Do you believe in God?

Question

Which god, and why

Answer 1

No, I don't believe in any gods, and here's why:

=== 1: Simple Common Sense ===

Nothing in life has ever made me suspect that any gods really exist. I see no divine revelations, no miracles, no answered prayers, no preferential good fortune for people of any particular faith, no divine retribution for evildoers, no protection for the virtuous, the innocent or the weak. Life is exactly as we would expect it to be if there was no divine influence in the world - i.e. good and bad things come to good and bad people alike. Our lives are subject to chance, and the actions of other people, but that seems to be all.

=== 2: The Natural World ===

"Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods." - Titus Lucretius Carus (c.99-55 BCE).

We can see no sign of any divine involvement in the natural world. Galaxies, stars and planets form because it is in the nature of matter to do so. Living organisms evolve and diverge by the unthinking, undirected process of evolution. There is no plan, no design, just the effects of probability and the properties of matter and forces. Many people will claim to the contrary, but as far as I can tell this just reflects an ignorance about how the natural world really is, rather than the perception of any higher truth. Certainly, their arguments always evaporate in the light of reason.

=== 3: Logical Arguments ===

1: I cannot believe that the wealth of organisation, complexity and diversity that we see in the physical world, and particularly in the structures and functions of living organisms, could just exist fully formed with no origin, no precursor, nothing to explain its existence. By the same token, I cannot believe that an entity could exist which designed and created the physical and natural world, and which *itself* exists fully formed with no origin, no precursor, no explanation for its existence. The only reasonable explanation, therefore, is that organisation, complexity and diversity are features which naturally develop out of simplicity and chaos because of the fundamental nature of the universe. This is indeed what science shows us, in the form of cosmology and biology, as supported by real objective evidence and reasoned argument.

2: We've known for thousands of years that the 'tri-omni' gods of classical monotheistic religions cannot exist. If an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent deity existed, then human evil could not exist. Since human evil unarguably does exist, the classical monotheistic deity cannot exist (objections about 'free will' notwithstanding).

3: Quantum Mechanics strongly suggests that nothingness is a state that cannot exist in reality, since that would be 100% deterministic, and QM says that existence is probabilistic rather than deterministic. Experimental evidence supports QM. If true, then this also precludes the existence of a creator, since it would be impossible to have a state of 'nothingness' from which a 'something' could be created.

4: David Hume proved that moral values are subjective - i.e. they describe a person's response to events, rather than objective properties of events themselves. Since morals are personal and subjective, there cannot be an external, objective source of moral values - Indeed, the idea is simply incomprehensible. Therefore, any god which is claimed to be the objective source of moral values cannot possibly exist. This includes the gods of most monotheistic religions, by their usual definitions.

5: Argument from design: If everything was designed by an intelligent creator then we would have no basis for identifying things that clearly *are* designed (things made by human beings) since we would have no non-designed (i.e. natural) things to compare them with. Therefore the natural world (everything that has not been designed by humans) must be non-designed, and therefore there can't be a designer god.

6: All attempts at arguing *for* the existence of any gods through logic and reason can be and have been comprehensively debunked.

=== 4: Religious Belief, Literature and Dogma ===

If any religion were true, we could reasonably expect it to produce some ideas and beliefs that people couldn't have thought up by themselves. Similarly for 'holy texts', and the rules and practices that derive from them. In fact though, religions only produce what we would expect humans to imagine or decide for themselves, on the basis of aspects of human nature such as superstition, moral judgments, xenophobia and so on. There is no sign of any divine influence here.

Religious literature, if divinely inspired, ought to be factually correct and free of contradictions, immoral ideas and absurdities. None of the holy texts fit the bill.

=== 5: Society and Culture ===

It's an observable fact that people overwhelmingly adopt the religion of their family and culture. If there was any external truth to religion, which human beings could perceive with some kind of supernatural sense, then we could reasonably expect there to be some consistency in religious belief. Instead, the distrubution of different religious beliefs is exactly as we would expect it to be if this were pure mythology, handed down through family and culture like any other kind of purely fictional story.

=== 6: Intellectual and Moral Progress ===

Religion has consistently been the enemy of intellectual progress, suppressing rational investigation of the world where it disagrees with and thus endangers religious belief (often by torture and death). There has never been, to the best of my knowledge, one single fact about the world that was brought to us by divine inspiration rather than rational investigation. How could this be, if religion were a source of truth? Religion has also consistently been the undisputed cause of much cruelty, conflict, discrimination and persecution in the world, belying the existence of any kind of benevolent or moral guardian of the world.

=== 7: Rational Explanation for Religious Belief ===

As part of our evolutionary 'toolkit' of survival strategies, we have a highly developed awareness of other entities in our environment - We often notice human faces in carpet patterns, rabbit-shaped clouds and so on. There is more survival value in seeing what really *is* there, and also seeing some things that *aren't* really there, than in missing things that really are there and going hungry, or worse, ending up as someone else's lunch.

The consequence of this undeniably true aspect of human nature is that we have a natural tendency to imagine 'agents' (intelligent entities) behind natural phenomena and events in our own lives that aren't really there - i.e. gods and goddesses, demons, angels, spirits - a whole menagerie of supernatural characters. Society and culture binds up these characters with our wishes and fears, our desires for dominance and submission and shared identity, and we end up with religious belief and ritual and dogma, in thousands of different flavours throughout the world and throughout history. Religion is formalised superstition - It's just a common flaw in human nature, rather like the way we see optical illusions. We can account for the existence of religious belief perfectly well with this fact-based, rational explanation, rather than believing that there really is a supernatural realm of existence.

=== 8: Human Nature ===

Religious people will argue that humans are unique amongst all the animals in having an eternal, divine component that exists independently of the physical body - Usually referred to as a 'soul'. What exactly could a soul be? What properties could it have? What part of a person resides in the soul?

If it's postulated that consciousness, or awareness, or sense of self resides in the soul, it's difficult to see how this can be reconciled with the complete oblivion which accompanies general anaesthesia. How could a straightforward chemical, injected into the bloodstream, anaesthetise a soul so that it effectively ceases to exist during this time? If consciousness, in the form of a soul, were some kind of supernatural faculty, it would seem implausible that it could be completely disabled by a chemical.

How about some of the other things which we regard as essential parts of what makes a person what they are? How about love, compassion, reason, empathy, memory, conscious thought, character, 'spirituality' and so on? Well, there is really no plausible doubt that all these things are properties of the physical brain - We can alter all of these properties very simply with alcohol or other drugs, and observe how they change in people who have suffered significant brain damage. Previously placid people become uncontrollably violent, intelligent people become imbeciles, and so on. Stimulate the brain artificially, and the subject reports corresponding mental activity, e.g. 'religious experiences'. We can see from brain research that all these things - thought, emotion, sensation, character traits and so on - are correlated with activity in the brain, and some things can be identified with specific areas of the brain.

So, if all these faculties and characteristics of what we regard as the 'person' reside in the physical brain, as seems to be undeniably the case, and they all cease when the person dies, then what is left to be attributed to a 'soul'? As far as I can ascertain: Nothing. If there is no part of us that can continue after death, then there is no 'afterlife'... and if there is no afterlife, then most of religion is null and void.

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There are other reasons too, but that'll do for now...

Answer 2

No gods. Because there is no evidence, and really no need for a god. All of the evidence i have found has lead me to believe that god and religion are man made psychological crutches. If one realizes that their religious "support" is really coming from within themselves, they just don't have the self confidence to believe it can come from themselves, then they will have all the confidence they will need without needing the help of some imaginary father figure.

Religion is an oversimplification of a complex universe so that the everyday person can believe they understand how it works.

Answer 3

I've studied both the koran and the bible as well as the torah ,now firstly may I clarify the God we are speaking of is exactly the same entity , The Jewish god is the same God as the christians worship with the addition of the son of God the late J.C, now Allah , if my knowledge serves me correctly the koran was dictated to Mohammed by gabriel which is an angel who serves the same god as the one in the jewish Torah , so how bout that, personally I believe that God is not comprehendible to any human brain , it is not necessary to debate who or what the higher force just to know that it exists and you will become one with it eventually.

Answer 4

As a Reincarnationist I believe in the intelligent energy source of which we are all a part, which is a loving, nurturing energy. I qualify when I call this 'God', although to me that is the true 'God'. I don't want to infer that I believe the biblical god is real, because imo no deity created by man can approach perfection.

'God' requires no adoration, sacrifice or even acknowledgement. That's because everyone and everything is a portion of 'God'.

Answer 5

Yes!!! I am a born again believer!! I Believe in the Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and The End, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because He IS the Living God and Creator. Anyone who lived a sinless life and would die for ME just so I could have a chance to go to heaven has more Love than any of us can imagine. He is Love and therefore I choose to love and serve Him with ALL my heart and soul and I will never, ever stop!!!

Answer 6

I do believe in God who is like a diamond that has many facets. Whether you say God, Yahweh, Allah, Zeus, Aradia, or any names of gods and goddesses, they are all the same. God is beyond male and female, beyond even religion. Whatever name you use for God, what you see is just a facet of the greatness that is God.

Answer 7

the 1 true living God

Answer 8

I believe in the one and only true God.

Answer 9

I don't believe or disbelieve. I am sort of on the fence on this one. I believe that religion is a set of ideals for which the followers live by to give them hope in life while trusting in the divine. To me this makes no sense as there is no proof that anything other than the real exists. The truth is we don't know if there are divine beings out there and how can we put our faith in something that may or may not exist? Better yet, why would they care about individuals or this world with such a vast and ever expanding universe out there? It is nice to think that we are never alone and that there are others more intelligent and know what is good for us watching but in reality how have they ever helped? Faith is exactly that, faith in the divine. I say have faith in yourself and don't hope that there is someone watching out for you, there probably isn't, however if you watch out for someone else at least its real and you can be counted on by others. Live, and hope in reality that you create not in a fiction that may or may not exist.

Answer 10

yes I believe in GOD. even though many say GOD doesn't exist I believe HE does. no one has ever seen the wind, yet everyone has felt the effects of the wind. therefore the wind exists. GOD is like the wind as HE is invisible to mortals five senses we can see HIS handiwork in the glories and beauties in the heavens and on the earth.

Answer 11

Yeah, The God of Israel. The God of Abraham Issac and of Jacob, there is no other all others are false. You should be figuring that out for yourself and find out the truth before it is to late.