Why must there be a god?

Question

Why do people have the need for a higher entity to believe in? I myself believe in no god and I am not realy missing one. I believe I am stronger for having no god, for not relying on something else.

But why has the world religious people?

Answer 1

Everyone wants to feel like there's more to them than what is evident. Personally, I feel that that is a symptom of a brain that's a little too big for itself. I think perhaps we as a species think TOO much. And it has become a bit of a hindrance.

But regardless, even if someone does want to have an imaginary friend, that's okay. Just as long as that imaginary friend doesn't separate them from reality. One must always remember where reality ends and fantasy begins.

My judgement for that line is... if your imaginary friend tells you to hurt yourself or someone else... time to tell your friend to piss off.

Edit - To Mikki, your question is a strawman. There is another answer other than the dissenting ones you provided. And it is the correct one. Most of us want to educate people like yourself. We're not seeking answers... we're providing them.

Why? Because your religious organizations affect our lives via politics every single day. Religion is a disease. Atheists are the cure.

Edit - No, god didn't provide the laws, Mechele. If that was the case, different countries wouldn't have different laws. Tell the residents of Iraq that your Christian god wrote their laws, and see what happens. And trust me, they believe more strongly in their version of god, than you do in yours...

Answer 2

Because God is relational. He loves His children (all of us) and since He created us (you ARE His most precious creation), He created a need for Him in each of us.

We need God because He's the ultimate. There's nothing as satisfying as Him. Oh, and He promised that if you seek Him, you would find Him. Just have an open mind, my friend. :)

Some would say that infringes on an individual's rights. However, God does not force Himself on anyone. He invites everyone, though, and you do have the choice to reject Him. Afterall, how could you really love someone if you didn't have a choice in the matter?

As far as relying on something else: I've tried being self-reliant. I can actually be pretty good at it, too! But it's a lot easier to work within the rest that God's grace gives. It's the easy road as far as I can see it. It's hard to explain, as it can only be experienced.

I hope that helps answer your question. It's out of the sincerity of my heart. I hope to get to talk more with you in Eternity. Let's get together: 0:00 o'clock at my place in Heaven on 00/00/00. :)

Answer 3

As far as science can tell, the physical world is not an eternal object. Matter has not existed eternally, but it exists now. Therefore it came into existence. Something must of triggered it, and sense matter is not eternal, it had to be something from outside of the eternal realm. tac's response means nothing. Everything that started has a cause, we cannot have an infinite number of causes, therefore something must of been the first cause and that first cause would therefore be eternal and therefore not bound by the laws of the physical laws of the universe. Science has established that It can only study the physical world, and that the physical world cannot of created itself. God does not need a creator because he is obviously not part of the physical world.
Tac's little argument thing is annoying because it assumes that God is matter. It hinges on a blind insistence that the physical world is all that exists, and even when the physical world does not explain everything it refuses to let in an explanation for everything else.
About quantum vacuums: they are theoretical, they can theoretically create matter out of non matter, but they cannot be used to explain the creation of the physical world. They are part of the physical world, they cannot exist eternally, and even if the universe did come from one, the vacuum would still need a creator of its own.

As to your "stronger" comment, I would question that. Here is a metaphor. Two men decided to wrestle. One goes out and trais and lifts weights, the other goes on living his regular life. The big day comes, and the man who trained won. Here is a question:
Is the man who won stronger, or is the man who did not rely on training stronger? Accepting a gift is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of wisdom. Creating a false God to fulfill personal needs then relying on it is weakness and foolishness.

Answer 4

Without God you are nothing. You are slime, a virus, a protozoa, an accident in space and your life is meaningless. You can go out and rape and murder to your hearts content or be raped and murdered to someone else`s content. Survival of the fittest and joy to none. Without God you can inflict pain on anyone and anyone can inflict pain on you and there is no reason not to. The Godless Communists killed 150 million and there was no reason not to. As Lenin said, "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet" except those eggs were 60 million people. Without God there is only death. Nothing you do has any meaning. Being good has no meaning. Without God the only thing worth doing is going from orgasm to orgasm to orgasm. Even that becomes boring because it is only a bio function that lasts a few seconds. Inflicting pain in conjunction with orgasm is better and there is no reason not to. If it feels good do it because there is nothing else and soon you will be dead. Darkness, nothing..The murders and rapist, the Stalins, Pol Pots, and Hitlers, the liars and users, the hateful of the world all agree there is no God. Laws written by these people mean nothing. It was against the law to murder but Mao had it done 70 milion times over. Life has no worth.

I prefer a world where it is wrong to destroy lives, rape, and murder. I prefer to believe that the meaning of Life is Life itself, a gift from God to be enjoyed and passed on.

Answer 5

Keep in mind that there is a sizable chunk of humanity that is NOT theistic - e.g., that rather large group, the Buddhists. In fact, on a worldwide basis, just about every 3rd person you encounter will NOT be theistic, or think it totally irrelevant.

Also, given the polytheistic and animistic traditions, the larger question is "why religion?", not "why God."

So far, the best theory I've heard on the issue comes from evolutionary theory - which is way ironical.

In essence it says humans have learned to create concepts and make decisions based on what's most relevant to them. For example, in a primitive society, a large dark object in the forest is first suspected to be a bear, and not just a boulder. A boulder can't hurt you (irrelevant), but a bear could be big trouble (very relevant).

The most "relevant" entities to humans are other humans and what they can do (or refuse to do). Thus we "conceptualize" forces of the universe in fairly obvious human terms. "Angry" skies, "peaceful" streams, etc. Without much abstraction to speak of, we easily construct human-like creators, demons, angels, etc.

In fact, if you could look objectively at the god of the Jews, Christians and Muslims, you couldn't avoid noticing how he resembles a vain desert tyrant - exactly as would be conjured up by the scribes of those primitive tribes.

Answer 6

There is no reason that there must be a god (or many gods for that matter). Religion exists because people are naturally curious about where they came from, and wonder what there is besides what we can see and experience. Religion is a very important part of the lives of many people, either because they were brought up to believe certain things, or because they have chosen to believe certain things. For others, religion is not an important part of their lives. I think that whatever works for you, whatever helps you get through life, is what is important. Each person is different in that respect. We should all respect each others beliefs, and not judge others simply because they believe different things than you do.

If this topic is very interesting to you, you should research the anthropology of religion. Here's the wikipedia entry for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology_of_religion

Answer 7

back long ago, the idea of a god may have only been used to keep the masses in check. If they believed a in a god, they would less likely to revolt and more willing to devote their lives to passiveness. I modern days, god often gives people a shoulder to cry on, even the shoulder may not actually exist. God is not a necessity, but sort of like a drug, to put it in blunt terms. It keeps people happy.

Even though I'm not religious, I don't dislike the idea of a god, even though I find it completely ridiculous. It brings out the good in people, and that's always a good thing. I just hate it when people try to bring me to their god. I've never done drugs, and never will. lol.

Answer 8

HAHA I love the first answer to this question. If that statement is true, then where did God come from?

Let the mindless biblical verses spew about how he is endless and timeless and doesn't need creation. Yeah...ok...that just makes so much sense logically.

To answer your question. There must be a God for people becase they are basically afraid of death and the feel the need to have answers for the unknown.

Answer 9

Because Creation DEMANDS a creator.
You are missing something but you will not notice it until God is ready to show you.
Religion offends so many and I'm not sure why.
It is not hurting them that we believe.
I know that some religious people try to push there beliefs on others and I do not agree with that but there is still no reason for people to question my beliefs nor anyone else if we are not shoving it at them.

Answer 10

Religion still has a very important role in society: it serves as a sort of social control. Some people are unable to distinguish between right and wrong and/or are unable to do the right thing without someone telling them what that right thing is. For example, (in theory) someone will refrain from killing another because he knows that if he did so he would go to hell. Whether or not hell exists isn't significant; what's important is that he didn't kill anyone. I'm not sure if that was articulate enough but hopefully you get what I'm saying.