QUESTION INSIDE, religious, atheist, agnostic, non religious?

Question

Would you please state your religion, ( if Christian please do not limit the answer and let me please know which denomination), and give me the best argument to convince me your Religion is the TRUTH?
If Atheist would you please give me your best argument to convice me there is no God.
If not religious but believing in the existance of God, tell me what you believe God's intentions are and your view about after life.
THANKS

Answer 1

I'm an Asatruar, and I have seen my patron god , Odin, in the flesh. That is all the proof I need. Now can the Christians say they have seen thier god (Jehovah that is, not Yeshua/Jesus)?

Answer 2

I'm an atheistic Buddhist. Here's why I do not believe in God:

First, you have to define the term "God." The problem with most theists is that this term is a moving target.

In addition, because there is no evidence either for or against the existence of God, you cannot use deductive logic (a+b=c; therefore c-b=a). You can only reach a conclusion by inductive reasoning using the balance of evidence (90% of A is also B; C is B, so the chances are 90% that C is also A).

I will assert (and others may shoot this down) that the only RELEVANT definition of God states that he intervenes to circumvent natural laws.

If God circumvents natural laws, then it is impossible to understand natural laws. All scientific findings would have to include the stipulation, "it is also possible that these results are an act of God, a miracle, thereby making our research meaningless."

However, since we have been able to expand our knowledge of natural laws (evidenced by every appliance in your kitchen), the scientific method works in this discovery. And the likely conclusion is that God, at least the intervening kind, does not exist.

Additionally, if God is defined as all loving, all powerful, and all knowing, then it is impossible to explain suffering. Either God is not all loving (he acts sadistically), not all powerful (he cannot prevent suffering), or not all knowing (he created suffering by mistake because he didn't know the consequences of his actions).

If God is less than these and/or does not intervene in our existence, then he is either non-existent or irrelevant. The classic argument is that I cannot prove that a china teapot is orbiting the sun directly across from the earth's orbit. But while I cannot prove this is not true, the evidence against it is compelling.

The evidence against God is equally compelling, and while it is not possible to prove beyond any doubt, it makes more sense to live your life as if there were not God.

It is more compelling to me that humans have invented God to reflect the thoughts of the ruling powers in a particular time. Because humans are always looking for reasons, when none are found, it was the natural inclination to declare the cause to be "God" (or gods). As the faith grew, miracles and laws have been ascribed to this Divinity, and an orthodoxy grows up around it.

Successful religions over the long run also are accompanied by some level of economic well-being to the populace. Unsuccessful ones are seen as false because they don't lead to improved lives.

Now it seems unhelpful to believe in such superstition. The only matters that aid in our ongoing well being are work, location, health, sustenance, and pure, blind luck.

So that's why I don't believe God exists. And you know what? It's okay if you do believe God exists.

Answer 3

Atheist.

There is no proof that there is no deity, and there is no proof that there is a deity.

The existence of a deity cannot be falsified. Even if we could rule out a specific deity, we could not rule out all deities.

Thus, the existence of a deity is as unknowable as the nonexistence of a deity.

HOWEVER -- there is the principle of Occam's Razor. That is, given two explanations for an effect, the one with the fewest assumed causal agents, or the simplest causal agents, is usually correct.

I can conceive of a universe & human life that does not require a creator through cosmology, inflationary theory, planetary nebula theory, abiogenesis theory, and evolution theory, which all can be expressed mathematically -- and there is strong evidence that all the math can be neatly wrapped up into one single, if massively complex, equation. A deity cannot be expressed mathematically at all and would be infinitely complex in nature.

Therefore, the deity is an unnecessary a priori, needed only if there is a need for a creator or designer. Since I can express a universe which does not, occam's razor dispatches the deific hypothesis entirely.

I am a strong atheist through agnosticism & occam's razor.

Answer 4

Agnostic. Nothing has absolutely convinced me that there is or is not more than just physical life. My belief system is not one that I can teach another, it's just a place where many end up after exploring religions and physical science. No one knows what started life and no one knows what comes after life. There is faith and there is theory; there is neither knowledge nor proof. So, I choose to not delude myself otherwise.

As for organized religion, I can say this much, tho. I do not find the rules and stories about god written by men in books convincing of anything other than man's ability to make up rules and stories about god. Despite the solace some find in the attempted explanations of the unknown, millions are regularly abused based on those tales and many millions more have been killed in the name of the "laws" of the god(s) described in those books written by men.

As for hard atheism, there still remains the question of how it all started and no proof that there is nothing after physical life.

Answer 5

Atheist - It is impossible to prove that something does not exist. Just as one can not prove that Santa Claus, Unicorns and Zeus do not exist. I am anxious to see how religious folk answer this question.

However, the only other category besides Atheist is Agnostic. Because any revealed religion can be condensed down to a belief in an unknowable god doing unknowable things in unknowable ways for unknowable reasons. The discipline and denomination labels are just a way to try to ascribe human characteristics to an agnostic's god.

Answer 6

interesting question with a wide variation of answers, i am an agnostic. i do not believe most christian organization's teach the truth about the bible, but i do believe god does exist. the reason i feel this way is simple observation. look at the house or building you live in. did it not have a designer, a builder, a painter, someone who fixes and repairs it. nothing that exists comes by chance, it has to has its beginning, and ending. when the house is no longer fictional and in good repair, it gets tore down and replaced. now look at the beauty of nature, how everything seems to work in sync with everything else. the odds of this happening by chance, or evolution is a billion to one. most state lotteries have a better chance of winning , and you know how hard it is to win that. So i do believe that god exists, my faith comes from what i research out, from the bible, and by going back and researching the history of the events as described in the bible. the web has made my research a lot quicker and easier then before. i hope this gives you something to think about

Answer 7

My mother was a devout Catholic and my father was an atheist, we were raised as Roman Catholic. Religion was never an "issue" in our family, everyone respected each other's choices.

There is no "argument" to convince you that our religion is the "truth". Religion (or lack of it) is a personal choice and I truly believe that most people are doing the best they can to get through life and be decent people.

Aren't we all just trying to reach whatever end we believe is waiting for us in our own way? I don't believe any religion is the "one true religion". I think it's a personal choice everyone makes for themselves.

How can anyone honestly answer this? If it's a debate you are looking for you couldn't have picked a better question. Personally, I won't be debating this, I believe everyone is entitled to their own choices.

Answer 8

I believe there is a "God", or higher force, but I don't think the bible is the one authority. I also think, even though I don't consider myself pagan, that there must be some sort of female force along with a male force because most things just naturally have 2 sides. I don't think people should live by a set of rules as defined by a book. I believe as long as you are a decent person and you believe there is something greater than yourself, you will go to the right place when the time comes - if there even is a "place".

Answer 9

I believe in God but only out of fear that if there is a God and all of the things that we are taught about the Armageddon and so forth are true the I'd rather be a believer than not. However why would a loving God allow a mere serpent to tempt his prize creation. Why didn't God protect them from Satan - God is great right, why did he allow his angel to fall from grace and rule on earth as the evil mogul Satan to temp and destroy the children that he so loves. Why then let us suffer for years and years and expect that we know that god love s us and will reward us for believing in him even though we suffer. I just don't get it. why does a loving God continue to test our faith - or is the devil who puts our faith to a test.

For the atheist do you also believe that the devil is a myth?

Answer 10

Non-religious. I do not give a damn whether there is or is not a god, gods, goddess, goddess, or some other supernatural being or beings, or nothing at all. I would not live my life any differently based on what may or may not exist.

As for believing in an afterlife, I do not believe in it. I just cannot accept the thought of an existence with no end to it. Ugh! Too dreadful to contemplate. At some point, one should be able to say, "I've had my fill of this, goodbye."

Answer 11

Scientific Atheist.

You can't really prove that is there no god. That is pretty much impossible, but you can rationalize.

The problem with mainstream religion is that they think humans are so special but the truth is we're not.

We are but a fluke in this vast universe. Humanity has only been around for a few thousand years which is nothing compared to the universe which is billions of years old.