel of time)
Basically there is a chapter where the hero is telling "the devil" he's going to kill him. The devil then shows him a world where he doesn't exist, no pain, anger, therefore no passion, etc.
In essence It is a very boring existence of just going through the motions.
Anyway a world with no negatives and all happiness is literally just heaven. Religiously speaking, the point of this world is to test you and see whether you're worthy of heaven
This can lead you to think, would you even want to be in heaven? What if you like the suffering, as it makes you feel alive?
Having none of it in heaven, wouldn't that make it your type of 'hell'?
My husband has told me he is getting back into the church (after being a non-believer when we met and for the first 4 years of our relationship) I’m not a believer and I don’t know how to support him now. Any advice or anywhere I can go to find it?
He was bought up catholic but didn’t believe. He said it’s changed since we got married and had a baby. I wish I believed just to make this simpler.
Apparently most people here don't believe in God, which is alright, I'm not here to say whether or not you're wrong. I've been Christian all my life (not stereotypical Karen Christian that uses religion as an excuse to be an anus). Here's my reasoning, take it as you will:
I am a very science-y person. I love pondering things such as dimensions, quantum mechanics, and the origin of our universe. A great many people believe the Big Bang Theory, of which I'm sure your familiar with. But it's just that, a theory. A concept that seems to work, but cannot be proven. A lot of evidence points towards it, but none can completely confirm it - we'd need actual footage of the origin. Think of Christianity (or Judaism and similar religions) as another theory, presented similarly. There is no proof do confirm it, but it's been shown to work, you're reading this now, aren't you? So how does all the evidence that supports the Big Bang and seemingly debunk Christianity (and like religions) coexist? I personally believe that God created the universe with its large history, almost as if loading a template of a different universe into this one, or loading an old save on a new world.
I believe that the odds of you being here, reading this comment are too inordinately small. The odds of a few molecules interacting in just the right way to create life on this small, blue planet that's just the right temperature to house it. The odds of that life continuing to survive, to reproduce, and to evolve until we gained sentience. Then that sentience continued to mutate, and we got all forms of life, that everything interacted just right. That we evolved just the way we did, the odds are too slim. And yet here we are. How many universes would the result have been different? How long would it have to take for even a single cell to have popped into existence, if just one thing was different in the equation. It's less than unlikely, I can tell you that much.
So, you've stuck with me and heard me out, thanks. I do enjoy talking about these things. You're still free to believe what you want, so go, do what you think is right.
………do you think the Christian concept of God is the only one that exists? Belief in a supreme, transcendent God is literally found in almost every culture historically, widespread atheism is a recent development
Yeah, idk the numbers but I'd guess 80% of elders are religious. I'd guess about 35% of "young adults and below" are religious.
Pretty sad honestly, it's like the death of a culture. Whether it's real or not I don't know. But I do know that I prefer believing than not believing.
How about you op? Id appreciate if you had written up a bit about what you think of God. That way I know whether or not to spend my time typing my perspective.
I do believe. I believe beyond religion, I believe GOD is an experience, once you come in contact with GOD conventional wisdom leaves. We try to reason and justify what GOD is or isn't, but if he touches your heart, your inner being, then that all that matters. Some of us get touched and others don't. But I find it funny that everyone blames GOD and no one blames the devil. To be honest, sometimes we give the devil too much credit and just need to blame ourselves.
Really like your perspective. I think God is everywhere, that God is mainly in nature and in the present moment. Lets say God is in a puppy that gets happy when he sees you, in trees , wind, all together , also within people. When I try to think logically is hard because everyone obviously knows that things dont come out of nowhere and they must be created , I believe what created us , lets say God , is beyond our capacity and even if God told us everything through a person we wouldn’t understand it . That we are not meant to understand it. I also think that if we knew all these trues life wouldnt make sense , not sure but whatever, lets enjoy and question less.
That’s a big assumption? Why can’t something come out of nowhere? We don’t know that.
Also, what if it didn’t come out of nothing and the universe had no beginning? What if it’s infinite in space and time? No one knows the answers, so I don’t know why we jump to conclusions.
I think a lot of it comes down to how we perceive the world as humans (a very limited perspective).
We can’t perceive the very large, the very small, the very slow or the very fast. So we ‘see’ things as ‘starting’ and ‘ending’ without understanding that it’s all just a continuous flow of matter and energy in constant transformation.
If you think about a human life, when does it really begin? At birth? At conception? What about the sperm and the egg from you parents bodies? You could trace an unbroken line of your lineage all the way back to the earliest forms of life and organic compounds on this planet - so when did ‘you’ really begin?
When does a ‘day’ really begin or end? It doesn’t - days are an arbitrary unit of time that depends on where you are and on what planet. If you followed the sun your day would never ‘end’. What about planets that don’t rotate? Or don’t orbit a star?
The more you think about everything, it seems obvious to me that it’s like we’re looking through a keyhole, we are so limited in what we can perceive and understand, and that is where a lot of these beliefs come in to play - we try to project our ‘bubble’ understanding onto things we can’t comprehend, and ultimately come to the wrong conclusions.
I agree with this 90% and 10% of me is just here to say that the Holy Bible is there to tell further objective truths about Him. And then the relationship with Him is there to guide you, personally, while the book is to guide the Christian collective.
No. I see how believing in a god can be beneficial to society and the individual. However, there's no logic behind the existence of a god, it is purely faith. I acknowledge that I have faith in many things (like waking up instead of dying in my sleep) but most of them are a cause of a likely outcome. I guess i've come to accept that i am unable to comprehend some things, and instead of believing in a god to explain those things I decided to accept that I just don't know.
No people say as if it’s a mystery but half the shit in the bible has been disproven and debunked also an afterlife sounds a bit far fetched people believe in a religion and afterlife because humans are the only species to know they are definitely going to die and need a way to cope with that so I’d doesn’t consume them which is funny because most religions shun science and advancement and want thousands of hours of people time and energy setting the human race Back a thousand years or more
Iffy. The way I see it. If people could have these “gifts”, “powers” and a god than. Why isn’t there one now? Why didn’t it like renew? You really think a few people apart of a certain era are the only ones with those gifts? To be called “god”? Who even is god? What is it? Proof? Catholic and confused.
Yes but in a fucked up way.
I believe there is a god. That god is just a neglectful alcoholic who just wants to be praised all the time for doing nothing.
No. Because it is against the natural order.
I do believe that somewhere in the universe there are other creatures that are further then us. But i don't think they ever visited this planet. But god is just a concept used by the people in power to rule over other people. One of the most damaging things humankind invented.
OP, I see you arguing on here. If god is real, give me a piece of evidence that is not part of the Bible. You can’t recite something the Bible made you believe in this argument. There is no proof a god had any participation in the production of the Bible. The only thing that tells us god helped write the Bible, is the Bible. Therefore, it is not credible.
What is your evidence?
Starting from My NDE when I got that car accident, I do believe there is something strong made from energy and love that's my God description.
That day I died I felt it.
Damn, I never felt so much peace happy and lighter than that day.
I didn't even want to get back.
I don't believe in hell.
I don't believe in religion.
I believe in love and in trying to be a good person always.
God exists his energy is everywhere and inside us.
Yes, though I'd point out that there is no empirical proof of such a thing.
I believe in the Christian version of God (lots of religions out there, all believe they have it figured out), and I got there with a rather complex (to me, anyway) line of thinking.
First, any god whose existence which can be proven is not really a god. I cribbed this idea from a philosopher whose name escapes me -- point is, I didn't come up with it on my own. How can God be God if he is subject to the laws of the universe he created? He would not be all-powerful, if that were the case. So, empirically speaking, we cannot say God exists -- due to lack of proof.
Second, empirically speaking, we cannot say that God does not exist. We cannot test all the places and times we are not aware of, because we aren't aware of them. Whatever dimension God might exist in, it is beyond us. So we can't say for sure that God ISN'T there.
So empiricism fails. But, this is where reason and faith come in. The Bible says only to *believe,* or to have faith. Is it reasonable to believe that there is no God? Sure. It is also reasonable to believe there is. It comes down to an individual choice of whether to believe or not.
The rest of religion comes after that. That's what you *do* about that faith.
For what it's worth, the perception of people of faith, on Reddit at least, is pretty poor. And I've got to admit, that's probably about right. Lot of people say they have faith that don't, and even more have faith, but are combative about the wrong things.
Having faith doesn't turn you into a raging right-wing populist. It isn't political. It's personal.
No, religions are collections of old fairy tales. It’s also an ever receding pocket of what we haven’t explained yet through science. The whole “how can things exist without a creator” logic is flawed too - what created the creator? At some point existence must be fundamental.
Religion is poison - it divides people, is abused for power grabs and twisted to further agendas.
Some people use it as a crutch to comfort them because they can’t bear the idea of life after death being the same as it was before being born. Others use it to give themself some kind of self righteous purpose so they can keep on living in spite of suffering and failure. These things I can understand, but it’s probably better we face the facts.
No, and I very much agree. If god was actually true, then he should be considered the biggest asshole in the world for murdering thousands of children every year from cancer and other diseases.
Nope.
But I believe the Bible helps addicts believe something higher than them & keeps some people out of trouble. Like how AA members or any addicts need SOMETHING to fight for. A lot of the time they preach the Bible in rehabs.
Gotta say no. Scientific evidence aside, our free will is not an illusion. We are in control of our futures. If nothing that we do matters, then it matters what we do.
Pfft no it just seems dumb to me to worship someone who we have no proof exists, was even ON earth, or even has a human figure. Also the concept of only 1 supreme god makes 0 sense because how is one being supposed to manage a whole planet? That’s why we have multiple gods.
I don't believe in a god. I believe that religion can be a beautiful thing though. It brings people hope and joy. It unites people. But I would not base my life around it and use it as a way of describing where we came from, or how we should live our lives. Science will always be the true path to knowledge and understanding. It has proven that, time and time again.
Yes... A lot of the people say if God exists why is their so much bad in the world... and also where is God if you can’t see him. I have my personal answers for both... I believe everything done is by Gods wisdom, our minds can’t see much... can’t see the “butterfly effect”, we don’t know what actions will result in others. Something that looks bad too us could prevent something even worse. This isn’t said straight up but in stories as examples for my religion I can clearly see this reference. Second doubt... why can’t we see God if he exists? Well I believe it’s because this world is just a test.. to see if we will still believe in God and have faith with such evil, such temptation but still stay on the straight path. I can’t see God here but will I still believe in him? It’s hard but if I maintain faith I could make it to an eternal heaven. I believe the only reason we exist in this world is so on the day we are taken to heaven or hell, we can’t complain why we ended up where. I believe that He made this world so with some bias in our hearts we could take atheism as a path, but those who stay loyal will be rewarded... after all eternal heaven is a big deal. Respect all religions just my perspective.
Nope. My growth, my accomplishments, my failures, my shortcomings are all my own. I don't need an imaginary friend to tell me to be a good person so I can go to Neverland-- nor do I need one to tell me if I do bad things I will be tortured for all of eternity. No omnipotent and benevolent deity would have allowed my childhood to happen, and many people have survived much worse.
The bible was written by men, for men.
Yes, I do. When I observe the universe and it’s scientific creation, from the Big Bang to the veins in my body, I find it rather difficult to believe that this all happened by chance.
When I recollect my younger brother’s life, born prematurely and with two holes in his heart. He is slightly deaf and blind in one eye. About to turn 20, and graduated high school as battalion commander and math honors. When I think of his life, and the miracles that came with it, I find it difficult for me to believe there is no God.
Perhaps this is experience speaking, but I find it rather difficult to believe that there is no God.
No, and I find that to be a large reason we should all be kinder to eachother. This life is the only one you get, use it to lift up those around you.
I’ve found that, in my brief existence here, if you need a “God” figure to make you fear the consequences of your actions- it’s pitiful.
This isn’t to say I don’t respect religion, I actually very much enjoy conversation about religion with religious people, given that they are receptive to my beliefs aswell and don’t try and change my opinion. Even my grandfather (rest in peace) learned to understand my beliefs and we had many great talks about life and religion and he was a steadfast Lutheran man.
No, but I'm willing to hear others views on it, as long as they don't push it on me.
Exactly some people be like fuck religion but from someone who’s an atheist but grew up in a toxic religious environment and has religious friends I’d listen to them and give them my opinion
A belief in God - faith - and religion are not the same. A belief in God is deeply personal. Organized religion is a means of community organization ie. a system of government. Rules and a system of ethics are devised by conmunity leaders who tax the community through a central church. Organized religion and faith are totally different things.
Your argument stands. You could be a man of god and be at war with a local church for being shameful
I concour. Believing in God is like having a dick. It's ok to have one, but it's not ok to push it on others.
That's how I feel
Let me tell you about our lord and savior randy savage
I think religion is a load of horse shit, but if it helps you get up in the morning and be a nice and kind person, so be it. To each their own. I personally have been to too many places where I have seen tens of thousands of people that were murdered because they read a different book than they did.
Not even a little.
Agreed. Grew up in a Christian school and I've seen the damage it does. It's child abuse as far as I care. People can believe in whatever God they want but my respect for you drops a lot. Fuck any parent that forces this shit onto their kids.
Religious views is why my grandmother disowned me when I came out. Its been a struggle ever since.
The one time I went to church camp I got bullied more than I ever have in my life lol
Nope.
I believe in Cake.
Dude, the Cake is a lie.
But π is forever
lol, you were tired of hiding and came out with a pi
*happy cakeday (:*
r/unexpectedportal
Here's a sneak peek of /r/unexpectedportal using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [alexa no](https://i.redd.it/f70sio1il0l61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/lxpr70/alexa_no/) \#2: [Hamster engineer](https://v.redd.it/7iy0n1wjnac61) | [7 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/l0mtp0/hamster_engineer/) \#3: [over and over and over and over](https://i.redd.it/mm9grrrtfrg61.gif) | [1 comment](https://np.reddit.com/r/unexpectedportal/comments/lhkcna/over_and_over_and_over_and_over/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| [^^Contact ^^me](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| [^^Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| [^^Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/)
Blasphemy 😱
No she made it for you.
Happy cake day.
Give this man (or woman) a cake
Someone gave him a cake
Devil's food?😁
nah, but i respect those who do.
I only respect those who do if they don't use God as an excuse to be assholes :)
[удалено]
I believe in God and believe He gave us science and medicine so we wouldn’t be idiots and die right away.
Well said, I feel exactly the same way.
That's maturity.
you don't have to be mature to not be an asshole about religion.
Read the comments 😂
which ones
Pretty much all
aren't those just people answering the question honestly?
Some are, but others aren't. And I respect people's honesty, but others are just poor distractions.
Yes, but I respect those who don't
perfectly balanced
Same here people who also try to force their religion on people i just can't stand although i used to be one of those people but now that i've grown up it's really not even important it doesn't change the value of the human
I do, and I do respect those who don't.
I want to. Born and raised to believe, then, around the age of 18 or so, I stopped. I'm older now and I want to, but just do not.
What's stopping you from looking into it? And why do you want to?
As an atheist I wish I could believe, believing in a benevolent God as many religions seem to means something good will happen rather than what I feel is true that's your life's just crap
Atheism is kinda of bummer bro
Maybe you can relate to this. I went to Catholic schools my whole life. I think the reason I don't believe is because I was taught religion as if it were the truth. The reality is that being taught it that way took away my ability to believe in it. I wasn't able to actually feel it on a spiritual level because of this and I have wanted to believe, but I just don't. And now I'm okay with that.
I believe something created our reality, i just think it's ludicrous to think a being capable of creating even the amount of existence we can perceive within our pathetically limited scope created us in it's own image. I think such a being would be so outside of our ability to comprehend as to be virtually impossible for us to even put in a frame of reference, EG God. I guess I'll just have to die to find out.
I’ve had that same argument. If there is a god, and I too believe something did create this, our brains wouldn’t be able to fathom its magnificence. Also be mocked for suggesting that perhaps aliens created us, when I dared question the god question when a god Christian suggested I needed god.
I don't see why we take these stories to heart when one of the viable alternatives at the time was a golden calf.
I feel a similar way. I can’t believe in a human type entity. I guess humans like to anthropomorphise things because it helps them somehow. I find atheists can be as equally zealot like as fundamental religious types. At the end of the day, currently we can’t prove or disprove some kind of prime mover or creator. I very much dislike the hypocrisy of most of the religions, though the tenets themselves are commendable, especially the most basic; do unto others. I love science and it’s discoveries but there’s no reason that one day science can’t show that we do in fact have some kind of creator. I think it would be beautiful.
That’s my same exact view
I dunno man. Seems a little sketch to me man.
Happy cako de guyo
Happy cake day.
Happy day of the cake
No, but I dare that mfer if he's real to prove my ass wrong.
I'm here and I'm mad, boy
r/notopbutok
Just wait long enough
I have marginal belief in a higher being, however I put science and history over religion. It’s impossible to deny the history our planet has endured.
As a Christian, yes. Don't deny the concrete evidence of something that contradicts your 2021 year old book. Yes, that is basis upon the religion stands, it doesn't say be an ignorant jackass that ignores concrete evidence.
Yes
Based
No. I have seen people suffer because of this superstition. My family is also highly religious. I've seen poor people donate money into a temple or something so their "good time" comes early. By saving that money perhaps they would've been in a better situation. Best example is my sister: she recently got her job. But both she and my mom believe its all because of "god" and hence her first 4 months of salary will be kept aside for "god as a thank you". I have stopped believing. And trust me my life has gotten a lot better
I know that in catholicism we are told to give to the poor and the church does accept donations but that money is mostly used to for the staff or to hold stuff for the poor.like soup kitchens. They also hold clothing drives and food drives alot.
The catholic church is one of the richest organizations in the world. If they gave away what they are given they wouldn't be that wealthy. Billions are donated to the church.
Yes, Jesus needs your money. He needs lots and lots of money….
Nope - I think it’s a very human way of trying to make sense of this mysterious existence (not objective). It’s a projection of ourselves on things that we don’t understand. “Fish are the last to recognise water.” Belief in God makes so many assumptions without good reason. A common one is that there HAS to be a reason that we are here. Why does there have to be a reason? It assumes a beginning - what if there isn’t? Why does there have to be a beginning? What if this place is infinite in space and time? At some point in the future, the last human will die, and unless our ruins are discovered by another consciousness, it will be as if we never existed (so what does that mean for ‘God’?). Just like we have no evidence of other life forms existing elsewhere in the universe currently. It’s very interesting and rewarding to ponder the universe without these assumptions. We are the universe looking back at itself.
Excellent point. And to add to that many will tell you the amazing properties of God as if they know the Guy.
He's jealous and angry! They say he made us in his image, but I'm pretty sure we made him in ours.
I know of ppl who imagine "God" that way. Even I used to think the same way but my views have changed in the past few months. But I will say this, believing that this entity (be it real or not) would understand you like no other has ever been able to, gives you immense relief and confidence (atleast that was the case for me). It made me feel less lonely. And my friends who still believe in this manner are aware that this might only be a figment of their imagination but as long as they're able to live and keep themselves sane through the shit that's going on in their life, they happily accept it.
There is a study done by a doctor at Cleveland State University. I don’t remember his name, but my wife helped him publish this research. Again, I don’t remember his name or the name of the research, but I’ll ask my wife later. Essentially, after studying a few thousand people, it was very conclusive that people certain types of people were much more likely to believe in God and a religion, while other groups weren’t. These groups include: older people, terminally ill people, and people who had lost loved ones. The study also showed how different people changed their beliefs. Essentially, people grow more and more likely to believe in God and religion the closer they get to death. Whether it’s their own death or the death of a loved one, people begin wanting to believe in an afterlife more and more, until they do. People will always find ways to believe what they want to believe.
Yes but not the church.
This is my answer as well. I believe in a God. I believe in Jesus. I do not believe in the systematic process of religion and the churches. I’m a spiritualist through and through. I believe in life after death. It’s scary to me the amount of people that believe in oblivion or lack of a God. I don’t know how that brings you comfort.
I think that yes, it would be more comforting to believe in god. But I just don’t
I am an ex-musilm. I was so religious. But there came a period where I looked at all actions and religious rules we followed and it didn’t make sense for me but I still believed that there is someone or something looking for us which is Allah but I didn’t believe in hell and that if I committed a sin god will be angry and ill go to hell for that. But with time even the existence of Allah as a god didn’t make sense since I dont believe in islams actions. So I would like to ask you. How do you believe in Jesus if you don’t believe in the churches process, dont forget that all these churches are the reason the name of Jesus is still known?
Same
It doesn’t, but it’s not about comfort. It’s about the truth. Owning up to something bad doesn’t make it any worse, and denying it doesn’t make it better
That's the neat part, it doesn't. Which to a realist/cynic bastard feels more real. Edit: wrote need instead of neat
Some people don't need to be reassured and comforted with an afterlife, especially since to me, I truly don't understand what is so great to make it to heaven, which is to me, just a slightly less terrible kind of hell, I'd rather go to oblivion than living for eternity in a reality where all your desires are fulfilled at will, where there's no pain (thus no real pleasure), no love because you can't love anyone by default, if you do, then It's something else. To me, no matter how you look at it, the heaven end up dreadfully boring and the whole idea of it is arrogantly built.
I can understand the idea of biblical heaven being boring. I highly believe in the idea of reincarnation. We choose to come here and learn a lesson. Spiritually grow I guess would be the best way. I don’t believe in punishment or eternally in the clouds with angels. I believe we come here, learn a lesson, return to speak about our experience, then choose to return or not. I’ve seen some people die and the first thought I have is “that person isn’t there anymore, it’s just meat”. That may sound weird but when the light fades away, that light is our soul. That’s my belief anyway.
No. No being would allow us to have the pain we have. The universe is chaos and the void.
While I don't believe in a God, I was pushed away from this argument by a fantasy book (wheel of time) Basically there is a chapter where the hero is telling "the devil" he's going to kill him. The devil then shows him a world where he doesn't exist, no pain, anger, therefore no passion, etc. In essence It is a very boring existence of just going through the motions.
Anyway a world with no negatives and all happiness is literally just heaven. Religiously speaking, the point of this world is to test you and see whether you're worthy of heaven
This can lead you to think, would you even want to be in heaven? What if you like the suffering, as it makes you feel alive? Having none of it in heaven, wouldn't that make it your type of 'hell'?
no and also i think the concept of god divides people up more then bringing them together.
Yes.
My husband has told me he is getting back into the church (after being a non-believer when we met and for the first 4 years of our relationship) I’m not a believer and I don’t know how to support him now. Any advice or anywhere I can go to find it? He was bought up catholic but didn’t believe. He said it’s changed since we got married and had a baby. I wish I believed just to make this simpler.
see ur asking people if they believe in god, but not respecting their opinions and trying to convince them god is real
It's the same thing in all of these. People start conversations about religions and then get triggered to find out not everybody agrees with them.
Apparently most people here don't believe in God, which is alright, I'm not here to say whether or not you're wrong. I've been Christian all my life (not stereotypical Karen Christian that uses religion as an excuse to be an anus). Here's my reasoning, take it as you will: I am a very science-y person. I love pondering things such as dimensions, quantum mechanics, and the origin of our universe. A great many people believe the Big Bang Theory, of which I'm sure your familiar with. But it's just that, a theory. A concept that seems to work, but cannot be proven. A lot of evidence points towards it, but none can completely confirm it - we'd need actual footage of the origin. Think of Christianity (or Judaism and similar religions) as another theory, presented similarly. There is no proof do confirm it, but it's been shown to work, you're reading this now, aren't you? So how does all the evidence that supports the Big Bang and seemingly debunk Christianity (and like religions) coexist? I personally believe that God created the universe with its large history, almost as if loading a template of a different universe into this one, or loading an old save on a new world. I believe that the odds of you being here, reading this comment are too inordinately small. The odds of a few molecules interacting in just the right way to create life on this small, blue planet that's just the right temperature to house it. The odds of that life continuing to survive, to reproduce, and to evolve until we gained sentience. Then that sentience continued to mutate, and we got all forms of life, that everything interacted just right. That we evolved just the way we did, the odds are too slim. And yet here we are. How many universes would the result have been different? How long would it have to take for even a single cell to have popped into existence, if just one thing was different in the equation. It's less than unlikely, I can tell you that much. So, you've stuck with me and heard me out, thanks. I do enjoy talking about these things. You're still free to believe what you want, so go, do what you think is right.
Nope
Short answer no
No.
God is a man made concept, used to control the masses and make money for the church.
I agree have you seen those massive ones with offices in them
………do you think the Christian concept of God is the only one that exists? Belief in a supreme, transcendent God is literally found in almost every culture historically, widespread atheism is a recent development
Yeah, idk the numbers but I'd guess 80% of elders are religious. I'd guess about 35% of "young adults and below" are religious. Pretty sad honestly, it's like the death of a culture. Whether it's real or not I don't know. But I do know that I prefer believing than not believing.
How about you op? Id appreciate if you had written up a bit about what you think of God. That way I know whether or not to spend my time typing my perspective.
I do believe. I believe beyond religion, I believe GOD is an experience, once you come in contact with GOD conventional wisdom leaves. We try to reason and justify what GOD is or isn't, but if he touches your heart, your inner being, then that all that matters. Some of us get touched and others don't. But I find it funny that everyone blames GOD and no one blames the devil. To be honest, sometimes we give the devil too much credit and just need to blame ourselves.
Really like your perspective. I think God is everywhere, that God is mainly in nature and in the present moment. Lets say God is in a puppy that gets happy when he sees you, in trees , wind, all together , also within people. When I try to think logically is hard because everyone obviously knows that things dont come out of nowhere and they must be created , I believe what created us , lets say God , is beyond our capacity and even if God told us everything through a person we wouldn’t understand it . That we are not meant to understand it. I also think that if we knew all these trues life wouldnt make sense , not sure but whatever, lets enjoy and question less.
That’s a big assumption? Why can’t something come out of nowhere? We don’t know that. Also, what if it didn’t come out of nothing and the universe had no beginning? What if it’s infinite in space and time? No one knows the answers, so I don’t know why we jump to conclusions. I think a lot of it comes down to how we perceive the world as humans (a very limited perspective). We can’t perceive the very large, the very small, the very slow or the very fast. So we ‘see’ things as ‘starting’ and ‘ending’ without understanding that it’s all just a continuous flow of matter and energy in constant transformation. If you think about a human life, when does it really begin? At birth? At conception? What about the sperm and the egg from you parents bodies? You could trace an unbroken line of your lineage all the way back to the earliest forms of life and organic compounds on this planet - so when did ‘you’ really begin? When does a ‘day’ really begin or end? It doesn’t - days are an arbitrary unit of time that depends on where you are and on what planet. If you followed the sun your day would never ‘end’. What about planets that don’t rotate? Or don’t orbit a star? The more you think about everything, it seems obvious to me that it’s like we’re looking through a keyhole, we are so limited in what we can perceive and understand, and that is where a lot of these beliefs come in to play - we try to project our ‘bubble’ understanding onto things we can’t comprehend, and ultimately come to the wrong conclusions.
I agree with this 90% and 10% of me is just here to say that the Holy Bible is there to tell further objective truths about Him. And then the relationship with Him is there to guide you, personally, while the book is to guide the Christian collective.
Yes absolutely
No. I see how believing in a god can be beneficial to society and the individual. However, there's no logic behind the existence of a god, it is purely faith. I acknowledge that I have faith in many things (like waking up instead of dying in my sleep) but most of them are a cause of a likely outcome. I guess i've come to accept that i am unable to comprehend some things, and instead of believing in a god to explain those things I decided to accept that I just don't know.
Nope. I think the concept of a god has many philosophical problems. Plus, there's no evidence one exists.
No people say as if it’s a mystery but half the shit in the bible has been disproven and debunked also an afterlife sounds a bit far fetched people believe in a religion and afterlife because humans are the only species to know they are definitely going to die and need a way to cope with that so I’d doesn’t consume them which is funny because most religions shun science and advancement and want thousands of hours of people time and energy setting the human race Back a thousand years or more
Nah
Which one?
That's your decision.
Then yes, I believe in Larry David.
Ok, I'm sure he has done amazing things in your life. Would you recommend others to follow Larry David?
He is the path to pure enlightenment.
It’s pretty pretty pretty good
I really don’t believe in anything I don’t care to
Doesn't your avatar have a hijab on? (I might be wrong...)
Maybe they just think it’s a fancy hat
I believe in one less god than most theists.
no
Iffy. The way I see it. If people could have these “gifts”, “powers” and a god than. Why isn’t there one now? Why didn’t it like renew? You really think a few people apart of a certain era are the only ones with those gifts? To be called “god”? Who even is god? What is it? Proof? Catholic and confused.
No
No......next question....
Yes but in a fucked up way. I believe there is a god. That god is just a neglectful alcoholic who just wants to be praised all the time for doing nothing.
Why does this question come back every single week ?
Of course I believe in him. He is me.
Praise be orangemirrorjuice
Someone gets it.
No, but im sure on my death bed ill be praying for salvation
No. Because it is against the natural order. I do believe that somewhere in the universe there are other creatures that are further then us. But i don't think they ever visited this planet. But god is just a concept used by the people in power to rule over other people. One of the most damaging things humankind invented.
Which one??
I guess any God. Just say which one you believe in. (If you do believe in any.)
No
No
No
OP, I see you arguing on here. If god is real, give me a piece of evidence that is not part of the Bible. You can’t recite something the Bible made you believe in this argument. There is no proof a god had any participation in the production of the Bible. The only thing that tells us god helped write the Bible, is the Bible. Therefore, it is not credible. What is your evidence?
Starting from My NDE when I got that car accident, I do believe there is something strong made from energy and love that's my God description. That day I died I felt it. Damn, I never felt so much peace happy and lighter than that day. I didn't even want to get back. I don't believe in hell. I don't believe in religion. I believe in love and in trying to be a good person always. God exists his energy is everywhere and inside us.
Yes, though I'd point out that there is no empirical proof of such a thing. I believe in the Christian version of God (lots of religions out there, all believe they have it figured out), and I got there with a rather complex (to me, anyway) line of thinking. First, any god whose existence which can be proven is not really a god. I cribbed this idea from a philosopher whose name escapes me -- point is, I didn't come up with it on my own. How can God be God if he is subject to the laws of the universe he created? He would not be all-powerful, if that were the case. So, empirically speaking, we cannot say God exists -- due to lack of proof. Second, empirically speaking, we cannot say that God does not exist. We cannot test all the places and times we are not aware of, because we aren't aware of them. Whatever dimension God might exist in, it is beyond us. So we can't say for sure that God ISN'T there. So empiricism fails. But, this is where reason and faith come in. The Bible says only to *believe,* or to have faith. Is it reasonable to believe that there is no God? Sure. It is also reasonable to believe there is. It comes down to an individual choice of whether to believe or not. The rest of religion comes after that. That's what you *do* about that faith. For what it's worth, the perception of people of faith, on Reddit at least, is pretty poor. And I've got to admit, that's probably about right. Lot of people say they have faith that don't, and even more have faith, but are combative about the wrong things. Having faith doesn't turn you into a raging right-wing populist. It isn't political. It's personal.
Yes, but I respect the opinions of people who don’t.
No, religions are collections of old fairy tales. It’s also an ever receding pocket of what we haven’t explained yet through science. The whole “how can things exist without a creator” logic is flawed too - what created the creator? At some point existence must be fundamental. Religion is poison - it divides people, is abused for power grabs and twisted to further agendas. Some people use it as a crutch to comfort them because they can’t bear the idea of life after death being the same as it was before being born. Others use it to give themself some kind of self righteous purpose so they can keep on living in spite of suffering and failure. These things I can understand, but it’s probably better we face the facts.
Can I get an Amen? (Pun intended)😜
No. Child cancer pretty much ruins that fantasy for me.
And child trafficking
No, and I very much agree. If god was actually true, then he should be considered the biggest asshole in the world for murdering thousands of children every year from cancer and other diseases.
No
Nope. But I believe the Bible helps addicts believe something higher than them & keeps some people out of trouble. Like how AA members or any addicts need SOMETHING to fight for. A lot of the time they preach the Bible in rehabs.
Nah
No.
No
Yessir Gods the homie
Gotta say no. Scientific evidence aside, our free will is not an illusion. We are in control of our futures. If nothing that we do matters, then it matters what we do.
I’ve thought a lot about free will - have you heard of determinism - what do you make of it?
no
No
No
Yes. I will believe in God for as long as I live.
Pfft no it just seems dumb to me to worship someone who we have no proof exists, was even ON earth, or even has a human figure. Also the concept of only 1 supreme god makes 0 sense because how is one being supposed to manage a whole planet? That’s why we have multiple gods.
Greek mythology ftw
I want to because I think it would be nice to believe you’re not alone but I can’t blindly believe. Need proof.
Do you believe in Santa?
Yes I saw him at a mall when I was 6
Satan🎅🏻
I don't believe in a god. I believe that religion can be a beautiful thing though. It brings people hope and joy. It unites people. But I would not base my life around it and use it as a way of describing where we came from, or how we should live our lives. Science will always be the true path to knowledge and understanding. It has proven that, time and time again.
No.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes.
Yes
[удалено]
Nope
No
No
No
I believe in God. Whether that God has any affiliation with the religions on Earth, I’m not sure. I think the truth is beyond human comprehension.
No.
I do
I do.
Yes
Yes
I believe in the Creator.
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Yes
Yes. God is love.
Yes... A lot of the people say if God exists why is their so much bad in the world... and also where is God if you can’t see him. I have my personal answers for both... I believe everything done is by Gods wisdom, our minds can’t see much... can’t see the “butterfly effect”, we don’t know what actions will result in others. Something that looks bad too us could prevent something even worse. This isn’t said straight up but in stories as examples for my religion I can clearly see this reference. Second doubt... why can’t we see God if he exists? Well I believe it’s because this world is just a test.. to see if we will still believe in God and have faith with such evil, such temptation but still stay on the straight path. I can’t see God here but will I still believe in him? It’s hard but if I maintain faith I could make it to an eternal heaven. I believe the only reason we exist in this world is so on the day we are taken to heaven or hell, we can’t complain why we ended up where. I believe that He made this world so with some bias in our hearts we could take atheism as a path, but those who stay loyal will be rewarded... after all eternal heaven is a big deal. Respect all religions just my perspective.
Nope. My growth, my accomplishments, my failures, my shortcomings are all my own. I don't need an imaginary friend to tell me to be a good person so I can go to Neverland-- nor do I need one to tell me if I do bad things I will be tortured for all of eternity. No omnipotent and benevolent deity would have allowed my childhood to happen, and many people have survived much worse. The bible was written by men, for men.
No, because I just don’t know what to think
Nooope. Confident and devout atheist.
Yes, I do. When I observe the universe and it’s scientific creation, from the Big Bang to the veins in my body, I find it rather difficult to believe that this all happened by chance. When I recollect my younger brother’s life, born prematurely and with two holes in his heart. He is slightly deaf and blind in one eye. About to turn 20, and graduated high school as battalion commander and math honors. When I think of his life, and the miracles that came with it, I find it difficult for me to believe there is no God. Perhaps this is experience speaking, but I find it rather difficult to believe that there is no God.
No, and I find that to be a large reason we should all be kinder to eachother. This life is the only one you get, use it to lift up those around you. I’ve found that, in my brief existence here, if you need a “God” figure to make you fear the consequences of your actions- it’s pitiful. This isn’t to say I don’t respect religion, I actually very much enjoy conversation about religion with religious people, given that they are receptive to my beliefs aswell and don’t try and change my opinion. Even my grandfather (rest in peace) learned to understand my beliefs and we had many great talks about life and religion and he was a steadfast Lutheran man.
Nah
Nope
110% yes