Why do you believe or not believe in a higher power (ie: god)? Please share your reasons and thought

Seeing as how I am asking you to share with me, I will start off sharing with you.
I am only 21, but as far back as I remember, people going to church and praising a god, worshiping a book and so on, all seemed rather strange to me.
I never was forced to go to church, nor were my parents practicing Christians, so I was usually on the outside looking in, until about 7th grade, when my parents chose to put me into the closer-to-home Catholic High School - Jean Vanier Secondary. This changed my experience with religion completely. All of a sudden, morning prayer and reflection were forced on me, and celebration of days and occasions I didn't even know about commenced regularly.
The most influential and mind opening was Religion Class - mandatory from grades 7 through 11. In this class, hidden under the title of "Religion/CAPP" (there was very little to do with "CAPP") I remained adamantly against religion and its stories. My teachers sought to question me with things that were supposedly "outside" of scientific explanation. One teacher in particular, assumed she could shape our young minds by actually chalking up reasons we should believe in god...one of which (that I have been told countless times since) was a very very crude interpretation of Pascal's Wager, that has stuck with me from around grade 9. It never really made sense that should I choose not to believe in a deity, I would invoke its rage and scorn - because I had been told that that deity loves you and does not hate you for those actions deemed as wrong or mistaken.
The thing I found odd is that, usually, my mark in these classes was always really high and above most of my school mates. Maybe they did not care either way, and never really implored themselves like I did. One of the most fanatical teachers told me I should consider joining the clergy - I am not sure that was a mature joke back then or what, but I definitely did not appreciate that comment very much.
School came and went, and my view more or less stayed the same. I usually learn alot on my own, and it seemed to me the earth, the solar system, and the universe work quite well on their own. There is no real need for a "divine" presence to help things along. The same I felt about evolution and our existence. Our split from primitive apes to the now modern sophisticated man *ahem* now writing this post. Nothing really seemed out of place to me.
I recognize something does not need to "stand-out" to be considered religious, I just feel there is no need for a god. We have a pretty solid understanding of the workings of this world already, and this understanding gets better every day. I also know we don't know everything - I have stated this before - and that is the point of science. Science does not claim to be this all-powerful, all-knowing, answer to the world we see around us. It has taken a long long time to piece together the fragile model we have now, and new ideas pop up all the time which may or may not add to a theory here, or disprove a theory there.
I have never had a "religious" experience, atleast not that I know of. I have had very surreal exotic dreams, full of wonders and creatures that I don't see when I am awake, but I do not consider these religious. However, my very good friend, who went away to a different university than me, has come back a born-again christian as of this year. It actually astounds me how his views have changed. He used to revel in the stories like the ones we see on this site every day. Investigate every conspiracy, maintain a certain level of skepticism in his world-view and he surely never believed in god, and yet, 8 months later, 1 summer later, he is a full-blown bible quoting Christian.
I am not a Christian, or a religious person, and I will most likely never be one. I just would like to know why you do or do not believe
Sean
edit: These are entirely my thoughts and opinions. I'm not presenting fact or evidence for belief/non-belief

[edit on 8-7-2009 by makinho21]

I don't believe in a God, but I think there is a possibility there is a higher force which can't be seen, only when we pass over.

It could be a natural force, or some very enlightened being or beings. I don't like the word God because the religions of the world have distorted that name tag so badly, and whenever you say God people always think you're religious.

I prefer the name, higher force or higher power.

I think to say that there is nothing out there is very ignorant. None of us really know for sure, so it's best to keep your mind open to anything at all, whether you're religious or not.

There's no such thing as god.
The bible was written by man in an attempt to confuse the poor, sick and criminal in society and to give rules that don't add up so everyones a sinner.
Look at the people who have religion, there's no logic in there life. If pedo priests abuse kids with no fear then you know there's no such thing as god.
Its all about mass conditioning, only the weak believe in fairytales.

Organised Religion is the biggest scam on man kind. Like a virus it is passed onto unquestioning children who are hard wired to believe what adults tell them. To tell a child they will go to hell fire if they are bad, is nothing more than child abuse so Im not willing to believe in any type of god who would bestow that on its believers

[edit on 8-7-2009 by woodwardjnr]

I cannot say that there is or there is not, I have no proof either way. I do not believe is and I do not believe there is not.

Some may say well the bible is proof, but I also say the bible was written by a society who needed to scare people into doing what they deemed necessary for them to gain control.

Lots of humans place stock in different things ranging from, we live, we die, to having faith in something they do not see.

One thing I know for certain, I am alive now and I will die one day.

The only real question I have is, If we are all destined to die, why do we continue to live knowing that it will not matter the second we no longer exist? preserving a meaningless life for the sake of a future with more meaningless life?

You may counter that with, love, joy for the time we do have, feelings and emotions that matter not one bit when we ourselves die.

If there is no higher being, then our purpose has no purpose and we make it up as we go.

If there is a higher being, then this beings plan is flawed, cruel, and unjust. unless the purpose of life is to reach the pinnacle to where humans are themselves a higher being and starts the process over again creating an entity in their image.

who knows, will we ever? Again, I do not believe nor do I not believe, take that for what its worth.

Originally posted by I think Im normal
I cannot say that there is or there is not, I have no proof either way. I do not believe is and I do not believe there is not.

Some may say well the bible is proof, but I also say the bible was written by a society who needed to scare people into doing what they deemed necessary for them to gain control.

Lots of humans place stock in different things ranging from, we live, we die, to having faith in something they do not see.

One thing I know for certain, I am alive now and I will die one day.

The only real question I have is, If we are all destined to die, why do we continue to live knowing that it will not matter the second we no longer exist? preserving a meaningless life for the sake of a future with more meaningless life?

You may counter that with, love, joy for the time we do have, feelings and emotions that matter not one bit when we ourselves die.

If there is no higher being, then our purpose has no purpose and we make it up as we go.

If there is a higher being, then this beings plan is flawed, cruel, and unjust. unless the purpose of life is to reach the pinnacle to where humans are themselves a higher being and starts the process over again creating an entity in their image.

who knows, will we ever? Again, I do not believe nor do I not believe, take that for what its worth.

I think your normal! Great reply, that's pretty much how I feel, but maybe we are here to look after the planet and sustain life on the planet rather than destroy it. maybe our role is to protect those who can't protect themselves. I really dont know.

First of all, I'm an agnostic. But I don't think one should dismiss things like God without first doing everything one can to study what is available, and make every effort morally possible to understand it. That includes things like praying and applying biblical teachings like I said, if one finds it moral to do so. But I wouldn't go as far as worshipping because I don't think one should worship things they don't fully understand and I don't fully understand the religious books and all their intricacies and I certainly have moral disagreements with some of the teachings. Now having said all that, I have had a number of very remarkable spiritual/paranormal experiences. I'm not going to go into them because I have no proof so they would be meaningless to anyone else. But they did not prove "God" as I did not see "God" or talk to "God" (as far as I know) although whoever was communicating with me was at least aware of the bible, although I've studied not only the bible, but the Quran, Hinduism, and Buddhism and bits of others. Does that mean they were from God because they were familiar with the bible? Or does that mean they (whoever they were) were using what I was already familiar with to communicate with me? I don't know. So I remain agnostic and certainly very open-minded.

[edit on 8-7-2009 by theyreadmymind]

reply to post by makinho21



Who is higher? The parents or the child? The one not procreating will have no "living God" to preserve them alive. The lord of hosts is the highest, there is no other. He says, "all souls are mine". For this reason, "love one another as I have loved you".

As people are lifting the serpent on the cross, so too must the son of man be lifted. He is the higher power because he is always the head...the chief builder of the family.

As the earth is layered, so too are we lifted up. It is the memory that is magnetic and it is the light that draws to it. Without being in the living gods memory, gravity disperses of you. In other words, if you have no "body" to remember you, you will not be "Re-Membered".

"Serve the living God only...whose name is SELF-EXISTENT and serve him only"...."All souls are mine"

YOU are the ONLY BEGOTTEN IMAGE. Many like you, none are you. You are saved in "Self existent salvation"--the son of SELF-EXISTENT, even if you've never called on this name because this name is an ACTION, and not a register such as Jesus. His name is not perfected in saying, but doing because it is "God with us".

The kingdom of the heavenly is in you...it's the twinkle in your eye, just like you were in your daddies....since the beginning it's been "Trade" marked. No other way around except through the sheep gate, then after "tri" bulation, or 9 Holys (Hallow...inside), or 40 weeks, or 150 days....the new heaven comes down out of the holy of holies.

The big difference now is they can sew the curtains back up like they are brand new. This makes the head priest happy and the temple happy, but first..."father...into your hands do I commend my spirit".....wahhhhhhwaahhhh....can you hear the newborn?

The Way, The TRUTH, and most emportantly.....THE LIFE.

Peace

Well, I've been thinking about this for quite some time.
They say god is the great creator, and I take that into consideration. I mean, how did we, and everything else come to be? This goes back a long ways, billions and billions of years ago. If you think about it, where do we come from?

Evolution? Yes, I agree on that. But how did it come to be? The big bang?

No real proof on either side has come to prove or disprove the whole thing. So what created the big bang? Who or what created existence? Is it a cycle? Or is it meant to be? Or a combo of the two? Who or what created the beginning?

Existence... Man my head hurts now.

[edit on 7/8/2009 by Slash]

reply to post by makinho21


I believe in God because as an inventor, I make a lot of questions and it gets answered, scientifically-sound answers beyond the realm of classical science and I have to keep studying to comprehend those ideas.

Who else would anyone think is giving me unique ideas? The devil? Do you believe in the devil but not God??

I grew up an atheist and then became a spiritual atheist. My "God" is the energy of the universe, but I don't really like to call it by that name. I feel that humanity's interpretation of the word "God" has degraded dramatically and has been construed like taffy from its initial meaning. ( )

I believe that this universe is so incredibly magical that we as humans have only begun to understand the power of our minds. I believe that, at a quantum level, humans are made up of tiny vibrating strings, and are therefore energy in a physical body. That we are capable of sensing forces that much of mainstream science looks down upon. Sometimes I feel as though mainstream science and mainstream religion are one in the same because they both have a tendency to shoot down new and innovative ideas without giving their entire FULL, open ears to possibility. Science is never written in stone, so it seems hypocritical to denounce a religious theory/belief set/paranormal events/astrology when the whole idea of science is to discover and understand things we don't understand in the first place.

So just as new species of animals are discovered here on earth constantly, we have even more to learn about the extreme power of a harnessed mind. A mind so understood that we could take full advantage of it and focus our energy effectively and magnificently. I believe that we can self-evolve both physically and mentally and discover all of the secrets that we've all been dying to know, as long as we understand that we are capable of doing it. ()

[edit on 8-7-2009 by semidiablan]

reply to post by letthereaderunderstand

While I told myself I wasn't going to attack anyone on this because I simply wanted to hear WHY you believe or don't, when you come on and spout your dogma I have to reply. Quoting this and that does not provide evidence for anything. It merely makes you look like a brain-washed close-minded robot. If you actually have an experience to write about I'd gladly hear it. If not, don't reply

reply to post by makinho21
first of all i 'm so far past just believing there is a God, i
barely give posts like this any
attention at all.
so take what i'm going to say here how ever you want. i really don't give
the first hot steamy crap, how you take it.what you do w/ it.what you think of it. the only reason your getting a reply out of me.
you seem to be having a major issue w/ what you say you don't believe.
so here we go.
i know for a fact, that there is a God, his son was Jesus Christ. he was born of a virgin. and the power of his blood shed on the cross. means more to
the father than all the sins that have ever been commited. i know this

chose to put me into the closer-to-home Catholic High School

is most likely why you feel like you do.but if you weren't raped then get over it.
i'm gonna stop here and see if you ask me to continue, if not like i said thats cool. and i will waste no more time or space. now how bout that?

[edit on 8-7-2009 by randyvs]

reply to post by ahnggk

See my response to that (my opinion here) is that the human mind in everyone, is much much more brilliant and resourceful than we give it credit. My interpretation of those "eureka!" moments is that while you are consciously trying so solve problems, other non-conscious parts of your brain are working diligently as well, and eventually such a solution arrives. However, that's just how I look at it. With regards to a "devil" - no. I know you were joking, but it would make no sense to not belief in a higher power like a monotheistic deity and then turn around and say I belief in that deity's opposite nemesis. I hope people don't actually do that.

The Bible written thousands of years ago predicted that the nation of Israel would cease to exist, it also predicted that after a certain time this nation would again come into existence. www.thebereancall.org...
n7128v.blogspot.com...
It also stated that Jerusalem would become the focal point of attention and troubles during the end times. With the amount of cities in todays World how come it knew this? This has always amazed me.

reply to post by randyvs


haha ofcourse you would focus on that. If it came across as if I disliked my school, then I apologize. Vanier was the best high school in my town. I liked religion classes - as I said, I got top marks in them and usually was able to debate my teachers rather well for my age. I disliked morning prayer, but that was more because I had to get up earlier to get there than for my old school. I basically showed up late every day haha. You see, my problem is when someone *in this particular instance it is you* comes on and bluntly states "i know for a fact, that there is a God, his son was Jesus Christ. he was born of a virgin. and the power of his blood shed on the cross. means more to the father than all the sins that have ever been commited. i know this"
I don't understand how you can be so arrogant in such an assumption. Do you actually "know" there is a higher power *you call it god*? Do you actually "know" jesus was born of a virgin? Surely most logically thinking people - with regards to that second part - see that as impossible. Biology tells us so. There is no reason to think that for some bizarre happenstance, all of a sudden, a young arab/greek boy (take your pick on lineage) was born without a human father first having sex with his mother. It goes against all we know to be logical and true. Surely seeing as how most people differ on their view of god you can't know you are right. It is just another debatable issue - one of 10000's that make up religion. Most believers take a little of this, and a little of that. My question is doesn't it seem weird that you are more or less taking a gamble that you "might" be right.


[edit on 8-7-2009 by makinho21]

reply to post by letthereaderunderstand

141

"i like God do not play w/ dice. nor do i believe in coincidence" and yet more and more just as you thought it might.call it
whatever.but more and more.

reply to post by randyvs


i don't know what mumbojumbo you are saying here, but it's rather unintelligible. Do you have any actual responses to my postulations? Or are you going to respond with an insulting and condescending attitude?

i do belive there is a god, but i don't belive that he created religion,

Well i won't dissaprove of him yet until im dead then i will see what happens but i belive truely that god is our sun or galaxy or w/e XD

Keep yourself open to ALL possible clues, especially personally meaningful ones. If you KNEW for sure that there was some type of higher power (i.e., god) than the test that I believe all of us to be involved in would become null and void. I don't claim to know, but I'm more convinced than not that something phenomenal has been within reach for me at certain times in my life when I was most in need and it was benevolent in my estimation. Go to my profile and check out my post on the thread about miracles to get a detailed and significant answer to your question...skeptics are encouraged to check this out as well. Thanks for asking us this question...the post I just mentioned has my answer...see you in paradise?