Religion

**HorrorElementFilms** · 11-01-2013, 10:49 PM

To be honest, I see the idea of "God" and "Satan", a symbolic representation of human society. There is good, and there is evil. I feel as though these "superior beings", are a human's way of putting a name or symbol to the world around them. The phrase "God is all in your head", could not be taken more literally in this case. That is why every different society has their own god. I feel like it's because they pinned the blame for reality on something other than themselves, just as the other societies did.

This would also show just how similar our minds function to one another. The difference between creationists and atheists/agnostics, is that one of them has decided that the blame for events and the universe is not from a superior being, but of themselves, and the universe itself. Some people are not comfortable with the idea of a universe that is self-consistent, so they turn to a more loving and respectful type of idea.
While self comfort is more ideal with the human mind, it is not ideal for the reality of absolute existence. I was once religious, and subconsciously felt the need to believe in something that was superior and sentient. But the more and more I grew from the idea, I saw the dysfunction of the world around me. And the more and more I realized that this seemingly random dysfunction, was in turn a form of function, I became aware of what religion really was.
An idea. Not necessarily a bad one, but an abused one at that. I choose not to typically argue religion as I know that with the passing time, humans themselves, will gain their OWN confidence. And I know that many will recognize the universe for the self sufficient big ball of random that it is. The day that we discover life outside of our typical planet, is the day that we'll see the world that we live in for what it is, and not what we want it to be.

**Kman** · 11-01-2013, 10:50 PM

i am jamming mr bungle and am convinced a god must exist for humans to make music like this does that count

**BAndrew** · 11-01-2013, 11:30 PM

Not much to say.

There is no need for a creator/God
There is no strong (if not at all) evidence for God.
It's not possible to know if God exists.

Therefore we cannot arrive to a safe conclusion.

**TheWalshinator** · 11-02-2013, 12:30 AM

Good and Evil. Accepted concepts in society. But does anyone really care enough to think deeply about them? What is good? What is evil? What is right? What is wrong?
It is impossible for any single human, no matter how smart and no matter how wise to come up with these concepts. And humans didn't "evolve" to "learn" the concepts, because that would mean that they were already there. For those who believe in evolution, you are only demoralising yourself. You are choosing to accept that we have no purpose whatsoever, which means that you will often lead yourself to do stupid things. If you still choose to believe this, you may have come from monkeys, but I most certainly did not; I came from the Creator of the Universe that loves me as much as I love him.
Same thing with the phrase "YOLO", you are just saying that to get yourself to do something stupid or something that goes against your character.
As for the people who are saying that "God is the enemy" or "God is a dog", you people need to take a hard look at yourselves, for you were made in His image; and I'm sure you don't go around licking your balls (if you do, I recommend you get some help). And if God is the enemy, then why did He create us? He created us to love Him, but He also gave us the choice of whether or not we do so.
Christianity provides us with reasons for our talents. We are all called for greatness, and our talents are given to us to further the Glory of God.
In the Bible, there are two verses in Romans, one of them being Romans 3:23 "For we have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory", another being a very confronting one, Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death". To those who read these two together, it is the ultimate confrontation; how can anyone have hope of making it into Heaven? It is impossible, at least in our own strength, to do so. If you are thinking that it will take only the mercy of God to get you into Heaven, then you are right on the money.
If you then continue to read Romans 6:23, you will see this: "But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Jesus has won the battle for us. I remember a song in Church (I don't know the name of it), but there is a particular section of the song that I love the most about it:
"There will come a day, when the story of the Earth is done
We will make our way to stand before the judgement throne
And Satan, our accuser, will bring up every sin
And every situation we fought but did not win
[Favourite part] But then the blood of Jesus will cry out but their guilt is none
For He has overcome!"
I will fight to the end in defence of my God.

Btw, Paddy, if Atheism isn't a religion, then what is it? Think about it; if Atheists say that they believe there is no God, then how does it make them any different to me saying that I believe there is a God? (Despite the obvious point in beliefs being different).

(11-01-2013, 11:30 PM)BAndrew Wrote: Not much to say.

There is no need for a creator/God

There is no strong (if not at all) evidence for God.

It's not possible to know if God exists.

Therefore we cannot arrive to a safe conclusion.

If there was no need for a God, then why are we here? If there was no Creator, then we or this Earth wouldn't exist. If you think that this Earth could create itself, or that it was just here with people and animals in it, then where did the people and animals come from? Where did the germs come from? Where did atoms come from? Where did EVERYTHING come from? There must have been something before everything else.
There is lots of evidence that shows God's existence, I have witnessed Him at work in my life and many others that follow, and some that don't follow because of our prayers. Testimony is a great example of evidence.
It is possible to know, sometimes you've just got to take a leap of Faith. It's hard, I know, to put your trust in something you cannot see. But sometimes, He might just show Himself to you if you are really looking and listening for Him. You may be able to deny the Bible, but one thing you cannot take from Christians is testimony; their own personal experiences with God.

**Ghieri** · 11-02-2013, 12:52 AM

(11-01-2013, 11:30 PM)BAndrew Wrote: Not much to say.

There is no need for a creator/God

There is no strong (if not at all) evidence for God.

It's not possible to know if God exists.

Therefore we cannot arrive to a safe conclusion.

Pretty much nailed it.

I'm much more concerned about the social implications of religion, though. What is the result of a country where the majority of people think that if you disagree with them your going to be tortured over a fire eternally?

(The US, it's the US)

**Bridge** · 11-02-2013, 12:58 AM

(11-02-2013, 12:30 AM)TheWalshinator Wrote: You are choosing to accept that we have no purpose whatsoever

Yeah, that's right.

Quote:which means that you will often lead yourself to do stupid things

Non sequitur.

Quote:Btw, Paddy, if Atheism isn't a religion, then what is it? Think about it; if Atheists say that they believe there is no God, then how does it make them any different to me saying that I believe there is a God? (Despite the obvious point in beliefs being different).

So would you say that people who are not interested in sports are all automatically united in their dislike for sports so that they themselves can actually be called fans of not being fans of sports? Yeah, it makes no sense because it is a contradiction. Atheism is ¬theism. In other words, it is a direct negation of belief in a deity. It is not a belief, unless you want to make a case for atheists believing in not believing. I prefer to keep things simple and direct.

Quote:Testimony is a great example of evidence.

Yeah, despite the numerous studies that have shown that witness testimony is not fully reliable at best. You should read up on how the memory processes of the brain work. Memory is not an exact copy of real life, it is quite easy to distort and there are even examples of people having vivid memories of childhood experiences from a time before they could produce memories simply from looking at pictures of said experience. Vivid, as in they did not have any doubt that it was completely real. Also, our eyes are not cameras that take in visible light and convert it into perfect renderings of the physical world. The way our eyes "see" is quite complicated, and you can look up many optical illusions that illustrate just how easy it is for them to trip up and record incorrect data.

**Ghieri** · 11-02-2013, 01:02 AM

It sure didn't take long for someone to start preaching.

"Atheists r stoopid HUR godnjesus4ever honk4jesus etc, ad nausium"

**Nice** · 11-02-2013, 01:06 AM

(11-02-2013, 01:02 AM)Ghieri Wrote: It sure didn't take long for someone to start preaching.

"Atheists r stoopid HUR godnjesus4ever honk4jesus etc, ad nausium"

or for someone to call religious people diluded and call it a fiction

**Mechavomit** · 11-02-2013, 01:09 AM

Alright, let me say a few things too.

I'm not an atheist. And even though I'm baptized and wear a cross, I wouldn't call myself Christian either. Based on what I learned about religion, prayer, etc, I've developed my own faith. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks like this, I would assume a lot of agnostics do, for example, it's just that there is no religion for it.
I believe there is a god, but I don't believe in the personification of god. I believe that "god" is actually within each of us, within everything. To me god is love, the purest and probably the most potent feeling in this world. And it is indeed capable of miracles. I believe that the more love you give to the world, the more love you will receive back. I believe that if one truly wishes for something, but in an non-destructible way (wishing for your own success, not for your enemy's failure, for example), it will be achieved sooner or later. I can say that this has worked for me twice. And the more people concentrate on the same goal, the more powerful that force becomes. Maybe prayer works in the same way.
So to me it is important to try and deal with everything (yes, even people I dislike) with love and not to give in to negative emotion. It's also extremely important to love yourself, because you're part of god, after all.

I also don't believe in heaven or hell. I think we are sent to this world to develop and learn. Each life is a lesson. If don't learn our lesson, if we don't discover our potential and put it to use, we get kicked in the same circumstances in our next life.

Hope that didn't sound too stupid.

**Ghieri** · 11-02-2013, 01:22 AM

(11-02-2013, 01:06 AM)Dogfood Wrote:
(11-02-2013, 01:02 AM)Ghieri Wrote: It sure didn't take long for someone to start preaching.

"Atheists r stoopid HUR godnjesus4ever honk4jesus etc, ad nausium"

or for someone to call religious people diluded and call it a fiction

True, I have those opinions, but I wouldn't go so far as to say you don't have the right to them.

You have to understand that I am in the US Bible Belt. These people want atheists silenced or even killed(Or at least to not exist). I basically am an abomination in god's eyes and not worthy of their presence. I'm mostly talking about older people, but I've seen some of my fellow classmates voice opinions like this.

I think in comparision, "Delusional" is a very moderate stance to take.