does god exist?

Answer 1

On a personal level, I don't believe in god because of simple logic.Here is my basic logical problem with god and the conception of god .

God is described as being infinite in every way. Omnipotent, omnicient, etc. Human beings are finite in their mental capacities.
How would a *finite* being ever be able to make sense out of a being that is BY definition...beyond comprehension, quantification, or qualification?
If god manifested himself to you (via miracle, a burning bush, talking to you, whatever) how would you be able to logically differentiate from god talking to you or a unicorn? How would you logically know it was god and not Lucky the Leperchaun or an evil demon? How would you know you weren't going insane?
The answer religious people give is that you are supposed to know via faith. You are supposed to "feel" your way to the right answer. The fact is, the way us finite humans deal with the world and progress is through our mental capacities NOT via our feelings. Just because I decide one day that gravity is a tool of the patriarchy (or some other post modern crap) doesn't mean that I'm exempt from it's power if I jump off of a bridge.
Simply "believing" or using "faith" to believe in god seems to be about as silly as believing in Santa Clause simply because you want to.

My question to people of faith is,"How do you know Andrea Yates wasn't talking to god when she killed her kids?"

That is a completely rhetorical question, but I ask it to illustrate a point. If you believe in the Judeo-Christian tradition, god asked Abraham to kill his only son...Issac and an angel intervened. So even by Judeo-Christian standards...god does at times ask parents murder their children. That alone makes it logically possible (if you buy into the Christian world view) for god to have asked Andrea Yates to kill her kid even by Christian standards. You pretty much have to "take god's word for it" that he wouldn't want little kids drowned in bathtubs and that isn't good enough for me.

I wouldn't accept a whacko on the street telling me that Puffy the Magic Infinite Clown told him to rob a liquor store...so why would I buy some whacko telling me that god wants me to do X,Y, and Z? Even if X, Y, and Z are MORAL things...those things can be logically justified without having to bring god into the picture.
If a wealthy guy on the street says that Puffy the Clown told him to donate 10% of his earnings to charity (I would consider that a noble endeavor) that is fine. No harm, no foul. However, you don't need some nonsensical mystical influence (whether you call it "god" or "Jesus" or "Puffy the Clown) in the picture to justify or rationalize good behavior. Why not simply cut out the mystical middle man?

Thinking through all of that is why I don't believe in god.

Answer 2

Yes and no meaning that it's you who must come with an answer. There is no point if I say to you that he exists or not, because the only thing you've learned is what I believe.

Answer 3

Absolutely. and to the guy who left the really really long monolouge..you do have a few points but from my personal experience I know there is a God out there.... I have learned in life..there are just somethings that cannot be explained away...You breath air..but just because you can't see it doesn't mean you deny you need it.

Answer 4

yes he does exist and you do have to have faith! but also there is what you cal real evidence, its called the exodus project it has pictures of the chariot wheels and everything from when mosses parted the red sea and the waves came crashing down on the Pharaohs soldiers its quite fascinating one thing is odd though you cant buy it in America my friend had to but it from Canada and have it shipped here!

Answer 5

How else can you explain and prove the creation of this planet and humanity! Spirituality and religion base a belief in a higher grace and power that gave life to creation! If we knew where God was, would we be here now.?

Answer 6

If you are asking if "god" (note the little g) exists, that would have to be a complete yes. The definition of "god" can run the whole gamut from the entire Hindu or Ancient Greek pantheon to the way someone treats their favorite dog Muffy. "gods" are things we place into our life for a variety of reasons. To feel more secure with ourselves and the future, to provide a vicarious mode for our affections and fear, as a way to explain the somewhat random manner in which our world, our bodies and others in our surroundings behave. "gods" are also things that man has created and controls.

"God" (note the capital letter) is a completely different matter. It is kind of like asking whether something larger than my ability to understand, exist apart from my understanding. "God" can represent what is more powerful than what is known about power and more knowledgable than what is known by man and his myriad of reasonings and explanations. "God" can also represent the force or power that makes up existence itself and holds it together. For me (since I recognize my finiteness, and my ignorance, and my weakness, and my inability to be everywhere at once, much less hold all of reality in place) God represents what is unknown and uncontrollable about existence.

If you are a very arrogant person, you might be very quick to reply that there is no God and yada, yada, yada or that there is a God...period, no more questions. But actually no one really knows except by a choice based on looking at life and their sensorial experience of life. This choice is called faith. Faith is different than feeling. Faith is a leap into the unknown that does not always feel comfortable but is a necessary choice given the options. Faith is a choice to believe based on logic and all the unanswered questions that remain after man has done his best answering. Kind of like never seeing the wind, but observing how it affects the trees and feels across your face.

Both arrogance and self righteousness often blinds people to facts that could be understood and known if they had not been so "self-rightness" in their thoughts about a situation. A hell of a lot of damage has been generated on the earth by man and his arrogance and self-rightness.....both religious arrogance and self-rightness....and secular arrogance and self-rightness. Please note that even people who are atheistic or agnostic can be arrogant religious nuts.

The concept of "God" could provide a catalystic reminder for humility. The opportunity to know that there are many things greater than man and his understanding. There are many things to be known about which you could not even formulate the question. Humility can provide an opportunity to understand what questions bear asking and what could be asked. When we act humbly (because of the awareness that there is something bigger than ourselves and understanding) we are more likely to understand the other persons point of view, to listen, to accept other peoples flaws and to accept ourselves and our flaws...etc...etc...etc.

It seems that "God" exists for a lot of people and "God" does not exist for a lot of other people. As if they were the ones making the decision about "His" existence. So in their arrogance and self-rightness they throw rocks at each other.

Given my possible explanation of what you could have meant by god.

"god" definitly does exist and "God" doesn't exist nearly enough.

Answer 7

In the form of an all powerful deity? I doubt it.

As part of something powerful withing all of creation? Possibly.

It depends on what you want to believe but for me we are all part of the universal conscience. But belief is a personal thing and since none of it can be proven it doesn't matter what anybody believes other than you.

Answer 8

i believe that god exists, because no matter how hard scientists try they can never prove how anything came to be. there had to be someone there to start the chain which eventually led to you and everything else.

Answer 9

Discussions regarding religion alway come to the question: Does god exist?

What do we mean when we say that something exists? As far as human beings are concerned, nothing exists unless it manifests itself in some form, shape or manner to man or to his extended sensory perceptions.

If something is claimed to exist but does not impinge on man in any way whatsoever, we can safely say that it does not exist as far as human existence is concerned. This purported mirage may still exist somewhere in the universe or another universe. However, since this alleged object or event does not manifest itself to us, it does not affect us in any way whatsoever and we must simply state that it does not exist as far as human beings are concerned.

Religious people argue that, although they cannot prove that god exists, atheists cannot prove that god does not exist. This argument is inherently faulty.

It is logically impossible to prove that an object or event does not exist. However, it is the essence and the backbone of science to provide evidence that something does exist. If something exists, such as energy, matter or space, it manifests itself to us by objective evidence. We can measure such manifestations.

Only persons, who do not utilize logic, will accept as true statements that are completely unsupported by factual evidence. Yet, this form of irrationality and lack of fundamental logic is the foundation of all religions. Since approximately 80 % of the world population accepts the completely unsubstantiated statements of various religions, 80 % of the world population suffers from a severely distorted and thus ineffective worldview.

Christian dogma expects people to believe the fairy tale of Noah’s ark, although it is patently impossible to squeeze even samples of billions of the world’s animals into one small ark. Rational persons consider such stories ludicrous. And yet, such is the brainwashing power of religion, that the majority of the people on earth accept such fairytales as facts.

The bible account of the creation of man and the universe, as set forth in the Book of Genesis, is in such contradiction to irrefutable facts that a rational person cannot help but laugh about such fantasies. It may be all right for children to believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, but functional adults are expected to outgrow such fairy tales.

Another absurdity is imbedded in the fact that every religion claims to pray to the one and only true god. How can such contradiction be rationalized? Who is the true god? Allah, or Jesus, or Jehovah, or Buddha, or Krishna?
Where was the Jewish God Jehovah, when Hitler incinerated six million of his chosen people; where was the Buddha when Truman vaporized 250,000 Japanese women and children; where was the Christian God when Stalin killed thirty million Christians?

It defies rationality when religious persons pray to these same gods for individualized help and salvation. I could go on, but you get my drift.

Answer 10

Yes.