religon yes or no

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:19 pm

im creating this thred so that ppl can exchange ideas about religon. the non religous can try to prove why it is wrong and why there is no god and the religous can try to prove why it is right and why there is a god. please dont flame here just exchange ideas try to keep this as civilised as posible.

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:38 pm

My take on this is understandable, though a little odd.

I strongly dislike any organized religious denominations or cults.

However, I do believe in the existance of God. On the other hand, I don't believe in it in the same way as Christians or any other religion would.

I think of God as not an entity, but a factor. God is like wind.

Wind is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of air. Wind has no volume or mass, but it can be measured relative to the moving air with which it's associated. Wind is a factor, but not an entity.

God is a factor of reason, a factor of nature, and a factor of randomness in the universe. God has no shape, volume, or mass, but the presence of this God can be sensed. God is detected relative to events and processes in the universe, but it is not a tangible entity.

However, this comparison leads to several other conclusions which underline what my spiritual view of God is:

1) God, like the wind, is fairly indifferent force. God doesn't care if you exist or not. God doesn't care or think at all, for that matter. Factors don't think.

2) The wind affects everything equally. So does God. God isn't going to care if you masturbate or not, if you're in the path of this factor, you're going to be blown over like anyone else in your position. On the other hand, just like you can hide from the effects of wind behind a rock or you can harness its' force in a sail for surfing, you can position yourself favorably and avoid negative repercussions for failing to recognize the effects of God, or you can harness your understanding of God into benefits within your own life.

3) God doesn't care if you talk to it. It's like talking to wind. Don't bother talking to it, and don't expect it to talk back. Factors don't talk or listen. They just factor into existence in their own ways.

***

So, what does God do, in my view? God is a force behind the seemingly reasonable and balanced structure of the universe, God is a force that sets forth repercussions, God is the force that is associated with the unexplainable, the random, and things not meant to be known.

I'm not afraid of God any more than I'm afraid of wind. I just know when to stay out of its' way.

***

So, call me a nutcracker, but that, in a nutshell, is my spiritual belief in God.

Jim Hawkings21122 · Post by **Jim Hawkings21122** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:40 pm

I like to take on the same stance as Chris Rocks' character from the movie Dogma.

WarpedElements · Post by **WarpedElements** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:47 pm

Jim Hawkings21122 wrote:I like to take on the same stance as Chris Rocks' character from the movie Dogma.

Dude that's such a cop out.

Anyway, God's here, Jesus came here, that's documented and ALL that stuff he did, feeding the folk, turning water into wine, coming back from the dead (his tomb was sealed off with a huge freakin' bolder, how would someone who just wanted to move it do that?) curing lepers and all that. Sure you can say "ALL OF IT IS MADE UP", but seriously, think about it. He did some great shiznit. How would ALL of those stories start out as something small and get blownoutta proportion. That and the Jewish folk are hugely known for their passing down of their history through oral tradition. They take it VERY seriously. Word up.

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:55 pm

i dont belive in god just becouse there is no proof he is real. the bible has so many flaws in it and it could have all been made up. i do belive in jesus that he was a real man and maybe he had some importanct but i dont belive in any of the mericals he did becouse there is not historycal proof of that. also if god is perfect and he made us to be like him then why are we not perfect? and if he is all forgiveing then whats the point of hell? but if i see some hard evidance that god is real then i will belive it i am very open to other ppls ideas and to the idea of god i just havent seen anything that would prove to me that he exists.

angelx03 · Post by **angelx03** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:56 pm

MinnieMoose wrote:
Jim Hawkings21122 wrote:I like to take on the same stance as Chris Rocks' character from the movie Dogma.
Dude that's such a cop out.

Anyway, God's here, Jesus came here, that's documented and ALL that stuff he did, feeding the folk, turning water into wine, coming back from the dead (his tomb was sealed off with a huge freakin' bolder, how would someone who just wanted to move it do that?) curing lepers and all that. Sure you can say "ALL OF IT IS MADE UP", but seriously, think about it. He did some great shiznit. How would ALL of those stories start out as something small and get blownoutta proportion. That and the Jewish folk are hugely known for their passing down of their history through oral tradition. They take it VERY seriously. Word up.

Most of the text in the Bible are parables. It's very true that Jesus did these actions and other people observed them and passed on these stories to the next generation verbally. The thing is, stories doesn't get retold EXACTELY so some of the details gets changed quite a bit, but the main idea was still kept more or less. So practically, it's our interpretation.

J-0080 · Post by **J-0080** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:10 pm

angelx03 wrote:The thing is, stories doesn't get retold EXACTELY so some of the details gets changed quite a bit, but the main idea was still kept more or less. So practically, it's our interpretation.

Actually with the comparisons of some of the earlier books to the Dead Sea scrolls it was found that only 1 word out of every 10,000 was a little iffy. So that shows that they are reletivly accurate.

J-0080.

Trident · Post by **Trident** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:15 pm

I've learned from experience to stay out of this kind of debate. They always get messy.

Which is, of course, why I'm making a post.

Me? I'm a Christian who is highly active in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, a national student movement. And I can give you all the facts as to why I believe that Christianity is the right way, but you can hear those just about anyway. No--I'm a Christian as much because I've found that my life is much happier when I'm doing "the Christian thing"--trusting on God rather than myself. Actually--not so much "happy" as "joyful." Like, something rotten can be happening, and I know it's still going to be okay, that even though parts of my life may be falling apart, it's still going to hold together. And whenever I say, "screw you, God, I'm doing my own thing," even when things are coming together it feels like my life is falling apart. It's probably hard to understand if you've never experienced that sort of thing. This is not to say that I base my faith on feelings--I just understand how faith and feeling go together. Or at least, I'm beginning to understand that.

Because, on the other side of the coin, it's stupid to believe things blindly. Challenge things. Don't be a creationist just because your Sunday School teacher told you it was so, and don't be an evolutionist just because your high school geology teacher told you it was so. One of the reasons I respect Douglas Adams is because he was an evolutionist who actually knew why he believed in evolution. I disagree with his stance, of course. But at least he took the time to check it out. I think it's better to believe in something wholeheartedly, even if you wind up wrong, then to be apathetic and believe in something nominally, even if you wind up right.

Anyway, if any of you feel like reading them, I recommend checking out Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith." Two very cool books about a journalist who starts out a skeptic and talks to people about Jesus and winds up a believer--they're interesting, if nothing else.

Jim Hawkings21122 · Post by **Jim Hawkings21122** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:16 pm

Religon was created to control the masses.........or invented by aliens....

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:20 pm

well im an evolutionist and i did look into it thats why i belive in it so strongly i never did read the bible becouse its just so long but i did listen to lost of ppl talk about it and i took a look at what they said and stuff and i just dont see how its posible but u said it best

I think it's better to believe in something wholeheartedly, even if you wind up wrong, then to be apathetic and believe in something nominally, even if you wind up right.

i totaly agree with u there