clpo~ I'm just going to answer your questions from my experience, since I obviously can't speak for everybody. You have some excellent points. You would want to know what people's reasons for doing things would be if they had no religious beliefs. Unfortunately, for me, what I believe in is a part of me. I can't even imagine who I am without including everything I believe in. Its not something you can separate from yourself. As you grow up, you choose to believe certain things (whether it be religious or not) and that is what you base your decisions on.

Now you ask if it really matters whether or not there is a God. First I have to say that, at least for me, its very difficult not to believe there is a God. The world is so intricately ordered. There is a pattern to everything. Once I took an anatomy class, I realized that someone had to have had a hand in this. Everything is so perfectly dependent on each other. The brain and the system of your body were created in such a carefully planned way that no stretch of my imagination could see how it could have been an accident.

Then, God becomes important to me because he is the creator of everything. And according to my faith in Christianity, our destiny depends on our faith in Him. Not just our future on earth, but also for eternity. So, yes, it does matter. But it only matters if you believe. And that is up to you. I'm not going to sit here and give you a bunch of reasons why you should believe and why it should matter. I can just say that to millions of people, what matters is that you can look at the magnitude of the world and universe and believe that God is real and there is no way this could be an accident.

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clpo13 God loves you!!!!!! And he wants you to want him. He wants you to accept him as your Lord and Savior. He wants you just the way you are. He'll take all your pain, all your anger, your guilt, and your shame. He'll wipe it away. He'll even take your greatness, your talents, your money, and your ability and multiply them.

I appreciate the sentiment (sort of), but if God loves me so much and wants me to be with him, he should tell me that himself. I haven't heard anything from God in 18 years. Not a thing.

As for the bit about treading water, anyone can do that. The problem with people who can't swim is the panic. If you panic, you drown. Even if you have no clue how to swim, you can easily tread water if you keep your cool. Now, if you want to believe God gave you the ability to swim or kept you calm, that's your prerogative. However, I have never experienced God in my life. I've prayed and prayed about it, but I've never received an answer.

Now, to get things straight, I don't deny that there might be some sort of Creator being. The universe is too complicated to have occurred completely by accident. However, I don't worship this Creator, nor do I think it has any power over my life. This comes, as I said, from experience. I've yet to truly experience God, so I don't believe in him.

I've been 18 years without God and I'm perfectly happy.

Gag me

God is my everything. I am nothing without him. Do you know why? Because he loves me unconditionally. He tells me that I am beautiful, and strong, and holy, and powerful. He gives me favor, grace, and mercy.
You ask me: Does it really matter if there is a God or not?
The answer is YES. OOoo yes,yes,yes!!!!!!!!!
Yes it does. I am head over heels in love with God. Without him I'd be dead. He has done so much for me.
Let me share with you one of my testimonies.
I can't swim. I was at a party, a swimming party of course and I was in the pool. In the pool there was no division between the deep end and the shallow end. Everyone was getting out of the pool to cut cake and I was playing around. All of the sudden I went under, WHICH WAS THE MOST TERRIFYING TEN SECONDS OF MY LIFE. Guess what happened...........
I began to tread water, and remember I have no clue how to swim. That day I walked out of the pool ALIVE AND WELL and for me thats when I knew God was real.
See I have been saved since I was like five but I have had my doubts. But honestly now I will never turn back again.

FOR ALL THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD:
Let me say this. Every morning I wake up to his new mercies. He forgives me of every little mistake. He blesses me unconditionally. He keeps my family together and strong. Every day with him is sweet. With him I feel comfort and warmness. He makes laugh, run, jump, sing, and cry all at the same time. He gives me purpose and shows me my plan.

Actually I have a question for you: HOW CAN GOD NOT BE REAL?
Look around!!!! The earth did not get here by accident. Look at the sky and the ocean. Look at the animals and the trees. No Big Bang just threw all these things together in such perfect order. Look at the millions of people around the world who are saved. The don't run in church for nothing!!!!!! Look at all the drug dealers gone clean. The secular rappers gone preachers!!! The strippers gone saints!!!! The homosexuals gone straight!!!! These things didn't just happen to happen. It is truly the work of God.

clpo13 God loves you!!!!!! And he wants you to want him. He wants you to accept him as your Lord and Savior. He wants you just the way you are. He'll take all your pain, all your anger, your guilt, and your shame. He'll wipe it away. He'll even take your greatness, your talents, your money, and your ability and multiply them.

So actually I know I could live a life without God. i have that choice. But it would be the worst choice of my life b/c without him life is meaningless.

Yes, the sense of purpose was closer to what I was getting at. One can have a sense of purpose without believing in God. And for others, God is that which gives them a sense of purpose.

I see clpo, what you were thinking about is whether God gives you a sense of purpose in life, or was it just about the afterlife bit?

Hmm, not quite the responses I was looking for, but I didn't really know what I was looking for anways. Oh well.

I am not an atheist for roughly the same reason as Meagan. The Universe is too complex. But I do not believe in God. I do not believe in some all-powerful, all-knowing being. What I believe in could probably best be described as an all-pervading life-force, although that's not quite it. It's hard to describe even to myself, so I won't bother trying to here. Let's just say that I think the universe created itself.

As for an afterlife, I don't care. I've never been scared of hell and probably never will be, and it most certainly doesn't bother me to think that it'll all end once I die. I'd actually prefer that. The idea of an afterlife bores me. 80 years or so in this life is quite long enough. Perhaps I'll change my opinion later on. Actually, I'm fairly sure I will. But even if I start believing in an afterlife, I doubt that will change my opinion on God. There can be an afterlife without some wrathful deity watching over it.

I'm what you would call an apatheist. I couldn't care less if there is a God or not. It doesn't matter to me. My life would most likely be the same either way. I don't do good because I hope to get some sort of other-worldly reward. To tell the truth, I don't quite know why I do good, considering how self-serving I can sometimes be. I can't say for certain, but I like to think I would still act this way if I knew for certain that God did not exist.

I guess I think this way because I will never know the truth. So it doesn't really matter how I think or what I believe. It's a fifty-fifty chance that what I think or believe will end up being wrong, and an equal chance that it'll be right. I'll believe what makes me feel happiest.

It'll be interesting to see what my college classes in philosophy will do to me...

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If there was no Bible, would you still do good? Would you do bad? Would you still not care?

A freind of mine, in my dorm, says that there is no point to morals at all, and only is Christian because he says that it is the only religion that activly condemns you if you don't follow it. He has no scruples, no morals and tries to sell anything. He would say there is no point to telling the truth, and generally takes a Machiavellian(sp?) view.

I, on the other hand, take a more moral view. I find myself crippled by guilt if I do anything wrong, and have to do something to redress the balance. I now don't lie, I only tell general truths, or half truths. I would still be like this, since my morals are seperate from my religion. For my RS GCSE, I was forced to learn the Four Types of Truth; Historical, Scientific, Moral and Spiritual. Some of these overlap, obviously, but the general principle is there.

That was a ramble. Haven't had one in ages.

I need to believe that there is more out there. Every time I feel myself doubting, I remember the thought I had that gave me so much religious conviction, that I will share with you all now. (If you like it, great...if not, that's fine too...you don't need to argue with me on it...)

The fact that I am actually doubting right now, that I have goals, aspirations, fears, dreams...you can't tell me that you can throw a bunch of chemicals into a blender and end up with something as complex as a human being. There has to be something more.

I'm with celtic on this the knowledge of an after life is all that makes me comfortable with the thought of death

Yes, it does to me, not because some silly book told me it does, but because the idea of just dying without anything else happening scares me, and because I have (from my own expiriences, which I would appreciate if you did not try to tell me they were true or not, because for me they will always be) known personally that there is something greater out there.