do u believe in god?

[louandivy]

No, I dont think there is a god or greater power, simply on the basis that there is to much pain and suffering in the world for 'someone' to be watching over us

I don't really understand that rationalisation to be honest. Why can't higher power and free will co-exist?

 

[wanna_bump]

thats just what I think *shrugs*

 

[ShanandBoc]

No, I dont think there is a god or greater power, simply on the basis that there is to much pain and suffering in the world for 'someone' to be watching over us

How is it Gods fault? Wars, destruction of our planet, crime, greed, selfishness. We have no one but to blame but ourselves.

There is a very good explanation why God is allowing humans to rule themselves for only a short period of time, its explained very well in the bible and for me, it makes sense of everything. God promises to undo and remove all suffering and wickedness and restore paradise earth under his rule.

I wont go into it further unless someone asks tho

 

[Dragonfly]

People are to blame. I hate it when people shift blame on other things that other humans do, regardless of belief.

 

[wanna_bump]

hmm...how are earthquakes, monsoons, tidal waves, floods...peoples fault? How are starving people in 3rd world countries- people faults?!

The OP wanted people opinions on the subject and we have all said what we believe and it turns out the majority of people dont - whatever thier reasons might be, that is just my personal view and dont think others should question that...im not questioning your belief or why you believe....

 

[Dragonfly]

hmm...how are earthquakes, monsoons, tidal waves, floods...peoples fault? How are starving people in 3rd world countries- people faults?!

The OP wanted people opinions on the subject and we have all said what we believe and it turns out the majority of people dont - whatever thier reasons might be, that is just my personal view and dont think others should question that...im not questioning your belief or why you believe....

Sorry I was thinking of bad people in the world. But I get what you mean. I dont believe in a god caused this but our worlds natural disasters .And sadly the starving are kept that way by people as hard as thats to believe, someone is making money out of that to. God or gods didnt cause all this. IMO.

 

[ShanandBoc]

hmm...how are earthquakes, monsoons, tidal waves, floods...peoples fault? How are starving people in 3rd world countries- people faults?!

The OP wanted people opinions on the subject and we have all said what we believe and it turns out the majority of people dont - whatever thier reasons might be, that is just my personal view and dont think others should question that...im not questioning your belief or why you believe....

I hope u dont feel i was attacking ur views but rather just trying to share a different viewpoint

Although i see where u are coming from, nearly all the things u mentioned are in fact man made. Not necessarily individuals fault but humans in general. For example floods, monsoons you could say is attributed to how much human activity has affected the earths natural weather cycles, even with earthquakes, generally deaths result in over populated cities and tall or poorly built buildings. As far as famine, well theres enough food for all, but greedy governments who dont take care of their people cause food shortages or again droughts in their region etc due to human activity

For me, thats the bigger picture

 

[wanna_bump]

I agree with you to an extent...but couldnt 'god' help control these things? If he didnt want us to over populate...he would have made us so we only have a 1/2 re-productive cycles. same as he would have given ever country the enviroment to grow crops so no one need go hungry despite greedy goverments.

 

[ShanandBoc]

I agree with you to an extent...but couldnt 'god' help control these things? If he didnt want us to over populate...he would have made us so we only have a 1/2 re-productive cycles. same as he would have given ever country the enviroment to grow crops so no one need go hungry despite greedy goverments.

Those are really good questions. Ill try and answer without being too 'preachy' and if u have any further Qs maybe u could PM me.

Firstly ive done alot of bible study so im not sure how you feel about the bible but thats where my beliefs come from.

The situation on the earth today was foretold to occur. That under human rule we would see all the tragic things we see around us today.

God at present is not intervening at as he has patiently allowed things to get to this point for good reason.

His right to rule was challenged right in the beginning. Humans under the devils influence decided they didnt need God and could decide for themselves what is right and wrong. God has lovingly allowed humans to try out their way of ruling under the influence of the devil which the bible identifies as the ruler of this world until God steps in.

Think about it this way. As a parent if u had a rebellious teenager who decided not to live by your rules and thought they knew better and allowed them to find out for themselves the hard way that you do know whats best for them, would you think that was unloving? In a nutshell that is what God is doing right now.

Time was needed ( a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of things) to show that without his guidance humans only bring misery upon themselves. Allowing things to get so bad without intervening has proved this once and for all.

Also if he was to stop a certain amount of bad things happening, that would be to his detriment and really be supporting the devils cause that humans can rule themselves under his influence and things arent that bad. By completely remaining inactive it has allowed time to plead this case fairly and allowed time for all types of human rulership and also for human advancement in certain areas yet things continue to get worse despite all of this. We cant even live in peace, we are destroying the earth etc. No one can say God didnt give us a fair go. After all he created us with free will and wants us to serve him out of love, not like robots.

But he promises to soon step in. Remove human governments with an established heavenly government, remove wicked people, death, pain and suffering and give all the chance to live forever on a paradise earth- which was his original purpose. ( psalms 37:29, rev 21:3,4)

 

[ShanandBoc]

Sorry double post on phone

 

[wanna_bump]

thank you shanandboc for your reply. I think we will have to agree to disagree on most of the issues raised here. However I will say that I hope i am wrong and there is a god out there. Its just something i cant really get my head around, although i do understand what your saying about him letting us get on with things without his intervention.

When my son was born my then partner and i decided not to christen him. I then went on to work in a hospital around death on a daily basis (eldery care) and would have loved to have gotten a religious ceremony perfromed them. I was basising to a 'better to be safe than sorry' approach. His father wouldnt let me though. So I got a tattoo of a guardian angel on my back with his name underneath as it was my way of protecting him if anything should happen to one of us. I will consider it a blessing if I am able to have another child too. x

 

[tina3747]

The problems of underdeveloped countries had nothing to do with god. In all these countries where people are dying of malnutrition and diseases I guarantee there's a lot of people in high places that are living like kings in comparison.
Makes me sick they can turn a blind eye and watch people suffering.

I'd call myself agnostic but very interested in others faiths and opinions. I do have so many (probably too personal) questions id love to ask people, really because of my misconception or assumption of that faith!
Who's to say there is a god or not? Your own personal faith and belief is what's true.

 

[ShanandBoc]

The problems of underdeveloped countries had nothing to do with god. In all these countries where people are dying of malnutrition and diseases I guarantee there's a lot of people in high places that are living like kings in comparison.
Makes me sick they can turn a blind eye and watch people suffering.

Its awful isnt it. I just cant fathom how they dont care. Its just so evil and heartless

 

[Dragonfly]

And it is down to personal belief, to me theres no God. But to my other half he thinks differently to me on that one. To him its personal to, its more a feeling he says. Something probably I dont understand but respect.

 

[Sarahkka]

I find this a really tricky question to answer. It is something that I have thought about a lot lately.

Personally, I think organised religion was created as form of control - but essentially the messages of Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc are good and obviously bring a lot of peace and guidance to individual lives so who am I to judge someone for believing? I do find it bizarre that some people take the Bible literally though.

I also don't like the argument that religion creates wars. PEOPLE create war. Not all war is based on religion and if there were no religion, there would just be another excuse as I think that people inherently fear those who are different to them.

I definitely am not atheist though. I don't understand how anyone can completely dismiss the idea of a higher power - I completely am a believer of science but there is still no explanation of existence in the first place. Even some scientists are beginning to explore the idea of some kind of higher power. I attend Quaker meetings sometimes because you don't have to be a follower of organised religion to join, and I find it very peaceful and humbling. Just seriously - how do pure atheists explain why everything is here in the first place?!

Very rambling and nonsensical post, sorry! I find it really hard to articulate my feelings on this subject.

Well, I don't speak for all atheists, I speak for myself (and there is a wide spectrum of belief systems within atheism, just as there is in religion). So having said that, I don't have the faintest clue why everything is here. No one does. But I am certainly enjoying reading about the discoveries and journeys made through science to seek out answers. I think we will just keep having our minds blown wide open by each new discovery and I love that. I do not need to subscribe to a creation story to explain my existence. But I still have wonder and awe and joy that I am here. I just get my wonder and awe and joy from understanding what I can about the scientific processes that have led up to this point.
And, (here is where I think some people with religion get very uncomfortable) if this is it, if my existence is nothing more than me being a clump of cells in this particular place at this particular time, then I am okay with that. If there is no afterlife (and I personally don't think that there is anything more than this one life), then I am just incredibly grateful for this moment.
I don't need to believe in a higher power or a creation story or any of the other typical facets of organized religion to feel spiritually fulfilled. Life itself does that for me.
So that's why I think and feel the way I do. It works for me. And as long as I am not negatively impacted by other belief systems, I am very happy for everyone to get to a place of love and acceptance and happiness anyway they need to! No judgement from me, even if I don't agree with it.
Does that sort of answer your question? Not sure I am expressing myself all that clearly, but thought I would give it a shot!

 

[Sarahkka]

By the way, Shanandboc, just wanted to say, that even though I don't share your belief system, I really appreciate the way you write about it. You are very respectful and represent your religion very well. Thank you for the insight and for sharing!

 

[Ozzieshunni]

To be honest, it makes more sense to me that we are just the experiment of some alien culture, like a giant peetri dish

 

[louandivy]

Thanks for your reply Sarah! Just to add, I don't believe in any kind of creation story or afterlife either - and if there was what are the chances us mere mortals actually guessed it correctly?! My idea of a higher power is incredibly abstract.

 

[JASMAK]

I agree with you to an extent...but couldnt 'god' help control these things? If he didnt want us to over populate...he would have made us so we only have a 1/2 re-productive cycles. same as he would have given ever country the enviroment to grow crops so no one need go hungry despite greedy goverments.

Those are really good questions. Ill try and answer without being too 'preachy' and if u have any further Qs maybe u could PM me.

Firstly ive done alot of bible study so im not sure how you feel about the bible but thats where my beliefs come from.

The situation on the earth today was foretold to occur. That under human rule we would see all the tragic things we see around us today.

God at present is not intervening at as he has patiently allowed things to get to this point for good reason.

His right to rule was challenged right in the beginning. Humans under the devils influence decided they didnt need God and could decide for themselves what is right and wrong. God has lovingly allowed humans to try out their way of ruling under the influence of the devil which the bible identifies as the ruler of this world until God steps in.

Think about it this way. As a parent if u had a rebellious teenager who decided not to live by your rules and thought they knew better and allowed them to find out for themselves the hard way that you do know whats best for them, would you think that was unloving? In a nutshell that is what God is doing right now.

Time was needed ( a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of things) to show that without his guidance humans only bring misery upon themselves. Allowing things to get so bad without intervening has proved this once and for all.

Also if he was to stop a certain amount of bad things happening, that would be to his detriment and really be supporting the devils cause that humans can rule themselves under his influence and things arent that bad. By completely remaining inactive it has allowed time to plead this case fairly and allowed time for all types of human rulership and also for human advancement in certain areas yet things continue to get worse despite all of this. We cant even live in peace, we are destroying the earth etc. No one can say God didnt give us a fair go. After all he created us with free will and wants us to serve him out of love, not like robots.

But he promises to soon step in. Remove human governments with an established heavenly government, remove wicked people, death, pain and suffering and give all the chance to live forever on a paradise earth- which was his original purpose. ( psalms 37:29, rev 21:3,4)

Hey, just being nosey...what religion are you?

 

[ShanandBoc]

Im a Jehovahs Witness (christian) Jasmak