Religion...?

Question

Ok, so I've been reading alot of stuff in R/S and I'm really confused...how do you know what religion is right? How do you know that there really is a God? Yes, don't get me wrong I do believe in God...but I've started thinking about it alot lately and I don't really understand this whole "religion" thing...why would people go to the extreme over this...like I read somewhere that someone would choose God over their family, there is no way I would do that...my family is the world to me. They are your flesh and blood and no one on this earth knows for sure that God is even real. So what's the big thing about it? Why is it so important to people? I don't want scripture readings either...

No I'm not trying to get people to say that worshiping God and being religious is wrong I'm asking why is it such a big deal to everyone...I mean you don't even know 100% this stuff is real...for all you know someone could have wrote the bible...you weren't around back then! I told you I DO believe in God but I don't know maybe I'm just having doubts and I don't understand.

Answer 1

If you are confused about your beliefs, then R&S is not a good place to try and learn anything. Most of the people on here seem to be a little extreme and more interested in making you feel stupid for what you believe than anything else. If you believe in God, then someone on here will ridicule you for it. If you don't believe in God, then someone else will ridicule you for that. The bottom line (as I see it) is this: the only thing we can know with 100% certainty are those things which we experience firsthand with our five senses. That doesn't mean that I don't believe in the supernatural; I do. My point is that all of the atheists want to try and convince you that there is no God, but they do not know that to be 100% fact. I am a Christian but I will not try and tell you that it is a fact that Jesus is God or that He rose from the dead; that is a matter of faith and I do believe it with all of my heart. Just remember that nothing is made true by virtue of it being said over and over again. Both Christians and atheists use this tactic and it is stupid. You need to decide for yourself what you believe. I suggest you ask yourself these questions: Is there anything supernatural about our existence?, Is there one absolute truth or is everything subjective?, Is there a way for us to know the truth? I believe that there is a supernatural aspect to our existence, one absolute source of truth, and a way for us to know what that is. Email me if you would like to discuss more.

Answer 2

---[[["How do you know that there really is a God? Yes, don't get me wrong I do believe in God..."
"...no one on this earth knows for sure that God is even real..."]]]---

---[[["...I'm really confused...how do you know what religion is right?..."
"...I don't really understand this whole "religion" thing..."
"So what's the big thing about it? Why is it so important to people?"
"I don't want scripture readings either..."]]]---
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Wow...,
I'm not sure if you asked this question as some sort of rhetorical rant, - or if you are truly desiring an answer to it.
I hope it is the former because, given the opaque and disjointed nature of your question's presentation,...
... I'm not at all sure an adequate theistic response could be offered, - and you'll probably only get the predictable, and oft times long-winded, "There is no God" answers from atheists.

That said,...
... it doesn't take genius to figure out that believing in God (or Allah, or The FSM) is to presume, without doubt, that God is 'real'.
Theists have a word for this doubtless presumption: FAITH.

But even they would have difficulty in answering your questions about 'religion' when you insert a caveat which denies them access to the very tenets and doctrines they may need to actually provide you with a substantive answer.

For the record: I'm agnostic.
-

Answer 3

Belief in God requires that you understand:
1. That if there IS a God (and I believe there is) then there can only be one. There are myriad "religions" spouting myriad 'gods', but just because someone believes in a certain 'god' doesn't make that god real.
2. Understanding that there is only one God, this then becomes an issue of asking "Well then, WHICH belief system is correct?" (I don't use the term "religion"....I prefer "belief system". Religions are things that MEN created in order to facilitate their belief systems and along the way many of them have been corrupted by men). Is it Christian, Muslum, Buddhist....Mormon...? And how do you make that decision?
3. I believe that eliminating Mormonism and Buddhism are fairly simple...both religions are based on a MAN. In the case of Mormonism, Joseph Smith wrote the book of Mormon and included it alongside the Bible as "God's word"....but in truth it's a MAN's word. Buddah, too, was a man. Wise, and a great teacher, perhaps, but just a man.
"Buddha didn't rise from the dead, nor did Confucius or Zoroaster. Muhammad didn't fulfill detailed prophecy. Alexander the Great didn't raise the dead or heal the sick. And though there is far less reliable information written about them, they are believed in. "---www.carm.org
4. I believe as God says that He will reveal Himself if we ask Him; if you will just open your heart and pray that He show you the right way, you WILL discover it. Do not deny the reality of personal revelation. Because the God of the Bible is a living, omnipresent, omnipotent God who wants NOTHING MORE than to have you come into relationship with Him, if you ask, He will give you insight.

There is a great deal more, of course, and I would recommend that you read Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" if you would like to see the historical, archeological and other evidence pointing toward Jesus, but let me leave you with one interesting fact: There are 48 prophecies made about Jesus in the Bible.....and here are the odds that one person could fulfill JUST 8 of them....

"....by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power." That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 10 to the 17th power silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man."

Now what are the odds of fulfilling ALL 48 PROPHECIES???:
"the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10 to the 157th power, or 1 in 10,00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000, 000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000 000,000,000."

Answer 4

This goes way back to basics. You are born with nothing and you die with nothing.

your family does not belong to you, or you to them. You associate with and love each other. They are of this world and God is of the next world.

No one who loves you forces you to give up something you love. God does not force you to give up your family. God gives you a choice. You can go to Heaven if you like or you can go to Hell.

People have different perceptions of things and I have seen Hell, I did not like it. Scripture tells us no one likes Hell. I suppose it may be possible for some people to enjoy Hell, but, I doubt it. God does not force you to make either choice.

I know God is real, for sure. I am one of those who has seen and so very little faith is required for me. There are others whose faith is much greater and they believe without having seen.

God gave me a vision of end times once. It was the saddest thing ever, watching people choose to leave. In my opinion many of them did not realize the choice they made, they were just going along with the crowd while those of us who understood could do nothing but cry. We could not even speak as we watched them choose to leave.

Believe me, if you knew how much sadness is caused because a single person chooses to go to Hell you would not ask why it is such a big deal.

Answer 5

I understand your doubts about believing in something you can't see. I used to feel like my life was just "going through the motions" and there really wasn't a point to it. Then I met Jesus. I now feel that my life has meaning and purpose. I have a relationship with my creator and I talk to him through prayer and reading the Bible. God loves me more than anyone in my family ever could. His love is unconditional...my family will love me sometimes, but might turn their back on me if I do something that offends them or hurts them. God is a loving god and because He gave everything to us (the greatest sacrifice being His son, Jesus), He wants to know that we are willing to follow Him 100%. I hope that helps.

Answer 6

If anyone attempts to answer this question for you, and endorses anything, be it christianity, atheism, buddhism, agnosticism, or even philosophies such as nihilism or existentialism, they are wrong.

It's not for me to say why it is important to people, but I can agree with you, in that it /is/ very important to people, and for that reason, and that reason alone, you have to answer your own religious questions. There's no such thing as an unbiased opinion on religion, not even mine.

That said, if you just want to know what other people think, here's a link filled with more perspective than you could shake a thirty foot pole at

Answer 7

i am a really strong believer in God and you just need to pray and take time to think about it if you really want to now God will answer you and I know for a fact that god is real but I cant tell you how to live you have free will to do what you want to do (by the way God gave you that)

Answer 8

Because, for say, Christians, it is their tool of power. No Christian would choose God over their family. When it comes down to it, most Christians just want money. If they finally were to accept that they are wrong!, maybe they would be nothing.

Answer 9

If you are a Christian then you know the Bible says, put God first, family second, and others. We are to follow the words of God.
Wouldn't it be better to believe and find He is real than not believe and find He isn't at the end. I hope to see you in heaven.

Answer 10

i gess people just want to have something to make them believe that no matter how wrong they do they can always be forgiven. or maybe they just want to believe that no matter how bad things are GOD will one day save them? i dont know im confused too. but i hope this helped a little. love you girl!