Do you believe in a God?

[AOA]

I believe in a higher order and purpose that is beyond my comprehension. Is this God? If not, I don't know what else is.

Now, that's similar to the way I see it.

(Couldn't help but 'quote for truth' this one, too - must be our lucky day.)

 

[ADISCIPLE]

I don't understand the necessity of this distinction - why would I feel compelled to force the concept of divinity into some linguistic compacting such as "a God"? Why can't I believe in many Gods? Or maybe Many Gods underneath a supreme, whole "one" God? If the latter, then why talk about just "a God" ? That makes no sense to me.

Do you wanna know what I believe? I believe that if I believe in God, and if I believe that the descriptions of God that are given to me as such ARE TRUE, there's more than "one God" - or at least, there are "spheres" of God that we can describe as being MULTIPLE. Hence we need more than A God.

If i'm not mistaken, Christianity does just this!! You don't need "a God", you need many and you need them badly.

Besides, why would I believe in A God when I can believe in ALL GODS?!? The latter is much more amusing, trust me Ever see Zeus play a prank on St Peter? I have. It was pretty violent for a prank, but it got laughs from the onlooking angels.

If you believe in multiple gods you believe in a god. Thank you for your input.

 

[ADISCIPLE]

Now, that's similar to the way I see it.

(Couldn't help but 'quote for truth' this one, too - must be our lucky day.)

This is similar to my belief.

 

[Into It]

Disciple, I feel like you've "done a lot" for only having 27 posts, and many of them short...

 

[Southern Kross]

Possibly. In more ways than not Intelligent Design of some sort is more probable and more believable. The simplest solution is more times than not the right one.

I find it easier to believe in an all powerful endless God than in something from nothing.

From a somewhat objective point of view a creator could have made the big bang. Either way, we never throughout all of science can come up with how the universe originated. The big bang cannot work simply because matter (a form of energy) cannot be created or destroyed. It's possible that that matter was always there stretching throughout time into eternity past. However, it's not probable. If it was there throughout eternity past what changed, that it would expand at such an enormous rate? Even with time on it's side the chances are not even close that we would come into being, that life period would come into being. Even if life were to come into being to become the species and the different kinds of life that we have today it would have to evolve. Most evolutions hinder or do not effect the organism at all. Very few are for the better (which we would say that our coming into existence would be towards the better end of the spectrum). So the odds are that life would become extinct and have to start all over again. It doesn't work. It's more plausible to believe in an inexplicable God guiding this universe than to believe it all occurred and came into being because of trillions upon trillions of coincidences.

There is no such thing as coincidence.

Therefore, I choose to believe in providence.

Ohhh, and I never read any book on the Higgs Particle.

2 thoughts to add purely for the sake of argument:

1) I feel compelled to offer the typical response to the Intelligent Design theory: who is to say this Creator is benevolent? If anything, it seems more evident with all the shitty things going on in the world, that this creator is indeed malevolent.

2) The complex scientific theories of the universe that you dismiss are my religion of sorts. I am in awe of universe and its elegant symphonic self-design, its immense size and strange nature, its calculable rational, and yet its unpredictability and the unfathomable odds which must be overcome to create something such as life or consciousness. These are the things I can believe and trust in. These are my miracles, and I don't need a deity to explain them, because science does that for me. Beyond that, I cannot say for sure what there is out there. I don't deny your beliefs, I just want to stress that one can observe the extraordinary miracles around oneself and not use traditional religious belief to explain and understand it.

 

[nozflubber]

If you believe in multiple gods you believe in a god. Thank you for your input.

Correct, but you acknowledge here that belief in A god does not exclude the possibility of believing in multiple gods....... right? Was this question supposed to be about asking about divinity in general, perhaps?


I only ask cuz your question is what we call "forced response" in psychology and sociology - its used to force/compell a person to answer rather than not answer - in this case you have offered us a nominal YES or NO response to a question that is ultimately more dynamic than the responses allowed. Not to mention, your forced responses are deliberately deceptive. So, while you thank me for my input, please allow me to thank you for your worthless poll question bearing worthless nominal distinctions that will result in completely biased, worthless answers. We love you already here at TypeC, honestly!

EDIT: I voted Yes just to mock you. I don't "believe" in any God, I entertain all Gods like a good (Read as: insane) INTP. Mohammed loves you, bitches.

 

[swordpath]

Dunno. If there is a god he's either limited in his power or some sort of a jerk.

 

[ADISCIPLE]

Correct, but you acknowledge here that belief in A god does not exclude the possibility of believing in multiple gods....... right? Was this question supposed to be about asking about divinity in general, perhaps?


I only ask cuz your question is what we call "forced response" in psychology and sociology - its used to force/compell a person to answer rather than not answer - in this case you have offered us a nominal YES or NO response to a question that is ultimately more dynamic than the responses allowed. Not to mention, your forced responses are deliberately deceptive. So, while you thank me for my input, please allow me to thank you for your worthless poll question bearing worthless nominal distinctions that will result in completely biased, worthless answers. We love you already here at TypeC, honestly!

EDIT: I voted Yes just to mock you. I don't "believe" in any God, I entertain all Gods like a good (Read as: insane) INTP. Mohammed loves you, bitches.

There is nothing WRONG with asking a question in which people feel compelled to answer directly. When you ask hard question to someone some deem it as impossible, some are scared, and some want to answer it. With every person I found here that wanted to answer the question, two would rather just search for it, or de-rationalize it. This is a problem I see in society and I see it in you. I can handle being hated, or mocked, I think the best people are. I have seen that 25 to 30 posters cannot publish view on a topic but can rather bicker between one another. Many people are not able to answer a question yes or no because they are afraid of what someone will say, or are afraid of what they might believe, or get lost in the technicalities, mixed with judgement of a persons seniority or MBTI or Avatar, like yourself. The poll was aimed at people who can answer this question for themselves, who can share some experiences. Yes I hoped to get biased results out of it, and I got the opposite. So you are right, the poll was worthless, it achieved NOTHING. But it did give me some answers, just unexpected ones. People cannot accept one another's views on a topic and allow them just to believe what they believe. And especially in the people that don't believe, seem incapable of just living, loving, and helping. I am sorry you are an unhappy person that likes to hurl insults and tell someone they mock them, that is just not me.

 

[garbage]

or can be Nature, Scientific rules, an Initiator, whatever.

Well.. in that case.. yeah. It's great because defining God in such a way gets you out of hot water with believers and yet makes you sound rational to atheists

There's something out there that we don't yet fully comprehend that orchestrates everything around us and, in some way or another, created the universe. Given a very personal, subjective, and so far incomplete definition of what God is, I believe it exists, and I choose to revere and respect it by working toward a brighter future for humankind and making the most out of the situations and strange coincidences that it brings my way.

I am, however, far removed from the anthropomorphization of this force and attempts to assign it emotions and a will much like our own. I find it interesting that some believers deride atheists for believing no power to be higher than man, yet they confine God to the image and psychology of a man.

This is similar to my belief.

Basically, this.

 

[ADISCIPLE]

Disciple, I feel like you've "done a lot" for only having 27 posts, and many of them short...

I apologize if this gives you a negative impression. I feel short, direct responses provide the best feedback of one's thoughts.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

I used to believe in God and felt an actual connection to something beyond myself when I sat quietly alone in nature. It wasn't exactly a feeling, but a clearer perception of what it means to be kind, and a sharpened sense of empathy, of being profoundly connected to everything around me.

I'm agnostic. I have explored this topic with a lot of effort for at least 25 years. I have heard the logical arguments against the existence of god, and for the most part I understand it. As a reasoning person I accept it, although it isn't what I desire to think. Emotionally it was at times a grief to accept, but I want to know what i am actually dealing with in reality because that allows me to best know how to live and where to put my energies.

I don't approach it with the kind of certitude that some do. It isn't because I think all possibilities are equal. They aren't. It has more to do with being aware of my own limitations to perceive reality as a whole. The closest thing I have to certitude is that human beings are small and limited and cannot perceive the whole of reality

 

[nozflubber]

There is nothing WRONG with asking a question in which people feel compelled to answer directly. When you ask hard question to someone some deem it as impossible, some are scared, and some want to answer it. With every person I found here that wanted to answer the question, two would rather just search for it, or de-rationalize it. This is a problem I see in society and I see it in you. I can handle being hated, or mocked, I think the best people are. I have seen that 25 to 30 posters cannot publish view on a topic but can rather bicker between one another. Many people are not able to answer a question yes or no because they are afraid of what someone will say, or are afraid of what they might believe, or get lost in the technicalities, mixed with judgement of a persons seniority or MBTI or Avatar, like yourself. The poll was aimed at people who can answer this question for themselves, who can share some experiences. Yes I hoped to get biased results out of it, and I got the opposite. So you are right, the poll was worthless, it achieved NOTHING. But it did give me some answers, just unexpected ones. People cannot accept one another's views on a topic and allow them just to believe what they believe. And especially in the people that don't believe, seem incapable of just living, loving, and helping. I am sorry you are an unhappy person that likes to hurl insults and tell someone they mock them, that is just not me.

You mock ALL OF US here and our intellectual integrity by posting a poll you admit yourself ACHIEVED NOTHING.

why? unhappy much? I love illogical inductive inferences too, maybe we can join the glee club together! getting personal about God is OSO FUN!

 

[/DG/]

I voted yes. Do I believe in the god as depicted in the Roman Catholic Bible (my supposed religion)? No.

 

[nozflubber]

^see ?

 

[Journey]

I believe in the Triune God of the Bible as He has revealed Himself there and in nature. I have believed since I was 8 years old and my faith has never changed, even though I closely examined other religions, cults and faiths.

 

[Fluffywolf]

People cannot accept one another's views on a topic and allow them just to believe what they believe. And especially in the people that don't believe, seem incapable of just living, loving, and helping.

It didn't take you long to prove your point. Well done!

 

[LucrativeSid]

I'm agnostic. I don't understand why people don't like how there's only two options in the poll. I'm asked what I believe, not what I know. I don't believe deities exist, I merely believe that it's a possibility.

 

[Mort Belfry]

I didn't want to hear from those people. I think everyone should know what they believe.

Not cool. Agnostics get left out again.

Agreed.

If someone doesn't have enough information to make a decision between two options it doesn't mean that their reasoning is flawed. There's nothing stopping them from making a good point.

 

[Mole]

I used to believe in God and felt an actual connection to something beyond myself when I sat quietly alone in nature. It wasn't exactly a feeling, but a clearer perception of what it means to be kind, and a sharpened sense of empathy, of being profoundly connected to everything around me.

I'm agnostic. I have explored this topic with a lot of effort for at least 25 years. I have heard the logical arguments against the existence of god, and for the most part I understand it. As a reasoning person I accept it, although it isn't what I desire to think. Emotionally it was at times a grief to accept, but I want to know what i am actually dealing with in reality because that allows me to best know how to live and where to put my energies.

I don't approach it with the kind of certitude that some do. It isn't because I think all possibilities are equal. They aren't. It has more to do with being aware of my own limitations to perceive reality as a whole. The closest thing I have to certitude is that human beings are small and limited and cannot perceive the whole of reality

I like your posts so much Toonia, I want to reach through the screen and touch you.

However we all perceive by gestalt, that is, we always perceive wholes. We are incapable of perceiving in parts.

So we always perceive the whole of reality.

However we do perceive by making distinctions, and the more distinctions the more we see. But we always see the whole.

And I can hear you saying, in your delightful accent, "But Victor, which whole do you see? Do you see the whole whole? Or do you only see your own whole?".

And I answer, "Although I do like the way you roll your 'r's, a whole is a whole, is a whole; just as a rose, is a rose, is a rose".

Or you might say, "We are just set up to interpret our input as a whole". And I would say, "This still leaves us with no way to perceive in parts, we are condemned to the whole".

We are condemned to the gestalt and to the delightful gestalt therapy.

 

[Mole]

I don't believe deities exist, I merely believe that it's a possibility.

But tell me Sid, do you believe that Zeus and Poseidon possibly exist?