Religion

[salmun]

is religion a problem, yeah it is, it seems to spark a lot of issues. Theirs also no point in talking about it more than you have to either, your not going to change peoples opinions just by talking about it. you inform them and move on, you don't try to push it on them. If they want to know more then you tell them. But it's getting to the point where people are just insulting others. It would be nice to hear other peoples opinions that's what this thread and others are for, but I don't think it means bashing others just to get your point across. yeah I believe in God, but that doesn't mean that I think science is bad or anything.

[Caledoriv]

I don't believe in a particular god / particular gods, but I think there has to be at least one supernatural being which is responsible for the existence of the universe.

I simply believe there had to be a starting point somewhere. There may very well have been the big bang, but what was the reason for it and why did it happen? The only explanation for this is imho the existence of a supernatural being.

[CaNzCo]

I am an Atheist. I wouldn't say it is by choice, more like out of necessity. Despite all the bad that has come from religious differences, I still think having faith is pretty nice. Unfortunately for me I just can't shake the possibility that there is no God or gods, and that makes me a non-believer. Most of the religions I know of require that you actually believe wholeheartedly that they are not full of bullshit, and I just can't bring myself up to that point of delusion. I will admit that there may be a god... but unless he/she gives me some concrete, undeniable evidence, I am always gonna have a part of me that says "you just don't exist."

Finally, if he/she does exist, I find him unworthy of praise, since so many people suffered when he could have stepped in. I would really hate to burn for eternity, or whatever other sadistic measures this "loving" god might employ upon me, but I would hate to beg for forgiveness from an entity that sat by and watched as the people who looked up to him/her suffered and died.

[Akhnatoun]

I'm myself an Atheist, being living in religious country like India it's very difficult being an Atheist. But my parents and friends have always supported me. If my relatives come to know about this, they might surely get angry on me. I was 13yr old when I used to think if god was real, then when I was 15yr old I started to question a lot to my parents about god, which they never had any answer to. So, I was finally an Atheist when I was 16.

It's not logic to not believe in god just because your parents couldn't answer your questions about god. Whatever the nature of God they believe in, you must look for the truth about god with yourself and to know deeply about different religions in this life.

For me, I'm not atheist, and I believe in God, to be more specific; I'm Muslim and I believe in Allah as the lord and the only God of this World. Why I believe in God?! because God always says to us "I'm here". Where do you think the idea of an existent God came from? Besides that there are many many evidences that prove the existence of God, as you are atheist, Don't you think that its really weird if thousand of prophets and messengers had appeared in different nations and in different ages and all of them claimed that they are sent to people by GOD, and all of them had carried the same message and the same concepts ? !!!

Anyway, There are two probabilities that brief this issue; 1- If the God is a reality and I believe in him and you don't, so you lose. 2- but if the God is not real, so nobody lose. .... In both cases, I'm on the safest side as a believer, but you are making some risk by not believing in God.

Give it a try and learn about Islam

http://www.islam-guide.com/

[Caledoriv]

[...] Don't you think that its really weird if thousand of prophets and messengers had appeared in different nations and in different ages and all of them claimed that they are sent to people by GOD, and all of them had carried the same message and the same concepts ? !!!

I don't consider this a strange, but a rather clever thing, as religion is imho merely a tool to gain power - and, quite often, to exercise this power, of course. Thus, I believe those Prophets were simply rather smart hypocrites who knew how to manipulate humans.

Anyway, There are two probabilities that brief this issue; 1- If the God is a reality and I believe in him and you don't, so you lose. 2- but if the God is not real, so nobody lose. .... In both cases, I'm on the safest side as a believer, but you are making some risk by not believing in God.

Possibility 2: The believer "loses" here, as he has to integrate himself in the system and thus has to give up his freedom, as he has to stick to certain rules.

Please don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying religion is an entirely bad thing since it also unites people.

That's why I support the idea of the so-called syncretism (this term means the intentional mergence of beliefs).

In almost every religion, there are certain rules or believes that can be considered as "good". Everybody has to decide for himself which of those he considers right and thus accepts and follows. By doing so, the "negative" aspects of each religion can be "omitted".

I, for example, regard the acting compassion (Buddhism) as a very good thing, even though I don't believe in reincarnation nor in hell (I've been baptised).

[shyguysteve]

Its an excuse and an escape. People will believe in something, be it the universe itself or the bible. We put faith in something and its hard to explain by virtue of degree, but no one is right and no one is wrong. This is what our vast minds come to when searching for answers.

[lemmingllama]

Its an excuse and an escape. People will believe in something, be it the universe itself or the bible. We put faith in something and its hard to explain by virtue of degree, but no one is right and no one is wrong. This is what our vast minds come to when searching for answers.

Yes, but some faith is justified. Like I put faith in myself. So its not just excapism to believe in something

[shyguysteve]

Yes, but some faith is justified. Like I put faith in myself. So its not just excapism to believe in something

Oh yes, but faith isn't always religion, so my answer was for that of religion that people will put faith in.

So to speak; believing in yourself is usually better then believing in something that people judge you, for not knowing.

[lemmingllama]

Oh yes, but faith isn't always religion, so my answer was for that of religion that people will put faith in.

So to speak; believing in yourself is usually better then believing in something that people judge you, for not knowing.

This is also true. Just to reiterate your point, religion needs faith but faith doesnt need religion. I would personally prefer if everyone just made their own faith rather than having organized religions

[shyguysteve]

This is also true. Just to reiterate your point, religion needs faith but faith doesnt need religion. I would personally prefer if everyone just made their own faith rather than having organized religions

I agree, the religion in today's world is extorted to put fear in people to squeeze money out of their pockets. A bit dirty, but my hats off to them they succeed.

[ghostwriter066]

My thing is, I have no problem with religion. I just see lots of contradictory in the Bible and other parables. People take the Bible too literally. The bible is supposed to be interpreted differently between people. One person reads it and gets a totally different message than somebody else. Everyone has a right to believe what ever they want to believe. I just don't like people who look down on others because they don't go to church or are not in the church as much as they feel they should be going. Just because I don't go to church does not mean I am not a good person. People say, if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you go straight to hell. Well, I also believe if you sexually abuse small children you should go right along with the people who don't believe. So it contradicts itself. So apparently, a person who may not go to church as the deep believers, but lives their life right morally right, and doing the right thing is his/her life, treating people how they should be treated, living right by there family, kids, mother and father and among others, is worse off than that of a person who is in church every Sunday, bible reading interpreting every scripture word for word, but is sleeping with the deacon's wife, or molesting the tenor section of the boy choir? C'mon son, getdafuckouttaherewiththatbullshit. So remember even belief there is a lie...

[shyguysteve]

I come from two Catholic families. One from Asia the other America, they are both different for Catholics.

I am not religious.

I believe things are as they are, everything is real not because I see them but because someone else does. I don't need God or religion to explain it. If what I see is what someone else will not see then its only that I see this thing in a different light. While someone else can see something that I can't as well. The world is not what I view with my eyes but what I share with other people. They wont see my past so I share it with them and sometimes they will share theirs with me. See now, nobody can ever see that but its real. someone else's past is real even though you can't see it.

I might look at an ant hill and see a smaller version of humanity, while someone else just sees ants.

[Alegend1994]

My opinion on religion is that the followings and teachings are supposed to be moral messages and guide lines to how to live life instead of the stories that are told to be taken seriously, obviously I'm only using Christianity as a reference since it is the one I know most about. The main problem I find with religion is that there are people who try to force it onto other people, through guilt and fear which I absolutely disagree on. Also the massive conflicts between these religions and some of the guide lines or whatever they wish to call them can just be inhuman and illogical.

I wouldn't say that I don't believe in religion it's just that there are things I believe in a lot more, and without religion having any significant evidence I would say I'm a man of science.

But I don't like forcing my beliefs onto people so as long as religion doesn't try to bother me too much I'm fine with it being around, after all it is a way of life and history with beautiful architecture and other magnificent arts.

[Byakuya_Boy]

Well, I am the 4th Muslim to be posting here. I follow the islamic religion, though I admit I'm not very religious. Like many people I hate it when other people try to enforce their ideas on me. I know some muslim people who force me to join them for religious occasions that didn't even exist in the original islam. I looked towards religion as something that brought my heart to peace when I was 13.... but as I continued studying islam a big question raised inside me about the religion, I won't mention the question, but if anyone wants to know they can go ahead and ask. I looked towards my mother and asked her my question. She looked back and told me that she couldn't justify my question, and its something which has been bothering her as well. I never dared to ask a Mufti (islamic priest who helps answer the question regarding islam) cause I believe they are too extreme. I had a muslim friend tell me that watching "Popeyes" (his name for anime) is strictly forbidden. When I couldn't find a answer my faith slowly started to grow weaker. And sometimes I even consider to change my religion.

[Lenalee33]

I'm a catholic, but like a lot of other people that have posted here, I'm not very religions. Yes I believe in some sort of God/creator of all things and all of that, but I don't agree with a lot of the views of our church. They're pro-life, I'm pro-choice depending on the situation. They're against gay marriage, I'm all for it. Sometimes I think that my religion is way to strict, but I know that it isn't as strict as some other religions. I guess you can say that I'm one of those people who likes to look at other religions and can pick out things that are similar to what I believe in.

I do attend a Catholic college, and at first it strengthened my faith, but now days, it's doing the exact opposite. The one problem here is that they focus way to much on being Pro-Life/Anti-Abortion. No matter where you go on campus you see something about this, especially in the clubs on campus. They also focus way too much on the Catholic life style. Not everyone here is Catholic mind you, but some times they go overboard and it drives me nuts...

There has been many times that I've though of changing religions, but that's not always easy to do when you've grown up around and Irish Catholic parent. I've been to other religious gatherings for different faith traditions, including Jehovah Witness, Protestant (to many to name), and Jewish. For some reason none of them seem to be a good fit for me.

[swill48]

[Kyle_Dimetri]

All I can is religion is more complicated than more than physics. I personally believe that one gravitates to a certain religion bcuz that religion is the closest one that suits his/her preferences. I however don't allow myself however don't get caught up in its web of mystery

[Kyle_Dimetri]

Wow! What a hot topic. I must say i am appalled to see so much of you guys denying the existence of God or any supernatural being of that sort. And the person who said that she believes in god but doesn't believe in God.....WTF!!! A serious case of mind fucking has occured in all of these atheists' lives. Like most of you I personally don't worship nor commit myself to God but live my life on my terms. However don't misinterpret the above statement as I DO BELIEVE IN A GOD. Yes i had my doubts but at the same time i had my share of experiences which proved TO ME that God exist. In my opinion whosoever doesn't BELIEVE in a God is quite stupid, very arrogant and doesn't deserve to continue breathing God's precious air!!!!

[Catwoman]

And the person who said that she believes in god but doesn't believe in God.....WTF!!!

In my opinion whosoever doesn't BELIEVE in a God is quite stupid, very arrogant and doesn't deserve to continue breathing God's precious air!!!!

Meaning that if there is a "God", I want hard evidence that I can believe.

A lot of people I know seem to go on a feeling, blind belief or were simply brought up that way.

Despite being raised to believe in a "God", I simply don't.

I'm not saying that he definitely does not exist.

I'm not saying that he definitely does exist.

But until I have my own experiances to prove one or the other?

Yeah. So I hope my post makes more sense to you and others.

Personally, religion isn't on my daily or urgent "to do" list.

And just because you don't understand or accept some peoples views,

saying that they don't deserve the life given to them is... undeserving in itself.

Especially if this "God" is said to have given us humans the freedom of choice whilst being "all knowing".

If you aren't happy with my response, read over seirachans again on the first page underneath mine.

She explains it a lot better than I do.

But despite what others believe?

I respect everyones view and how they choose to live.

I stand by it, encourage it and hope they grow from it.

Saying such harsh, inconsiderate and horrible things?

I'm just happy that I'm not so unforgiving or close minded.

[† Emotional Outlet]

I know many people shy away from using the term "atheist" because it carries with it many connotations (as was pointed out already in this thread), and prefer to use the term "agnostic" as a way of presenting a softer viewpoint to others. The etymology of "atheist" had already been brought up, so I don't understand why the same was not done for "agnostic". Likely because it is a softer, more likable term, so people are not as quick to denounce it and may perpetuate what they were taught it means, in the same way people perpetuated what "atheist" means according to others, resulting in the idea that an atheist is one who hates religion. "Agnostic" is simply "without knowledge".

However, as far as I understand it, the two terms ("atheist" and "agnostic") are not mutually exclusive, but quite the opposite. The concept of agnosticism is compatible with both atheism and theism because it has nothing to do with belief, but rather, as stated, knowledge. In this case, knowledge of the existence of one or more deities. Thus, you can be an agnostic Christian, an agnostic atheist, or any combination thereof.

To further clarify--you can believe in God, but not claim to have direct or concrete knowledge (or proof) of God's existence. Thus, you would be an agnostic theist. The opposite is also true--you can lack belief in God, but not claim to have direct or concrete knowledge that your belief is correct. Ergo, agnostic atheist.

I'm an agnostic atheist. If any number of deities stood before me and proved their nature to me in a satisfactory manner, then I would be swayed. That said, I do think due to human limitations, there are likely things out there beyond our purview and will always be impossible for us to comprehend. No matter how far we may extend our influence, it seems that we'll always be discovering even more things we don't understand. The concept of a deity may very well be one of these things.