does your religion make sense to you?

Question

when i look around the world, the things i see and the events that happen and the experiences i have had or have learned of, are perfectly in keeping with what my senses tell me must be true. when i drop a stone out of my hand it falls to the ground, if i drink too much i get drunk, if i treat people badly, i get the same in return. in other words, the world is as it should be. i am an atheist.

so, my question to you as stated above is, does your religion square with what your senses tell you about the world. for example, have you ever seen a virgin give birth?
have you ever seen the dead rise?
have you ever seen anyone float in the air, walk on water, or perform any other sort of 'miracle'?
how could a supposedly benevolent, loving, supernatural being destroy innocent life so carelessly?
how could things such as 'evil', death, destruction, famine, disease, pestilence, plague, infanticide, genocide, natural disasters and the like occur in a 'perfect' world?
please... explain.

Answer 1

dojoman, I like you. You are a real thinker. Your question is stated with clarity of thought and insight. Your answer lies outside of your linear thinking. You need to think laterally. Not just out of the box, but out of the restraints of space-time.

Read my study here for the reason why you see this gap between your world view and those you are addressing.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/winnowing_wheat_chaff.pdf

Answer 2

Yes , GOD makes sense to me . It always amazes me that the unbelievers are the ones` that want to blame a God they don`t believe in for everything that is negative ?? Of all the things that you are asking about that are terrible in the world , it seems that it is the Church that sends out relief , sends out missionaries , provides homeless shelters and soup kitchens for the folks facing difficulties , visit prisons and spread the gospel , visit the elderly in rest homes when their own families won`t visit them . What has the atheist community done ? How many times has an atheist volunteered to put someone Else's` problems and bad situation before their own ? The perfect world was stained by the fall of Adam and Eve . Now that the world is turning further and further away from GOD , we are reaping the seeds we have sown , an unbelieving seed !! Also ; You cannot be an atheist , and believe there is a right way and a wrong way to do something . God is the conscience that is born in you that lets you know right from wrong . So without the belief in God , there is no right or wrong , no good or bad . The things that determine right from wrong are the Moral Commandments of God ..if you have no belief in God , then you see no difference in good or bad . So if you don`t believe in God , then you should be blaming all this negative stuff on " mother earth " , " karma " , "budda" , flower power , and all the other Godless practices ..

Answer 3

This is not a perfect world. No one said it was, at least not since Adam & Eve=sin entering the world. No, I have never seen a person raise from the dead, float in the air, etc. That's why they are called miracles and things only God can do. If someone believes in evolution, I doubt they have ever seen matter turn into plants, animals, people, etc. Others saw what Jesus did. These things are impossible for man but possible for God. They happened. Jesus rose from the dead and is alive. Were the things Jesus did bad things? Read about the points you raise. See the truth, the whole story. The Bible explains it a lot better than I can. Jesus died, rose from the dead, assended to Heaven. His grave is empty. Read about it and see. Satisfy your curiosity and talk to a main denomination minister. Please, do yourself a favor and read books written by someone like Hank Hanegraaff. These things will help you understand and will answer your questions. Evil, war, destruction etc. are the results, or by- product of sin. Mans inhumanity to his fellow man. Read Genesis and see that the world was not created to have such things It was created wothout fault and hardship. Sin has caused such problems. The perfect world is not this world but it's the world to come...aka Heaven. In many cases God repeatedly warned, and still warns, mankind what would happen if they kept doing what is sinful, hateful, wrong, etc. Man disobeyes God, didn't listen or heed what He said and suffered for it. God gives instruction. It's up to us to follow His direction or ignore His instruction and suffer the consequences. I respect you for desiring information on these subjects.

Answer 4

My religion doesnt make sense to me in some parts. im Christian and i have never seen a virgin give birht...or see the dead rise...or seesomeone walk on water....evil stuff occur in the world...which isnt perfect. God didnt mean for it to make total sense. He wants us to have faith. which I have...and thats why i continue to trust God even when some things dont seem logical. Jesus was a real person. thats a proven fact....and so are the miracles He did. but some people only believe Him to be a prophet. why so? i dont know. Jesus says He is God...which I believe. Jesus was the one who walked on water...and He was the one who did miracles....not because He was a miracle worker...but because He is God. I understand u are an atheist...but i am telling u what i believe is right...though i have no real physical proof...except the Earth...which God made. but thats not proof u r looking for. so thats why i have faith and do not turn away at everything i see in the Bible that doesnt seem to be right.

Everything u listed...i cannot explain except for the fact...that God is God. the benevolent and loving supernatural being that destroys life...i would guess u are talking of satan. i dont know who u are talkig about except satan. how could he? well...to make it clear....the angels also had freee will...and satan had the free will to be a loving being or to be the most evil....he chose evil. and thats how this world came to be. this world is not perfect...because satan resides in it...and he is not perfect. he is FAR from perfect. natural disasters occur because God lets them. God has a reason...but He lets them. God has stopped many....but not all.

im a loving Christian...hoping i have made sense to u, an atheist.


=]

Answer 5

I ask you to expand on your understanding of how the world works. What does a sense of humour look like?

Cults diminish one's sense of humour. The more you vent with fellow atheists, the more deadly serious you will become. That's how it works.

Firstly, what do people who believe in networking (mostly everybody) think that the world turns on? Money? Knowing the right people? "It's not what you know, it's who you know"? I think that the miracles can be explained by various factors, such as the time distortion that is associated with self-hypnosis (this is what magicians use).

You're talking about literary styles. There's also the influence of the dark-side Liberace angels (Daniel 10-12; Revelation 1:12->) with their distinctly different sense of humour.

Answer 6

As a Buddhist I learn through experience. Therefore i ask until you dropped the stone, for the first time, how did you know it would fall to the ground? And until you have seen the true nature of the universe how can you understand it?

Answer 7

Just tackling one of your questions would be enough for one night. Yes mine makes perfect sense to me, because by reading scripture we get a glimpse at the mind of God. Many things that God did were for object lessons. So if you get on that mental track things would not be so wild to you. You have to really try to understand this life from God's point of view. One strong thread to perceive is God gave the blood covenant and carried that theme throughout the bible. The innocent animal in the Garden of Eden and Jesus Christ His beloved Son. But you must try from your end and recognize there is such a thing as man's sin that is responsible for many of the ills you mention as well as God's jealous actions on behalf of His children. When they don't follow His rules He gets angry like a father does over his disobedient child. I hope your mind in not closed to the above mentioned items.

Answer 8

Yes, and no. Love people, give for no reward or recognition, and love Jesus... okay. But again, how do i explain all the evil things that happen in the world? Sometimes i can't, sometimes as people we have to believe in things we can't necessarily explain. That's how we become deeper in mind and spirit, and that's why i think a lot of atheists are shallow... they won't believe anything that's not explained entirely by science.

Answer 9

Your saying my religion doesn't make sense is like me saying.
I have never seen gravity--I have seen the results of gravity--you cannot hold gravity. You cannot feel gravity--unless you are falling--then you have the result of gravity. Thus how can you believe in Gravity.
Even I can see that gravity is there. and it works. I don't have to hold gravity in order for that to be truth. If you have never had any experience with God are you saying you have never had that experience therefore it does not exist. Therefore no religious experience can be real. Is that the scientific method? Or is that just an atheist belief? I say nothing to belittle but I would like to know.

Answer 10

I think we see these and other miracles daily, we are just so consumed with evil that we convince ourselves not to believe it. No one has ever said that the world is going to be perfect. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, that became a reality. May God Bless U.