God/Jesus - Real or Not?

Well, when we die, we shall know the truth

I believe in God. I believe Jesus existed. There are books that the Pope removed from the Bible that depicted Jesus as a normal person that God worked through. because of this, I do not take everything in the Bible literally.

Probably every civilization in history has had a religion based on a Good and an Evil. I believe that they are all variations of one, and all civilizations have some record of the great flood.. After all, Christians, Jews, Mormons, and Muslims all believe in the same God. Weather or not Christianity is the origin, I do not know. But I believe. And even if my religion is not the correct one, I still believe there is a God. The universe is too complex to have just happened.

Now that humanity is advanced enough to keep track of history all over the world, if evolution is real, we will know eventually, because there will be photographic proof of what humans looked like in 2009.



I do not judge people on their beliefs. I think we can all exist together.
Don't push your beliefs on me, and I won't push mine on you.

I don't believe in God and don't believe in Jesus, I think that is just a story...I only believe in good and evil and people can chose.
People need to believe in somthing...

Then believe in yourself and not that sitting around praying is going to get you through tough times.

I agree. God or not, praying will not help. If God gives us free will, the ability to decide. He doesn;t control your life, (I completely agree, I would want everything controled, Ri) so by asking, he is gonna step down and the reins.

I think of prayer as such: Pretend you are praying to praying for 100 bucks. There are three possible out come to your request. Yes, No or Later.

You pray and you recieve. You automatically assume God stepped in and helped you. No thought is given to the fact that it may have been chance or that is was earned.

You pray and you are denied. No doubt is cast on God, but you believe that God didnt give it to you because it was for the best or that the money (or whatever) would cause harm or someone such reason. People rationalize this. ALOT. This also culd be rationalized as a test of faith.

You pray for the money and you recieve it a few months/years later. Of course, no doubt is given, it is just accepted that God gave you the money when you needed it more or at a time that it would not threaten your well being. No thought is given to chance, or the fact that you earned it (in the event of a paycheck, bonus or extra work). If it was found in a pocket or some similar situation, no thought is given that you may have found it ten years ago or ten years from now.

Again, I am just lumping everyone together, I am sure there are specific cases that would be deemed a miracle.

Cass wrote:Then believe in yourself and not that sitting around praying is going to get you through tough times.

:shock: :suspect:

well, prayer, whether "real" or not HAS been shown to give calming benefits to those in pain because it acts like meditation.

True, like I said, it it makes you feel better to believe/pray/etc. then do it. Imagine the worst that could happen is that you are wrong and there is nothing when you die, even then, no harm, no foul. But imagine if there is a God, I think he may be pissed at all us athesists. Food for thought.

lol true. It's like insurance as my great-grandfather used to say. Bet he went to hell for that.

Your grandfather is a wise man. I cant say the same of me, well in this respect. Im just thick headed, thats all.

I don't believe or not believe in God or Jesus. I suppose my basic belief would be "I don't really think about it all the time and am perfectly open to both views." I was raised Christian and will probably raise my children under the ethics I was taught by my family. I will give my children the right to choose what religion they want to be in. (Er... within reason. No satanic cults for YOU Billy!)

I also think that whether or not God is real, a belief in God can be very important. When you have nothing, no food, no home, no family; belief in God is something irreplaceable for many people. So many people focus on all the horrors religion can bring (crusades, mass genocide, stereotyping and ignorance) but they forget all the good religion can do.

A vast majority of the charity and help for the poor comes from religious organizations. While some atheists do charity work, many religions actively encourage people to do charity work and therefore I suspect the majority of people who do charity work are Christians or religious.

And while religion can separate, it can also unite. When you have no friends or family, church can be a haven for socializing. Also, people will find any reason to persecute those who are difference. Religions kill people of other religions, but keep in mind non-religious people have killed a large amount of people for being religious. I'm pretty certain if it wasn't religion, it would be skin color, culture, or upbringing.

One final note: Do you have any idea how HARD it is to write a serious discussion on religion with this song playing in the background? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pvahLCfl2Q :suspect:

I just had to listen to it, I JUST HAD TO! I don't know how you did that WWW, I couldn't make it past the first sentance.

I have done a lot of charity work, at a christian church. So, I don't completely renounce religion, I know it helps a lot of people, and as I said before, if a belief, whether it be about God or that you get to eat tacos for dinner, if it gets you through your day, hell, believe it. We all know life is hard and anything we can do to make it better, so be it.

My parents know that I don't believe in organized religion. You HAVE to go to church, you HAVE to donate so much money, you CAN'T eat meat, BLAH BLAH BLAH or YOU SHALL BE DAMNED TO HELL. I actually had a priest say that to me because my family eats meat during lent.

Religion has nothing to do with mass murder. God or not, those people for have found another "cause" to fight for. To quote Marilyn Manson, good song, called "We're from America"

"I want to be a martyr, don't wanna be a victim, Be a killer with a gun, so they call you a hero. "

Yoooou! Get on chat!

My friends and I had a unusual chat today. We were debating what happens after death. I think you are reborn as soon as you die. He thinks that you just die and that's it. I can't find that possible

Um....
I concur with your friend.

I would hope there is another life, but I dont have high hopes. I have heard other versions where you spend an undertermined amount of time in heaven/hell/limbo/whatever and come back only when there is a proper body, so someone who was in hell wouldn;t get sent to heaven the next time around. This source also states that everyone is thrity and your whole family is there.

One of the major holes that she never explained was that everyone was there, but what happens if they were in a body, did they die too? And if everyone is 30, how did you know who was who.

OOH! I am soo out of this but... Me, beig one of the strangest people on earth has to tell you something. Some of you know that I'm like sort of Muslim, I was baptised Catholic, I went to a Catholic school.. then I moved to a presbiterian school umm, they don't ever teach you about other religions they only thing they do at my current school is the same thing... GOD IS THE BEST, EVOLUTION NEVER HAPPENED... they're brainwashin us... anyway my mother is muslim so I decided I'll be muslim, but since my mind isso warped I don't really know if I even trust God anymore... like, yeah I mean I think he exists and all but I don't know, anyway my god is basically Allah now, and yeah I guess I can trust him because no one brags about him being so uberly amazing... I guess I just believe that.. yeah so my religious beliefs are totally stuffed up.. I guess I'll just have to wait until i die, then I'll know but I believe evolution happened because well... there's proof so, I get scolded at school for saying that to one of my teachers he is so anti-gay and he's all for god and he doesn't believe I should be muslim... meanie

I think that the real value of a good religion, any good religion really, is that it teaches good ethics. "Love thy neighbor, honor thy father and mother, thou shalt not steal, though shalt not kill," etc. The real value I think of raising a child under religious rules is that they learn good ethics that help us all not be asshats to one another. There is the danger that we raise them too religious and they end up like Jerry Falwell. He blamed 9/11 on gays, lesbians, atheists, and unwed couples. Really? I mean, like, REALLY? I think all children should be taught about all major world religions in school and should be brought up under strict ethics laws (note I do not say MORAL, implying that I do not think we should raise out children under the rules that something like homosexuality is wrong). We must teach our children tolerance, good manners, and love of others, but do so without causing them to become religious zealots.

I'm more spiritual than religious, and I believe that there is SOMETHING that started it all, but I prefer to treat all equally instead of choosing a religion that forces me to discriminate against perfectly functional and good people.

Okay, one thing I want to clear up with all of you. As most of you know, I'm Christian. BUT. That does NOT mean I believe everything the bible says. "Homosexuality is wrong,!" " No Sex before marriage!" I do NOT believe in. True, I've never really supported gays, but I've never gone against them, either. But just because I have never supported them, doesn't mean I don't like them. I have quite a few gay friends. Now, onto the "Sex before marriage" thing. I don't believe its morally wrong. It's a natural thing, and has been going on since time began. Adam and Eve? Weren't married. Never were. "Marriage" came long, long after them.

That's my two cents.
(And BTW, yes, I do believe there's an afterlife. I'm just not sure what it is. XD)

Hmm, well, I think homosexuals deserve the same rights because it has been proven that there are biological and psychological reasons (almost never under conscious control) for homosexuality. If you ever study biology, psychology, and abnormal psychology, you'll see what I mean.

I was in a Bible study class, and the teacher pointed out something rather interesting. The Old Testament condemns Homosexuality; and Paul (being a good Jew) condemns Homosexuality; but Jesus never said anything at all about it. He did object to breaking up a perfectly good relationship for no reason at all, but he never complained about homosexuality!

And he also said (several times, just to make sure you get the message) Judge not, lest you be judged yourself!"

I'm pretty sure if the Catholic model of god is the "correct" guess, then he would accept each person for his actions, choices, and idiosyncrasies because he would know all the reasoning behind them.

Am I the only one who sees how EVIL god was in the old testament?

Genocide, ordering a man to sacrifice his own child (he stopped him, but really, gross), and how he would punish an entire family for generations because of one person's actions. There are so many evil things god did that it makes me wonder how people can ever consider him just.

Oh, trust me, when you go to a Catholic school for your whole life you see how evil it looked.

Yes, in every representation that I have read, the "god" seemed extremely evil, particularly Catholicism. Thw hwole eye for an eye, so extreme and if this god was so forgiving if you only ask for it, you could commit mass genocide and just because you pray, everything is forgiven, never seen the logic in that one. Then again, most religion isn't anywhere close to logical.