This is a good topic. There is no way to prove that your religion is right. Christians may think that they are always right, but they can't prove that some drunk didn't write much of the bible... But religion is opinion, so we are all right for ourselves, but maybe not for everyone else...

Wavemaster:

Just because I don't believe in a "higher poower" so to say, does not mean that I do not have purpose or motivation. My purpose comes from within. It's a choice I can make on my own and lead myself in, without having to be told what to do by someone else, or reffering to a book to see what the "right" thing is to do.

You don't need religion to tell you what is right or wrong. You call someone a name, they cry. It was wrong because it made them unhappy. That's morality: the "good" makes people happy, the "bad" makes people sad/mad/any thing but happy. You don't need religion to tell you how to feel or how to behave. You find that on your own.

As for what happens after life: WHO CARES? Your body goes into the ground, or else is burned and scattered over something. That's what happens when you die.

And I can tell you, I still believe in things: myself, my mom, my friends, my opinions. I don't need a higher power to believe in, my confidence is here, where I can see it, and I know it's there FOR A FACT. I have something to believe in, it's just not something that I have absolutely no proof of. I have proof my mom is here, I have proof my friends exsist. I have proof I exsist. My mom and friends won't always be there for me, but I'll be there for me until the end.

So you see, I don't "not believe in anything."
I just don't believe in a divine entity of any way, shape, or form.

From long discussions with more religious friends and much time contemplating "faith" myself I've long understood that KNOWING in faith is something different from the everyday kind of scientific KNOWING. It's less easily explained, yet I think I understand it, even if I don't expirience it.

Standpoint:
Beliving in something gives people meaning, it gives them the hope (however blind it may be) that they mean something, that they have a purpouse. I'd like to think I have a purpouse, that I haven't just appeared here, a forgotten blood bag of human flesh, but I don't know for sure. It gives me comfort to believe that there's something else watching over me, that I have a purpouse to my life, that my being here means something. Beliving in something is so much better than believing in nothing at all. If everyone believed their lives were pointless, this would be a much darker place...

Well, that's one way to think of it. But I belive we have souls, I just have no earthly idea where they go. Reincarnation sounds interesting, but this "heaven" I belive to be something better than Earth, whether it be in the clouds or on another planet, etc. I think I've finally found a term for myself, thanks to clpo: universalist. Religion and faith is all very confusing, however, so I think we should just live life while its available and not fret over the afterlife until we get there.

For whoever said, believeing something is better than believeing nothing, think about this:

When you don't believe, you're not as put down when you find out you're right.

But the thing is, unless he comes down out of the clouds or what not and says, "hey, guess what? I'm a real boy!" you have no idea.

The bible doesn't prove anything either. It was written by some guy, who wrote what he believed. And another who erote his beliefs and on and on. There are other books to the bible that aren't in there, because the vatican calls them "un true". But the thing is there is no truth. Metaphysics can't be proven.

I stand by that this is all mythology. We couldn't really explain how we got here, so we blamed it on someone. But there wasn't anyone around to blame it on, so we made a person up. The romans, greeks, egyptians, and bablonians did exactly the same thing.

And conscince is not a soul. There is no such thing as a soul. Your mind creates conscience. When you die, your brain dies, and everything that you had stored in your brain dies too, including thoughts and your many selfs that make up you. And because we have no souls, there is nothing to advance onto "heaven" or the "next relm" or whatever.

I have a lot more, but I'm sleepy. Good night.

One of the more interesting arguments that God as we know Him/It exists is Rene Descartes "Je pense donc je suis" or "I think therefore I am". Using this idea, one could argue that because we can conceive that there is a god, there must be one.


Me, personally, I believe that God is whoever/whatever we need God to be. And I believe that the gods of all religions are the same entity.

I think we're all our own Gods. You just have to find your God.

I agree, Greenleaf. im Catholic, but reallyu, how do u know jesus and all those other ppl rwaly EXISTED? what proof do we have, besides the bible? AND that could have been writen only like 200 years ago. so how can u REALLY beive in God and other Gods?

I didn't mean for it to be deep. It just makes sense to me. I mean. God is everything. Why would one create just one religon if they were everything?

quote:

Maybe Spirit is revealed to people in different ways? Maybe we all have a little piece that has been given us and it's not the whole picture. Maybe Spirit chooses to be revealed to different people in different ways. Maybe we can't comprehend the mind of God.

Wow, that's deep. It makes perfectly good sense, though. There's definately something out there, though I've been doubting the possibility lately as it seems the whole world is suffering.

Maybe Spirit is revealed to people in different ways? Maybe we all have a little piece that has been given us and it's not the whole picture. Maybe Spirit chooses to be revealed to different people in different ways. Maybe we can't comprehend the mind of God.

quote:

I hate to be cliche, but it's just faith. I mean no one knows anything for sure, we just believe what we feel is right.

That's absolutely right. Faith is the strongest part in someones spiritual life.

In my opinion, I doesn't matter what Christianity you are, or what church you go to. Just as long as you truly believe in God, becuase once you believe in God and you truly let Him work in your life. You are Christian. I recommend going to church though. Any church may have it's flaws though. So if you don't feel comfortable in the church your going to it's alright to change churches, but keep in mind that that one may have flaws too. It's good to participate with other Christians. Whether be Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, etc., depends what your looking for.

quote:

There is no divine being. If there really was, then wouldn't everyone have the same idea about him? If there was one god, then there would only be one religion. Unless there are many gods, but highly doubtful.

It's better to believe in something that nothing at all. If athiesm is being open to other things, that's what I've been told by some athiest friends, why not be open to Religion, or Christianity? And when I say Christianity, I use it in whole meaning, any Christian in a denomination.

Plus, this seemed intresting: Frontline Religion/PBS

I hate to be cliche, but it's just faith. I mean no one knows anything for sure, we just believe what we feel is right. Some people draw lines because they feel they must, some people don't. No one knows what is right or wrong, we just believe.

I'm not being mean, but how do you "feel" him? What makes you so sure that you are not wrong besides a feeling?

quote:

Faith is believing in things, when common sense tells you not to.

You can never really KNOW that what you believe in is right, you just sort of got to have faith in it that it is. I believe there is something bigger than this, something bigger than us. There is some sort of divine force and I have faith that it's real. *shrugs* That's about all I can tell you, you sorta got to find those answers for yourself.

You're probably going to hate this answer but...I just know. I just have this undeniable faith in Him. I can't imagine there being any other God than Him.

I just know.

This is a complicated question, with an easy humanistic answer.

There is no god.

There is no divine being. If there really was, then wouldn't everyone have the same idea about him? If there was one god, then there would only be one religion. Unless there are many gods, but highly doubtful.


That is just the way I see it. But I'm athiest, so...

This also oppens up many philosophical questions. I like these kinds of threads.

well i know hes real because he talks to me and i can feel him , and i see him move everyday. Not to mention how he changes a person in an instant the moment they come face to face with him and become his child

quote:

But how do we know that any of these religions—Islam, Christianity, Buddhism—actually exist? No, I don't mean that we have proof from the Koran or the Bible or mythology. I don't mean something written down. How do you know?

I think it has to do alot with the way the person feels about it and how they apply it to their day-to-day. It's also being content spiritually and always knowing that you've got a place to turn when the world doesn't seem like it will. It's something no one can take from you.

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How do you know that in reality, the "god" isn’t something no one has ever imagined? That this God relates to no stories of any religion, modern or obsolete. Everything you've ever believed could be wrong. And what if this God didn't care? It just accepted you and celebrated all beliefs? How do you know you’re right?

No one really knows but it's having faith in something that's greater than anything you could possibly imagine. Well, if everything that I believe could be wrong, than at least I got to spend time on Earth believing something rather than nothing at all. If this God just accepted me and celebrated all beliefs than I guess no one could use God or the Bible as a shield to hide behind what they are most afriaid about. How do I know that I'm not?