GOD

[RCMerchant]

I usta believe in God-I still feel guilty for saying now that I don't.
I think the concept of an all powerful being who will send you to Hell is insanely mad.
But what do I know?
I reckon it could be so.
Just like Bigfoot,UFO's,and the Mothman.
But this turned into a religion.
Christ-Good man.
Supernatural? Yes...
A God. No.

[Killer Bees]

I believe in God but not Hell.  I don't believe that God is a beareded guy in a white gown standing on a cloud.  I believe it's just all energy but beyond that, I don't think our brains are sophisticated enough to fully understand what God and the Universe are or how it all works.  Once we die and go back to pure energy form, we get it, but as solid matter beings - forget it.

I believe evil is a human concept.  In order to understand love and joy, you must know evil and darkness and that's where humans come in.  Anything so magnificent like the Universe and our planet and even we humans could not have sprung from a place of darkness.

Having everything created out of love and benevolence is the only logical way this could work (at least to me).  But it's fun to read books and watch movies with monsters and the devil and demons and the supernatural.

I'm at odds with God and the universe these days because of my breakup with Sean.  I'm trying not to let my current situation get in the way of my core beliefs about love and how we are here to learn not only who we are but experience different lives in different ways.

[RCMerchant]

I believe in God but not Hell.  I don't believe that God is a beareded guy in a white gown standing on a cloud.  I believe it's just all energy but beyond that, I don't think our brains are sophisticated enough to fully understand what God and the Universe are or how it all works.  Once we die and go back to pure energy form, we get it, but as solid matter beings - forget it.

I believe evil is a human concept.  In order to understand love and joy, you must know evil and darkness and that's where humans come in.  Anything so magnificent like the Universe and our planet and even we humans could not have sprung from a place of darkness.

Having everything created out of love and benevolence is the only logical way this could work (at least to me).  But it's fun to read books and watch movies with monsters and the devil and demons and the supernatural.

I'm at odds with God and the universe these days because of my breakup with Sean.  I'm trying not to let my current situation get in the way of my core beliefs about love and how we are here to learn not only who we are but experience different lives in different ways.

I think my belief in God changed when my wife died. It just wrecked my whole outlook on "justice" in life. Mebbe I shouldn't be so bitter. But if there is a God-he's an unfeeling cruel one.
And Bees,I do know how you feel.
Love hurts.
And when you can never see that person again-to tell them they were yer life-it's crushing. You feel  like you did something wrong. It was your fault.
I loved her so much.

[Allhallowsday]

...
I believe evil is a human concept.  In order to understand love and joy, you must know evil and darkness and that's where humans come in.  Anything so magnificent like the Universe and our planet and even we humans could not have sprung from a place of darkness...

Interesting remarks.  If people were created by God, who presumably conceived all of nature with its random indifference and apparent savagery (what we might call cruelty, an emotional label) then God must have understood evil, too, would have been enabled. 

[Killer Bees]

I believe in God but not Hell.  I don't believe that God is a beareded guy in a white gown standing on a cloud.  I believe it's just all energy but beyond that, I don't think our brains are sophisticated enough to fully understand what God and the Universe are or how it all works.  Once we die and go back to pure energy form, we get it, but as solid matter beings - forget it.

I believe evil is a human concept.  In order to understand love and joy, you must know evil and darkness and that's where humans come in.  Anything so magnificent like the Universe and our planet and even we humans could not have sprung from a place of darkness.

Having everything created out of love and benevolence is the only logical way this could work (at least to me).  But it's fun to read books and watch movies with monsters and the devil and demons and the supernatural.

I'm at odds with God and the universe these days because of my breakup with Sean.  I'm trying not to let my current situation get in the way of my core beliefs about love and how we are here to learn not only who we are but experience different lives in different ways.

I think my belief in God changed when my wife died. It just wrecked my whole outlook on "justice" in life. Mebbe I shouldn't be so bitter. But if there is a God-he's an unfeeling cruel one.
And Bees,I do know how you feel.
Love hurts.
And when you can never see that person again-to tell them they were yer life-it's crushing. You feel  like you did something wrong. It was your fault.
I loved her so much.

I believe that people come into your life for a reason.  Sometimes they stay, sometimes they don't.  They help you with your life and you help them withs and when the "task" is done, you part company.

Sean is going through the same thing you are, RC.  He was majorly in love with a girl when he was in his 20s.  She was murdered and he never got over it.  He feels as though it's his fault, that he failed to save her.  But he was in the armed forces and he met her overseas and she was part of the collateral damage that happened whilst he was engaged in special ops.  He also lost all of his team, people he loved and who were his friends.

I can never compete with that.  He feels like blowing his brains out most days, but he's still here after more than 20 years and when I told him there was a reason for that, he said, "no, I'm done."  But he still keeps living.  And he keeps saying the best thing for me is for him to remove himself from my life completely, but he still keeps talking to me.  I think tha'ts very telling also.

Those who we have loved and who are now not with us are never really gone.  They watch over us and love us even more than they did when they were here.  And when we are reunited with them, the love is even stronger than before.  Of course, that doesn't help those of us who are still around.  But life is all about learning and I have read books where those of us souls who decided to be born into this reality are considered heroes and pioneers because life is considered  hard and harsh and sometimes very cruel.

Some days that makes me feel powerful, some days it makes me feel despair.  I guess it just depends on your perspective.  But no one's life is ever in a vacuum.  Everyone you meet, talk to, interact with, you affect them in some way. Sometimes in ways that you never find out about. 

So we all have a huge responsiblity to be the best version of ourselves at every point in time.  If we all did that, the life experience on this planet would be better for us all.  That, of course could take thousands of years.  But I believe once life on this planet is a wonderful experience for everyone, God will wipe the slate clean and start again.

In The Matrix when The Architect (?) told Neo that his version of reality was the 8th one that the machines had tried, it really resonated with me, although at the time I didn't know why.  Now, it makes more sense.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.

[indianasmith]

I think everyone here knows that I believe in the God of the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, His Son.   But I also acknowledge that the world is a terribly messed up place.  I think that comes from two sources - first, that God endowed us with free will.  That was the only way that we could truly be made in His image - if we were free to embrace Him or to walk away.  As much pain as it causes Him when we reject Him, if we were not free to choose then what we offer him could never truly be called love.   The other factor in screwing up this beautiful world God made for us is, of course, that God is not the only supernatural force at work.  I think if you believe in God, you HAVE to believe in Satan.  Otherwise, the world would not be the broken and fallen place that it is.  Between pure human cussedness and Satan's ongoing efforts to coax mankind into self-destruction, the world has become a pale shadow of what God created it to be.
But, I do believe he is returning someday to set it to rights.  And I will be glad to see Him when He gets here!

One thing you said, RC - about God "sending people" to hell.  If someone chooses to reject God their whole life, how can he do anything other than honor that choice in eternity?  To eternally force His presence on someone who has deliberately avoided Him during their earthly life would be the spiritual equivalent of rape!  I tend to agree with the theologian who said that hell is God's ultimate and final respect for man's gift of free will.

Let me recommend a bad movie to you - bad in the sense that it is cheaply done and not terribly well acted, but at the same time very profound spiritually.  It's called THE PERFECT STRANGER.  Not the thriller with Halley Berry, but a Christian film made a few years back.  It's about a skeptical lawyer who gets a chance to have dinner with Jesus and ask any question she wants.  It's clumsy at times, and the end is a bit cheesey, but the makers really did try to seriously answer some very deep questions.  I'm not trying to convert you - OK, well, maybe I am a little bit - but the movie might answer some questions, or raise others.  I'd love to discuss it with you sometime, at any rate.

Peace to you all.

[HappyGilmore]

I think everyone here knows that I believe in the God of the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, His Son.   But I also acknowledge that the world is a terribly messed up place.  I think that comes from two sources - first, that God endowed us with free will.  That was the only way that we could truly be made in His image - if we were free to embrace Him or to walk away.  As much pain as it causes Him when we reject Him, if we were not free to choose then what we offer him could never truly be called love.   The other factor in screwing up this beautiful world God made for us is, of course, that God is not the only supernatural force at work.  I think if you believe in God, you HAVE to believe in Satan.  Otherwise, the world would not be the broken and fallen place that it is.  Between pure human cussedness and Satan's ongoing efforts to coax mankind into self-destruction, the world has become a pale shadow of what God created it to be.
But, I do believe he is returning someday to set it to rights.  And I will be glad to see Him when He gets here!



Peace to you all.

I'm not overly religious, but this is kinda what I was gonna type up.  I went to a Catholic school, was pretty much raised going to church.  Eventually I stopped.  After an absence of around 13 years or so, I started going back over the winter.  I've since stopped going again.  Overall, I stopped going just cause of the people in the church (the people running them, the people attending.)  I have an overlying sense of belief in God, Jesus and such. 

But the whole Church thing...I can't do it. 

I do understand people's reasonings for not having any faith.  That's their perogative.  I've had a lot of bad things happen, and that's around the time I started going back to church.  I have a renewed sense of what I feel is right. 

I just don't know though.  You can never tell.

[JaseSF]

I believe in God but there are times I do wonder...given the mass genocides committed on the earth in its past,  the deaths of many innocents, even women and children in times of war and conflict, why serial killers aren't struck down, etc.. these things make one wonder but then there's the other side of the coin where people's faith and truly deeply felt belief that God could save them from sickness and they prayed deeply to be healed and were in fact by all apparent accounts healed...

Honestly I'm often in-between on this, my logical reason suggest to me that God may in fact be purely mythical yet I cannot help but wonder at the magnificence of the universe and at times I have felt to me a presence guiding it all. And in fact I know my own prayer and faith in times past have been of great help and benefit to me and my loved ones. So ultimately I am a believer but I'm not an out and out practicing Christian yet part of me wants to be a truly good person, to help others and be good to others...I wish I  knew how to be a better friend to all (to be there more for those who might need an ear, to not feel like I'm too infrequent to communicate with far too many of my friends) but then my own life and everyday living tends to get in the way. There's far too many friends, both old and new, I don't converse with as much as I'd like to...

[macabre]

You guys know all about my severely disabled son .
Last October my son was taken into hospital with suspected swine flu.I as always decided to take time off work and stay with him in hospital.The worst day of my life occured on my son's third day in hospital,the doctor asked me to call my wife and my family, my son was not going to last the day.My world collapsed in a second my body trembled and the doctor asked me if i wanted him to make the phone calls.I walked towards the phone and as i did i noticed a little chapel of rest in the hospital,i had been to this hospital dozens of times before but i had never been in the chapel.I did on this day,i cried as i asked god to help my son, by the time my wife and parents had arrived my son was awake and holding my hand,the doctor pulled me and my wife over to a corner and said he had been a doctor for over twenty years and what he had seen could only be described as a  miracle.Due to my son's disabilities i know the is a good chance he will die before me,but i truly do believe that god chose to keep him alive on that day.I cannot now look any person in the eye and say i do not believe in god because the truth is he saved my son's life that day and he also saved mine...

[Mofo Rising]

This has come up several times on this board. RCMerchant, your original thread on this topic has provided some of the best commentary, and I think people should seek it out.

As I've tried to present myself numerous time, I am an agnostic with leanings as atheistic as you can get without making a declarative statement. That's because I view the existence of "God" as the ultimate unprovable hypothesis. However, all of the bases of belief for organized religions on this planet, I don't believe in, and I find their claims very suspect.

I think about this all the time. I don't just reject the idea of "God," that would be silly. I come from a very strong Christian background, so I am aware of those arguments. I am also aware of the arguments of every other religion, I study them. I also have a very strong science background. All of it informs my opinion.

I also want to say that some of the best scientists I know are staunch Christians. Or another religion, I just wanted to throw out that science and atheism are not one and the same.

But don't listen to me, I'm just some guy, trying to figure out life like you.

The reason I wanted to chime in on this thread is that your outlook on life is very important. You can't live your life expecting the worst, because that is what your life will become. The idea that there is a God that loves you and everything you do, and wants nothing but the best for you--that is an incredibly powerful idea, one that is good for you. That idea is a bulwark against tragedy. If you believe there is a God, a loving God, you will simply be better off at the end of the day.

I may not believe in "God," but I do believe that you need to believe that things will get better. You need to believe that all the horror in your life will get better. If you believe that, they will. I may not believe in God, but if that's what you need to believe your life will get better, more power to you.

Believe in hope and a better life, and work towards it.  Believe that all the trouble in your life is only leading to something better, and work towards it. "Take a sad song and make it better." Don't be afraid of it, and if the idea of a loving God is what leads you upon that path, I am right there with you.

[Flick James]

I usta believe in God-I still feel guilty for saying now that I don't.
I think the concept of an all powerful being who will send you to Hell is insanely mad.
But what do I know?
I reckon it could be so.
Just like Bigfoot,UFO's,and the Mothman.
But this turned into a religion.
Christ-Good man.
Supernatural? Yes...
A God. No.

I'm not an atheist. I'm essentially a Deist. I am utterly convinced of a higher power beyond the comprehension of our feeble human minds. I also believe I have a higher opinion of that higher power than people of religion, who tend to project silly human traits to that entity. Indy and I have been round and round about this topic, amounting figuratively to the irresistable force and the immovable object, although I'm not sure if I'm the former or the latter.

I am a former Christian, and I too still feel tiny pangs of guilt when I say it. It is natural to have such feelings. I personally believe it is a part of human nature. Humanity has looked to the skies, Gods, etc. for answers since before written history. So, to say that one does not believe in God, I believe, triggers a deeply seated mechanism in the human psyche. Even some among the most hardcore of atheists cannot avoid it.

However, in moments of stress, anxiety, fear, essentially those darker moments in my life, I find that contemplation of my Creator, sincere respect for that power against which it would be an insult to claim to be even a speck, I find more peace than at any other time in my life, including my brief brush with atheism and my time as a Christian.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I talk to God most days, but I'm not religious, and really I don't see it as an answer to everyday life.  Sure good things and bad things come from it and who am I to judge the quality of a group I don't interact with.

 I have known evil Christains and Saintly athiests.  I also have known some truly decent and worthy people who are also Christians (Catholic and Evangelical), some Jews who I would do anything for and who actually saved my life (or my soul and sanity) once.   Not many Muslims other than socially, sorry.

I have also known some people who are just a dead waste of DNA, no matter what their views. 

The world is given to us as an imperfect place and I think we should try and make it a bit better, no matter what club or religion we belong to. 
I do not think God cares who we marry, or if we sing praises, or give money, or any of that stuff.  Thats all people stuff, not God stuff.
-Ed

[The Burgomaster]

I believe in God and the basic principles of Christianity.  I was brought up Catholic, but I haven't been to church much since I was a teenager.  I'm not a big believer in organized religions.  I can have one-on-one conversations with "the man" without sitting in a church or having a priest explain the Bible to me. 

[El Misfit]

there is no just one God, only Gods and Goddesses. No one person can uphold everything, there's a line to be drawn at some point. That's why I believe in Mythological Gods and Goddesses, and Hinduism. The Gods and Goddesses all have one element in life that they specify in. I also believe in Hinduism because of just how laid back they are at other religions, saying that all religions are true. unlike that others that say their religion is true and the rest is false. Gandhi is Hindu's Christ, and I will believe him!