Does god exist?.

[Zoidmeister]

I personally have more kinship toward Buddhism than any other religion ... which doesn't actually advocate that God exists but instead suggests that there are higher levels of awarness after death which are achievable by humans.

In a nutshell tread lightly on the planet, treat other beings well while your here, meditate, be aware of the stages of death and you have a good shot of emerging from the birth-death cycle - hehe. If you don't your may be reborn in the lower levels of being.

If your interested a captivating introductory reading: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

[Mirithal]

I think this is how you should look at the subject:
You are never going to prove that there is or isn't a God. So, in this time you have here on earth you have nothing to lose by beliving in a God except a very small amount of time. So, by doing this, two possible things could happen.

(1) - You die and go to somewhere better (i.e. heaven in many religions)

(2) - You die and decompose underground .. and there is nothing more to it.

So, what do you have to lose? I think it is worth just a small amount of time just to guarantee that IF there is some sort of higher existence that I will be among the people who go to a better place. I know this isn't the way you should look at religion because you aren't truly believing in anything... but this argument can lead some people into believing in a religion and then finding out that it isn't as bad as some make it out to be.

[Rhuac]

That's such a horrible way of looking at it Mirithal. I'm of the opinion that if fear of punishment is what motivates you to believe in something, then you don't truly believe, and therefore you aren't entitled to the "spoils" of that belief.

Here's a quote I read a long time ago. Maybe you'll agree, maybe you won't...

A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
--Albert Einstein

Edit: Oh and Beratuul, suck a nut douche bag.

[Mirithal]

I understand that ... I said I know this is a horrible way to look at it.

I myself do not look at it this way.

But, if you do look at it this way and start going to a church/synagogue/whatever, do you think there is a chance they will actually start believing in whatever.

[Rhuac]

That's a possibility, but it's still not the way I'd want someone converted to my religion, if I had one.

Then again I don't think you should try to convert people to your religion, no matter how wonderful it is

[SuperHelix]

Is this for real?

[Rhuac]

Sure why not.

[Beratuul]

I saw Jesus once, atleast I thought I saw Jesus. I was at my friends ranch surronded by a river and 200 acres of barley. The barely gets to be around 4 feet tall and blows like an ocean of green leaves. Quite amazing. Anyways, after doing a couple rails and a coco puff, I decided to go for a swim in the river. Prior to getting in, I toked another j. In the middle of the river, freezing cold, my balls somewhere near my lungs, I saw a spectacular light and a person. Athiest by religion, I never felt so at peace with anything. Everything at that point felt warm. Realizing that I was peeing, I quicky swam back to shore.

[AstrakotSwiftfoot]

I believe in God, but not in the sense that there's a big, bearded guy up in the sky looking for any reason to bitch smack us.

The Bible (at least the Old Testament) is largely word-of-mouth type things that people wrote down. The basis for some things MIGHT have happened for real, but were blown out of proportion through the passage of the stories. Prime example: The story of Noah's Ark. Probably a huge flood, but no fucking way it rained for 40 days and 40 nights consecutively. Other stories (creation or Adam and Eve for example) were written mainly to explain things that they couldn't explain. I count myself as a Christian, but I don't believe that the story of Adam and Eve or Creation happened exactly as described. I subscribe to the Big Bang theory and Evolution. I think creationism is totally bunk. The Bible, at it's core, is a guide on how to be a decent human being and not be an asshole. That's my take on it. The rest is people trying to piece together a history of what they believe happened to make things the way they were.

In my studies in chemistry and physics (I'm a 4th year student in college studying Geochemistry) , I've sort of come up with my own theory about the whole "higher power" thing. In nature, things just happen to occur in such a way that there's a neat, mathematical way to describe just about everything. If there was no driving force behind nature, things would just be chaotic. There would be no sense of order and things wouldn't just mathematically fall into place. I reasoned to myself that there has to be a higher power that makes the world go 'round, so to speak.

I don't believe that God is a vengeful, old man that has it out for everyone that doesn't beleve that he's up there watching our every move. People who characterize God like that make him sound like fucking Santa Claus. That's what drives a lot of people away from believing. I believe that the entity (or whatever you want to call it) has a sense of humor. The fact that I'm still alive and breathing is proof enough, but look at the giraffe and the duck-billed platypus and tell me that if you made it you wouldn't say, "Lets see what they do with this!".

To conclude, believe what you want to believe. I am a Christian, but I don't just blindly take the bible as the unquestioned Word of God that is beyond interpretation. I look at the world around me and reason for myself. Think for yourself, don't be a sheep.

[AstrakotSwiftfoot]

Oh, and what Mirithal mentioned is referred to as Pascal's Wager. If it's the impetus that spurs you to go to church/synagogue/temple/whatever and use that as the basis form your own views about your faith and the world around you, that's fine. I just think that it's kind of shortchanging your faith to think of it like playing odds in Vegas. That just bothers me.

[Mirithal]

Niice... I should have stated that a couple(few)(several?) hundred years ago and it would be called Mirithal's Wager?

I find it interesting that your a Christian who doesn't believe the Creation etc. What denomination are you?

[Flipout]

The Bible says God created the earth, the heavens, and everything living above and below in six days (seventh was a resting day).

Peter's epistle, states that 1,000 years is as one day to the Lord, clearly stating that there is no time in God's domain. I dont think it was to be taken literally, just a way to describe that time is nothing in Gods eyes.

So, evolution? Possibly.
Big Bang theory? Probably not.

How can you explain how love and hate were created? We evolved from monkeys, and while we evolved love and hate just magically appeared? Pffft... I dont think so. Your just pulling that big brown bag of yours over your face, if you figure otherwise.

IMO.

[Mourningblade]

I BELIEVE!!

I'll Have another beer.................

[Kirt]

well considering monkeys show diff personalities

bullies some loving some shy some crazy etc.

humans just show some things 10x more then again we are the evolved form so there's probably why

[Mirithal]

Flipout- So you're saying God created all emotions? I suppose I dont know much about this stuff so I can't really comment, BUT i just was thinking about something

just remember, God didn't write the Bible, did he?
Humans make mistakes and are biased.