God-damn !!

[deepakflash]

Thanks Gerbs.
Regarding "reading a bible(or any other spiritual books)" thing - To some extent I know what it has in it. It certainly can not fetch me an answer except brainwash me into having faith in god. It can have a million stories to tell this and that happend in the past when God came down to earth. But at present what is really happening in front of our eyes when we are all alive? Why not believe in the truth thats happening around you rather than holy books which may or may not be true. Why be unsure?

And honestly, I'd rather be doing something than just sitting back, behind a keyboard and doing nothing. You want to change the world, then help the people like in your picture. You'll be amazed that they perhaps exist within 20km of you. There's homeless, sick, starving, mentally sick people everywhere.

Well said. And thats what i too mean. Its we humans who are God who can "practically" help people who are in need.

So what do you think... God is unkind? Then what's the answer?

Where is the question of god. Guys i am terribly sorry to keep repeating this but why make me repeat. Sorry if I am hurting your beliefs but I swear thats not it. Please take this positive and help in finding a possible reason?

If God was kind and loved us would he / she / it have let my daughter die when she was born

Really sorry to hear that. But people in here would read it and may say God is still being kind(for some unknown reason termed "faith")

[deepakflash]

Fine, lets halt for a minute. Before scanning through the existance of God, can i atleast expect a genuine answer to this:
Lets just "assume" that God exists and is sweet and kind. Now God will be someone who is not selfish and with no rotten human mentality right? So he only wants us to love each other and be good? Then why the hell we dont do "that" and instead run behind God praising him. In other words why should we do things which he doesn't even expect from us? Believing in God and praising him expecting him to bless us sounds to me like some kind of "bribe"ing. I praise you and you bless me. I will commit a sin and pray, you forgive me??

By loving,caring and helping each other but not believing in god or praising him will make God Angry??

So why??

[gerbick]

You're seeking for evidence of something that's not been proven to exist. God.

Trust... read back to PAlexC's post about faith. It's spot on.

[deepakflash]

Yea Gerbs, i read it. It says....
...concept of God as the creator of life is universally accepted and if you can't recognize that as one of the essential and common principles of all monotheistic belief systems, then you have so little understanding of religions and faiths that you are in no position to question why people believe in them.

So its an universally accepted "belief" written on books that god exists....
.... and hence God exists ??

something that's not been proven to exist. God.

alrite, now why prove something which is not there. oh no this is getting into a loop

[Googooboyy]

...In other words why should we do things which he doesn't even expect from us? Believing in God and praising him expecting him to bless us sounds to me like some kind of "bribe"ing. I praise you and you bless me...

Well replace 'bribe'ing with faith and you somehow capture the essence of faith within religion, to continuously do good and spread goodness.

We hold onto that faith for the potential promise of good (eg. heaven) in the afterlife. How strong one believes in this promise, well that is faith. Is this promise real? Who knows? One simply believes and keeps faith.

How much one is willing to work towards this promise, well that's human will. And wills are bended and twisted through temptation and seductions and the surrounding environment, unless you are strong enough (in your faith), and unless you are 'educated properly' within the religion, to withstand them (temptations).

I can't tell you, make you believe or give evidence that God exists. I learn (in my religion) and I come to realise and so I believe he exists. Then there are some of us who share that beliefs and some who don't. I don't doubt God, and that is my beliefs - mine to judge and hold from my own studying and reasoning. And different minds will judge and hold differently.

I sincerely hope you find yours.

[deepakflash]

We hold onto that faith for the potential promise of good (eg. heaven) in the afterlife

So one who believes in God but does all sins goes to heaven??(because he is constantly being forgiven by god no matter what) And the one who doesn't believe in God but does good things goes to hell??

GoogooBoy will you be able to tell me that you will fail to go to heaven just because you dont believe in god?

[silverx2]

i hope god smites you for being a ******.

[random25]

If you want me to believe in a god, you will have to first prove to me that I actually exist, and that this in not just some dream or virtual reality.

No one has been able to even prove that yet.

[chrismitchell]

i don't believe in god.. and i still think that if god existed i would kick seventeen bells of **** out of him / she / it for taking my daughter.. she did nothing wrong so why punish her?? Oh and if i did believe and was meant to rely on faith then quite frankly even faith would be completely taken away.. there was a guy who said that to me after it happened.. i knocked in 3 of his teeth for saying that god had a plan for us all and that i should have faith.. tosser.

[gerbick]

I think the concept of faith needs to be revisited. It's the biggest problem.

You want proof? You'll never get it. Of that, I can be 100% sure. So deepak, random... you'll never get your proof. Ever.

No booming voices from the sky. No miracles where Coke turns to Pepsi. If you decide to believe, then do so. If you question it, then do so. If you don't believe... then do so. Nobody's forcing you to believe or disbelieve in anything.

You want to know where God is... fine. I'll share my personal opinion. God set things in motion, he ain't coming back. Earth is like a windup toy. Once set on its path, why interfere? Either the toy works or doesn't. It'll continue or it'll stop. It'll break or it'll spin on forever. But why interfere when there is no need.

The problems of the world, man-made. Thus, the solutions are man-based. And to turn to faith only for a physical situation - starvation, abusive relationships, you don't want to speak French any longer - then guess what? Use your free-will, that big man-brain of yours... solve it.

Or don't.

Chrismitchell, sorry for your loss If anything, I do understand your position... when I lost my father, it made (still makes) no sense. And anger like no other has made me drop my faith to a point of where what's rational, I'll continue. Blind faith, never. And if asked, I'll actually explain things that make my base on religion empathic (like say, to my Mother), while maintaining a bit of apathy (towards and from God). Dunno... my faith gets me up in the morning, but it also angers me. I'll have to deal with that. And in your situation... dude, I understand fully.

[chrismitchell]

Thanks gerbs.. its very hard to deal with the "faith" thing.. especially while burying her and all the other bits ... but anyway.. life goes on.

[argonauta]

deepak, your're so close minded, that you won't even admin how closed minded you are.

I have no idea about the great philosophers and theologians and the very nice "you" and i wont say that i know everything but i certainly know what my heart feels and which is very true. The guy getting hit by truck is only an example of "ant over elephant".

That really sounds a lot like "faith". You believe that, not willing to research or study the subject, not willing to accept what others try to explain, because you're heart tells you. In a similar way, other people choose to believe something else because of different experiences they had. Not because they have proof God exists, not because there's any evidence, not because a book tells them there's a God, but because their heart feels that.

I think every single person here that is a 'believer' has a different concept of God. Why? Because we're talking about an entity that we don't know, how it looks, how it dresses, how it speaks, how it thinks. There's no scientific evidence, he doesn't post in this forums, so how would you expect to get a precise answer? The existence of God for people is based on what their hearts feel, not in evidence. And maybe they're wrong, but you could also be wrong: maybe that guy hit by a truck deserved to die. What if a couple of days after the accident, you saw in the news that he was raped 20 kids 2 months ago? Would you feel the same way? Would you still think that his suffering was unfair? What if God saved 1 guy in Africa, feeds him, and helps him get into college to get a good education, and a few years in the future he goes to your country, and your boss decides he will replace you. You lose your job, and now you're miserable without a dollar to spend....would you still think saving that guy was fair, or good? What if God made you choose: if I save this woman, she'll give you aids in 2 years....do you want me to save her? do you?

Not everything is black and white as you paint it. Poverty and hunger and death are not always a bad thing. Just imagine a world where everybody is happy and all they do is have sex and make children, no hunger, no religion, just happiness...at some point, there would be so many people on Earth that the planet would start dying, and with it, you and the rest of the human race. There's no perfect balance in our world, it's just like that.

Also, as I think we're talking about the same God, maybe you forget that most people that believe she exists also believes that she has a very evil friend called the devil, and he's trully evil. So maybe God is benevolent and loves us and wants to help us, but on the other side we have the devil doing evil things. I think most religions believe in this duality, and not in a perfect world where everyone is happy: god/devil, ying/yang, light side/dark side.

I really don't see why it's so important to know if God exists, if she's good or if we're all mistaken. In the end, if you knew without a doubt what's the right answer, would it be so important? Would it change your life? Would you stop doing the things you do everyday if you knew God exists? I think you wouldn't, and that's fine. You see the world from your perspective, but not everybody sees the world the way you do.

Well said. And thats what i too mean. Its we humans who are God who can "practically" help people who are in need.

So wait a sec, you're saying you believe God exists, but he/she/is is really all of us? A lot of people that believe in God think he's everywhere, in all living things, in every one of us, in the air you breath, the water you drink, and the poop you poop, so it doesn't disagree with the concept of 'we are god'.

Based on what you've written (like thinking the reading the bible can brainwash you) I think your problem is not with the existence of God, but with the church. I also agree with PAlexC and go study, research, and stop making your own fairy tales.

[david petley]

fairy tales are all anyone has to offer ...but some people like 'em and it helps them to believe that it all has some purpose.

I believe it is all a big experiment ...give some random species on some random planet in some random galaxy a big brain and opposable thumbs and see where it leads.

davidp

[hanratty21]

Are you guys talking about some new video game in this thread? Sounds like a good game.

</ignorant post of the day #2>

[PAlexC]

So its an universally accepted "belief" written on books that god exists....
.... and hence God exists ??

Wow, you're thick. No, that is not proof that God exists. It is however a basic tenet of pretty much all belief systems. How can you question faith without attemting to understand it. Do you even understand what philosophy and theology are? Studying a religion is not the same as practicing it. You study it like you would algebra or ancient cultures in Brazil.

You asked a question, but clearly aren't interested searching for an answer. Again, this is what is known as ignorance.

[PAlexC]

Are you guys talking about some new video game in this thread? Sounds like a good game.

</ignorant post of the day #2>

Grand Theft Epistemology

[deepakflash]

It is however a basic tenet of pretty much all belief systems. How can you question faith without attemting to understand it. Do you even understand what philosophy and theology are? Studying a religion is not the same as practicing it. You study it like you would algebra or ancient cultures in Brazil.

You asked a question, but clearly aren't interested searching for an answer. Again, this is what is known as ignorance.

Okay, though I am not interested in reading spiritual books, since most of you seem to be strongly driven by "faith in books" I am curious to read through a few lines(not by buying one) but if you could kindly share me a link on the web?

Argonauta, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through that post(#72). You have great imagination and you truly worth becoming author of a fantasy-fairy-tale book.

deepak, your're so close minded, that you won't even admin how closed minded you are.

Yea, holding on to what I feel can make you think I am being close minded, i can understand. So, I open up my mind now. I am asking you to kindly direct me a link on web(if possibe) that has this magical power to drive me in the path of blindfolded faith.

That really sounds a lot like "faith". You believe that, not willing to research or study the subject, not willing to accept what others try to explain, because you're heart tells you. In a similar way, other people choose to believe something else because of different experiences they had.

No sorry, what i believe in is more than having just a blindfolded faith on books. It atleast has a "practical" thing in it.
I am not expecting you to prove that god exists, but why believe so? Ok but I got the answer for that now. Its the book.

maybe that guy hit by a truck deserved to die. What if a couple of days after the accident, you saw in the news that he was raped 20 kids 2 months ago? Would you feel the same way? Would you still think that his suffering was unfair? What if God saved 1 guy in Africa, feeds him, and helps him get into college to get a good education, and a few years in the future he goes to your country, and your boss decides he will replace you. You lose your job, and now you're miserable without a dollar to spend....would you still think saving that guy was fair, or good? What if God made you choose: if I save this woman, she'll give you aids in 2 years....do you want me to save her? do you?

Fine example of extreme imagination. It can all be said in one word as nothing more than a "coincidence". Its only people like you with such imagination keep the faith going(wow). The african who finishes college and comes to replace me was awesome.

Just imagine a world where everybody is happy and all they do is have sex and make children, no hunger, no religion, just happiness...at some point, there would be so many people on Earth that the planet would start dying, and with it, you and the rest of the human race. There's no perfect balance in our world, it's just like that.

Dont worry, there is always nature to do the "balancing" job in form of cyclone, volcano, earthquake etc,etc

Also, as I think we're talking about the same God, maybe you forget that most people that believe she exists also believes that she has a very evil friend called the devil

"God" character isn't finished yet. Now why bring in character No:2 "Devil". But yes, Character No:2 is an interesting one because it takes up all the exceptions of "God" and thereby bringing in a perfect balance. A real good shock absorber

I really don't see why it's so important to know if God exists

My friend, are you kidding? Half of the world has become a burial place just because of this "god" thing happening. "Terrorists" are an example. They bring hell down to earth in name of God.

So wait a sec, you're saying you believe God exists, but he/she/is is really all of us

I mean to say: if all you believers are so fond of this term "god" then it can only be your conscience.

(Once again)A very simple question, I need a straight answer.
Assuming that God exists: He only wants us to love each other and be good? Then why the hell we dont do "that" but instead run behind God praising him.
By loving, caring and helping each other but not believing in god will take you to hell?? Is that what your faith means?

[gerbick]

I think it's safer to assume that God does not exist. That would satisfy your opinion better than anything else.

[deepakflash]

oh no dont say that

[gerbick]

No. I mean it. Now you'd be forced to deal with what can be fully explained; human nature only.