[Serious]Why are you not a believer of the existence of God

[dee-u]

Santa is real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
As real as god!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgive me to ask you this, do you keep replying in this thread because you have to say something?

[dclamp]

5ms?: how old are you? How long have you been a follower of God.

I truly do not know if i should believe in God or not. I have prayed prayers asking God to show him self to me in any way. Nothing. I would have taken something falling to the ground, a breeze, something, i got nothing.

However i do think intelligent design is possible. THe big bang is hard for me to believe. something creating everything makes more sense then the big bang. Where did everything come from? There is no way it could just always have been there.

[EntityX]

Don't give up on your prayers so easily. Here's a story about the kind of patience that is required to realize God. I've returned to it countless times and it has inspired me countless times. I think even if you're an atheist you can draw some inspiration from it in solving the problems we all have to face regardless of our personal convictions. It's from a book by Swami Vivekananda entitled Meditation and Its Methods.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PATIENCE

There was a great god-sage called Narada. Just as there are sages among mankind, great Yogis, so there are great Yogis among the gods. Narada was a good Yogi, and very great. He travelled everywhere. One day he was passing through a forest, and saw a man who had been meditating until the white ants had built a huge mound round his body -- so long had he been sitting in that position. He said to Narada, "Where are you going?" Narada replied, "I am going to heaven." "Then ask God when He will be merciful to me; when I shall attain freedom." Further on Narada saw another man. He was jumping about, singing, dancing, and said, "Oh, Narada, where are you going?" His voice and his gestures were wild. Narada said, "I am going to heaven." "Then, ask when I shall be free." Narada went on.

In the course of time he came again by the same road, and there was the man who had been meditating with the ant-hill round him. He said, "Oh, Narada, did you ask the Lord about me?" "Oh, yes." "What did He say?" "The Lord told me that you would attain freedom in four more births." Then the man began to weep and wail, and said, "I have meditated until an ant-hill has grown around me, and I have four more births yet!"

Narada went to the other man. "Did you ask my question?" "Oh, yes. Do you see this tamarind tree? I have to tell you that as many leaves as there are on that tree, so many times you shall be born, and then you shall attain freedom." The man began to dance for joy, and said, "I shall have freedom after such a short time!"

A voice came: "My child, you will have freedom this minute." That was the reward for his perseverance. He was ready to work through all those births, nothing discouraged him.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe the story won't mean much if you think that this life is all there is but to me it has value. Develop limitless perseverance, patience and determination.

[5ms?]

Santa is real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, As real as god!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgive me to ask you this, do you keep replying in this thread because you have to say something?

You're forgiven,
Please! (do not!) forgive me, for giving an answer, to your question QUOTE "Why are you not a believer of the existence of God" END QUOTE

To give an answer to questions on the Forums you must reply!
I may be wrong, I was wrong back in 19.........69,
is there a way To give an answer to a question with out replying?

Or may be I'm just a self-righteously shrill proselytizing atheist.

Why Do you post to a thread with the Title: QUOTE "Why are you not a believer of the existence of God" END QUOTE
Honestly !
Honestly !
Honestly !

¿because you have to say something?

[dclamp]

You're forgiven,
Please! (do not!) forgive me, for giving an answer, to your question QUOTE "Why are you not a believer of the existence of God" END QUOTE

To give an answer to questions on the Forums you must reply!
I may be wrong, I was wrong back in 19.........69,
is there a way To give an answer to a question with out replying?

Or may be I'm just a self-righteously shrill proselytizing atheist.

Why Do you post to a thread with the Title: QUOTE "Why are you not a believer of the existence of God" END QUOTE
Honestly !
Honestly !
Honestly !

¿because you have to say something?

You never answered my question. How old are you and how long have you been a believer in Christ?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I would have taken something falling to the ground, a breeze, something, i got nothing.

Well, you can't be accused of setting your expectations too high.

[PeteD]

PeteD AND Maven? What is it with this thread that brings back the lost?

lost no, bored maybe ;o}...

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

Man, this thread has been exhumed so many times it doesn't even smell bad anymore. Now it's just that slightly awkward pile of bones in the corner with the soulful eye sockets.

[5ms?]

You never answered my question. How old are you and how long have you been a believer in Christ?

I'm trying to answer your question with out posting to this thread,

Please be assured that I will answer you!

[Lord Orwell]

Santa is real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
As real as god!!!!!!!!!!!!

only catholics do. And in fact he WAS real, before he died hundereds of years ago. It was a rich man who used to go over rooftops and drop gold coins down chimneys. The literal translation of santa is saint. And we all know how much they love their saints. Mythology gave him presents and flying reindeer. You all know how the rumor mill works. In a thousand years he'll be a robot and killing people.

[capsulecorpjx]

Man, this thread has been exhumed so many times it doesn't even smell bad anymore. Now it's just that slightly awkward pile of bones in the corner with the soulful eye sockets.

Thread is so old it's now preserved, and people have developed an acquired taste for it.

[Shaggy Hiker]

If you "develop an acquired taste" isn't that the same as simply "acquiring a taste"?

[EntityX]

capsulecorpjx Shaggy is saying that your sentence has unnecessary coding.

I have to be careful. If I don't stop posting in this thread so much I'll take over the #2 spot for replies made for this thread that Lord Orwell is now in. I think that 5ms?'s position is very safe. Interesting to note that the two members that posted just before me are tied at the #5 spot on the list. I would think that Shaggy would be listed after capsulecorpjx but perhaps ties are just randomly positioned. I can see member seniority or post count don't decide position for ties because hardLee is a very new member and is listed before mendhak and they both have 4 replies in this thread.

[Lord Orwell]

you can have it. wait... oops.

[Shaggy Hiker]

It's actually alphabetical. There is a 1 at the beginning of my name, it is just silent.

[mendhak]

Thread is so old it's now preserved, and people have developed an acquired taste for it.

[Lord Orwell]

all that's left now when it's gathered enough followers is for someone to break out kool-aid.

[Arve K.]

I do not belive in God, I belive in Darwin

But, I am a member of the church. I belive there was a person 2000 years ago called Jesus, who was the son of Mary (not a virgin).
I like to go to church once in a while, and I even occasionally find my self praying. It's nice have something to belive in, and it's up to ourselves, and not others, to decide what that is

[EntityX]

Thread is so old it's now preserved, and people have developed an acquired taste for it.

If you look at post # 1 for this thread you'll see that it was July 29 of this year. So it's only 4 and 1/2 months old. That's not that old considering you have threads that are still being posted in on a regular basis that are years old. Post Race was started September 21, 2000. It's presently on the current page of threads for Chit Chat. Now that's old for a VBForums thread.

[Lord Orwell]

I do not belive in God, I belive in Darwin

But, I am a member of the church. I belive there was a person 2000 years ago called Jesus, who was the son of Mary (not a virgin).
I like to go to church once in a while, and I even occasionally find my self praying. It's nice have something to belive in, and it's up to ourselves, and not others, to decide what that is

i said break out the koolaid, not powerade! lol

and yeah, i always had a problem with him dreaming that mary was a virgin. she was probably whispering to him in his sleep "don't divorce her. she's a virgin"

[trenmost]

Hi!
i just wanna say i believe in God, and im a programmer.
cheers!

[capsulecorpjx]

God didn't save the Jewish people from the Holocaust or the Russian Christians from the Bolsheviks, he's not going to help you with finding your car keys, finding a job or even surviving cancer.

[trenmost]

Only God knows why he didnt do those things (saving jewish people/russian christians). And those of the people who believe in God, well their reason is not that He'll help us find car keys, or save us from nazis.

And dont forget that a believer can be a bad man too, and an atheist/non-believer/buddhist/jewish/etc.. can be a good man too. The faith just helps you to get the right way in the life.

if everyone would follow the Bible's rules, mankind would be much better i think.

cheers!

[capsulecorpjx]

Only God knows why he didnt do those things (saving jewish people/russian christians). And those of the people who believe in God, well their reason is not that He'll help us find car keys, or save us from nazis.

And dont forget that a believer can be a bad man too, and an atheist/non-believer/buddhist/jewish/etc.. can be a good man too. The faith just helps you to get the right way in the life.

if everyone would follow the Bible's rules, mankind would be much better i think.

cheers!

But you cherry pick what rules to follow. You ignore the rules about not eating shellfish or stoning people to death who committ adultery, etc ...

Bible is the word of God, if it's true, all parts of it should be true, God cannot be falliable.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Oh yeah, couldn't let this thread die.

[BadgerBadger]

Here it goes again!

[NeedSomeAnswers]

Oh yeah, couldn't let this thread die.

You could even say its been resurrected !!

[Shaggy Hiker]

Like a zombie!

[Lord Orwell]

it's worse than the theaters! Nothing but movies about undead right now.

[MassSpec]

Debating the existence of God is really futile. First of all, what do we define as being a God. I'll bet a lot of us would disagree, since it's only whatever we want it to be. Even the concept of a god being able to do absolutely anything has it's contradictions. Commons sense is not as common as we all might think. It is a mixture of experiences, tradition, dogma, etc., etc. Common sense led us to believe that we could not possibly be related to monkeys, and that the speed of light is not constant.

Science can potentially shed light on all matters of belief, scientific or philosophical. But in reality, it's limited because we are limited. Just like any living being "below" us is. How much we can understand is limited by who we are. Just like your pet dog probably can't figure out what holds it down to the ground, instead of falling of the edge of the world. I even doubt it can even think about the problem.

Believers in a God, are believers because they believe without scientific proof. I always contended that so-called non-believers are also believers. Because they believe Gods do not exist without proof. Of course their defense is that you can't prove a negative. But is that proof? Or is it evidence of the limitations of Science, or more accurately the limitations of humans.

I am a scientist. I have a doctoral degree in Chemistry. So I have at least a basic understanding of the scientific method. I use it every day. But are scientist qualified to say a God cannot exists because there is no proof of its existence? Within the area of Science, they must assume there is no god. In fact, in their minds, they shouldn't even bother debating it because it is not a scientific problem. It's a philosophical problem. Car mechanics do not concern themselves with the stock market, because they can’t fix cars by checking Wall Street. Two very different problems.

Personally I THINK there is something more out there. Is it a God? I don't know. I can hardly explain why I think there is anything more. Maybe I'm too influence by my parents (catholic). Maybe I'm too afraid of there being nothing left of me when I die. That I won’t ever meet the people I care about again. That could certainly influence my thinking. But the possibility of being influence by my one humanity, doesn't mean I'm wrong. How many times have people done the right thing, for the wrong reasons.

I guess I'm agnostic. I'm not faithful enough to believe in a God outright, but not arrogant enough to presume there isn't one because it is scientifically absurd.

I could go on, and on.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I guess I'm agnostic.

You aren't sure? Does that mean that you are agnostic about your agnosticism?

[MassSpec]

You aren't sure? Does that mean that you are agnostic about your agnosticism?

Have a laugh. Thats ok (not being sarcastic). I don't speak for all agnostics. Like any other's opinion about this subject, we all reason in a different way. Some might say it's lazy not to picking sides and being agnostic. Not trying to outsmart anyone. Just giving my opionion.

[capsulecorpjx]

Debating the existence of God is really futile. First of all, what do we define as being a God. I'll bet a lot of us would disagree, since it's only whatever we want it to be. Even the concept of a god being able to do absolutely anything has it's contradictions. Commons sense is not as common as we all might think. It is a mixture of experiences, tradition, dogma, etc., etc. Common sense led us to believe that we could not possibly be related to monkeys, and that the speed of light is not constant.

Science can potentially shed light on all matters of belief, scientific or philosophical. But in reality, it's limited because we are limited. Just like any living being "below" us is. How much we can understand is limited by who we are. Just like your pet dog probably can't figure out what holds it down to the ground, instead of falling of the edge of the world. I even doubt it can even think about the problem.

Believers in a God, are believers because they believe without scientific proof. I always contended that so-called non-believers are also believers. Because they believe Gods do not exist without proof. Of course their defense is that you can't prove a negative. But is that proof? Or is it evidence of the limitations of Science, or more accurately the limitations of humans.

I am a scientist. I have a doctoral degree in Chemistry. So I have at least a basic understanding of the scientific method. I use it every day. But are scientist qualified to say a God cannot exists because there is no proof of its existence? Within the area of Science, they must assume there is no god. In fact, in their minds, they shouldn't even bother debating it because it is not a scientific problem. It's a philosophical problem. Car mechanics do not concern themselves with the stock market, because they can’t fix cars by checking Wall Street. Two very different problems.

Personally I THINK there is something more out there. Is it a God? I don't know. I can hardly explain why I think there is anything more. Maybe I'm too influence by my parents (catholic). Maybe I'm too afraid of there being nothing left of me when I die. That I won’t ever meet the people I care about again. That could certainly influence my thinking. But the possibility of being influence by my one humanity, doesn't mean I'm wrong. How many times have people done the right think, for the wrong reasons.

I guess I'm agnostic. I'm not faithful enough to believe in a God outright, but not arrogant enough to presume there isn't one because it is scientifically absurd.

I could go on, and on.

God may exist.

But people's specific Gods do not exist. Specific Gods are made up creations, easy to spot just by looking at their religious text with a critical eye.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Have a laugh. Thats ok (not being sarcastic). I don't speak for all agnostics. Like any other's opinion about this subject, we all reason in a different way. Some might say it's lazy not to picking sides and being agnostic. Not trying to outsmart anyone. Just giving my opionion.

Well I'm a hard-core, fundamentalist, agnostic, not one of those wishy-washy, fair-weather agnostic types. I am absolutely convinced that I don't have a clue what the right answer is, and will disparage anybody who suggests otherwise.

[MartinLiss]

By definition an agnostic is wishy-washy, unless of course you mean to say you're an atheist.

[MassSpec]

I would think agnostic and fundamentalist are inherently contradictory. Believers and non-believers can include fundamentalist (extremist), both of which are so commited to their beliefs they consider other variations as being flawed. As an agnostic, on the other hand, I am not commited to any idea of God, not because I think there is a God or not, but because I see no persuasive argument either way.

About agnostic being wishy-washy....

The Webster dictionary defines wishy-washy as..

1 : lacking in character or determination : ineffectual <wishy–washy leadership>
2 : lacking in strength or flavor

As such, it has nothing to do with assuming an agnostic opinion. This is not about character. Its about reasoning as best as one can to arriving at, in this case, one of 3 conclusions: Yes / No / and None of the Above.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I would think agnostic and fundamentalist are inherently contradictory.

We get together and burn question marks while chanting, "Hunh?"

[parkinpants]

My Reasons

1. Dinosaurs,
2. No sex before marriage

[Lord Orwell]

agnostics... You can't have it every way. Either one religion is right or none of them are or all of them are.
1. If one is right, you are wrong by not choosing that one.
2. If none of them are, you are wrong because you haven't realized they are all wrong.
3. If all of them are, you are wrong my not deciding on one of them.

In any case, you haven't made a decision and that makes you wishy-washy.

[Justa Lol]

I'm a person that doesn't believe in big things unless they are shown, therefore i don't believe in the existence of God.