God

[Saxon]

I was wondering about those who come in here who dont believe in God or go to church... set religion aside and the bad that has been done in the name of it and you are left with the prospect of there being a God or not... now if you dont believe in him then there's only one explaination... he is a figment of imagination... am I right with that ? or perhaps there are different perspectives? :124:

[AlanH]

I don't deny the existence of God and heaven, but I cannot know for certain whether or not they exist. My knowledge is limited to my experience, not faith, and as of yet, I have not experienced God, nor heaven. Saying that, the Bible is a wonderful book of guidelines.

I'm Agnostic.

[Nebula]

Interesting post, Saxon.

So, get rid of whatever beliefs one might have about religion, going to church, praying (or preying as some have articulated), etc., then you're back to the absolute, raw, fundamental question: where did everything come from?

I suppose one could change "figment of imagination" into "The simplest explanation available."

[Saxon]

I suppose one could change "figment of imagination" into "The simplest explanation available."

I suppose when pondering where everything comes from but not just God/no God ..........not did he create this or that just is he real... without all the mixed interpretations and the evil men do in the name of him or how many people knock on your door trying to plug his existence without any so called religious war or anything else entering the equasion... is he there?...could there possibly be a higher power than us humans on this tiny ball situated bang in the middle of infinity

[Nebula]

I get where you're coming from, Saxon. Get rid of all the crap that is stated on this forum and get right down to the bare bones question. Is there a God or not?

You stated that if one doesn't believe in God then perhaps that means belief in a God is a figment of imagination. I said instead of that, perhaps the belief in a God is the simplest explanation available.

Pretty deep question for a Saturday.

[Saxon]

I get where you're coming from, Saxon. Get rid of all the crap that is stated on this forum and get right down to the bare bones question. Is there a God or not?

You stated that if one doesn't believe in God then perhaps that means belief in a God is a figment of imagination. I said instead of that, perhaps the belief in a God is the simplest explanation available.

Pretty deep question for a Saturday.

But I dont know... it would be more simple to say I have no clue where I come from or how this earth was made and resign myself to be happy with that...and just not care

to go deeper....lol

[AlanH]

I find it strange that one wouldn't want to search for an answer, and just not care. That's an odd existence in my opinion.

[Saxon]

I find it strange that one wouldn't want to search for an answer, and just not care. That's an odd existence in my opinion.

Never the less it is easier to do nothing than search for an answer...

[Nebula]

Never the less it is easier to do nothing than search for an answer...

But is it not equally easy to simply accept what you are told?

[Saxon]

Never the less it is easier to do nothing than search for an answer...

But is not equally easy to simply accept what you are told?

I suppose if it fit right with you it would be as easy to just say ok thats right I believe that...but we're not all that much of an intellectual pushover

[JonyDarko]

the Bible is a wonderful book of guidelines.

Not to be rude, but i am not sure if we are thinking of the same book here. We are referring to the Bible or any other of the religious texts that originated with Abraham?

If so you may want to read it over. Note the fact that God displays text book symptoms of schizophrenia and psychopathic behavior over and over again along with a whole myriad of other mental and personality disorders. Not to mention that Christianity is literally a bronze age death cult that absorbed the beliefs and celebrations of other religions "mostly pagan", so that it would be
more widely acceptable.

I am all for freedom of religion, but do not pass it off as something a child can see it is not. The old testaments commandments or the teachings of Jesus do not add any thing new to human morals. If you do find your self needing a book to instruct you on how to act you may want to try one or more of these.

The Legend of Snow Pookas
The Secret of Gorbee Grotto
Look at the Size of That Long-Legged Ploot
The Family of Ree
I read these to my nephew and he seems to pick up a lot from them.

[Nebula]

Saxon, if you believe there was a guy named Jesus Christ who was on Earth and that he was killed and rose from the dead to be in heaven with his father (only one example from the Bible), then are you not clearly accepting that which was told/taught to you?

You were not there. There is no physical evidence the event happened. As with most of history, we can only read and/or be taught about what apparently happened in the past. If you believe it happened, then you are accepting what you were told/taught/read.

[nolanrh]

I suppose one could change "figment of imagination" into "The simplest explanation available."

I don't understand what about God is simple. I find it hard to believe an entity capable of creating the universe could possibly be simple.

[Nebula]

I wasn't saying 'God' was simple, nolan. I'm saying some people might think that belief in a God is a much simpler thing than coming up with another explanation.

If you don't believe in God but you want to know how everything came to be, you have to wrap your head around particle physics, the Big Bang, 13 billion + year old universes and other mind boggling things.

If you believe in God, especially as espoused in Christianity, well you don't have to question 'how' he went out about creating. In fact, you are urged not to question the how. That God created everything is supposed to be all you need to know. Pretty simple.

[nolanrh]

Ah ha! That makes a lot more sense. My apologies for the misinterpretation and thank you for clarifying yourself. We're agreed, on the surface it does seem to be a much simpler explanation.

I don't think God is a figment of the imagination any more than I think the belief that the Earth was flat was a figment of the imagination. If you indoctrinate a child at a young age it is quite understandable that they would believe in a god.

I feel I don't believe in God, where so many others do, is because religion was never forced on me at a young age. I was not subject to the indoctrination. I tried it and apparently didn't find enough interest in it to stick with it. I'd probably be a lot more into it now that it has become such a big interest in my life.