God - do you believe?

[MisterOJ]

This reminds me of a class discussion about Marx's statement on religion being the opiate of the masses. Yes I do believe in God but I also believe evolution to be true. And while I will concede that I may be a bit confused I know I am not a creationist. I just haven't worked out the details of the link between the two. Yet.

There's nothing that says you have to figure it out. I think there are some things we humans will never know or be able to figure out. At least while we're here on earth. Maybe one day, after we've passed on, God will see fit to enlighten us. :)

I believe in both creation and evolution. I definitely believe in evolution. But, everything had to come from somewhere. That was God.

[Eponine]

This reminds me of a class discussion about Marx's statement on religion being the opiate of the masses. Yes I do believe in God but I also believe evolution to be true. And while I will concede that I may be a bit confused I know I am not a creationist. I just haven't worked out the details of the link between the two. Yet.

If you don't limit your god to being bound by a very specific set of stories, then the details can be whatever you want them to be. God set the world in motion so it would evolve in exactly this way. God set the world in motion according to a general plan, but the specifics filled themselves in. God guided evolution step by step. See, this is easy. But also raises some doubts about the usefulness of god as an answer to how and why.

[TheMysteriousOne]

I believe in God, though I have questioned God's existence, even hardcore-Christians have at one point. But I barely ever question God's existence, I only question whether he cares about what goes on in the world. I think there's one God, I'm a Catholic but I'm not as 'Catholic' as I should be because I just don't believe in many of the doctrines. I do, however believe that people can find God or Jesus in a myriad of religions and faith, even Atheists and Agnostics. Just because you don't believe in God or the Judeo-Christian God, doesn't mean you can't be a good person or go to heaven. I do believe that many parts of the Bible are metaphoric, especially parts of the Old Testaments, and I really dislike Christians who are false and judgemental. I know many Atheists who are better people than some Christians. As long as you're happy with your life and you are a good person, no matter your race, gender or sexual orientation, or religion, etc., we should all treat each other equally and in my belief, be able to go to Heaven.

[Kairi]

I guess that is where having faith comes in.

[polishgenius]

I'm a Catholic but I'm not as 'Catholic' as I should be because I just don't believe in many of the doctrines.

This is pretty much me. Questioning Catholic, I guess. I've yet to find anything that answers me more directly though.

[str8 outta Old Town]

The question is phrased wrong, should be "a god or gods". Putting "God" assumes that Atheism is another religion competing with the various versions of the Yahwe cult, when actually it is the rejection of all forms of religion equally.

Alternately, it could be interpreted as privileging the Yahweh cults as rational alternatives to Atheism, while other religions are less intrinsically rational. There is no reason at all to consider, say, Catholicism or Islam as being more rational than Mithraism or Aztec Polytheism, so this attitude is intrinsically flawed.

[LuisDantas]

Not sure why the OP equates religion with belief in God. For whatever it is worth, I'm religious but very much a strong atheist as well.

[polishgenius]

The question is phrased wrong, should be "a god or gods". Putting "God" assumes that Atheism is another religion competing with the various versions of the Yahwe cult, when actually it is the rejection of all forms of religion equally.

You also need to distinguish between Atheism and Dawkinism/anti-Theism...

[str8 outta Old Town]

You also need to distinguish between Atheism and Dawkinism/anti-Theism...

Still not religions, they are secular philosophies not based on belief in the supernatural. If they are religions then so are Socialism, Existentialism, Optimism and Leeds United-ism

[ManyFacedMember]

I am an Atheist and we are huge minority in any country. I do respect Religions and religious people.

However I am getting nervous when some people claim that Atheists lack morality.

(‘It saddens me greatly’, LF would say, but I am not LF. ‘Such a pity’ would be Vary’s quote, but I am not him either )

Also, I don’t like when some people are ignorant about scientific facts, and try to refute science with 18^th century arguments.

I think there is no need for that. If someone do believe in God, that should not be a reason

to disregard theory of Evolution and some other scientific theories related to physics.

(Sorry for my weak English folks)

[Jamie's left hand]

JLH,

I missed that quote. The starvation caused by Stalin in the Ukraine. The Cambodian genocide. The Rwandan genocide, the "great leap forward" in China? How were any of these "bad things" caused by religion?

They weren't... Which is why i didn't say 'all'

[The Ghost of Winter]

I'm an atheist, have been for a while.

I don't think religion is the sole reason that the world has problems even if it can contribute a large amount to it.

People will always be screwed up imo.

I personally don't mind religious folks if they're more modest, its just fundamentalists of any flavor I don't like much.

I used to be Catholic, got real tired of the political ramblings of priests and started to get annoyed by the fact that women serve no role in masses.

[polishgenius]

They weren't... Which is why i didn't say 'all'

You said "for good people to do bad things you need religion". That pretty much implies 'all'.

[Fez]

Nope, I don't. I pretended to as a little kid, but once I realized my parents were also pretending to appease various extended family members I decided to just give up on the charade.

I find the whole business rather silly, but I don't begrudge people who are in to it, so long as they don't try to force their views on anyone else. Its pretty much the same stance I take towards who people who are into Fifty Shades of Grey.

[Eponine]

Why did we stop talking about mushrooms?

[TerraPrime]

This is pretty much me. Questioning Catholic, I guess. I've yet to find anything that answers me more directly though.

How hard have you looked? How genuinely have you tried?

It does not seem that hard to find a religion better than Catholicism, to be honest. Episcopalian, for instance, is quite similar but a healthy decrease in sexism and anti-gay-ism. Need a more social-justice oriented one? Try Quakerism.

Like, seriously, there's a near-infinite number of alternates, within Christianity, let alone venturing outside of it.

[Jamie's left hand]

I don't.

That being said, I don't think you can cherry-pick religion to be the thing that makes good people do bad things. I mean, people will use anything under the sun as a pretext to do something 'bad.' Like money, fame, love, jealousy, wombats.

I do think it's really entertaining to talk to hard-core atheists or anyone that's really overly enthusiastic about their religion or lack of religion. I know it's kind of fucked up but I like to listen to them get all worked up.

See, I do bad things for entertainment purposes.

In India when born a Hindu if you are a Shudra or Vaishya you are instantly looked down upon and can never rise above the name given to you at birth.

The millions that die in religious conflicts - caused by the minority yes but the minority has a big impact on the majority in this case.

Kids being told to be good or go to hell and being frightened out of their wits

Inequality for Women in most religions - take the old testament for example

Contraception 'causes aids' - impacting on over population especially in poor areas causing more poverty

All made acceptable because of religion

And then the positives:

Donates money to charities

Some people live a better life and have good morals

[Jamie's left hand]

This reminds me of a class discussion about Marx's statement on religion being the opiate of the masses. Yes I do believe in God but I also believe evolution to be true. And while I will concede that I may be a bit confused I know I am not a creationist. I just haven't worked out the details of the link between the two. Yet.

One of the most misquoted statements ever... Pretty sure he was an atheist

Almost as bad as the Virgin Mary mistranslation

[TheMysteriousOne]

In India when born a Hindu if you are a Shudra or Vaishya you are instantly looked down upon and can never rise above the name given to you at birth.

The millions that die in religious conflicts - caused by the minority yes but the minority has a big impact on the majority in this case.

Kids being told to be good or go to hell and being frightened out of their wits

Inequality for Women in most religions - take the old testament for example

Contraception 'causes aids' - impacting on over population especially in poor areas causing more poverty

All made acceptable because of religion

And then the positives:

Donates money to charities

Some people live a better life and have good morals

About the contraception issue, it doesn't cause AIDS, The Church teaches abstinence. I'm not saying that people shouldn't have sex because they have STIs, but in the old days before condoms, that would've been a practical solution

Also, the Church is against birth control, because they value human life and believe that it starts at conception. If you're going to have sex, think about the consequences. This is why the Church is also against abortion, because abortion is basically killing unborn babies. (not saying that this is always right i.e, being raped and not wanting to keep the baby, but it somewhat makes sense).

[Jamie's left hand]

Yeah, I believe in God.

That's the 'how', not the 'why'. Of course, it doesn't follow that we need a why, but it's also only a very small part of the how. Unless you can tell me where the Universe came from.

In the next few decades we'll find out that

But... Who created this supernatural being called 'god'? Or is it unbelievably a fairy tail?

The 'why' question is just a stupid question and cannot be answered because there is no true answer