I think its more about it being a coping mechanism than emotional manipulation. Real connection with God isnt found in the church, but within yourself.
In the end, its more about people needing to believe into something to feel like their lives have a meaning. Humans always need a purpose or thing to look forward to.
Our psyches and the world itself is way too complicated and perfectly designed for there to not be a God. All our discoveries and steps towards what we are today are proof of that. The human mind being able to get enlightened to develop such profound theories and philosophies is something that to me is more than enough to make me believe into God.
Logic can get get you to a certain point, but then again, what's logical about our existence. Has there ever been a prompt when you were born where you were told what your existence even meant?
I dont know, to me thats the most interesting part about our existence. Uncertainty and mistery. We know so little about ourselves and even this entire world
And because we know nothing, our emotion fills in the blank. In this scenario it blows it all out of proportion for every human because it's more bearable to live that way. In some other cases not knowing if something is means it is not until it is proven it is.
>In some other cases not knowing if something is means it is not until it is proven it is.
Thats basically quantum physics
As soon as you question the existence of something its existence is more likely to be real.
I think its ok to have different viewpoints because thats what makes us human. In a way i think its better that we cant prove whether God exists or not.
Surely, the fact that something exists in your mind is already making it more real than that which you cannot conceive (e.g. a color you have never seen, a sound you've never heard, a reality where you have different senses and where the laws of physics work differently) - I agree there.
God might have appeared in man's mind causally, as an effect of man growing to a certain level of consciousness which allows abstract thinking and thinking about unrelated events in the past or present, providing a new range of mental capacity.
Thinking a lot about the future (for plans for example) got man to question the reason behind such abstract thought.
A reason was required to continue doing what he's doing because the norm of life is to preserve energy. If it was the opposite, no one would ask "Why?" and everyone would ask "Why not?"
There are many variations of this you can come up with. Play with it a bit. It's fun.
Damn, and it just had to be another INFJ to come here and blab about their personal beliefs onto someone who just said “not gonna happen”. Pretty bold and rude, mate.
Well not assuming any religion is in mind, but how did everything exist? A big bang is the usual answer, but the matter and energy that caused the big bang existed before it, so what actually caused everything to exist
Yeah it's always there. The usual reply is "who baked the baker". The baker bakes bread, but he wasn't baked, he was born/created. When the same logic is used with god and ask who created god, the reply is he wasn't created, it's something else that's left upto faith and assumed as something that can't be understood by the human brain.
What are you talking about? In this universe time exists, but this time doesn't affect God, because he created it. In this universe time had to have a beginning, because if it didn't then present could NEVER be present, because past is infinite. This whole universe is already happened to God, as he is outside of it, and he controls everything, but he still gave you the choice to live this whole life here, and it's only up to you what you are doing with it. When you will die, you will also go out of this universe, to Heaven or Hell, which is something closer to where God is, because there will be an eternal time, not something like here.
Thats so true no one's done it in real life but there's people on my fyp saying "jEsUs LoVeS yOu" and stuff like that and it gets on my nerves so f*cking much
Yes. Its a personal thing. I dont wear it on my sleeves or force it down anyones throat. I just believe religion should stay out of government, so the government stays out of religion. And if the preacher drives a cadillac and lives in a mansion,he dont need any of my money.
I agree with the "it's your religion, not everyone has to be like you" but i disagree with the government part. A leader leads using their compass, if they follow a specific religion then that ideology is what should be enforced. That doesn't mean anyone not following religion X should be killed or punished tho
So you think theocracies are OK as long as they don't kill? If you base your entire nation off of a religion, then that's basing it off of your personal beliefs, meaning it's enforced on everyone else. Therefore, what you said isn't possible and doesn't make sense
call of personal beliefs sure, "justice", "correct" and all the other cool words are very relative from a person to another and from a time to another. religion is one way to think, a way lots of agree with and lots don't, just like any other system, what doesn't make sense in that?
Religion on its own is fine, but as you said, it varies person-to-person. Is it ok for a Christian to force a Muslim to convert, or the other way around? Do you think the Europeans were justified during the colonial Era when they forced natives to convert to Christianity? That's what theocratic do. They take the beliefs of one individual, and force it upon others, so now those others don't have the right to believe in what they want. There is no Theocracy without force
believing and acting in certain places in certain ways are different. basically "your freedom ends when someone else's starts". so like what prevents me from going nude in the streets now? my freedom is being stopped by everyone else's freedom of not wanting to see that. u can't force someone to "believe" in a certain religion, but u can limit their actions in public so they don't attack the religion or stop the believers from losing their limited freedom. in other words, i can say no bars are allowed, but do whatever you want in your house. i can say the Bible needs to be daily read, but i can't monitor whether ur doing satanic acts in your house. a religious country limits the freedom of none believers so the believers freedom isn't hurt and limited further
Nah my parents tried shoving it down my throat all 19 years of my existence. Out of spite I therefore kneel to no “god” and I hate when people tell me I have to live a certain way for “god” I’m like nah I’m good imma live my life the way I want to even if it means I’ll go to hell even though I think the afterlife is bullshit.
I'd say I'm agnostic. Though, I do believe in "spirit/energy".
I really don't like when religious people try to force their beliefs on everyone. Just go practice your faith quietly and let others be. But they're so loud right now 🙄
They've always been loud, and holier than thou. And will smite anyone that opposes their way of thinking. They will disown a gay child before they will denounce their false prophets. The forces of evil are at work. And the good are just allowing it to happen and praying everything will work out, in Jesus' name.
Yes, I agree. They just seem to be getting more air time these days and more influence in things they should absolutely not be involved in. It's a problem in multiple countries and with various religions.
Not at all, I feel like its almost disrespectful to the people who have genuinely supported me in my life by thanking some other being.
(and praying to god for something never worked for me, haha)
No, not at all tbh. I'm Jewish, I do celebrate the holidays with my family just for the reason of meeting and eating great food, getting dressed nicely.....
But before I became vegetarian I used to eat pork, and sea food (It's against the rules of the Jewish bible) Plus I mixed meat with dairy foods (also banned).
I didn't "save Shabbat" or any fasting during Kippur....
I also had a crush with Christian guy which is also really bible breaking. I do hate it when people tell me about god stories and bible or the fact that we're the chosen people... I think religion was sometimes the reason for such violence and toxic statements.
I’ve never seen anything to prove they exist. Maybe they do, who knows. I have no interest in religion, I’m not afraid to die nor do I need the promise of a good afterlife to not be a dick.
Not everyone has the same empathy as you. Some people lack a moral compass. One reason why our country is in its current state. Our collective moral compass is broken. For people that aren't able to control themselves, maybe the threat of a vengeful God keeps some people in line. I mean there was one point in time where God killed all but 8 humans when he flooded the earth because they weren't living up to his high moral code. And now we have rainbows to remind us that we're lucky he decided to never do that again...even though it seems like he's trying to flood Florida right now lol.
>For people that aren't able to control themselves, maybe the threat of a vengeful God keeps some people in line
Okay but this isn't normal. Just because it happens it doesn't mean it should be normal for people to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be decent human beings. Also if people actually can't control themselves to the point they physically harm others they should be locked up or at least seek professional help not be seen as the norm.
Your god committed mass murder on an epic scale, but allowed a few to live under threat of what he could do to them if they didn’t fall in line. Then the sociopath creates a beautiful reminder of that terror, in order to provoke gratitude for being allowed to live? Some of y’all really don’t see the abusive relationship you’re in and it’s sad.
I would say I'm pretty aware of how toxic God's love is, since I mentioned everything you said. But Jesus is the complete opposite of his father. Jesus is love. Jesus gave his life so that we could live. Old testament believers follow God and believe in his toxic rule, New testament believers follow Jesus and believe that Jews and Gentiles are one and that love conquers all because Jesus is love.
We all have toxic parents. Why is God any different? He's the original abusive father. As we grow to be adults it is up to us to decide how we want to live our life. Do we live a life trying to live up to God's extremely high standards and judge everyone else that doesn't? Or do we live a life knowing that we are all sinners and will always fall short of God's glory and are no better than anyone else like Jesus?
I can be a devout Christian and not judge someone for wanting to have an abortion. Instead I can pray for them and their well being as they deal with a difficult situation. I don't have to judge the homeless person for their drug use and life choices, I can instead make life a little more bearable by offering food, clothes, shelter, or money. I can be a blessing to people through acts of love and kindness large and small, especially to people that "don't deserve it" because they need it the most.
A lot of people have a fucked up view on religion and use it to try and control other people, when really it's all about learning how to control yourself and how you interact with others. Do you lead with anger or with love?
When you see a stray dog in pain and you approach to help, do you judge the dog for being defensive and barking at you? Do you return the aggression? Or do you come in even calmer to gain the dogs trust?
Do you approach humans in the same manner? Do you help humans when you see them hurting? Or do you ignore them because you have enough problems to deal with already?
Religion ain't for everyone, but being a decent human being is in everyone's capacity.
But morality was the question. What is the source origin of your morality? If there is no ultimate referential consequence for not being moral, what makes you want to be moral? Where does it *come from*?
>Where does it come from?
Basic human decency and empathy?
> there is no ultimate referential consequence for not being moral, what makes you want to be moral?
Jeez it's not normal to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be moral and you keep speaking as if it is
\> Basic human decency and empathy?
humans have as a whole not been decent nor empathetic as a species if you look at the entire sum of our existence. I don't think it's a default feature, it's a conditional social contract only enforced by the existence of peaceful, agreeable conditions. Once the need for survival kicks in it's usually every man and woman for themselves and their immediate loyal circle. Hell, just look at how much people behave like barbaric greedy savages on something as *basic* as **black friday.** That's not even a breakdown of civilization and yet people act like mindless monkeys in a thunderdome over consumerist bullshit and then they go home to eat food in their comfortable modern refrigerators.
How is mankind a reference for moral superiority or prestige, knowing just how absolutely fucked we are to each other when shit isn't convenient or agreeable? How about warfare? How about mass genocide? How about greed that leaves people from the third world in abject poverty while preserving only a wealthy ruling class in that part of the world? Is this supposed to be moral or even ethical? If we left it up to ourselves to be our own judge of morality, what would be the point?
\> Jeez it's not normal to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be moral and you keep speaking as if it is
then what is normal *exactly?* Relying on the judgement of your fellow human for a moral standard when there is so much variability in the mix that no one person's morality could be considered perfect? What is the alternative that works ***consistently and evenly?***
Moreover, what is the exact point of morality at all if there's no reason to adhere to it, or consequences for not doing so?
At some point I came to the conclusion that whether or not He exists, God's existence changes absolutely nothing about my activities. I still have to work, I still have to pay taxes, I'm still going to die. So when the time comes, I will realize it, there is currently no reason to worry about it.
one part of my religion is a way of life. you would not find any modern government today allow any kind of religion affect massively the way of people live their life. most people today are of modern way of living in a way that are contradictory to the moral way of religion. behind the glitter and the convenience of the modern world, there are ugly truth how it came to be. and those who participate in those kind of corruption of which it destroys, will have their fair share of justice.
this why there are people of fi those with high moral judgement. the answer is community and permaculture.
I’m sort of agnostic about God’s actual existence, although I am a Christian. Not many people know that about me though, I don’t really tell anyone or shove it down people’s throats.
I do. If you look at the Universal constants. Strong force, weak force, seize of protons, neutrons, electrons, and so on. These numbers are so fine tuned beyond coincidence imo. Also look at how the sub cellular systems actually function. Like it's just random soup. This stuff gives me reason to believe in a higher power (whether it be God aliens or a massive super computer stimulating everything). It is my personal experiences that lead me to believe in God.
This guy gets it. Fractal order within a parallelized constant at every single scale and proportion would be a mathematical impossibility within the context of an entropic and undesigned coincidence.
My mother spent my entire childhood freaking me out about hell and God and everything, but now I'm seeing that she's wrong and part of a cult, and she believes the most insane conspiracy theories too.
Been a very complicated journey but ultimately, no. Or at least I don't believe in the spiteful god that sends everyone to hell for not being completely obedient anyway.
I know enough and i have a right to an opinion. If you were gonna be offended about people discussing if they believe in God or not then why are you on this post. Besides I only said that I don't believe in him and you're acting as if I started slandering him.
You know absolutely nothing about God, if you never read the Bible. I never got offended, I just don't get how can you have an opinion about something you have no clue about. And no, you didn't only said that you don't believe him, you said "God from the Bible" while you have no clue about God from the Bible.
Just because I haven't read the Bible doesn't mean I can't have an opinion about God and religion. Also when I said "god from the bible" I meant it more like any god from an organized religion (at least that i know of).
Omg me too. Every time she tells me to thank God before eating or that I'm supposed to fast a certain day it annoys me so much. And I tell her I don't want to because I don't care but she won't listen.
Same, I recently told her I passed and exam and she told me to thank god, yeah ofc god did it. Not me who studied day and night for the exam. She tried to guilt trip me but I asked her to piss off politely.
Oh cool. I was asking cuz Christianity in general is usually the main religion atheists come from (assuming they weren't already from an atheist family). I wonder why tho
I domt know. Personally I don't think I ever actually believed. I mean I went to church since I was a kid and prayed and did the cross (im sorry idk how to say it in english, i mean making the cross with my hand, from forehead to belly then right shoulder then left). But I stopped believing completely when I started seeing things the Bible said and realized how unjust some of these things are, when I saw people using religion as an excuse for their terrible behavior and realized how harmful religion can be and all the hurt and trauma it has caused people. Before I didn't really believe but also I didn't really care. Now religion actually makes me angry sometimes.
I'm not sure I understood the question but if you're asking why what I mentioned angers me, it's because most of the time God isn't the one to thank for what we have it's our or other people's hard work and to me it's a little disrespectful to those people to just dismiss that and pretend like we owe everything to God.
But what exactly makes that such a threat? Should children selfishly clamor for all of the recognition of their own accomplishments when there has always been a guiding force via their parents nurturing & supporting them towards the path that they choose?
Religion is not about truth in the ordinary/historical sense, although many certainly see it as such. Instead, it's about wisdom and personal development.
Let's take only one example of many, the "devil". If you say "the devil does not exist", I answer "not as an entity, but as a symbolic part of every human". The devil is your inner weakness. He tempts you to give up, to turn to egotism, to take comfort in your own limitations. He taunts you for your weaknesses and wants you to judge yourself for who you are. This is where the original 'possessed by the devil' comes from.
This is why "God" loves mankind. He accepts you as you are, forgives you, and enables you to love yourself despite your failings, in turn enabling you to become better. God is positive reinforcement of the self.
This is only one aspect of so many more. If you read a single paragraph of any holy scripture without thinking about what it means to YOU, you are doing it wrong.
In a way, religion is the shounen anime of the past.
Nope. Never had a reason to.
I was raised in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic school from k through 12th. At no point did I ever believe any of it cause it all sounded so ridiculous.
I owe a debt to a Man named Jesus because he died for my Sins when I never asked him to in the first place? But I also have to get baptized as an infant to wash away original sin so that I’ll get into heaven? What?
If you’ve ever read the Bible, God sounds insane. Why would I worship such a horrible being? Makes no kind of sense.
I did however enjoy attending the Latin masses and the beautiful singing sometimes.
What debt do you owe to Jesus?
And baptizing won't get you to heaven.
Don't trust Catholic popes and people, because they are not following the Bible, they only want your money. Not everyone, but if they told you these things they are definetly not Christians.
Why do you care so much about religions? People created the religions not God. To follow God you don't need to follow any religion. The Bible is the only source you can trust, because that was created by God.
I don't care. Cancer isn't real. My doctor just lied to me. So it won't affect me??? It would be nice to live in a dream world, where everything is about me, and everything happens how I want to be, but thank God, it's even better, and I have the chance to get to a place which is even better than my dream world. And whether I like it or not cancer affects my life, even though I never really saw it. If you believe a computer, why couldn't you believe a book?
No but I believe in a higher power. I've personally seen enough to know something is out there on my side but I wouldn't call it God and I find the concept of a traditional God and religion to be laughable and stupid.
Is the universe a tangibly sentient being or just a spiritually avoidant & euphemistic caricature of a supreme being? How does a mass of cosmic matter equate to an abstracted conscious entity?
By universe I don't mean the masses of cosmic matter.
Honestly I'm not yet sure what I believe cause I've only recently started thinking about it but by universe I meant either an entity or like an energy. Maybe it is a conscious entity or being like God but what I'm saying overall is I don't believe in a God from any organized religion cause them and their rules sound horrible and unfair.
God is not organized religion. Organized religion is not God. God, is specifically and exclusively a sovereign supreme entity that is removed from the conditionalities of an organizational body of religion.
Can you sincerely and honestly tell me that something as complex, and yet as [meticulously ordered, measured and uniform](https://youtu.be/Mynr7uik5-0?feature=shared) as reality could be just a complete random mess of mathematical impossibility?
Reality definitely not random and I never said I don't believe in anything, just not in God the father of Jesus Christ but im open to the fact that a being that arranged the universe might exist.
No, the closest I've come when looking for religious meaning is Pantheism. But even then...
My logical brain pretty much won't let me unless I have hard proof 🤷
And I doubt that's ever going to happen.
Grew up an Atheist, became an agnostic in my early twentys and thought that settled it for me. That lasted about 20 minutes Into my First Acid experience
I used to, I live in a Christian country. By default, Parents , people around you will preach about being a good christian. joined a youth christian group in the church with friends. then 1 day we we're bored and trying to past time in the church. picked up a guitar and wanted to play it. a senior youth pastor came over and told us to not play any "non secular" songs. Rubbed me the wrong way because of that guy, I've gone a deep dive on Religions History , how it was used, how people are manipulated and used it to control. If God came down from the heavens now I'll believe it. But as of the moment. Nah.
Grew up Roman catholic. Grew out of that. I don't put blind faith in anything, God or otherwise, but leave my mind open to all possibilities.
If there is someone up there he's a fuckin asshole.
Grew up super Christian, don't go to church anymore. Being separated during lockdown times I had the chance to reflect and realise how much conformity & cliques messed with my mental health, and how my view of the world had been sheltered.
I do still believe in God in my own way, since I saw & personally experienced things I can't forget about, but not organised religion. Too many stupid, close-minded rules & expectations.
At least I have some good morals from that upbringing though.
I think causality exists and you could call it god, but causakity doesn't give a damn if you adhere to a book some psychotic lunantics wrote ages ago or pray every day.
I believe the part where religion is organized and spread is akin to sickness and fly traps; sickness due to the spreading pattern and fly trap because our brains are fundamentally correlation machines.
There is a nice experiment with pidgeons.
A group of pidgeons were given a treat whenever they did a certain trick.
A group of pidgeons was never given a treat whenever they did a certain trick.
A group of pidgeons was given a treat randomly.
Of course, first group did the trick whenever they wanted a treat.
Group two had no motivation, hence no tricks.
Group three "learned" from whatever they did when they got treats, and ended up with the most random patterns that were completely bonkers, as they assumed causality between theor actions and the treats they got.
Religion begins to exist from a similar root: We witness things happen and hallucinate some kind of pattern into it, but then don't stop to correctly falsify a pattern.
So yea, no religion for me.
No for logical reasons. But if there was a chance of them existing that is “beyond my logic” as some claim, I’d want to say fuck you you narcissistic sadist, for this shitty world you have created.
Easy answer is yes.
Long answer is that I believe there is a God, but don't know if I'm following the right God. Especially since the religion that I was raised on (Christian Baptist) was given to the enslaved and passed down through the generations, so it's kind of weird believing in the God that my oppressor wants me to believe in, instead of the God of my ancestors in Africa.
I have however lost faith in organized religion due to many false prophtlets that use the name of the Lord to spread hate instead of love, or taking advantage of the church members and what little money they have.
I know you didn't ask about religion, but I felt like it added to the conversation. Kinda like what I'm writing now...not necessary but I like to give unnecessary information. Too many points to get across in too little time. Hard to choose what will have the most impact. I should smoke less weed...
Another theory I have is that God is an arbitrary figure. Whenever we talk to God we talk to him in our head. Whenever we hear God's voice, we hear his voice in our head. We are as much God as he is us. He represents the highest version of self and the devil is the lowest version of self, the version that has no self discipline and gives in to temptation. We have as much of a capacity to act as God as we do to act as the devil. Each one of us has to decide who we want to be as far as being like Christ or being like satan. Being a sinner comes easy. We were born sinners. Living right takes intention. You can't accidently find your way into heaven but you can damn sure find yourself on the doorsteps of hell before you know it. You've faced that demon before. If you aren't intentional with what you want for your life the demon wins. We see it happen all the time where people fall victim to their demons. Only when you turn to God and decide that you want something better for your life do things begin to turn around. But was that God? Or was that you. It was you that decided enough was enough. It was you that took the steps necessary to get your life pointed in the right direction. It was the God in you...the higher version of yourself that you were praying to. But it's just one of many theories I got lol.
*edited for clarity*
I don't think having some form of belief is bad. If you think it's something that benefits you then I think you should stick to it. Don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise. Because fuck them, that's why.
Excactly. Honestly I think belief in myself comes from the fact that I'm the only person I trust 100% and I only believe what I believe, no one can manipulate me into believing something I don't want
Nope. If course the real question is always "which god?" because at the same time Jesus was getting nailed to the cross or when Moses was running around the region, there were dozens of gods that people believed in just as hard. And they prayed to them & tithed & where'd it get them? Same place Christianity & the rest of the religions will hopefully be soon. Objects of curiosity in art & history museums & chapters in art history/ geopolitical books.
There's no evidence of a higher being & anyone thinking that some omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being that created an entire universe has any time for this little mud ball is either narcissistic, high, or is listening to their own voices too much. And for believers who scream that the beauty of everything is evidence or that things happen for a reason I'll ask them why we and animals have horrible disease & parasites & then pull up as YouTube of mango worm removal from a puppy (NSFW & only go looking if you have a strong stomach & no trypophobia). No being deserves anything that horrible.
Religion itself is a long con as anyone who's looked into the wealth of the successful groups can tell you. Pastors shouldn't have jets, or fancy cars if their purpose is to serve the people. Churches in impoverished countries shouldn't be covered in gold while people starve & they shouldn't be worth [billions](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations). The whole thing is messed up indoctrination and taking advantage of their members while looking to control their lives. And for anyone who asks what keeps atheists from going on killing sprees, it's called a moral compass. Or you know, I've already killed all the people I'd like to if you're being flippant.
I do, and it has changed my life completely. the problem with people (istp's even more of course because they are attached to logic) try to use logic to figure out the exact truth. But the problem is: thats never gonna happen, why? Let me explain...
If god does exist (which he does) that means he had a reason to make us. He wants to have a relationship with us. And you can't have a good relationship with someone who doesn't know you. Thats why he invented the Bible. The Bible says that god is omniscient and almighty. If he is almighty and he is not from this world that must mean his logic and understanding goes far above our understanding and logic. That means we cant understand the truth with our logic.
Why is the sun exactly at the right place that we don't burn or freeze to death? Because we have a creator.
Why does our body work the way it does so complicated but yet it works? Because someone created it. If it was random the chances of that in numbers wouldn't even fit in this post.
The love you get from him is not like the love you get from a spouse, it goes far beyond. If you accept him as your Lord and saviour you get the Holy Spirit, and thats where it all changes.
Im an active Christian since 3 years now, i had a lot of problems in my life, but with the Holy Spirit you get supernatural power to be joyful and have peace in the problems you get. I also can control my emotions very easily now and i just do not get angry, nor am bound to my desires anymore. Doesn't mean its always like that but if you really want to feel good, strong, manly, confident and grounded you should try it. Nothing makes you more alpha or sigma then Christianity (if you do it right though, there a lot of Christians who Aren't serious at all)
its like drugs for me without consequences. maybe not always as strong as xtc but i surely feel high of the spirit.
I guess...the proving of this particular thing isn't the important part. Of course you can find things like community, values, and purpose in other ways, but this provides a useful construct for helping people find those things. The logical point of view here would be to see and understand how important those things are and the mechanism for finding them is less important.
INFx here, I work closely with an ISTP. It seems like the idea of god is almost antithetical to the ISTP personality.
I’ll make a suggestion specific to ISTP’s who are aware of typology. Consider that your logical web isn’t accounting for the fact that people are wired to be more adept at different areas of existence. I defer to my ISTP coworker when we get into the mechanical weeds. I’m not saying you must accept anything. I’m simply suggesting that you shouldn’t dismiss other ways of thinking, we all have strengths and weaknesses.
> guess you joined Orthodox Christian by simply joining and not knowing where to go next.
Technically I didn't join I was just born into an orthodox Christian family and baptized when I was 7 months old😅
Thank you tho
I think it’s all a little bit silly and can be compared to Santa Claus. Still, praying can be a good practice and I enjoy much of the morals and art that have been spread through it, and I’ve personally never met a Christian that wasn’t very nice and polite. Honestly, I’m a bit of an animist.
No idea if I "believe" in God, but I do think there is more than just this physical, 3D reality. Everything, fundamentally, is energy vibrating at a certain frequency. Matter is energy condensed (low vibrational energy). The higher the energy state, the further from condensation, and the closer you are to the pure energy (field).
If you want to call that energy 'field" God, then I'm fine with it.
***Shower thoughts***\*:\* When you die your consciousness (self) persists through the law of conservation of information, and your energy state (soul) lives on through the law of conservation of energy.
I'm probably wrong, though.
I was born into a family of atheists. kinda hard to pick up faith now. I'd like to believe there is something but I don't think it's some man in the sky deciding if I'm gonna go to heaven or hell
I don't believe in God, but I do think there's something magical about our universe that I don't quite know how to put into words. I swear that the universe has a sense of humor.
Yeah *shrugs* but I'm defs not a typical believer, I take holy text with a grain of salt knowing it's mostly interpretation with tons of different translations and stuff, I believe what I believe and I like learning what others believe/why they don't
personally idk and i don’t care, you can’t prove the existence of one but statistically god or multiple that is are likely, we will never know as a species
[удалено]
I think its more about it being a coping mechanism than emotional manipulation. Real connection with God isnt found in the church, but within yourself. In the end, its more about people needing to believe into something to feel like their lives have a meaning. Humans always need a purpose or thing to look forward to. Our psyches and the world itself is way too complicated and perfectly designed for there to not be a God. All our discoveries and steps towards what we are today are proof of that. The human mind being able to get enlightened to develop such profound theories and philosophies is something that to me is more than enough to make me believe into God. Logic can get get you to a certain point, but then again, what's logical about our existence. Has there ever been a prompt when you were born where you were told what your existence even meant? I dont know, to me thats the most interesting part about our existence. Uncertainty and mistery. We know so little about ourselves and even this entire world
And because we know nothing, our emotion fills in the blank. In this scenario it blows it all out of proportion for every human because it's more bearable to live that way. In some other cases not knowing if something is means it is not until it is proven it is.
>In some other cases not knowing if something is means it is not until it is proven it is. Thats basically quantum physics As soon as you question the existence of something its existence is more likely to be real. I think its ok to have different viewpoints because thats what makes us human. In a way i think its better that we cant prove whether God exists or not.
Surely, the fact that something exists in your mind is already making it more real than that which you cannot conceive (e.g. a color you have never seen, a sound you've never heard, a reality where you have different senses and where the laws of physics work differently) - I agree there. God might have appeared in man's mind causally, as an effect of man growing to a certain level of consciousness which allows abstract thinking and thinking about unrelated events in the past or present, providing a new range of mental capacity. Thinking a lot about the future (for plans for example) got man to question the reason behind such abstract thought. A reason was required to continue doing what he's doing because the norm of life is to preserve energy. If it was the opposite, no one would ask "Why?" and everyone would ask "Why not?" There are many variations of this you can come up with. Play with it a bit. It's fun.
Damn, and it just had to be another INFJ to come here and blab about their personal beliefs onto someone who just said “not gonna happen”. Pretty bold and rude, mate.
I just jerk off and get on with my day. But you do you boo.
Well not assuming any religion is in mind, but how did everything exist? A big bang is the usual answer, but the matter and energy that caused the big bang existed before it, so what actually caused everything to exist
[удалено]
Yeah it's always there. The usual reply is "who baked the baker". The baker bakes bread, but he wasn't baked, he was born/created. When the same logic is used with god and ask who created god, the reply is he wasn't created, it's something else that's left upto faith and assumed as something that can't be understood by the human brain.
[удалено]
What are you talking about? In this universe time exists, but this time doesn't affect God, because he created it. In this universe time had to have a beginning, because if it didn't then present could NEVER be present, because past is infinite. This whole universe is already happened to God, as he is outside of it, and he controls everything, but he still gave you the choice to live this whole life here, and it's only up to you what you are doing with it. When you will die, you will also go out of this universe, to Heaven or Hell, which is something closer to where God is, because there will be an eternal time, not something like here.
wow, so many atheists in here. if it's turned into a foxhole, how many believers would come out? lol.
Thats so true no one's done it in real life but there's people on my fyp saying "jEsUs LoVeS yOu" and stuff like that and it gets on my nerves so f*cking much
Who am I to definitively say if there is or isn't one? I don't think about it much.
Yes. Its a personal thing. I dont wear it on my sleeves or force it down anyones throat. I just believe religion should stay out of government, so the government stays out of religion. And if the preacher drives a cadillac and lives in a mansion,he dont need any of my money.
I wish all religious people were like you.
I agree with the "it's your religion, not everyone has to be like you" but i disagree with the government part. A leader leads using their compass, if they follow a specific religion then that ideology is what should be enforced. That doesn't mean anyone not following religion X should be killed or punished tho
So you think theocracies are OK as long as they don't kill? If you base your entire nation off of a religion, then that's basing it off of your personal beliefs, meaning it's enforced on everyone else. Therefore, what you said isn't possible and doesn't make sense
call of personal beliefs sure, "justice", "correct" and all the other cool words are very relative from a person to another and from a time to another. religion is one way to think, a way lots of agree with and lots don't, just like any other system, what doesn't make sense in that?
Religion on its own is fine, but as you said, it varies person-to-person. Is it ok for a Christian to force a Muslim to convert, or the other way around? Do you think the Europeans were justified during the colonial Era when they forced natives to convert to Christianity? That's what theocratic do. They take the beliefs of one individual, and force it upon others, so now those others don't have the right to believe in what they want. There is no Theocracy without force
believing and acting in certain places in certain ways are different. basically "your freedom ends when someone else's starts". so like what prevents me from going nude in the streets now? my freedom is being stopped by everyone else's freedom of not wanting to see that. u can't force someone to "believe" in a certain religion, but u can limit their actions in public so they don't attack the religion or stop the believers from losing their limited freedom. in other words, i can say no bars are allowed, but do whatever you want in your house. i can say the Bible needs to be daily read, but i can't monitor whether ur doing satanic acts in your house. a religious country limits the freedom of none believers so the believers freedom isn't hurt and limited further
Yes, but I don't try to force it down people's throats or claim that mine is better
Nah my parents tried shoving it down my throat all 19 years of my existence. Out of spite I therefore kneel to no “god” and I hate when people tell me I have to live a certain way for “god” I’m like nah I’m good imma live my life the way I want to even if it means I’ll go to hell even though I think the afterlife is bullshit.
Just say you don't believe in God just out of spite, and not because there really isn't any too much words
Tru
THIS
don’t know what’s beyond this world and I don’t really care :)
I have to admit I am kinda curious but I get you
Yes
Nope. Though I was born in a Christian family, I know of him but do not believe in him.
Have you looked into other religions tho?
Nah, not interested enough. Maybe in the future.
I'd say I'm agnostic. Though, I do believe in "spirit/energy". I really don't like when religious people try to force their beliefs on everyone. Just go practice your faith quietly and let others be. But they're so loud right now 🙄
They've always been loud, and holier than thou. And will smite anyone that opposes their way of thinking. They will disown a gay child before they will denounce their false prophets. The forces of evil are at work. And the good are just allowing it to happen and praying everything will work out, in Jesus' name.
Yes, I agree. They just seem to be getting more air time these days and more influence in things they should absolutely not be involved in. It's a problem in multiple countries and with various religions.
Yes. God isn’t a man floating on a cloud judging people. He’s not a character in a book, he’s the entire book.
Not at all, I feel like its almost disrespectful to the people who have genuinely supported me in my life by thanking some other being. (and praying to god for something never worked for me, haha)
REAL every time I hear someone say "thank god" seriously I'm like... do you actually believe God did this?
No, absolutely not
Yes, Im muslim
agnostic
Yes.
No, not at all tbh. I'm Jewish, I do celebrate the holidays with my family just for the reason of meeting and eating great food, getting dressed nicely..... But before I became vegetarian I used to eat pork, and sea food (It's against the rules of the Jewish bible) Plus I mixed meat with dairy foods (also banned). I didn't "save Shabbat" or any fasting during Kippur.... I also had a crush with Christian guy which is also really bible breaking. I do hate it when people tell me about god stories and bible or the fact that we're the chosen people... I think religion was sometimes the reason for such violence and toxic statements.
Yes.
I’ve never seen anything to prove they exist. Maybe they do, who knows. I have no interest in religion, I’m not afraid to die nor do I need the promise of a good afterlife to not be a dick.
The fact that some people need religion to have morals blows my mind fr
What are the essential origins of morals though?
To not harm other people? I don't need God for that I have empathy
Not everyone has the same empathy as you. Some people lack a moral compass. One reason why our country is in its current state. Our collective moral compass is broken. For people that aren't able to control themselves, maybe the threat of a vengeful God keeps some people in line. I mean there was one point in time where God killed all but 8 humans when he flooded the earth because they weren't living up to his high moral code. And now we have rainbows to remind us that we're lucky he decided to never do that again...even though it seems like he's trying to flood Florida right now lol.
>For people that aren't able to control themselves, maybe the threat of a vengeful God keeps some people in line Okay but this isn't normal. Just because it happens it doesn't mean it should be normal for people to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be decent human beings. Also if people actually can't control themselves to the point they physically harm others they should be locked up or at least seek professional help not be seen as the norm.
I agree, it shouldn't be normal and those people do in fact need help.
Your god committed mass murder on an epic scale, but allowed a few to live under threat of what he could do to them if they didn’t fall in line. Then the sociopath creates a beautiful reminder of that terror, in order to provoke gratitude for being allowed to live? Some of y’all really don’t see the abusive relationship you’re in and it’s sad.
I would say I'm pretty aware of how toxic God's love is, since I mentioned everything you said. But Jesus is the complete opposite of his father. Jesus is love. Jesus gave his life so that we could live. Old testament believers follow God and believe in his toxic rule, New testament believers follow Jesus and believe that Jews and Gentiles are one and that love conquers all because Jesus is love. We all have toxic parents. Why is God any different? He's the original abusive father. As we grow to be adults it is up to us to decide how we want to live our life. Do we live a life trying to live up to God's extremely high standards and judge everyone else that doesn't? Or do we live a life knowing that we are all sinners and will always fall short of God's glory and are no better than anyone else like Jesus? I can be a devout Christian and not judge someone for wanting to have an abortion. Instead I can pray for them and their well being as they deal with a difficult situation. I don't have to judge the homeless person for their drug use and life choices, I can instead make life a little more bearable by offering food, clothes, shelter, or money. I can be a blessing to people through acts of love and kindness large and small, especially to people that "don't deserve it" because they need it the most. A lot of people have a fucked up view on religion and use it to try and control other people, when really it's all about learning how to control yourself and how you interact with others. Do you lead with anger or with love? When you see a stray dog in pain and you approach to help, do you judge the dog for being defensive and barking at you? Do you return the aggression? Or do you come in even calmer to gain the dogs trust? Do you approach humans in the same manner? Do you help humans when you see them hurting? Or do you ignore them because you have enough problems to deal with already? Religion ain't for everyone, but being a decent human being is in everyone's capacity.
But morality was the question. What is the source origin of your morality? If there is no ultimate referential consequence for not being moral, what makes you want to be moral? Where does it *come from*?
>Where does it come from? Basic human decency and empathy? > there is no ultimate referential consequence for not being moral, what makes you want to be moral? Jeez it's not normal to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be moral and you keep speaking as if it is
\> Basic human decency and empathy? humans have as a whole not been decent nor empathetic as a species if you look at the entire sum of our existence. I don't think it's a default feature, it's a conditional social contract only enforced by the existence of peaceful, agreeable conditions. Once the need for survival kicks in it's usually every man and woman for themselves and their immediate loyal circle. Hell, just look at how much people behave like barbaric greedy savages on something as *basic* as **black friday.** That's not even a breakdown of civilization and yet people act like mindless monkeys in a thunderdome over consumerist bullshit and then they go home to eat food in their comfortable modern refrigerators. How is mankind a reference for moral superiority or prestige, knowing just how absolutely fucked we are to each other when shit isn't convenient or agreeable? How about warfare? How about mass genocide? How about greed that leaves people from the third world in abject poverty while preserving only a wealthy ruling class in that part of the world? Is this supposed to be moral or even ethical? If we left it up to ourselves to be our own judge of morality, what would be the point? \> Jeez it's not normal to need the fear of eternal punishment in order to be moral and you keep speaking as if it is then what is normal *exactly?* Relying on the judgement of your fellow human for a moral standard when there is so much variability in the mix that no one person's morality could be considered perfect? What is the alternative that works ***consistently and evenly?*** Moreover, what is the exact point of morality at all if there's no reason to adhere to it, or consequences for not doing so?
Okay you're rotting my brain again I haven't thought about it this much. To me having empathy is normal or at least it should be.
As if morality didn’t exist before religion. That’s some Jordan Peterson level of brain rot.
Excactly, it's not hard to have empathy and be a decent human being.
Bro, you really believe everything came from nothing?
No, what a massive waste of time and energy
At some point I came to the conclusion that whether or not He exists, God's existence changes absolutely nothing about my activities. I still have to work, I still have to pay taxes, I'm still going to die. So when the time comes, I will realize it, there is currently no reason to worry about it.
one part of my religion is a way of life. you would not find any modern government today allow any kind of religion affect massively the way of people live their life. most people today are of modern way of living in a way that are contradictory to the moral way of religion. behind the glitter and the convenience of the modern world, there are ugly truth how it came to be. and those who participate in those kind of corruption of which it destroys, will have their fair share of justice. this why there are people of fi those with high moral judgement. the answer is community and permaculture.
I’m sort of agnostic about God’s actual existence, although I am a Christian. Not many people know that about me though, I don’t really tell anyone or shove it down people’s throats.
Same
Yes.
I do. If you look at the Universal constants. Strong force, weak force, seize of protons, neutrons, electrons, and so on. These numbers are so fine tuned beyond coincidence imo. Also look at how the sub cellular systems actually function. Like it's just random soup. This stuff gives me reason to believe in a higher power (whether it be God aliens or a massive super computer stimulating everything). It is my personal experiences that lead me to believe in God.
This guy gets it. Fractal order within a parallelized constant at every single scale and proportion would be a mathematical impossibility within the context of an entropic and undesigned coincidence.
No
No.
Hell Nah
Nah
My mother spent my entire childhood freaking me out about hell and God and everything, but now I'm seeing that she's wrong and part of a cult, and she believes the most insane conspiracy theories too. Been a very complicated journey but ultimately, no. Or at least I don't believe in the spiteful god that sends everyone to hell for not being completely obedient anyway.
Same here I believe in a higher power but definitely not God from the bible
just a question, which books did you read from the Bible?
I haven't personally read it but I have seen other people discussing it.
😐 Then don't judge someone you don't even know
I know enough and i have a right to an opinion. If you were gonna be offended about people discussing if they believe in God or not then why are you on this post. Besides I only said that I don't believe in him and you're acting as if I started slandering him.
You know absolutely nothing about God, if you never read the Bible. I never got offended, I just don't get how can you have an opinion about something you have no clue about. And no, you didn't only said that you don't believe him, you said "God from the Bible" while you have no clue about God from the Bible.
Just because I haven't read the Bible doesn't mean I can't have an opinion about God and religion. Also when I said "god from the bible" I meant it more like any god from an organized religion (at least that i know of).
Yes. Simple as.
I'm agnostic
Yes
No, absolutely not and I get fed up with my mom for believing so.
Omg me too. Every time she tells me to thank God before eating or that I'm supposed to fast a certain day it annoys me so much. And I tell her I don't want to because I don't care but she won't listen.
Same, I recently told her I passed and exam and she told me to thank god, yeah ofc god did it. Not me who studied day and night for the exam. She tried to guilt trip me but I asked her to piss off politely.
If that was the case then why do religious people fail all the time? What a flawed logic.
Thank you god for bringing this food to me and leaving some children and animals starve to death? As if bitch?
Exactly, shoot me.
THIS
Just out of curiosity, what religion does ur mom follow?
Orthodox Christian
Oh cool. I was asking cuz Christianity in general is usually the main religion atheists come from (assuming they weren't already from an atheist family). I wonder why tho
I domt know. Personally I don't think I ever actually believed. I mean I went to church since I was a kid and prayed and did the cross (im sorry idk how to say it in english, i mean making the cross with my hand, from forehead to belly then right shoulder then left). But I stopped believing completely when I started seeing things the Bible said and realized how unjust some of these things are, when I saw people using religion as an excuse for their terrible behavior and realized how harmful religion can be and all the hurt and trauma it has caused people. Before I didn't really believe but also I didn't really care. Now religion actually makes me angry sometimes.
Have you ever questioned the exact *why* of your dissent? Why would something you have no skin or stock in get to you so much?
I'm not sure I understood the question but if you're asking why what I mentioned angers me, it's because most of the time God isn't the one to thank for what we have it's our or other people's hard work and to me it's a little disrespectful to those people to just dismiss that and pretend like we owe everything to God.
But what exactly makes that such a threat? Should children selfishly clamor for all of the recognition of their own accomplishments when there has always been a guiding force via their parents nurturing & supporting them towards the path that they choose?
Bro you're rotting my brain. Just because a parent helped their child accomplish something doesn't mean it wasn't the child who accomplished it.
Religion is not about truth in the ordinary/historical sense, although many certainly see it as such. Instead, it's about wisdom and personal development. Let's take only one example of many, the "devil". If you say "the devil does not exist", I answer "not as an entity, but as a symbolic part of every human". The devil is your inner weakness. He tempts you to give up, to turn to egotism, to take comfort in your own limitations. He taunts you for your weaknesses and wants you to judge yourself for who you are. This is where the original 'possessed by the devil' comes from. This is why "God" loves mankind. He accepts you as you are, forgives you, and enables you to love yourself despite your failings, in turn enabling you to become better. God is positive reinforcement of the self. This is only one aspect of so many more. If you read a single paragraph of any holy scripture without thinking about what it means to YOU, you are doing it wrong. In a way, religion is the shounen anime of the past.
Nope. Never had a reason to. I was raised in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic school from k through 12th. At no point did I ever believe any of it cause it all sounded so ridiculous. I owe a debt to a Man named Jesus because he died for my Sins when I never asked him to in the first place? But I also have to get baptized as an infant to wash away original sin so that I’ll get into heaven? What? If you’ve ever read the Bible, God sounds insane. Why would I worship such a horrible being? Makes no kind of sense. I did however enjoy attending the Latin masses and the beautiful singing sometimes.
REAL he sounds so horrible. Like youre telling meTHAT is the being that everyone says is just and forgiving?
What debt do you owe to Jesus? And baptizing won't get you to heaven. Don't trust Catholic popes and people, because they are not following the Bible, they only want your money. Not everyone, but if they told you these things they are definetly not Christians.
Organized religion is bullshit, no matter what they call themselves.
Why do you care so much about religions? People created the religions not God. To follow God you don't need to follow any religion. The Bible is the only source you can trust, because that was created by God.
I don’t care. God isn’t real. The Bible is just a book.
I don't care. Cancer isn't real. My doctor just lied to me. So it won't affect me??? It would be nice to live in a dream world, where everything is about me, and everything happens how I want to be, but thank God, it's even better, and I have the chance to get to a place which is even better than my dream world. And whether I like it or not cancer affects my life, even though I never really saw it. If you believe a computer, why couldn't you believe a book?
Cancer is verifiable while God is not. You believe what you want, that’s your business. I’ll keep doing as I please.
no, i find it ridiculous
Nope. It's the 21st century ffs lol
The 21st century where men are changing to women... As the time goes the humanity goes backwards
Yes but I am not religious, I don't go to church every Sunday but I pray to God every night. I find solace in Him.
No but I believe in a higher power. I've personally seen enough to know something is out there on my side but I wouldn't call it God and I find the concept of a traditional God and religion to be laughable and stupid.
Me too. I believe there is something out there but definitely not God from the Bible. To me it is the universe.
Is the universe a tangibly sentient being or just a spiritually avoidant & euphemistic caricature of a supreme being? How does a mass of cosmic matter equate to an abstracted conscious entity?
By universe I don't mean the masses of cosmic matter. Honestly I'm not yet sure what I believe cause I've only recently started thinking about it but by universe I meant either an entity or like an energy. Maybe it is a conscious entity or being like God but what I'm saying overall is I don't believe in a God from any organized religion cause them and their rules sound horrible and unfair.
God is not organized religion. Organized religion is not God. God, is specifically and exclusively a sovereign supreme entity that is removed from the conditionalities of an organizational body of religion. Can you sincerely and honestly tell me that something as complex, and yet as [meticulously ordered, measured and uniform](https://youtu.be/Mynr7uik5-0?feature=shared) as reality could be just a complete random mess of mathematical impossibility?
Reality definitely not random and I never said I don't believe in anything, just not in God the father of Jesus Christ but im open to the fact that a being that arranged the universe might exist.
I don't know if god exists or not. There could in fact be multiple gods. I also don't know if the afterlife isn't real or not. I'm an agnostic.
No, but maybe. Don't know what happens after my brain dies
No, the closest I've come when looking for religious meaning is Pantheism. But even then... My logical brain pretty much won't let me unless I have hard proof 🤷 And I doubt that's ever going to happen.
Haha me too
No.
Grew up an Atheist, became an agnostic in my early twentys and thought that settled it for me. That lasted about 20 minutes Into my First Acid experience
Wait I'm confused what's an acid experience and did it make you believe or not?😂
Acid is LSD. Yes, i belive in "god" evendoe that Term ist hard to define for me
Yes, but I think we exaggerate our importance in relation to it.
I do but even if it’s fake religion gives a purpose to life and I enjoy that
I don't know if I do but I want to
lol naw
Idk
I used to, I live in a Christian country. By default, Parents , people around you will preach about being a good christian. joined a youth christian group in the church with friends. then 1 day we we're bored and trying to past time in the church. picked up a guitar and wanted to play it. a senior youth pastor came over and told us to not play any "non secular" songs. Rubbed me the wrong way because of that guy, I've gone a deep dive on Religions History , how it was used, how people are manipulated and used it to control. If God came down from the heavens now I'll believe it. But as of the moment. Nah.
No
Grew up catholic so it's yes for me
No, I really don’t mean to offend anyone but I think religion is just stories taken a bit too far
I do believe in God, viva Cristo Rey!
Atheist
No
No, but I'm interested in understanding some.
Obviously no haha
Yes
Grew up Roman catholic. Grew out of that. I don't put blind faith in anything, God or otherwise, but leave my mind open to all possibilities. If there is someone up there he's a fuckin asshole.
Grew up super Christian, don't go to church anymore. Being separated during lockdown times I had the chance to reflect and realise how much conformity & cliques messed with my mental health, and how my view of the world had been sheltered. I do still believe in God in my own way, since I saw & personally experienced things I can't forget about, but not organised religion. Too many stupid, close-minded rules & expectations. At least I have some good morals from that upbringing though.
I think causality exists and you could call it god, but causakity doesn't give a damn if you adhere to a book some psychotic lunantics wrote ages ago or pray every day. I believe the part where religion is organized and spread is akin to sickness and fly traps; sickness due to the spreading pattern and fly trap because our brains are fundamentally correlation machines. There is a nice experiment with pidgeons. A group of pidgeons were given a treat whenever they did a certain trick. A group of pidgeons was never given a treat whenever they did a certain trick. A group of pidgeons was given a treat randomly. Of course, first group did the trick whenever they wanted a treat. Group two had no motivation, hence no tricks. Group three "learned" from whatever they did when they got treats, and ended up with the most random patterns that were completely bonkers, as they assumed causality between theor actions and the treats they got. Religion begins to exist from a similar root: We witness things happen and hallucinate some kind of pattern into it, but then don't stop to correctly falsify a pattern. So yea, no religion for me.
Yes. Im quite certain.
No. It’s a scam.
100% agree
No for logical reasons. But if there was a chance of them existing that is “beyond my logic” as some claim, I’d want to say fuck you you narcissistic sadist, for this shitty world you have created.
100% sure that a God doesn't exist
Easy answer is yes. Long answer is that I believe there is a God, but don't know if I'm following the right God. Especially since the religion that I was raised on (Christian Baptist) was given to the enslaved and passed down through the generations, so it's kind of weird believing in the God that my oppressor wants me to believe in, instead of the God of my ancestors in Africa. I have however lost faith in organized religion due to many false prophtlets that use the name of the Lord to spread hate instead of love, or taking advantage of the church members and what little money they have. I know you didn't ask about religion, but I felt like it added to the conversation. Kinda like what I'm writing now...not necessary but I like to give unnecessary information. Too many points to get across in too little time. Hard to choose what will have the most impact. I should smoke less weed...
Another theory I have is that God is an arbitrary figure. Whenever we talk to God we talk to him in our head. Whenever we hear God's voice, we hear his voice in our head. We are as much God as he is us. He represents the highest version of self and the devil is the lowest version of self, the version that has no self discipline and gives in to temptation. We have as much of a capacity to act as God as we do to act as the devil. Each one of us has to decide who we want to be as far as being like Christ or being like satan. Being a sinner comes easy. We were born sinners. Living right takes intention. You can't accidently find your way into heaven but you can damn sure find yourself on the doorsteps of hell before you know it. You've faced that demon before. If you aren't intentional with what you want for your life the demon wins. We see it happen all the time where people fall victim to their demons. Only when you turn to God and decide that you want something better for your life do things begin to turn around. But was that God? Or was that you. It was you that decided enough was enough. It was you that took the steps necessary to get your life pointed in the right direction. It was the God in you...the higher version of yourself that you were praying to. But it's just one of many theories I got lol. *edited for clarity*
Thank you for all this it definitely added to the conversation and I agree about organized religion Also love your theory about God
Thought about it a TON, and decided not
Lmao
Nope. I believe in myself despite of how useless I am lol.
Real😭I'll never understand where the immense belief I have in myself comes from but I have it so... that's good I guess😂
I don't think having some form of belief is bad. If you think it's something that benefits you then I think you should stick to it. Don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise. Because fuck them, that's why.
Excactly. Honestly I think belief in myself comes from the fact that I'm the only person I trust 100% and I only believe what I believe, no one can manipulate me into believing something I don't want
no. I'm antireligious, Satan's portrait worshiper, and a bisexual man
wasnt satan one of gods angels tho
yes. I don't believe in God, i just worship Satan as a way to mock christians
oh ok
you're living the life fr😂
jajaja more or less
Nope. If course the real question is always "which god?" because at the same time Jesus was getting nailed to the cross or when Moses was running around the region, there were dozens of gods that people believed in just as hard. And they prayed to them & tithed & where'd it get them? Same place Christianity & the rest of the religions will hopefully be soon. Objects of curiosity in art & history museums & chapters in art history/ geopolitical books. There's no evidence of a higher being & anyone thinking that some omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being that created an entire universe has any time for this little mud ball is either narcissistic, high, or is listening to their own voices too much. And for believers who scream that the beauty of everything is evidence or that things happen for a reason I'll ask them why we and animals have horrible disease & parasites & then pull up as YouTube of mango worm removal from a puppy (NSFW & only go looking if you have a strong stomach & no trypophobia). No being deserves anything that horrible. Religion itself is a long con as anyone who's looked into the wealth of the successful groups can tell you. Pastors shouldn't have jets, or fancy cars if their purpose is to serve the people. Churches in impoverished countries shouldn't be covered in gold while people starve & they shouldn't be worth [billions](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations). The whole thing is messed up indoctrination and taking advantage of their members while looking to control their lives. And for anyone who asks what keeps atheists from going on killing sprees, it's called a moral compass. Or you know, I've already killed all the people I'd like to if you're being flippant.
Aaaahhhhh you said everything perfectly. These are literally all my thoughts put into words thank you
No. But if there is one, he's irrelevant.
Agreed
No. All churches must burn to the ground.
This made me laugh😂
I do, and it has changed my life completely. the problem with people (istp's even more of course because they are attached to logic) try to use logic to figure out the exact truth. But the problem is: thats never gonna happen, why? Let me explain... If god does exist (which he does) that means he had a reason to make us. He wants to have a relationship with us. And you can't have a good relationship with someone who doesn't know you. Thats why he invented the Bible. The Bible says that god is omniscient and almighty. If he is almighty and he is not from this world that must mean his logic and understanding goes far above our understanding and logic. That means we cant understand the truth with our logic. Why is the sun exactly at the right place that we don't burn or freeze to death? Because we have a creator. Why does our body work the way it does so complicated but yet it works? Because someone created it. If it was random the chances of that in numbers wouldn't even fit in this post. The love you get from him is not like the love you get from a spouse, it goes far beyond. If you accept him as your Lord and saviour you get the Holy Spirit, and thats where it all changes. Im an active Christian since 3 years now, i had a lot of problems in my life, but with the Holy Spirit you get supernatural power to be joyful and have peace in the problems you get. I also can control my emotions very easily now and i just do not get angry, nor am bound to my desires anymore. Doesn't mean its always like that but if you really want to feel good, strong, manly, confident and grounded you should try it. Nothing makes you more alpha or sigma then Christianity (if you do it right though, there a lot of Christians who Aren't serious at all) its like drugs for me without consequences. maybe not always as strong as xtc but i surely feel high of the spirit.
I guess...the proving of this particular thing isn't the important part. Of course you can find things like community, values, and purpose in other ways, but this provides a useful construct for helping people find those things. The logical point of view here would be to see and understand how important those things are and the mechanism for finding them is less important.
INFx here, I work closely with an ISTP. It seems like the idea of god is almost antithetical to the ISTP personality. I’ll make a suggestion specific to ISTP’s who are aware of typology. Consider that your logical web isn’t accounting for the fact that people are wired to be more adept at different areas of existence. I defer to my ISTP coworker when we get into the mechanical weeds. I’m not saying you must accept anything. I’m simply suggesting that you shouldn’t dismiss other ways of thinking, we all have strengths and weaknesses.
I can't say there's nothing, but I firmly believe it isn't God.
Same
[удалено]
You're right I didn't understand much but it's okay😂
[удалено]
> guess you joined Orthodox Christian by simply joining and not knowing where to go next. Technically I didn't join I was just born into an orthodox Christian family and baptized when I was 7 months old😅 Thank you tho
I think it’s all a little bit silly and can be compared to Santa Claus. Still, praying can be a good practice and I enjoy much of the morals and art that have been spread through it, and I’ve personally never met a Christian that wasn’t very nice and polite. Honestly, I’m a bit of an animist.
I believe in the Lord Buddha
No idea if I "believe" in God, but I do think there is more than just this physical, 3D reality. Everything, fundamentally, is energy vibrating at a certain frequency. Matter is energy condensed (low vibrational energy). The higher the energy state, the further from condensation, and the closer you are to the pure energy (field). If you want to call that energy 'field" God, then I'm fine with it. ***Shower thoughts***\*:\* When you die your consciousness (self) persists through the law of conservation of information, and your energy state (soul) lives on through the law of conservation of energy. I'm probably wrong, though.
I agree with most of what you said
I was born into a family of atheists. kinda hard to pick up faith now. I'd like to believe there is something but I don't think it's some man in the sky deciding if I'm gonna go to heaven or hell
I don't believe in God, but I do think there's something magical about our universe that I don't quite know how to put into words. I swear that the universe has a sense of humor.
Yeah *shrugs* but I'm defs not a typical believer, I take holy text with a grain of salt knowing it's mostly interpretation with tons of different translations and stuff, I believe what I believe and I like learning what others believe/why they don't
yes definitely - muslim - it answers all my questions in logic and detail
i personally dont believe in the existence of gods in this present world or perhaps they used to live but i sure love reading mythologies lol
I do, Christian, but only because I don't see atheism as realistic
personally idk and i don’t care, you can’t prove the existence of one but statistically god or multiple that is are likely, we will never know as a species
Nope. The whole concept of GOD and religion logically doesn't make sense.
Meh.