Is there a god??

Question

Ok guys i know this argument divides in two directions but i just wanted to know what you guys think of events like:

during the tsunami where thousands of lives and homes were destroyed....there was a statue of a buddha surrounded with glass......untouched......how does that happen when everything else around it was destroyed but this statue

My other question is that "if there is a god" then why are there so many religions, why not just have one to unite us all (i know most are gonna answer saying diversity thats not the answer im looking for)

Do you guys agree that religions are meant to divide people not unite them......

Answer 1

First, Buddhism is a non-theistic religion - it doesn't involve a belief in God.
There are so many events that occur in the world that it is statistically not surprising that a statue of a religious figure would not be destroyed by a tsunami. Also, most statues are solid objects and are hence harder for a tsunami to knock over than, say, a building.
You do not make any reference to how many non-religious structures were not destroyed by the tsunami (many, I'm sure), nor to how many religious structures (statues and buildings) were destroyed by the tsunami.
What a callous and vain God it would be who allowed suffering on such a grand scale to take place, but made sure a statue honouring him (which this wasn't) remained unharmed as a way of "proving" his existence (which it didn't).
If there is a God, there are so many possible things that it could be that it is unlikely that any of the religions we have approach His/Her/Its nature, especially given the fact that they are all created by humans in different cultures (hence the differences between them).
There are so many possible interpretations of the "big questions" that religions seek to address (generally based on their own, internal rationale) that it would be impossible to have one world religion. Schisms occur in religions and allow new religions to grow because there are so many differing interpretations of what is divine and the route to it; often these are incompatible and often these religions denounce other religions and their followers. Religions are defined not just by what they are, but also by what they are not.
The discrepancies between religions doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a God, but it does point us to the fact that all religions are human, and not divine, creations.
Religions are meant to unite their followers; the only way they are meant to unite everybody is either by converting everybody else or by reinterpreting their sacred texts and "building bridges" with other religions (with the belief that human life is sacred, whether that is the life of a believer or a non-believer).
But harmony between all religions would do nothing to address the question of whether God exists or not. Due to the religious freedom we (generally) have in western cultures, it is up to you whether to believe in something that cannot be proved or disproved.
I would however say that events such as the tsunami you mentioned go some way to proving there is no all-powerful, all-loving God.
The occurrence of the tsunami had no basis in human free will and so that cannot be used a get-out in this argument.

Answer 2

Of course there is a God. All you have to do is look around you and see the beauty of nature, the amazing sun, and all that jazz. It is just amazing! And yes terrible things happen, but there must be opposion in all things so we can appreciate what we have and all the blessings we recieve.
Religions aren't ment to divide people but they do because that is what humans do. They divide in everything look at sports. People have different beliefs and some are just to stubborn to listen to others. It would be amazing if there was a united religion, but that will most likely never happen because humans have there right to believe what they will and we can't stop them. It is hard that religion is such a constant argument, but what can we do?
So yes there is a God, and no religions aren't ment to divide us.

Answer 3

Hmm.............Yes religion is meant to unite people but there are so many people in this world who wish to worship the way they know how or believe in something that had been done in their family for generations without doing the research and finding out if that is what's for them.

The incident with the tsunami was unfortunate but because God allows man to have free choice, man sometimes reaps the consequences of actions taken; other times innocent people suffer for other peoples bad choices.

The tsunami was unfortunate but there are other unfortunate events around the world that happen to people but they still believe there is a God.

So to answer your question "Yes" there is a God, when calamity strikes his presence is even more prevalent. For the people that survived the tsunami that got aid, shelter, food to eat, and many more positive things that happened that I haven't read about were all from God.

Answer 4

Of course there's a god. There are, in fact, MANY gods. Unless you restrict your definition of god so much that nothing can fit in it. Consider some of the many things people sometimes mean when they refer to a god:

- Creator and/or controller of the universe.
- Creator and/or controller of the Earth.
- Creator and/or controller of mankind.
- Creator and/or controller of some subset of mankind.
- Observer of events.
- Source and/or enforcer of morality.
- Ruler of the afterlife.
- An example of perfection.
- Something really, really powerful.
- Recipient of hopes and dreams.
- Object of worship.

Some religions parse these duties out to a number of different gods, some attribute them all to just one entity, and most of them have gaps where some of the above duties aren't given to anybody.

Thus, for example, the sun - even as an inanimate object - is a very real god to some people because it provides the energy for almost all life on Earth, creates the weather, and is nice to lie under on summer days, not to mention being unspeakably powerful (I find most people can't even IMAGINE how truly powerful the sun is... and they see it every day!). Others would find the concept of the sun as a god to be ridiculous, as it doesn't seem to answer prayers very much, nor does it seem to have much native intelligence (at least so far as we understand such things).

Personally, I find the Sun to be one of the most worship-worthy things I have ever come across. It has certainly given me more than anyone I know, and yet it asks for nothing in return. I gotta at least APPRECIATE that! Who wouldn't?

Answer 5

Life is a spiritual university. Duality is the motivating force that pushes and pulls us through experiences that make us turn toward the magnetic pull to God. No, positive and negative religions are not what divides, it is the duality of mind that causes people to view God from various points of relativity. All are correct from their view point. One must
put the puzzle together to see the big Picture "GOD". As the colors of the rainbow are contained within sunlight, so to are we all contained within the light of Gods Unconditional Love.

Answer 6

There is one true God. He alone can save you. The world is filled with hate and tragedy, trials and tribulation, temptation and sin. We are not meant to understand the magnitude of why this happened and why that happened. We are tested and measured daily by our Faith and will be judged accordingly by God. This world He created, and we have destroyed. He will come again and the ones who truly believe He died on the Cross for our sins will be saved and live everlasting life in Heaven.

This is what I believe and I hope you will too.

Religion and Faith are very different. There are many many religous people who do not have Faith, and will not be accepted in the gates of Heaven. Ceremony and good deeds and going to church are great, but will Not get you where you need to be at the end.

I hope you read this and felt the Truth.

Answer 7

God springs forth from the primitive limbic system of your brain, the last remnants of your reptillion past. The area where our raw emotions reside, including the irrational belief systems.

The 'religious' experience is triggered by deep depression, starvation, near death, or other highly charged situations. The 'born-again' christian phenomena has a scientific basis....yes, your limbic system. Why has man evolved this mechanism you might ask? Simple...it was a survival mechanism of our cave man ancestors to cope with a hostile and unknown universe.

The cerebral cortex is a more recent development. Here is where our rational and logical thought processes take place. It is here that the atheists have found their basis in reality.

In reality, there is no sentient, omnipresent, omnipotent supernatural being or force....therefore all the inequities and misery of the world will always persist, no matter how hard some try to get that limbic brain of ours to work...sorry

Answer 8

The answer to your primary question is...
We don't know...
And neither does SHE...!

Religions are "multi-billion-dollar" businesses designed to make a "profit" on people's natural fear of punishment and death.
And they've got billions of "fearful" customers, who would rather have a "fake" mental band-aid, than a "truthful" mental "lack" of any bandages at all...!
So instead of "uniting" people to heal them...
It "divides" them, and "causes" more mental injuries than it "medically" treats...

Answer 9

God gave us free will to pick any religions or do anything we want. And also my Aunts house burned down last year and everything was burned to ash EXEPT all of her bibles that she owned. Also when you look around nature you know that there has to be a creature, i mean does evolotion make sense? Its basically like a tornado in a junkyard, when do you witness a tornado in a junkyard that make everything perfect and makes perfect cars?

Answer 10

i believe god exists because of His creatures in this universe.. What kind of power that can create that all? that must be an outstanding power. And the One who has that power must be so powerful. What kind of creature that can be like that? that mustn't be human.. that must be God.

religion doesn't unite. it shows direction for the people who want to believe that religion. why people choose different religion because they believe different thing.