Discussion Do you believe God exists?

[Touhou]

Yes, I am a devoted Baptist protestant christian..

 

[Suicidebydeath]

If god made the big bang, then why did he wait 10 billion years since the beginning of the universe before creating life on Earth? Why did he wait 9 billion years since the beginning of the universe before creating the Earth itself? And why did he wait another 1 billion years before starting life on Earth? And then another 3 billion years after that before creating Homo Sapiens?

And yet in a mere few thousand years mankind has constructed all kinds of gods & religions and interactions with gods. This tells me that god is a manmade construct. Before mankind there were no gods for billions of years. Only the cold emptiness of space. Mankind is a very short period on the timeline of the universe. On an annual clock we arrived at about 8 minutes to midnight on December 31st.

 

[DarkRange55]

Read God: the Failed Hypothesis by physicist Victor J. Stenger. There is not a single shred of verifiable empirical evidence that any sort of god exists and there is plenty of evidence against the Judeo-Christian-Islamic god's existence such as: evolution, the scientific inaccuracy of the Bible, the historical inaccuracy of the Bible, the contradictory nature of the Bible, the omnipotence omniscience paradoxes, the who created the creator conundrum, and a bunch of others.
And read Civilization and its Discontents by Sigmund Freud. He said something along the lines of, god is a existential manifestation of our collective cultural yearning for a sense of parental power over a random and chaotic universe. And the inability for us to grasp infinity and our struggle with the transitory nature of life.

Seneca said: "Fools think religion is true, the wise think it false, but rulers see it as useful."

I could go on further…

 

[Blackpepperpancake]

People need the concept of God in any form they believe in, It helps construct a society and form unity, however there's no such thing as God. He's not dead, he doesn't exist in the first place.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm not sure. Personally, I hope not because- if there is one- I can't see how they can be good. If there is one, I pretty much only feel fear and loathing towards them. I guess I love some of their creations but, any love I feel towards them is out of fear. Like you would an abusive partner.

I'm probably more in the atheist camp now. God and religion make a lot more sense as a manmade creation to keep order- the same as law. Having said that, I was brought up around loose Christian ideas, so, it's hard to entirely shake all that off.

 

[DarkRange55]

People need the concept of God in any form they believe in, It helps construct a society and form unity, however there's no such thing as God. He's not dead, he doesn't exist in the first place.

Religious gatherings act as a facet of a community in my opinion. I think a sense of community is always relevant. Religion maybe not. Why do you say it's necessary?

 

[Blackpepperpancake]

Religious gatherings act as a facet of a community in my opinion. I think a sense of community is always relevant. Religion maybe not. Why do you say it's necessary?

It's my personal thought but from what I've had conversations to strangers and my friends, there are some people who had got better from their lowest point of their life by believing in God, that stong belief can be a main factor to overcome life's obstacle. God didn't help them, they found a solution to cope themselve. Therefore in their perspective, religion is necessary, however it's not necessary for me.

 

[raltsrover]

Not really. I've never felt the presence of a divine figure in my life. I dedicate my life to science, so it's pretty difficult to believe when you have so many details that it doesn't exist. I do respect people who believe in god though. I think it makes life better for many people.

 

[august4you]

I am torn by this question. Life has been almost unbearable to live. It makes me question if I am ignored by God, or if an ultimate superior figure exists at all.

I grew up in a religious household, and I did, in my younger age, believe that a benevolent, loving God exists. I thought of God everyday. I saw God in nature, in my friendships, in my familial relationships. Chalk it up to childlike naivety and innocence, but I will never forget that feeling of blessedness.

As I got older, I became more jaded and stopped praying and reading the Al-Quran. I started to grow more depressed and unhappy with my circumstances. I currently feel that God is no longer a real part of my presence.

But, if you took my own experiences out of the scope and started to look for more abstract examples, how is it possible that a benevolent God exists alongside heinous crimes and events such as the holocaust, slavery, genocide, child abuse, and sex trafficking? If good cannot exist without evil, why is suffering the central point of life? Where is peace? Why is it that some people suffer more and feel less peace than others?

I hate my life. I want nothing more than to end it. But it pains me to think that I may go back to a God I feel ignored by every single day.

I believe in a god but I think he is evil and stupid. I've become disillusioned with religion, faith, and with living for a while now and until recently I've decided I want to act on it. I believe that god is some big evil bully who enjoys viewing our suffering. Like a mean child who burns ants with a magnifying glass. I don't think there is an explanation to our suffering because to ppl it's absurd to believe that an omnipotent being is not above enjoying the suffering of others beneath them.

 

[Rher]

Unfortunately, that is the dark reality of life which many try to sugarcoat. I am not religious myself, however, I do believe god exist. If everything comes from somewhere and it needs something to be where it is, doesn't that mean that we as humans, needed something to bring us to reality. Ask yourself how we are alive, how time is brought to existence and all of matter. It only makes sense to believe something brought it there. And because of that, we can infer that whatever brought us to life is how God definitely exist. God may not be like we expect, it can honestly be anything at this point as long as its a possibility. But what I can say is that we are suffering a lot because we are alive and I am not sure whether to blame God or not, despite knowing my own problems are my own faults; it does make me feel betrayed and lied though, can't help but feel a sense of envy towards others. I am open to any opinions and would love to hear what others say. Life is unfair, some are more attractive, some are more intelligent, some are rich, some are born poor, its just how life works. Humans are quite small creatures when we look into the cosmos of the universe - Our existence is no better than an insect in the eyes of god or creature that's higher up in the chain of life. Remember that humans are also apart of a food web, having to follow all of our Hierarchy of Maslow's needs. If anyone disagrees with me, I would be happy to listen to what you have to say and we can openly and kindly discuss this controversial topic.

 

[DEATH IS FREEDOM]

There is so much meaningless and unnecessarily suffering in the world. We have to put up with wars, crimes, pollution, noise, injusticies, bullying, rudenesses, poverty, involontary loneliness, diseases, pains, pandemics and overcrowding - overpopulation is evil. And we do not even have the right to die to escape this suffering. One can become chronically ill or chronically disabled any day - but we are expected to live on. Humans are expected to be tormented as long as possible before we die. To me it seems that the devil has created this world.

 

[monk-in-hell]

I don't believe in god, I know god because I know that I am alive

 

[Boller Bryant]

I used to believe in God/religion. But after realizing that nobody gives a fuck about my situation, even God itself who claimed to be all loving diety, I started to be sceptical about religion as a whole.

Now, I don't believe in religion or God anymore. They're just a hallucination that made by humanity to cope with absurdity of life, just like Albert Camus once theorized.

Personally, not believing in beliefs is kinda hard. Since you don't have anything to blame nor ask for help for your misery.

 

[real person]

i doubt many people on this website think god exists lol