Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 23 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 2 months ago by
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- Why do some people have a hard time accepting the idea of a loving God who created all things?
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Name : Debbie P., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jehovahs Witness, Age : 38, City : Anadarko, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : homemaker (for now), Education level : Over 4 Years of College,First, there is no real evidence of the existence of some omniscient creator. In fact, if you made a list of criteria for something to qualify for non-existence, God would meet all the criteria. Do you believe in the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy? The same arguments against their existence would apply to God. 'Loving God?' Why does He allow innocent babies to suffer all over the world? Religion is just made-up stories people tell their children in order to explain things they themselves don't understand. With my knowledge of human nature, I am able to see that religion is just wishful thinking. People want to believe there is some justice in the universe and that death is not the end of existence. In this regard, religion tells people what they want to hear. But the more knowledge you have of logic and science, the less likely you will be to buy into such supersition.User Detail :
Name : Rick29862, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Do you really think it is God causing innocent babies to suffer all over the world? Did he invent bombs and war weapons or did man? Did God invent abortion and rape techniques, or did man? Blaming God and saying He doesn't exist because of the evil man has done seems to me as illogical as believing in the tooth fairy.User Detail :
Name : Debbie P., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jehovahs Witness, Age : 38, City : Anadarko, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : homemaker (for now), Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Rick answered the question of why some people don't believe in God. I would like to point out that: 1) There are many scientists who believe in God. I remember thinking while I was studying embryology that it would be impossible for human beings to be created by chance. 2) Very good things happen, as well as tragedies. I believe God has a purpose for everything that happens. 3) No one can prove God does not exist. 4) Just because religion meets people's spiritual and emotional needs does not mean the concept of God was created by humans.User Detail :
Name : Amy31590, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 28, City : Charleston, State : WV Country : United States, Occupation : Lab Tech, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Because to some people it seems like a made-up story. Although we may never find out for certain how the universe came about, it is insufficient to retire to such a basic explanation as 'a creator brought all of this about.' Every day, scientists find new evidence and clues about how the universe works. As for the concept of a loving God, it is not clear who God loves, and how do we know that he/she does? There is also the issue of which God we are talking about. People around the world bow before a wide variety of Gods. Is there still just one God? Do some of these people mistakenly praise a false God and the others the true God? And if this God is loving, why have hundreds of thousands of people died in wars and other conflicts that were caused by differing opinions of God and religion?User Detail :
Name : A.V., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Brooklyn, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : student,1.) Improbable, but not impossible. Even if it WERE impossible for us to have been created by chance, it does not automatically follow that God (as posited by organized religions) had anything to do with it. It may well have been a conglomerate of super-human, god-like aliens, or maybe we're some sort of experiment gone wrong. 2.) So God allows terrible things to happen to innocent babies for reasons that he chooses to keep private or to not let us understand. Oh yeah, that's REAL loving. 3.) You're right. You can't prove a negative. The same statement applies to the tooth fairy. What's your point? 4.) No, but it's a more reasonable explanation than simply blindly accepting ancient folklore as the truth. No god of any religion stands up to the scrutiny of reason any more successfully than the god(s) of any other religion. There is no logical reason to accept one of these gods over another.User Detail :
Name : Rick29863, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,You and I are both atheists; I simply believe in one less God than you do. If you tell me why you reject other Gods, then I will tell you why I reject yours.User Detail :
Name : Adam P., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 19, City : k-w, State : NA Country : Canada, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class,First, God doesn't allow babies all over the world to suffer, man does. God created man, but we chose to disobey him. Now we are flesh, and Satan rules us. We can turn our backs on Him, but He will never leave us. Second, the tooth fairy and Easter bunny have no historical significance (other than they were created to impress children), but Jesus and God do. Many events depicted in the Bible are also recorded in historical documents. Can you see the wind? Of course not, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You can see and feel the effects of the wind just the same as you can see and feel the effects of God. Take a look around you at the trees, grass, sky, etc. Do you really think a man could have created something so beautiful?User Detail :
Name : Summer, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 19, City : Battle Creek, State : NE Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,I understand why a lot of people believe in God, and I do, but my life doesn't revolve around Him/Her, and I respect the fact that some people don't believe in God. If God loves everyone, why does He allow us to suffer? I'm not entirely sure what I believe God to be, and it's good that you understand what you believe in, but people tend to hold beliefs similar to whoever brought them up, so not everyone will have the same view of God as you do.User Detail :
Name : Emma, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 15, City : Cheshire, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,To Rick The reason people in the world suffer is not because they believe in the living God, but because they worship everything but the living God.User Detail :
Name : Denise25834, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States,The comment was once made that the world contains more evidence of being the creation of a committee of dimwitted gods rather than that of an omnipotent being. One answer given here, that God is somehow responsible for all of the good, and none of the bad, smacks of having your cake and eating it too. The Gnostic view was that the word was created and ruled by a 'demi-urge', an evil or capricious spirit or spirits, and through gnosis humans can see their way through the fog of misunderstanding towards a state of complete consciousness that we call God. To me, that seems more likely.User Detail :
Name : Ben S., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 31, City : sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : Public servant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Rick, I can see why you aren't too happy with religions, and in particular 'God.' I mean, look at all the terrible things that happen, and wars fought, in which different religions claim that God is on 'their' side. Where babies die, and people who believe in 'God' say God wanted him/her in heaven. And the parents suffer so much pain. How could a so-called loving God do that? It doesn't make sense, does it? All these 'Christians' claim to follow the God of the Bible, yet they believe different things.Despite the fact that there are different Bibles in the world, they all basically say the same thing. In the Bible it says 'He who lives by the sword (or in today's language, 'gun' ), will perish by the sword (gun).' Yet religions ignore this warning. The Bible tells us how we came to be imperfect, and die. Which wasn't God's original purpose. So babies die, due to sickness, like adults, too, and old age. But it's because we are imperfect and not because of some 'act' of God.
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Name : Peter Briant, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jehovahs Witness, Age : 38, City : Melbourne, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : storeman, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,Vision is only one of the five senses. The wind may usually be invisible but it can still be perceived by other means. We can feel it and hear it, and its existence has been proven by science. It is irrational to assume that because one invisible thing exists that therefore another invisible thing must exist. There is no logical comparison between the wind and any god.User Detail :
Name : Robert, Gender : M, Religion : Atheist, Age : 30, City : Toronto, Ontario, State : NA Country : Canada,I've come to the conclusion, from talking to my non-Christian friends, that the major hang up in our society against God is the Biblical principal of submission. Our society teaches us to fight and never give up and to trust our own judgements in all things. We are encouraged to plan our own lives, make our own decisions and value our own feelings. Many people have a difficult time with the concept that there may be something or someone that knows the answers. They have a problem with letting go of the hard work they've put into getting more money and running their own lives and just can't except that there is a better way. The idea of surrendering the self in our society is so closly linked to slavery that even with the reassurances of a kind and loving God, people just can't accept that embracing ideals and the love of a supreme being isn't demeaning, it's liberating. Hope this helps.User Detail :
Name : aypwip, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Portland, State : OR Country : United States, Occupation : Assistant Bookkeeper, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Let's entertain the notion that God isn't merely a manmade symbol we use to replace answers we aren't yet evolved enough to fully comprehend, and say that the universe, and specifically, life, came about as a higher power's creation. At the beginning of recorded history, man could hardly grasp agriculture, and the size and shape of the planet we inhabit was an issue open for debate. Half a century ago we learned how to actually turn lead into gold and transmogrify one form of matter into another, which formerly was one of God's better tricks. Now we have developed a computer processor capable of rewiring itself on a molecular level, allowing it to learn (that is learn, NOT in quotes) how to do things. One only need to explore science fiction to see what astonishing but hardly unachievable accomplishments lie in man's future: terraforming, time travel, etc. It's not really a question of 'if,' but 'when' mankind will match and surpass 'God's' achievements. When that time comes, what would 'God's' signifigance be? I hope there is a God, so that when we finally roust him out from whatever hiding place he's been keeping himself in, we can pat him on the head, thank him for all the help he's been over the millenia, and make him shine our shoes. I think the most offensive part of the Bible is the part where God punishes man for eating from the 'tree of knowlege.' If there is evidence of God's existence in the Bible, that's it, because it exactly fits the m.o. of an oppressor, much like human dictators keep their subjects subserviant by forbidding the freedom of press or teaching of written language, and much like oppressors in the West use the Christian tenet of 'turn the other cheek' to get their subjects to mistake being led to slaughter for righteousness. Eve and Adam took that first subversive step for mankind, and we should be eternally grateful that they gave us the gift of sin (not that I believe in that crap).User Detail :
Name : Justin26870, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 27, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Social class : Lower middle class,
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