Current Events > Do you believe there is a god?

(+) Yeah! (+)

which

With all of my faith, I do.

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option two.

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its all about how you understand it
whether you acknowledge it or not, its there.

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A god? Maybe. I'm open to there being some sort of creator(s) that put everything into motion. But if they exist they give 0 shits and we're likely just a sideshow or a project or something

I do not believe in any of the gods of human religion though

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no idea.

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People who are certain of either are usually the most annoying. The people in the middle 3 are the most enjoyable people to talk to.

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I don't care.

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Pandamonic posted...

I don't care.

why don't you care?

I do not believe a deity exists, no.

And even if one did, then it still doesn't matter as they have no direct effect on our lives. (Religion itself is different)

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KazGT6 posted...

why don't you care?

Marcus Aurelius said something about this

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what did he say? didn't hear

Second option. I think it's possible and a bit more likely than one not existing, but we have no proof so there's no point in worrying about it or letting it affect our lives.
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Yes.

KazGT6 posted...

why don't you care?

It just doesn't have a place in my life. If there is a god, fine, if there isn't, equally fine. I don't care either way. I'm not taking a side, because it doesn't affect me in any way.

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i'm open to the possibility of a (lower case c)reator, but nothing supernatural or divine, no.

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I believe in the possibility of something but I wouldnt use the term god
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KazGT6 posted...

what did he say? didn't hear

Live a good life. If there are Gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are Gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no Gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones

It's possible this is a mistranslation or misattributed to him but it's a good quote nonetheless and one I try to live by

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Im not sure, but I lean towards no. The lack of proof proving its existence or nonexistence is enough to keep me from being certain on either end

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If there is a god, he's done a real bang up job making it convincing that he's completely hands off. Or maybe the concept of god needs to be expanded to just a force of good in the world, like a part of everyone and everything that helps things fall into place, but not a supernatural being.

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I don't believe there is but remain open minded to the possibility.

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I don't believe so but there's no way to prove without certainty there isn't. Personally, I think people thousands of years ago just wanted a reason for their existence and it's the best they came up with.

Personally sometimes I do wish I was religious, it would be nice to have something to hold onto when things go badly, but I just have never had any connection or moment or anything that has made me feel there is a god. I'd need actual proof that one existed for me to believe.

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I identify as agnostic, so I believe there is a God, but I don't believe that any single religion has it correct. So I just don't follow any religion.

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Gods, plural. Norse Pantheon ftw.

Edit: I didnt vote because of the lack of "Yes, multiple" option.

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Insufficient data.

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Medussa posted...

i'm open to the possibility of a (lower case c)reator, but nothing supernatural or divine, no.

A demiurge, without the big authoritarian beard in the sky?

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Faith is made up. Like God.

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Almost certain there's not a god.

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Unfortunately.

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Pretty much as certain as possible one does not exist in how humanity has conceptualized it. It has the same amount of proof as all our other superstitions and fiction, absolutely nothing. The likelihood of it existing is no greater than that of Bugs Bunny. If there were to be any actual force behind the creation of the universe, sentient or not, it has absolutely nothing to do with us.

bumpis

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/americas-mayhem-and-massive-decline-in-christianity.html

Only a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, a groundbreaking poll by Pew Research was published highlighting the shocking pace of decline of Christianity in America.

https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip.

The data shows a wide gap between older Americans (Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation) and Millennials in their levels of religious affiliation and attendance. More than eight-in-ten members of the Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) describe themselves as Christians (84%), as do three-quarters of Baby Boomers (76%). In stark contrast, only half of Millennials (49%) describe themselves as Christians; four-in-ten are religious nones, and one-in-ten Millennials identify with non-Christian faiths.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefreethinker/2020/09/good-news-religion-is-fast-going-down-the-tubes-in-america/

One of the worlds leading social scientists Ronald Inglehart, above, of the University of Michigan claims in a book soon to be published that the United States is experiencing a more dramatic shift away from religion than any other nation.

Religions Sudden Decline: Whats Causing It and What Comes Next is to be released in January by Oxford University Press. Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine in an advance summary titled Giving Up on God: The Global Decline of Religion Dr Inglehart said:

Growing numbers of people no longer find religion a necessary source of support and meaning in their lives. Even the United States long cited as proof that an economically advanced society can be strongly religious has now joined other wealthy countries in moving away from religion

Several forces are driving this trend, but the most powerful one is the waning hold of a set of beliefs closely linked to the imperative of maintaining high birthrates. Modern societies have become less religious in part because they no longer need to uphold the kinds of gender and sexual norms that the major world religions have instilled for centuries.

Although some religious conservatives warn that the retreat from faith will lead to a collapse of social cohesion and public morality, the evidence doesnt support this claim. As unexpected as it may seem, countries that are less religious actually tend to be less corrupt and have lower murder rates than more religious ones.

Needless to say, religion itself doesnt encourage corruption and crime. This phenomenon reflects the fact that as societies develop, survival becomes more secure: starvation, once pervasive, becomes uncommon; life expectancy increases; murder and other forms of violence diminish. And as this level of security rises, people tend to become less religious.

The most dramatic shift away from religion has taken place among the American public. From 1981 to 2007, the United States ranked as one of the worlds more religious countries, with religiosity levels changing very little. Since then, the United States has shown the largest move away from religion of any country for which we have data.

Inglehart says that other factors beyond rising levels of economic and technological development help explain the waning of religion.

In the United States, politics accounts for some of the decline. Since the 1990s, the Republican Party has sought to win support by adopting conservative Christian positions on same-sex marriage, abortion, and other cultural issues. But this political appeal to religious voters has had the corollary effect of pushing other voters, especially those who are young and culturally liberal, away from religion.

No, I don't believe there is a God, but occasionally I almost wish there were.

God is all encompassing of bigger picture to me. So like aliens running a simulation would still be god because theyre in control of situations that I cannot control

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https://youtu.be/6uhUtRUyag4

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First we need to define what a god is.

If you mean the very specific god described in religions like Christianity and Islam, those clearly are not real.

Now if you were to ask me if I think there are beings somewhere in the universe far away from us that are above human comprehension and would seem like gods were we to ever see them, maybe. The universe is massive so the idea that there could me things out there that we might perceive as being godly doesn't seem too crazy.


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