Does God exist?

[Frankie 1]

just like all religions, what is taught, definitely isn't practice. i find buddhism one of the worst practiced religions, especially by the monks themselves. and i thought the catholics were a bunch of hypocrites.

Buddhists are not Buddhas
Christians are not Jesus

They make an effort (at least some do) to learn to do the right thing, and some have a long way to go before they understand the teachings. In the mean time they are still just people.

[aznyron]

Frankie I don't know what your saying but trust me I am a sinner but I do believe in a higher power his name as I know him is GOD and his son is JESUS and if you want to live in GOD Kingdom you must accept Jesus in your heart now there are those who do not accept Jesus Jews for one Muslim for another
but a Good Jew will live with God as for Muslims I will remain silent Oh as for Buddhist they believe in Jesus his name is Buddha

[BobHelm]

Ron, you are certainly not correct in your statement above.
God is the God of the Jews, who do not accept that Jesus Christ was his son, and are still awaiting HIS coming. Allah (of Muslim interpretation) is EXACTLY the same entity as recognised by Jews & Christians. They recognise Jesus as being a prophet of God (but not his son)and also the words of the Old Testament. In their believes GOD actually spoke to Mohamed ( 600 years after the death of Jesus) and the actual written discussions between them form the basis of the Koran &, therefore, formulate how life should be followed - as it is the last recorded word of God.
Buddha (who I am woefully unsure of, but I am sure someone with more knowledge will correct my errors) was a normal man & follower of Hinduism who lead a normal (selfish) existence until undergoing a revelation that made him dedicate his life to seeking enlightenment. Something that he achieved to such an extent that he inspired others to follow the same path to achieving the highest state that man can achieve.
As can be seen by the above (without going into the different factions that exist within Judaism, Muslims and Christianity) there is very little to actually argue about. Which makes me despair at the murder that has existed between these 3 groups in the name of what they each see as the "correct" way to worship GOD.

[aznyron]

Thank you Bob very good interpretation and I do stand corrected as I read your post I just wonder what Mohammed was told by God in there conversation and why is the Koran or at least those who interpret
the Koran are bent on killing those who do not believe in the Koran like I said before we live in a sick world and you know what AA says in there big book live and let live and this is my philosophy which
I try to live by

[BobHelm]

I think much of the problem is that many followers (of ANY faith) want to read every word and interpret what it means. This is forgetting that it was written by Man (maybe under the guidance of God) and has often had to be interpreted from a variety of now extinct old languages.
The rules of the Ten Commandments are pretty clear & if it doesn't mention "Coveting thy neighbours' leopard" (or any other non named animal) then some will take this to mean it is OK to covet them & some will take the general intent that "coveting" is against the rules. If someone with authority within the religion has a vested interest (one way or the other) then a faction is formed.
This has happened to all religions & rarely for religious reasons - take Henry 8th. and the founding of the Church of England as just one example.

[Frankie 1]

I think religion can bring out the worst in people. Because some religious people think they know everything better (they are God's chosen people), they can become extremely arrogant. As a result of their arrogance they completely miss the point of the teachings of their religion.

[westerby]

I think religion can bring out the worst in people. Because some religious people think they know everything better (they are God's chosen people), they can become extremely arrogant. As a result of their arrogance they completely miss the point of the teachings of their religion.

Not arrogant in the context of Christianity, Frankie...but smug! That's what winds people up, a smug God Botherer who thinks he/she has the answers to life while others don't.

The answer is 42 by the way...

[farang]

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if video stop-start-stop-start , click pause for a few mins then click play

:-"

[glalt]

I was born and raised catholic but I got over that when I left the small town I was born in. I have come to the point that I believe that organized religion is the worst threat the world has ever faced. From the christian crusades to the muslim atrocities of today religion has caused most of today's problems.

Now as to the question, yes I believe in God because I can see no other explanation for what we see around us. The big bang, what a bunch of BS.

My God never wrote any BS books and he never asked anyone to write books for him. Those books, IMHO, were written by mentally disturbed deluded men with good imaginations.

[pje]

I beleive in Gods (there are so many to choose from, now and earlier in the human history).
I beleive the gods exists inside the heads of people who beleive in them.
I just hope their beliefe make them good human beeings , and not prejudists of people with other gods, which is far too common.

This is the main reason why there is no god in my head.
If there where 1 god, why should he let people beleive in other gods depending on where in the world , and from which parents they were born. And why should he make it impossible to beleive in him by using the logic and the common sence he equipped man with.

[BKKSTAN]

I was born and raised catholic but I got over that when I left the small town I was born in. I have come to the point that I believe that organized religion is the worst threat the world has ever faced. From the christian crusades to the muslim atrocities of today religion has caused most of today's problems.

Now as to the question, yes I believe in God because I can see no other explanation for what we see around us. The big bang, what a bunch of BS.

My God never wrote any BS books and he never asked anyone to write books for him. Those books, IMHO, were written by mentally disturbed deluded men with good imaginations.

I definitely agree!!!! =D> =D>

[fremmel]

I have to agree with glalt that religion has caused most of today's major problems. But the Big Bang is easier for me to accept than an all powerful god springing up from somewhere unexplained.

Anyway, as to the OP's question, I'm an atheist but if I weren't I'd have to go with a line I saw somewhere - "I'm not an atheist or an agnostic, I'm an apatheist because I just don't give a ....".

[Khun Paul]

More people have been killed, tortured, mutilated in the name of one particular religion than any other, as far back as man can remember or even further, from the Inca's to modern day islamists, we kill in the name of aparticular religious diety calling it god, budda, mohammed is just putting a name to a belief.

Ig Goid exists does that mean we are living in hell and when we die we transcend to a higher plane?
Is man right to believe in something higher than itself ?
Does Man need to believe in something higher,in order to justify his/her existence.

These are the questions that Man has stuggled with for so many centuries, occasionally one person emerges who is charismatic and also with superb oratorial skills who then shows us a way forward, but these are rare people and when they arrive and then leave,only then do we question the teachings or the information given.

We are truly a quizzical race Homo sapiens and long may we reamin so.

[rufus]

[

My God never wrote any BS books and he never asked anyone to write books for him. Those books, IMHO, were written by mentally disturbed deluded men with good imaginations.

I definitely agree!!!! =D> =D>[/quote]

I suppose you are talking about the bible here.

[glalt]

I'm talking about any book that CLAIMS to be the word of God. All of us were born with a conscience. Unfortunately some among us have managed to suppress that conscience and others have been brainwashed from birth to march to a different drummer. Such is the danger of fanatics being in positions to teach children. I believe we were born knowing right from wrong. Of course there are people born that are mentally defective just the same as there are people born with physical defects.

[WBU ALUM]

religion has caused most of today's major problems.

So now it's religion that is evil. I don't guess that those who are intolerant of others because of their faith and beliefs has anything to do with it.

[aznyron]

I always look at religion as a personal choice and I for one would not attack any one religious beliefs
I am also a believer in live & let live meaning I don't want bible thumpers pounding on my door or koran believers trying to kill me because they believe a non muslim should be killed the way I understand it I also believe organized religion could be a wonderful thing if they would only stick to the truth and not try to interpret there opinion as fact
with that being said I no longer belong to organized religion I choose not to be one of there supporters but I do
believe in GOD and I believe my GOD is not to be feared but LOVED

[BKKSTAN]

[

My God never wrote any BS books and he never asked anyone to write books for him. Those books, IMHO, were written by mentally disturbed deluded men with good imaginations.

I definitely agree!!!! =D> =D>

I suppose you are talking about the bible here.[/quote]

This quote was not mine,rufus

It is not what I believe,but I believe in the possibility of it being true!

I believe in a Creator,what it is,how it works,I do not know,nor do I believe anyone that tells me they know for sure!

I don't believe that we evolved from nothing.A big bang might or might not have happened,but something was created to go bang if it did happen!

I don't believe we humans evolved from other animals.I see us as seperate species that evolve!

I believe that if someones faith in a belief works for them,that is good as long as they don't force it on me as an individual!

I believe in good and evil and I think we have a choice if we are mentally competent to make choices.

I studied the Bible intensively for 3 years in an attempt to disprove it to myself once and for all and found that I could not do so satisfactorily,came to believe in the possibility of truth within it,but never could connect to ''the interpreters''(churches and preachers)nor the congregations that reacted as ''herds'' filled with ''holier than thou'' hypocrites.It could have been my loner instinct and fear!But later I found that the belief in a creator/higher power gave me faith and allowed me to ''rise from the ashes'' and get a completely different less selfish lifestyle!

Faith in something is a powerful tool for life,IMO and experience.Being an ''island unto yourself'' is not an easy way of life!The problem with life for me is maintaining and relying on a faith in the unknown power,even when it seemed to have a powerful positive effect on myself and my life,not long after I leave ''the ashes'' behind.

I think it is a ''control issue''! Somes friends of mine subscribe to the idea that it is the ''EGO'' which they interpret as ''Edging God Out'' motivated by fear as one questions their ''Faith''!Maybe they are right,I don't know!But ,they are my friends because they accept me as I am w/o trying to impose upon me their beliefs

[glalt]

People have the absolute right to worship as they see fit. There is nothing wrong with religion itself. What is wrong is the people who manipulate that religion to satisfy their own goals. Suicide cults? Kill the infidels? People who try to stuff that religion down my throat? Do you consider that the right way to use religion? To me, worship is a private thing and should be kept that way.

[Pakawala]

This is getting a bit tedious. I mean lets face it, this question has been asked for over 2000 years now and still there's no way to prove the answer to the acceptance of either side of the argument.