Do YOU believe in God?

[insane]

 

I believe I linked you to the cambrian explosion. That's definitely positive evidence for an opposing idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cambrian explosion is in no way evidence for the "god put it there" theory. If that was not what you were suggesting then yes, I have misread your argument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I think about it, it's more of a proof against evolution than for God. Evolution teaches gradual changes. With the CE you have next to no (or myabe just no) life, and then all of a sudden millions of fossils appear in a very very short time. That's counter-evolutionary.

[Astralinre]

 

I believe I linked you to the cambrian explosion. That's definitely positive evidence for an opposing idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cambrian explosion is in no way evidence for the "god put it there" theory. If that was not what you were suggesting then yes, I have misread your argument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He didn't say it was evidence for creation, but rather that it is evidence against the theory of evolution.

[Greatsilverwyrm]

 

 

I believe I linked you to the cambrian explosion. That's definitely positive evidence for an opposing idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cambrian explosion is in no way evidence for the "god put it there" theory. If that was not what you were suggesting then yes, I have misread your argument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I think about it, it's more of a proof against evolution than for God. Evolution teaches gradual changes. With the CE you have next to no (or myabe just no) life, and then all of a sudden millions of fossils appear in a very very short time. That's counter-evolutionary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One reason I would give for no fossils before the "cambrian explosion", is that before that, life was just physically either too small to leave fossils, or we're unable to see them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just because we haven't found hundreds of intermediary fossils doesn't mean it disproves the evolutionary theory. Really good fossils are really rare. Something that dies doesn't automatically just become a complete skeleton in the ground. The conditions have to be perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for something coming from nothing - who says we're saying something comes from nothing? I personally don't beleive life just came into existance somehow. Statistics would say that there had to be some sort of intervention somewhere, whether intentional by some sentient being (not referring to a god figure here), or some particles from space that made their way to earth and happened to interact with other particles and created life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter. I'll hold you back if you hold me. ;P

[Guest AshKaYu]

I'm not stupid enough to go into that debate, so yes, I believe in God because I have faith in him. Sure, he might not exist, but I only have ever thought that there was this 65 year old guy, indistinguishable from the next World War II survivor, except for the fact he's God.

[Zerocool11]

I believe that there is a God of some sort, not necessarily the God that Christians believe in and so forth. Organized religion, to me, is not appealing to me and I don't think that the best connection to God can be made through an institution. I think that a persons religious beliefs should be made between the person and God on their own terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have attended church a few times out of curiosity and have found the teachings of the church to be contradictory sometimes. For instance, the idea that God is all loving and all forgiving but will allow people to burn in a fiery hell doesn't settle with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I consider myself agnostic in a sense because I don't believe in the Christian God because I don't see any proof. However, I think that there is something spiritual that is sentient and it needs to be respected.

[lawrencekill]

Well if there is a supreme being of justice, God, and a supreme being of evil, Satan, why can't God kill satan and rid the world of his temptation?

[Guest GhostRanger]

Well if there is a supreme being of justice, God, and a supreme being of evil, Satan, why can't God kill satan and rid the world of his temptation?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He can... but its arguable that true justice means giving everything free choice to live as it pleases - that means even Satan. But if you choose to not live righteously, you can't be with something as holy and just as God.

[Barihawk]

Well if there is a supreme being of justice, God, and a supreme being of evil, Satan, why can't God kill satan and rid the world of his temptation?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He can and will. For now, he is allowing Satan to tempt us in order to see just how faithful we are. It is our punishment for Adam and Eve eating the apple. At the end of time, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire with all who despise God...at least according to our prophecies.

[dwarfie76]

He can and will. For now, he is allowing Satan to tempt us in order to see just how faithful we are. It is our punishment for Adam and Eve eating the apple. At the end of time, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire with all who despise God...at least according to our prophecies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian doctrine also teaches that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving. So presumably when (and even before) he creates our souls he knows full well the choices we will make in our lives including whether or not we will accept him and his teachings. Yet he continues to make people who do not accept his teachings only to cast them into a lake of fire for being unfaithful, when he himself made them that way. Which creates an awfully large logic hole in the whole all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So either God is not all-loving, because he makes people just to torment for eternity. Or God is neither all-powerful or all-knowing because he needs to test us out before accepting us into his kingdom. So we can deduce that either God is all powerful and all loving, and that no-one will be cast into a lake of fire at the end of time, which renders the whole need to accept God into your life redundant - we're going to get into heaven regardless. Or that the course of our lives is predetermined from the start, in which case the concept of sin and redemption is redundant - we're going to heaven or hell and nothing we do on earth will change our destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note that this is just a flaw in the Christian model of God, and not an argument against the existence of Gods in the main.

[Guest GhostRanger]

 

He can and will. For now, he is allowing Satan to tempt us in order to see just how faithful we are. It is our punishment for Adam and Eve eating the apple. At the end of time, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire with all who despise God...at least according to our prophecies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian doctrine also teaches that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving. So presumably when (and even before) he creates our souls he knows full well the choices we will make in our lives including whether or not we will accept him and his teachings. Yet he continues to make people who do not accept his teachings only to cast them into a lake of fire for being unfaithful, when he himself made them that way. Which creates an awfully large logic hole in the whole all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So either God is not all-loving, because he makes people just to torment for eternity. Or God is neither all-powerful or all-knowing because he needs to test us out before accepting us into his kingdom. So we can deduce that either God is all powerful and all loving, and that no-one will be cast into a lake of fire at the end of time, which renders the whole need to accept God into your life redundant - we're going to get into heaven regardless. Or that the course of our lives is predetermined from the start, in which case the concept of sin and redemption is redundant - we're going to heaven or hell and nothing we do on earth will change our destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note that this is just a flaw in the Christian model of God, and not an argument against the existence of Gods in the main.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again you have to decide for yourself what love means. For instance, do my parents not love me when they allow me to make mistakes so I can learn from them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then you have to define things that are simply unfathomable to humans. For instance, is God continuing to make people, or is that only in a feeble human perspective? We describe time in a way that it makes sense to us - but to God, he already made all of us. Who says that God follows the same day by day timeframe that we made up ourselves?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your logic is flawed simply because its logic. You can't encompess ideas of being all-knowing and all-loving with our simple logic. Its something we can't fathom.

[Death_By_Pod]

I believe in God. I mean, there is really no scientific evidence to go either way. Until man creates man from nothing (not cloning) or proves evolution (which has NEVER, EVER, been done), I will continue to put my full faith in God. It makes much more sense than a freak occurance creating all this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evolution can be simplified down to: ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Ågene frequencies change over time and will stop changing when itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s reached 0 or 100% of the population.ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

[dwarfie76]

Once again you have to decide for yourself what love means. For instance, do my parents not love me when they allow me to make mistakes so I can learn from them?

 

 

 

I presume that of course they do. I also presume that your parents are also not all-powerful, all-knowing supreme beings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then you have to define things that are simply unfathomable to humans. For instance, is God continuing to make people, or is that only in a feeble human perspective? We describe time in a way that it makes sense to us - but to God, he already made all of us. Who says that God follows the same day by day timeframe that we made up ourselves?

 

 

 

Whether God is still creating people, or whether he went on a grinding spree and got his people-making skill to 99 in a few moments is immaterial. This is an all-encompassing God we're talking about. At the instant he created or creates any soul, he has full foreknowledge of the choices that individual will make during the course of their time on earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your logic is flawed simply because its logic. You can't encompess ideas of being all-knowing and all-loving with our simple logic. Its something we can't fathom.

 

 

 

It doesn't take logic to know that creating a soul, just so you can torment it for eternity is not the act of a loving God.

[Mementh]

 

I believe that everyone who believs in God, believe in the same God, but just have different interpretations of how your suppose to respect God.

????

 

 

 

i dont get that, explain that :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

everything you do good is in my name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thats my favorite that feels the most true

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just dot he best you can in the situations you can :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also no matter what you can't say you don't exist in the hear and now..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

there is NOT ONE PERSON IN THIS UNIVERSE THAT CAN CHANGE THAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also i belive something can come from nothing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

else where did the universe as we know it come from? something? where did that something come from? something else... till you find nothing generates something..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

its not logical.... we can't understand it... we could not ever hope to since it would involve too much...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so if something always has to come from something then NOTHING ever has existed.. so ... .what and where are we?

[Collective]

I do not believe in God. What I do believe is that religion is the most harmful thing that man has ever invented, more destructive than the nuclear weapon ever could be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Religion is a virus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to be clear: when I say religion is harmful, here's what I see it as causing:

 

 

 

- Arrogance (I'm better than you because I am of religion X)

 

 

 

- Bigotry (You will be cast into a lake of fire because you are not of religion X)

 

 

 

- Violence (You do not believe as I do. I must ingratiate myself with God, so I will now kill you!)

 

 

 

- Ignorance (This Xtian Science website says evolution is wrong, so it is)

 

 

 

- More ignorance (Evolution is wrong because we found life on Mars!)

 

 

 

- Sheepism (One of my religious leaders said I should do X, so I'm off to do X right now!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also issues with racism, homophobism and sexism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: Spelling mistake

[Anesthesia]

Rofl, talk about being hostile. You're acting like one of the biggest jerks ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is it that you are incapable of having a civilised discussion without resorting to insults?

[Mercifull]

On a site note at Collective: Richard Dawkins is a LEGEND!

[Tetsuya]

Nope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At least not in the Christian god.

[Hannibal]

He can and will. For now, he is allowing Satan to tempt us in order to see just how faithful we are. It is our punishment for Adam and Eve eating the apple. At the end of time, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire with all who despise God...at least according to our prophecies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you please stop spreading all this nonsense claiming it's in "our prophecies" ? Those parts of the bible are disputed, and it's dangerous to suggest everyone who's a Christian agrees with them. I most certainly don't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not believe in God. What I do believe is that religion is the most harmful thing that man has ever invented, more destructive than the nuclear weapon ever could be.

 

 

 

Uh, right. Because religion kills tens of thousands of people in mere seconds? Quit the rethorics please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Religion is a virus.

 

 

 

All forms of religion? Somehow I feel like you have little clue of what you're talking about. Buddhist monks, are they infected with some kind of virus? Are they arrogant? Are they violent? Are they ignorant? Are they racist, homophobic or sexist? You know, I think you're generalizing way too much, which is, in fact, an ignorant thing to do. Face it, if we didn't have religion, that would in no case mean all these problems would suddenly drop off the face of the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to be clear: when I say religion is harmful, here's what I see it as causing:

 

 

 

- Arrogance (I'm better than you because I am of religion X)

 

 

 

- Bigotry (You will be cast into a lake of fire because you are not of religion X)

 

 

 

- Violence (You do not believe as I do. I must ingratiate myself with God, so I will now kill you!)

 

 

 

- Ignorance (This Xtian Science website says evolution is wrong, so it is)

 

 

 

- More ignorance (Evolution is wrong because we found life on Mars!)

 

 

 

- Sheepism (One of my religious leaders said I should do X, so I'm off to do X right now!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also issues with racism, homophobism and sexism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're confusing religion with certain people who say they are religious. And, you know, I could give a similar list for dumb atheists (no, not all atheists are dumb, but the few that are -->), because after all, they have no reason to be moral except for the law, so those are the people you see killing their fellow highschool students, raping your sisters and nieces, tackling your grandma when she's doing her shopping because it's "fun"... does anyone feel like I'm generalizing yet?

[Anesthesia]

Why does this topic even have to exist yet again? Don't people understand that the atheists are content and the theists are content so WHY do we have to do this OVER and OVER. No one is going to get converted either way.

[Evilperson]

Why does this topic even have to exist yet again? Don't people understand that the atheists are content and the theists are content so WHY do we have to do this OVER and OVER. No one is going to get converted either way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but I have to comment on that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Atheists are happy the way they are.

 

 

 

The Theists are not. I don't know how many times I've been tried to be persuaded to join a group or religion. You don't see Aetheists walking up to doors bothering people (well I haven't anyways). It seems to me that Theists are the one always forcing their beliefs upon others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just my opinoin.

[MyPurpleCrayon]

 

Rofl, talk about being hostile. You're acting like one of the biggest jerks ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is it that you are incapable of having a civilised discussion without resorting to insults?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't insulting you. I was letting you know how you were coming across. Figured you might want to know, since you are doing it to everyone.

[Anesthesia]

All you do is post inflammatory comments like the one above ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You need to learn how to treat other people with respect.

[Barihawk]

Can you please stop spreading all this nonsense claiming it's in "our prophecies" ? Those parts of the bible are disputed, and it's dangerous to suggest everyone who's a Christian agrees with them. I most certainly don't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgive me, just because I come from a different train of Christianity than you does not mean I have to agree with you. I'm also Baptist-Methodist, and we take into account that if every Biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled except for the Apocolypse, its bound to happen sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as for God allowing us to be tempted...its our own fault. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge...we were sheep. We had no temptation and God watched over us and loved us. But when we ate the fruit, we were given the "gift" of free will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God reluctantly recognized this gift, and even though he knows the outcome of every decision in our life, it is up to us to live that life according to God, or to throw it all in His face. And as stated before, I do not believe in a physical Hell. The only lake of fire I believe in is the lake of burning sulphur in which Satan, the false prophets, and those who persecute the holy at the end of Christ's 1000 year reign on Earth. Believe me...1000 years of living with God would be enough to draw a line between the unbelievers and those who simply flat-out hate God and wish to live in the abyss.

[HugATree]

Until man creates man from nothing (not cloning) or proves evolution (which has NEVER, EVER, been done), I will continue to put my full faith in God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're the one claiming nothing once existed, you prove it.

 

 

 

As for evolution, you won't believe it at all; you're already making up its never been proven. The scientific theory of evolution is the explanation of observed biological evolution. Many creationists still confuse scientific theory with hypothesis.

[HugATree]

 

 

 

And as for God allowing us to be tempted...its our own fault. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge...we were sheep. We had no temptation and God watched over us and loved us. But when we ate the fruit, we were given the "gift" of free will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you explain why its our fault?