Do you believe that God exist?

[J J]

Hilarious, I have never seen that clip before. : Funny and very true.

 

[JupiterMoon]

Here's another God related video that is worth watching.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8shed_the-god-devil-show-pamela-anderson_fun

 

[Valarie]

short answer = yes

a brief answer:
First I make the clear distinction between god and religion. The rituals, history and power politics of religion have nothing to do with god.*

The current archeological evidence (especially discoveries in the last decade) make it certain that the Jews were not slaves in Egypt at the time of *Pharoh Ramses II. This means there was no Exodus, there was no Moses, the 10 commandments are all part of a fairy tale that is closer to Harry Potter then an understanding of God and his will for us. It also results in Christianity and Islam also being defective since they are all part of the Abrahamic religions. Jesus was most likely suffering from delusions brought about by untreated schizophernia.

So now that I have insulted most of the world, what do I belive in and why.*

My reasons for why a belief in god are too personal to detail. Suffice to say that many years ago I experienced a form of contact with what I believe to be an unexplained phenomena that was intelligent, could communicate, and was not of this world. I have no history of mental illness.*

What I believe in is an evolving process that could best be described as a mixture of Bhuddhism, Druid and quantum physics. Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama would be the closest things I would have to priests. In his youth before the ALS got him Hawking was a randy little bastard.

I'm trying to understand the various mathematical constructs that give a unified theory of the universe. The best I have read thus far is a variation of "string theory" that needs 14 dimensions to explain how all this works. Once the multi-dimensional nature of the universe is understood then I can start trying to understand how energy (not mass) can pass through different dimensions including time. Once energy can get across dimensional boundaries so can intelligence. *

Well that's the brief version and it should be obvious as to why I don't speak of this except through anonymity. **

*

 

[Pompal 09.]

My personal opinion goes against this statement (not that you're wrong, just that I don't agree).

Remove organized religion and you do not end violence, chaos and injustice. Religion is a tool for those with ill intent and madmen. It is a crutch for those who cannot think for themselves. Take away that tool and crutch, and both the madmen and the weak will find something else. It is the source of destruction that needs to be dealt with, not the tool. And individuals are that source.

Through the careful study of history from ancient past to modern times - one can see that life was short and brutal for the vast majority of human history. It is with the onset of faith and philosophy that we started to spread the concept of compassion, which historically is not an innate trait we are born with. It is one we are taught from birth by our communities, because those before them forged the path. Religion is about community.

Ultimately religion on it's own has done a great deal to preserve knowledge and teach kindness. Without it our early ancestors would not have the organization to move information forward, and we'd be stuck in the same dark ages for a long time. A lot longer then the medieval dark ages the church caused during it's political tyranny. It was the priests and faith leaders (whether Catholic, Pagan, Jewish or other faiths) who knew science, literacy and healing, history and culture. They memorized it, passed it on to the next generation. It was only during the age of Enlightenment that these practices were separated from religious leaders, and compartmentalized into sciences and social sciences.

 

[Alicia M.]

I have seen documentaries discussing this very question. For the most part, god and faith were invented thousands of years ago during simpler times. A meteor shower would have been construed as a spiritual event, a gyser like old faithful would be interpreted as something holy. What would be seen as a miracle, could be simply coincidence.

For eg: way back before irrigation techniques, if a farmer asked for rain during a drought, and even though he wished for it to rain 800 times before, if it rained when he asked for it, he could start to believe the gods answered his request.

Put it another way, if someone started spouting off some of the crap that people believe in today, they'd be locked up as insane. But because it happened so long ago, and people just didn't have the knowledge or understanding of the world as we do now, you get one person to lie, and another to swear to it, and you have a belief system.

Then you take the people who are devote. They tend to be simpler or refuse technology. A good example are the muslim extremists. They still live in huts, they forsake all technological advances, their minions are typically uneducated backwards and naive. They put these people into schools and ONLY teach them the Q'uoran in a language they don't always understand. Say to these uneducated "the reason you are where you are is because of the west" what else are they going to believe?

Then you bring in heaven, paradise etc. So that gives people the idea that when they die, they go somewhere better. So it makes their lot in life here much easier to bear. I believe that Jesus first preached to the unwashed masses who watched the rich and powerful in rome with envy. Jesus said to them: bear with the perils of your life now because when you die, you'll go to a better place. The power mongers love religion because, just like the muslim extremists, it is just one more way to control the masses. Keep em occupied with church and religion while you fuck them up the ass.......

I mean seriously, ANYONE who belongs to a group that protects pedophiles ought to be taken out to the wood shed and given a smack down. SERIOUSLY.

 

[G S]

I think the reason Hawkings and Einstein believe in God follows this kind of process.
Take a million letters from our alphabet and throw them down on paper. How many times would you have to throw them down to replicate the bible or a great work of literature. A billion or trillion or never. Some intervention has to take place to create order. This I believe is where the concept of God existence comes to the fore, somehow, someone with enough power had to create order from all the random chaos. Just as an author uses the alphabet to create a great work of literature, someone had to create the order of the universe. Or something like that..............

 

[CHINGON]

[video=youtube;I7e9vnwTjJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7e9vnwTjJA&feature=related[/video]

 

[korgrue]

that's just it, what you've described is random chaos. The universe isn't neat and orderly and everything that happens, or has happened, can be explained scientifically. (for the most part) The only things that can't be explained can't be just because we don't have the knowledge yet.

For example, the bible says god created the heaven and earth. Well, I hate to break it to you but there are no angels flying around the clouds with white feathery wings.

Now, take the devil and hell. Imagine back in biblical times, there's an eruption of a volcano, molten rock spewed forth. Hence, hell, down below, is hot. Did "god" create this by casting out a fallen angel? No. Earth was created by random particles colliding with each other and gradually building up over millions of years until a mass was created. This is a scientific fact. Cannot be disputed.

Ok, so take Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed. This were just people who maybe formed their own thoughts on how to live one's life. Wrote down some common sense rules (and some pretty idiotic things too). Two other people listened to them and thought, hey, that makes sense. I'll live my life that way too. Sound kind of familiar? Maybe, Tony Robbins, or Dale Carnegie? In a simpler time those two could have created their own religion.

Now take the bible. It is a book, not unlike Stephen King's "it". It's a novel written by man, NOT by god. Back in the day they didn't have printing presses so the only way to make a copy was for someone to manually transcribe it. Did you know that every time a scribe re-wrote the bible they added their own spin to it? How can that BE? The bible was written by GOD. No, the bible was written by man. Nothing else.

Take an accident account for example. We ALL KNOW that there are three sides to every story. His version, Her version and what really happened. So, two people witness an event (something miraculous) one person sees one thing and tells the story, the other person sees the SAME thing, and tells their version. People listen around the campfire and think, well version 1 is boring but boy does version two sound GOOD. I'll retell THAT version (putting their own spin on it). Distort the truth so much that it no longer has any semblence of reality. Hence you have RELIGION. Get enough people to believe your bullshit story and you're a god.

Take Hitler. He could have easily EASILY become a god. He did god like things, he performed miracles, he helped "his" people overcome massive recession. He turned a tiny pissant little country into a world power and at one point took over all of europe. Hitler and his apostles killed over a million jews, people call him an animal. Wait, the catholic church has killed a million jews and other peoples 100 times over.

One last time: IF YOU BELONG TO A GROUP THAT PROTECTS PEDOPHILES, YOU ARE AS GUILTY AS THEY ARE IF YOU ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE.

 

[Barack Obama]

Do not confuse the bible with a higher being. Most religious literature is fiction, although if the intent is to be a kinder, better, more forgiving person it then has redeeming qualities.

 

[Nitro Girl]

Yep, that even smart people can get it wrong. There are three ways to go on this question:
1. Yes, some deity exists. Usually followed by some talk of unanswered questions meaning hell, why not. Hardly persuasive. Look, the water in Loch Ness just moved . . .
2. Maybem. Maybe not. Agnostics - fence sitters - make up your mind, god damn it.
3. No. Lack of evidence. But new evidence can always arise, which might change your view. In the meantime, most religions have jerks for deities, so why bother.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Well, any scripture is based upon the deity's words.....and even though the intent is to be better, more forgiving, etc. the result is rarely that.

Most religions do not condone homosexual relationships, most don't condone freedom of choice, most have highly restrictive doctrines, most have "our way or death" mentality.

Again, look at religion and religous figures and compare them to Dale Carnegie. He speaks wise words, he's a "figure" many look up to, he writes scripture, etc. Why isn't he a "god" like Jesus or Mohammed is? Our times. We are educated enough to know that just because one writes scripture, and is looked up to doesn't make them a god or form a religion around them.

If you notice that ALL religions that exist in the most part were started thousands of years ago. Sure there are some that are started in modern times, but look what happens to them? (branch dividians, for eg). They are hunted down and dispanded by existing religions.

As for why scholars, and scientists are religious, that can be attributed to upbringing. For the most part, as children we're taught to believe in some form of god or the other and many still do simply out of habit. Most people have a hard time letting go of a belief system. Given the time and funds to do some research, for every scientist who believes, I can probably find 100 that don't.

One final word: Darwin. There is no refuting evolution. It is a scientific fact. Therefore Christianity is BS. If christianity is BS then the Christian god is BS and that is the most powerful religion on the planet. Even when faced with undeniable facts that contradict the entire religion people close their eyes, ears and don't listen.

And don't even get me started on scientology.....a space ship? really? and intelligent people believe in THAT crap.......

 

[Lindsay85]

So where did the universe come from?.

 

[Abby Berlin]

I heard a big bang, but then again its only a theory.

 

[Pompal 09.]

::slap: :

 

[tj_the_great]

Sorry to break it to you boys but I do exist arty:

 

[Pompal 09.]

Hi God, are you white or black?

 

[Charles C]

LOL! :

 

[Fred]

Could've been an extraterrestrial (dimensional) encounter.
(A God, Angel, etc. would be classified as an extraterrestrial today)

 

[Adn]

I would consider myself an agnostic, but most religious people would probably consider me an an atheist. My belief in god is totally different than everybody else's. Specifically, I don't believe that he's a white-haired old man with an unusually buff physique for his age. In fact, I don't believe that god is a he, unfortunately nor do I believe that god is a she. Nor do I believe that god is the ultimate judge of good and evil, nor does god even care what good and evil is. So who do I think this god is? I think god is the Universe itself. It's so obvious that it's been right under our noses all of this time. The Universe is the only thing that you can provably show created us, every atom in our bodies has been created by the Universe, you can prove that scientifically and even the most devoutly atheist scientist will have to agree with you!

So what created the Universe? Nothing, the Universe created itself. A religious man might say, "nonsense, how can it just create itself? The Big Bang must've been created by God." Then the question becomes, then who created God? The religious man would reply, nobody created god, god was always around. Then you can say that if you can believe in a being that created himself, then why can't you believe that the Universe can just create itself?

This is a form of theism known as Pantheism, or a worship of nature itself. Old religions like Druidism, were worshipful of nature too, so they can be called Pantheistic too. But this form of Pantheism doesn't really worship nature, it just acknowledges its existence, but assigns no moral or other significance to it. In fact, you could say that since we're part of the Universe, we are all part of this God too. The Universe as originally created has no intelligence or sentience. But the Universe evolved, and we evolved into the Universe, therefore we form the intelligence and sentience of god. We the people of this Universe are really in control of this Universe and we assign all of its order to it.

 

[josh k]

In a word... NO!