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Does God exist? (4 Viewers)

do you believe in god?


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*TRUE*

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katie tully said:
I think that if people can't handle criticism of their faith, there is an underlying issue. This issue is that deep down, they question their faith. A knee jerk reaction means to me that you're not confident enough in your faith, and the response you get is a stamping foot, crossed arms and a pout.
That might be how you see it.
This:
katie tully said:
the response you get is a stamping foot, crossed arms and a pout.
Isn't the response of many. Its more like paralysing terrifying fear that your whole world and reality was a lie.
Like discovering your family wasnt your family , only worse.
You talk of guilt - why guilty? If i did not believe in God , I wouldnt feel guilty at all.
Perhaps religion to some is just a cultural or family thing , so the guilt would be in betraying your family or culture.
For others , it is a deep held belief and love , that goes straight to the very heart and influences the course of a whole life.
 

katie tully

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*TRUE* said:
That might be how you see it.
This:
Isn't the response of many. Its more like paralysing terrifying fear that your whole world and reality was a lie.
Like discovering your family wasnt your family , only worse.
You talk of guilt - why guilty? If i did not believe in God , I wouldnt feel guilty at all.
Perhaps religion to some is just a cultural or family thing , so the guilt would be in betraying your family or culture.
For others , it is a deep held belief and love , that goes straight to the very heart and influences the course of a whole life.
If tomorrow you decided everything you believed in was a lie, and that you wanted to believe in something else, you'd feel guilt.

I felt guilt because I had to tell my family that I didn't believe in what they did. I felt guilt because I had to tell myself that everything I believed in at that time was a lie. I felt guilt because I'd been told that to turn away from God would mean certainly I'd face an eternity of hell or whatever. Guilt because 'what if' I was wrong? If I was wrong I wasn't going to spend the afterlife with my family. Guilt that if I was wrong, I was slapping God in the face.
 

inasero

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Enteebee said:
haha

Inasero, how can you claim anything true while rejecting logic?
i don't reject logic...in fact being logical is what's allowed us to come so far with our scientific and medical advances over the past few centuries...and what allows me to prescribe treatment with the expectation that the patient will get better.

What I'm saying is that God is not illogical- He's supra-logical, in that His way of thinking is way beyond ours, if that kind of makes sense.

Isaiah 55:9 said:
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
 

inasero

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*TRUE* said:
Religion has its basis in more than hope. One could say it has been humanities' way of explaining who we are and why we are here.
People will always judge others in some way. I have a very unfortunate habit of judging those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
You know what though? We have a choice. We can do better - I know I can.
*hides*
 

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Have you ever thought how if there is a god, he doesn't care about you and take no interest in it?
 

inasero

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squeenie said:
You know, whenever a fundie starts talking to me, I think to myself "Should I tell them to snap out of it, or should I just let them be?" Usually, I'd just let them live in their little happy world.

In year 10, I did IT, and half the time, my teacher probably had no idea what he was talking about. One time, he mentioned something that I knew was wrong. I was going to put my hand up and correct him, but my friend stopped me and said "No, let him feel smart"

Now when I think about it, that's one of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard. After all, who am I to be questioning someone, when I know I have my own faults too? "Let the one without sin cast the first stone" is what the good book says about it, I think.
Oh I think it's possible to let the teacher know he's wrong without ascribing any personal blame and making him feel guilty. I probably would have, so the other students don't rely on false information. Though I guess it depends on the type of person (whether they can take constructive criticism) and the circumstances.
 

inasero

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Enteebee said:
haha I see it the complete opposite... I think it's patronising not to tell someone what you believe is the truth (if they are reasonably interested in what you have to say), i.e. because you're afraid they might get upset or might get irrationally angry.
absolutely. well again as always Jesus provides the perfect advice:

1 John 3:15-16 said:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander
Wise words I try my best to live by.
 

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inasero said:
absolutely. well again as always Jesus provides the perfect advice:



Wise words I try my best to live by.
That quote you put above is brilliant. I'm gonna live by it from now on. I'll just let everybody be, if someone is talking trash, I'll let them be, because I've got my own faults too. That's really good. (No sarcasm, I'm dead serious)
 

inasero

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morning storm said:
this is a cop out. to say their arguments dont need to adhere to logic and reason can allow them to therefore argue anything. if we accept this, there exists zero grounds for debate. we can all go home.

how convenient it is that the science that disproves it is the thing that doesnt matter at all.
i think that God as a whole is very logical, but as I explained His logic goes beyond our understanding so it would be impossible to try to describe phenomena such as creation of the universe with our limited reasoning. To me that's not a cop-out, it's a theological argument.
 

Garygaz

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Here's a quick thought (specific to one religion, of course), feel free to shit all over my statement, i just want to see what you think.

So Jesus, historically documented by notable historians as exisiting(don't quote Zietegist, most BS movie ever), has pretty much spawned one of the world's major religions. In his time, around 0~ BC, many other religious figures were attempting to gain support of religious followers, Jesus was not the only one. So, what did he do, different to all the rest, that caused him to have so many followers and people to die because they would not deny him as the son of god? I don't think someone with a plain oratorical power with nothing else could command such a massive following. Historians have claimed he was known for performing 'extraordinary events'. So, how did he do it? Was he just some magnificant speaker who sparked one of the World's largest religions?
 

Wassup?

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inasero said:
i think that God as a whole is very logical, but as I explained His logic goes beyond our understanding so it would be impossible to try to describe phenomena such as creation of the universe with our limited reasoning. To me that's not a cop-out, it's a theological argument.
That right there is a cop-out. Shouldn't God have explained the creation of the Universe in simple to undertand terms so that we'd ALL be able to bask in his glory and wisdom and ability?
 

katie tully

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Garygaz said:
Here's a quick thought (specific to one religion, of course), feel free to shit all over my statement, i just want to see what you think.

So Jesus, historically documented by notable historians as exisiting(don't quote Zietegist, most BS movie ever), has pretty much spawned one of the world's major religions. In his time, around 0~ BC, many other religious figures were attempting to gain support of religious followers, Jesus was not the only one. So, what did he do, different to all the rest, that caused him to have so many followers and people to die because they would not deny him as the son of god? I don't think someone with a plain oratorical power with nothing else could command such a massive following. Historians have claimed he was known for performing 'extraordinary events'. So, how did he do it? Was he just some magnificant speaker who sparked one of the World's largest religions?
jesus wasnt born in 0bc

more like 7ad

the more you know
 

Enteebee

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inasero said:
i don't reject logic...in fact being logical is what's allowed us to come so far with our scientific and medical advances over the past few centuries...and what allows me to prescribe treatment with the expectation that the patient will get better.

What I'm saying is that God is not illogical- He's supra-logical, in that His way of thinking is way beyond ours, if that kind of makes sense.
What makes the claim of God being beyond our logic any better than the claim that love pixies are beyond our logic? If they are beyond our logic then I don't see how we can use logical reasoning about their claim to exist (in fact I don't see how we could even come to see that such a thing exists) - I don't see how we can come to claim they exist, logically, which is what's of prime importance to the discussion.

I think you actually do reject logic where it doesn't suit you by placing God outside of the realm of logical inquiry. You can call it 'SUPER LOGIC' if you want, it makes little difference. What would you say to me saying that the truth is you're really a woman and this is super-logically true but your logic is merely incapable of knowing it? You would say I'm actually being illogical because I'm rejecting logic and replacing it with something that I've just called logic which might be outside of our knowledge but we have no way of knowing anyway.
 
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emytaylor164

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Schroedinger said:
You said that NOTHING would shake your faith. I posted some very simple tests to prove your viewpoint.

YOU SAID EVEN FINDING THE BODY OF JESUS WOULDN'T MAKE YOU QUESTION YOUR FAITH.

Sorry, you lose, good day sir.
did I really? if i did, i don't remember saying that, i think that that would, actually. anyway i am about to go to school for an exam and have not got time to look that up. check back after school

EDIT: i have quickly searched in this thread jesus' body and nothing came up under my username.
 
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Enteebee

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inasero said:
i think that God as a whole is very logical, but as I explained His logic goes beyond our understanding so it would be impossible to try to describe phenomena such as creation of the universe with our limited reasoning. To me that's not a cop-out, it's a theological argument.
It is possible that there is a God whose logic is beyond us, the point is that you're claiming a belief in such a god... there is absolutely no logical reason for you to do so, especially to do so while rejecting other things which I could equally claim exist in a logic beyond us.
 

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