Alright so basically ive seen lots about God lately. I myself for a while didnt belive in God, but now im not sure what i belive in. I still do not have a religion due to the fact it just causes fighting but god is a whole different subject. Seems like a lot of people are starting to become atheist. I had thought for a while, and i still dont know, what god is, or what. Hes a higher being, something. But my point is that people are seeing god as unreal because he does nothing. Now it depends on ur view, some see him doing nothing for anyone, while others see God as making everything we see, God is everything and anything. Science is from God. See this makes everything difficult. My science teacher said a great thing a couple days ago, Science can teach you what, where, when, and how, but not Why. Why is where God would come in, but at teh same time, u just wonder. Is God real? Is god made up for people to belive in? Have we seen any hard evidence that god is out there? Again for the most part, the only explaination for everything, aka the big bang, or stars forming, gravity, science, would be God. But thats because we cant think of anything else. For a couple years i didnt belive in god. I just didnt, i didnt need him. People said to me that thats the way he made me, so i dont need him. But now im not so sure. I simply do not know what to belive in. One side says hes not real while the other side, says well maybe. Lately ive seen lots of evidence that the world is dramatically changing. Three types, which have probably been around for a long time, atheist, hard core religious, and stuck between both. Lately however i have seen atheist becoming more and more. They have good arguments. I belive they become atheist because religion, they push you so much. I saw a article that wanted all the atheist to get out, freedom of religion means freedom, but u belive in god. The responses to that were, so freedom to bear arms, means i must have a gun? So its going to be intresting. The younger gen seems to be atheist, while teh other is hardcore. Now what will this mean in the future.
its scarey. Its seems that atheist will win in the long run because most hard core will die with time, and the new age will take over. Yet i was wondering, what would prove that there was no god. What one thing, if anything. I figured out 2, finding either a planet that holds the dead, or finding a cure for death. Immortality. This would prove taht god does not exist because people do not have to die anymore. Or maybe tehre is a planet that has the dead, which means tehre is no heaven and hell.
God, such a touchy subject. Its going to be really intresting in the next 20 years. My brain is at a crossroads, I used to be atheist, but now im not so sure. Mabye tehre is something, but at the same time, maybe God was made for people by people. Religion, to help people, to give them reason, a community. who knows. I really dont know. There is so much. So much we dont know about. Its......unbelivable.
Anyway think like this always: be open minded lol.
God: Maybe real, maybe not.
Who knows, well see where it goes
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I don't believe that theology can teach you why. The reason is because I don't believe in god. Why? I'm aware of absolutely no evidence supporting his existence. I think that, in regards to life, philosophy answers why. In regards to science, well, science answers why as well. Why don't we float away? Gravity.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
Explain Entropy to me if there is no beginning or end...
T3
That may or may not be true. But a universe with or without a beginning need not necessarily cause one to conclude that God made it.
Try this link to a blog I wrote on the subject
Cheers,
Darwin's Beagle
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If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. - Anatole France
I see it as this. People now are going to one extreme or the other. I think that we will see less middle ground in the future. You will either be a full hard core believer or an all out atheist. We see more and more crime, which shows that evil is prevailing, yet we also see churches growing at rapid rates. For example, the mormon religion is currently the fastest growing religion in the world. So this is the other extreme. Because there is less gray area in the world people have to be more decisive about where they stand. So it now becomes a black and white decision.
To me religion and god is such a comfort. It makes life have purpose. I'm not just here to be here and fill up space. I'm here for a purpose. I know where i came from, why i am here, and where i am going. It is a plan that brings happiness. We have the choice to use God and receive his blessings, or not. Even though on Earth we are physically separated from God we can find peace and joy by being close to him.
I really don't think that the growth of atheism has anything to do with the growth of crime rates. Something like 14% of the population in the US are atheists. Most of the nation professes some sort of Christian belief. just, look at the odds.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
> We see more and more crime, which
> shows that evil is prevailing,
Overall crime rates in the U.S. have been steadily declining for some time...
Since 1994, violent crime rates have declined, reaching the lowest level ever in 2005.
The 2- and 10-year trends showed that the number of property crimes in 2006 decreased 1.9 percent when compared with the 2005 estimate and declined 13.6 percent when compared with the 1997 estimate.
> yet we also see churches growing
> at rapid rates.
I'm assuming that you mean christian churches, and this one depends on how you look at it. In raw numbers, christianity and its certainly growing...but then, so is the general population. However, in terms of population percentages, christianity has been in a steady decline for many years.
Noted Christian author George Weigel notes that: "There were only 558 million Christians in the world in 1900 and there will be approximately 2 billion Christians by the middle of this year [2002], a huge increase." However, Christianity has been in a very slow decline for years as a percentage of world population. Weigel states: "...Christians were 34.5 percent of world population in 1900, and will be 33.1 percent in 2002."
Samuel Huntington [states that] "The percentage of Christians in the world peaked at about 30 % in the 1980s, leveled off, is now declining, and will probably approximate to about 25% of the world's population by 2025.
The UK Christian Handbook has lower figures. They estimate that 28.3% of the world's population identified themselves as Christians in 1990. They expect this to drop to 27.7% by the year 2000, and to 27.1 in 2010.
LINK
> For example, the mormon religion is
> currently the fastest growing religion
> in the world.
Factually incorrect.
The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca -- a Neopagan religion that is sometimes referred to as Witchcraft. Numbers of adherents went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. 4,5 Wiccans in Australia have a very similar growth pattern, from fewer than 2,000 in 1996 to 9,000 in 2001. 10 In Canada, Wiccans and other Neopagans showed the greatest percentage growth of any faith group. They totaled 21,080 members in 1991, an increase of 281% from 1990.
LINK
percivale
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
I see how u can answer some whys
but its the bigger picture, why does gravity always relate to the size of something, why do we live on earth, why do people become murderers, why do cells mutate and cause cancer. Just like the bigger questions, I mean there probably is a answer for those, but at this point, we dont really know why.
Just because we don't know doesn't mean that we can't. Filling holes with god is bad for both the religious and the non-religious. For the religious, it means that there god faces extinction as more and more gaps are filled. This causes them to protest the filling of these gaps by science. It damns curiosity regarding those areas and that is not cool. As for the gravity and cancer question, I believe the answers are out there.
As for the murderer question, there a many different answers. I don't think that god is necessary to explain them.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
Religion starts a lot of fighting... I agree
But isn't life's purpose worth fighting for? I would fight for my belief in Jesus Christ (intellectually of course) this isn't because I want to be superior, but I believe to know the truth and I love humanity enough that I will fight to bring humanity to a knowledge of the truth.
Fighting doesn't necessarily make something bad... it means what is being fought over is valuable enough to fought for...
I'd fight for a woman I love... but that doesn't make her a bad idea... it makes her valuable...
T3
Religion is a denomination's theology Christianity is taking the word of GOD as it was written and intended.... Without the beliefs and teachings of a specific denomination's theology. Even the Seventh Day Adventists who were at one time long ago considered to be above such sqaulor has come down the path of denominationalism etc. It is sad as at one time that the Pope declared that with exception to the S.D.A. church all protestants were under the rule of the roman catholic church if for no other reason than they worshipped on Sunday. There is no perfect religion in the world today except for the religion of the Bible. It is all the sqaubble between denominations that has caused all the dissent among the younger generation and sending them to the ways of the devil wether it be facisnation of vampires, Wicca, spiritualism, or just flat out non belief of anything like an atheist. I know of younger people 15- 18 who actually think vampirism is glamorous, romantic, and holy. Look at Goths.... Can a Goth truly say they are Christian when Goth music contains antichristian lyrics and centers its entire image around being black and glum as total darkness itself?
Actually, demoniational squalbling has nothing to do with why I'm an atheist.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
To me religion is fine, God is fine, belive in what you want
Its when you start fighting. Why do you fight to keep your belief. If you belive in it, no one can take that away from you, People can tell you your wrong and thats where it starts. People need to be able to be open minded. Listen to the other person, and then see how they see. It might change your view. All in all, what you learn from them, will make you belive more or less. No one can tell you what to belive except yourself.
Goth music is dark, but they can belive in whatever they want. It doesnt mean if they listen to goth music, they think everything is dark, and glum. I mean some people do, but not everyone. If i listen to rap, does it mean im rob stores? Im in a gang? no
But you have to realize its also a phase, do you see older people that are gothic? In school I saw goths, but near the end, I didnt see any
Religion has Power, and Power has religion. Look at eygpt, rome, any big country that dominated. Eygpt is a prime example. They were one religion, but the city was torn in two, so they had to accept the other religion to prevent the break up of the civilization. Look at Jesus, What happen if Jesus saw religion failing. What if someone saw religion failing, and said to Jesus, You are the son of god. Then he would belive he was, and people would see that he was, thus making religion strong once again
Again, Its ok to have Religion, God, but when you start fighting to see who is better, it gets bad. You cannot force something on somone, because they will resist it. Anyone who is forced to belive in somehting they dont belive in will fight it to the death. Why? Especially today, people cannot force something without starting a big war. There are too many people in each religion to start a huge war. It would be simple to talk to people, tell ideas, and then decide for yourself
Ok everyone throws out this "open-minded" thing... but by open-mindedness do you mean pluralism? The idea that all have truth but one person's truth is their own while yours is yours?
I think if one passionately believes one knows the truth one should fight so that all may know the truth. If truth means so much to someone, then one would assume they'd want to tell everyone and fight for that truth. Right?
T3
I agree T and if everyone got off the denominational horse and on the Biblical horse there would be a lot less dissention and then there would be even more truth. Dude2k5 You have to realize that one's taste of music has a direct impact on who they are and how they act, believe, ect. This is a proven fact and those who are subjective more to one type of music to others versus those who have a much broader variety of music is more subjective to idiosyncracies, insecurities, antisocial thoughts/behaviors, etc.... So what I had to say wasn't to attack a specific group etc but just ameans to make a point...
Truth is nothing, what we know could be right today, but wrong tomorrow. For instance, in the old days, they belive that gods made earthquakes, volcanoes, all natural disasters. But today we see that as not being the truth because of our environment. Truth is nothing, because all that we know today, can be wrong tomorrow. I get what your trying to say, fight for what you belive in. But dont keep pushing it. Tell people, and have them decide for themself if they think its right. People always try to push to say, join our religion, or your wrong. My friend said to me that his religion is now ignoring all other religions.
I know music has a influence on people, but not for all.
What do you guys see as truth. What is truth to you
Can a God cause something that is physically caused too? If God created the physical world is it not natural to believe he'd work through the physical world he created?
T3
It was truth to them as they believed in Gods that supposedly controlled these things but I bet that even among those people they didn't fear like the others because they didn't believe in the same as the others did... Yes, I know there are exceptions to the rules like with the music example but even so those exceptions are very few to like less trhan 5% of the whole or less... Is not stereotyping just solid proven truth... You have to have some kind of intelligent common sense to be able to discern truth and back in the times you were talking about most people had monarchs etc to think for them and had to do little real thinking for them as their monarchs and their churches did most of their thinking for them. Society today is becoming like that again as we go deeper into the computer age more & more people have less of their own beliefs than those of what the government tells them and combinations of other peoples views etc.