Does God Exist?

[onine]

'I am real!' said Alice and began to cry.

'You won't make yourself a bit realler by crying,' Tweedledee remarked: 'there's nothing to cry about.'

'If I wasn't real,' Alice said— half-laughing though her tears, it all seemed so ridiculous— 'I shouldn't be able to cry.'

'I hope you don't suppose those are real tears?' Tweedledum interrupted in a tone of great contempt.

Through The Looking Glass

[Bolthame]

I don't beleive in the Christian god, however I respect that other people do, and I don't go on great rants about it or say things like "omg you beleive in somethin that isnt real lolololol". There is plenty of proof that the Christian god doesn't exist, but people can beleive what they like and I'm cool with that. I personally beleive in the Wiccan god and goddess, I bet some people here don't think they're real either, but hey, those are your beleifs, not mine.

Oh, and having died twice and been revived, I have never experienced any light at the end of the tunnel vision, nor my life flashing before my eyes. Ask/PM if you'd like to know more but it's not for this thread

[brandonslau]

What proof is there that the xtian god does not exist?

[Bolthame]

Well if he/she/it is meant to be so forgiving and kind and all powerful, then why is the world so full of poverty, war and hatred? And darn, if I could remember the rest, I'd tell you. There's a website full of it somewhere. But hey I'm not here to rain on people's parades, people can beleive in what they want to. What you beleive in is real to you and others who share that belief. If you want more proof, just Google it.

[ismavatar]

what proof is there that Bertrand Russell's Celestial Teapot doesn't exist? And what proof is there that the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Touched by his Noodly Appendage) doesn't exist? And what proof is there that the Invisible Pink Unicorn doesn't exist? And what proof is there that the decrease in pirates is not causing an increase in global temperatures, despite the simple fact that there is a very clear correlation. And what proof is there that I don't have a real live fire-breathing dragon in my garage?

There are infinite claims that can be made when placing the burden of proof on the skeptic to disprove these unfalsifiable claims. Frankly, the Burden Of Proof should lie with the person making the claim.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

What counts is not what sounds plausible, not what we would like to believe, not what one or two witnesses claim, but only what is supported by hard evidence rigorously and sceptically examined. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Carl Sagan in Cosmos

The reason organized religion merits outright hostility is that, unlike belief in Russell's teapot, religion is powerful, influential, tax-exempt and systematically passed on to children too young to defend themselves. Children are not compelled to spend their formative years memorizing loony books about teapots. Government-subsidized schools don't exclude children whose parents prefer the wrong shape of teapot. Teapot-believers don't stone teapot-unbelievers, teapot-apostates, teapot-heretics and teapot-blasphemers to death. Mothers don't warn their sons off marrying teapot-shiksas whose parents believe in three teapots rather than one. People who put the milk in first don't kneecap those who put the tea in first.

Richard Dawkins' A Devil's Chaplain

[Mat Ethers]

I believe in the concept of god but not any god in particular. And before you say that means I'm Agnostic, no it doesn't, Agnostic is basically saying that you can't prove the existence or non existence of god. I'm very similar to that, just I believe that "god" is real, just the concept of god needs to be rethought. Wikipedia called it Ignostic but you know what wikipedia is like.

[lilmoe15]

bolthame said:

Well if he/she/it is meant to be so forgiving and kind and all powerful, then why is the world so full of poverty, war and hatred? And darn, if I could remember the rest, I'd tell you. There's a website full of it somewhere. But hey I'm not here to rain on people's parades, people can beleive in what they want to. What you beleive in is real to you and others who share that belief. If you want more proof, just Google it.

The reason is because the christian God is a God of free will.He created man wonderfully and fearfully.I for one doubt if any God would force people to be "good".We were made human and we act human.Google that.

[shaamansu]

Well,the identity of God exists in the mind of the believer,(personal gnosis) Most Christians believe in the Christian God,or rather believe in the One in Three...Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit. Some just believe in Father, Son. In Catholicism you have God, Jesus, Holy Ghost/Spirit and Mother Mary..then come the Saints.

You have the Gods/Goddesses of the ancient worlds..deities..given different names depending on the area..(which is worldwide)but examples would be Egyptian, Greek, Roman,, Scandinavia, Old Breton, Ireland, Scotland and many other places as well. Here in the Americas..you had ( and still do in some places) deity (gods/goddess) worship by the indigenous cultures in both North America as a whole (including Canada and Alaska), as well as the Caribbean areas, and all of South America. Basically you have had God/Goddess worship worldwide both before Christianity and up to present day. Now, keep in mind, that Christianity is very much a focal point in these areas too...now. Some pagan God/Godesses and beliefs are mixed in with Christian ones and vice versa in some but not all countries mainly with the Santeria, Orisha..etc.... beliefs. Paganism as a whole is making a comeback...as more people begin to question their faith and are exploring for answers.

I believe in a Universal One....my children are Christian..but the beauty of this is...we respect each other's right to believe as they wish...and I really think this is the Key to understanding.

I don't care what you believe...you believe the way you want..likewise I will do the same. Does this mean we will all live happily ever after...I doubt it...but sometimes..differences bring people closer together.

[brandonslau]

bolthame said:

Well if he/she/it is meant to be so forgiving and kind and all powerful, then why is the world so full of poverty, war and hatred? And darn, if I could remember the rest, I'd tell you. There's a website full of it somewhere. But hey I'm not here to rain on people's parades, people can beleive in what they want to. What you beleive in is real to you and others who share that belief. If you want more proof, just Google it.

This makes no sense and does not answer my question. What solid proof is there? And what solid proof is there that the Wiccan god and goddess exists. Maybe the christian god wants it to be hated and war for a reason?

[Bolthame]

I never said the Wiccan god and goddess exist, I merely said that I beleive they do. That doesn't mean they actually exist, but that I think they do. Same goes for what I said about the Christian god, those are just my reasons for not beleiving in him.

[ljboy585]

bolthame said:

Well if he/she/it is meant to be so forgiving and kind and all powerful, then why is the world so full of poverty, war and hatred? And darn, if I could remember the rest, I'd tell you. There's a website full of it somewhere. But hey I'm not here to rain on people's parades, people can beleive in what they want to. What you beleive in is real to you and others who share that belief. If you want more proof, just Google it.

I asked this question, and found that god is a parent in the bible he was always there, talking to the people. But when jesus came he distaned himself a little since the people already knew what they must do to live. And know he watches his creation with all the knowledge of what not to do and doing it.

a.k.a.
We make your own choices, this world was made for us and what we do with it is up to us.

[ismavatar]

Many of you are also overlooking Judaism. Their god is (supposedly) the same as the Christian God, the only difference being that, according to the Jews, Jesus was just some dude, and not God, because he didn't fulfill the Messianic Prophecies (which I'd have to agree).

And then of course there's Muslim: Same God, different prophet.
And Mormanism: Same God, different book.

Thus why I like to umbrella all these religions into believing in 1 god, Yahweh (the hebrew word, which they can all agree on, since there seems to be no agreement on the modern word), and 1 umbrella religion, Abrahamic Religions (since they all have Abraham in common for some strange reason).

Now as I said before, I don't believe Jesus was the "annointed one" because he didn't fulfill the messianic prophecies. In fact, there's some doubt as to whether he even existed at all. So it'd probably be a bad idea to convince me of God's existance, because the first thing I'd want to do is start stoning people. lol.

[seraph]

i dont believe there is a god who made the earth or created and control us. some people do though and i wont argue with that. the truth though lies in proof not speculation. if there is currently no proof then it is the claimants responsibility to find and provide that proof. that goes for any unexplained mysteries. as for psionics it is our job to find that evidence. sry for the psi talk in the general section ; )

[Bolthame]

Haha, I love how you said that Jesus was "just some dude", makes me laugh xD

Another thing, if Adam and Eve were the only people in the world at the time, and they had Cain (is that the right spelling?) and Abel, doesn't that mean we're all inbred?

[bigdognick6]

that explains my 12 toes.

No god doesnt exist. i simply can't stand the fact that something requires blind belief. im not saying the people in the bible aren't real, they are probably exagerated. I have a nice tidbit for you christians out there. Your religoun comes from comes from a cultist form of judism.

Also the bible is just a slanted version of the truth, the fact of the matter is that if jesus was in fact real than he would have been rich. the bible(if you choose to believe it) says that he was descended from king David. and the people who took over Israel did that by leaving the goverment in place which would have meant that jesus was in fact in a position of power.