What are your reasons for believing in god(s)?

[asilentskeptic]

Any time I have believed in God, it was because of my cowardice to face up to my mortality.

Heh, how many times have you believed in God?

I believed in God because I was brought up being told he existed. Many people have no cowardice when it comes to their mortality. Look at all the people that have willingly died and fought for a religious belief.

The reasons for belief in God are many and varied, I hope you have more than that for us

 

[Lord Vader]

Why not just say, I believe in Jehovah because I just decided to? All of this trying to work out a logical reason, or find some fine sturdy evidence, seems to miss the point of Faith. Perhaps you're not supposed to be ashamed of not having a scrap of evidence. Perhaps the whole idea is to say, because I decided to. It's not something you 'know'. It's something you know through faith, through using our ability to leap beyond logic, as Captain Kirk once put it. You can decide a lot of things, but you can decide on what would be the best good, and you can see that it has the ring of truth, where anything else you conjure up, Gods, pan dimensional beings, ad infinitum, does not. And that's how you know.

 

[4string]

I used to believe in God because it was a comforting thought... eventually though that wasn't enough and I became somewhat of a non-committed Atheist. Then as I learned more about how the universe worked I started leaning towards deism at the mind boggling order of the universe, how everything reacted with each other in ways that could be calculated down to (sometimes) simple equations and I felt this had to be a sign of a creator...

However as I started thinking more critically of the concept of 'God' altogether I found there was nothing to suggest anything specific about him, what's the point in believing in a God that doesn't actually do anything? So rather than pretend to know God I decided it was a question I was never going to be able to answer, except maybe when I died, so instead I'd rather focus on things I *can* find answers for.

 

[Stripe]

Welcome to TOL, SUTG. :chuckle:

 

[jasonwill]

Yes I Believe :thumb:

 

[King Under A King]

So you're an atheist my friend? Ya if I was Roman Catholic I would be an Atheist too. So your question is why believe in god(s). Well, scientifically speaking where did we come from? Some may say 'evolution' but even then it only explains the process of how we came about not exactly HOW we got here. Theists rationalize that God created everything, its pretty simple. If you want to know how he did then study science. Truly I am not endorsing evolution but science does explain a lot that we do not know. From a philosophical stand point there needs to be absolute truth. Without absolute truth we would just be spinning our wheels in a world without meaning. Think about it if nothing was ever sure how can we be sure we are sitting here right now having a discussion? There has to be a level of absolute and where does that absolute come from? Good enough that a window is transparent to see the garden outside but if the garden was transparent what good it is then? If everything had to be interpreted by ones own belief then the world would be pretty empty. It comes from the only absolute thing which is God. From a humanist stand point do you really think we can help ourselves? Just look at our current financial situation. Instead of turning to God we leech on our government to save us from our bad dealings and bad habits. What do we get for it? A bailout of astronomical proportions. On top of that people become greedy and take the money for themselves. Without Gods hands humans could never make it anywhere.

These are just a few reasons why we need God. We need a guide and creator to give us explanations and understanding of morals. Then the question is posed, "well which God should I follow?" (We'll save that for a different thread) However, I have one question to ask you. What good is it to not believe in God? Has it enhanced your life in anyway shape or form? Have you bettered yourself by not acknowledging a higher being?

 

[deheretic]

Valid Question

Valid Question

My reason for being here is to debate, or preferably discuss, the existence of gods. It would be nice to be challenged and informed. As you can see from my profile, I am an atheist. I have always been an atheist, although I used to go to church every week with my family, and was sent to a Roman Catholic church.

A lot of my friends are Christians (or theists, at least) but I don't think it is always appropriate to try and challenge their beliefs (unless they are interested in the exchange). So, I came here.

If anyone is interested in an exchange, please start with your reasons for believing what you do.


cheers,
SUTG

I to have a lot of friends that are christians, Most of them are very closed minded. I believe what I do because of my interaction with life. I too started my trek as a christian, I went through paganism and came out a unitarian. Ii found that if I followed the dogma and doctrine of beginning christianity I would starve to death spiritually and as I traveled down my path I found that dogma and doctrine were not always true. I spoke out then I found myself on the wrong side of a tribunal where I was told to reject my believes of be expelled from the church as a heretic. Needless to say i did not repent but continue to hold my beliefs nee adn dear to my heart. The old penalty for being a heretic is death, but at least I am in good company for jesus too was a heriic,, that is why the Jews had him nailed to the cross, :execute:

 

[chrysostom]

I to have a lot of friends that are christians, Most of them are very closed minded. I believe what I do because of my interaction with life. I too started my trek as a christian, I went through paganism and came out a unitarian. Ii found that if I followed the dogma and doctrine of beginning christianity I would starve to death spiritually and as I traveled down my path I found that dogma and doctrine were not always true. I spoke out then I found myself on the wrong side of a tribunal where I was told to reject my believes of be expelled from the church as a heretic. Needless to say i did not repent but continue to hold my beliefs nee adn dear to my heart. The old penalty for being a heretic is death, but at least I am in good company for jesus too was a heriic,, that is why the Jews had him nailed to the cross, :execute:

There is a time to ask questions and learn

When things start making sense to you then others may be interested in what you have to say

 

[deheretic]

Making sense

Making sense

If my beliefs did not make sense to me I simply would not follow them. but they do make sense to me. I am not about to walk down a spiritual path blindly, we are dealing with eternity , not just a few meger years.