Or, judging by the sad, and sorry state of the world, if there is a God then He/She/It, is not a very nice God. However, I am open to persuasion and sound, reasonable, logical argument.
To those of you who do believe - how would you persuade me to change me mind?
2007-09-20 00:37:51 · 52 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Perhaps I did not word my question very well, but it is a genuine question.
My mother died last month and her belief in God was 100% - her faith was unshakeable, and my brothers and sisters are the same - but I just don't get it.
I see the upholders of strong faith as being the cause of most of the problems in this world. I believe it is my responsibility to try to not harm anyone, or anything on this earth, and to do my best to help others when it is within my power to do so.
I suppose I should have expected to have insults thrown at me and Paulo has had a really good go at that.
There have been some wonderful answers so far, and I thank those of you who are taking my question seriously.
2007-09-20 01:42:00 · update #1
Thanks gillyg, your argument is really persuasive. Have a good day my friend.
2007-09-20 02:06:14 · update #2
i am a buddhist. i do not believe in a theistic god.
however, i do believe in a universal life force which underpins EVERYTHING in the universe.
my practise enables me to tap into the inherent greatness within me (which is a fight to see most of the time!), this in turn allows me to be in rhythm with the universe. sounds abstract, but after years of practise, i have countless profound experiences of this practise. The world is a bad place because people are spiritually lazy and selfish....and the obvious knock on effect of this.
check out....www.sgi-uk.org ......it may be of interest to you.
2007-09-20 00:51:05 · answer #1 · answered by notmyrealname 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Ok first i will have a dig at all those religious people above me, that have said "you have a right to choose your own beliefs".
I am sorry, but most religions if not all say that if you do not abide by the rules/laws of the "teacher" you goto hell. Now with that information, if I was christian, (the most likley as im English) and being a decent human being I would try and save you! Surely that is the basis of religion, spreading gods word! So not trying to save people you know havn't accepted *christ* just shows you how selfish religion all is.
Second, Our ancesters looked at the world and as they could not explain why things are the way they are, and decided there must have been a maker.
This makes sense until we now have scientific theories like evolution and the big bang theory that proove the bible is wrong.
Religious people stick to their beloved book and ask us atheists "to prove that god isnt there" which is impossible. One theologist when asked "is there a god?" asked "is there a giant teapot floating in the sky?" neither can be proved or disproved, and cannot be tested.
Religion has been tested by a double blind prayer experiment. the findings showed that praying for a hospitalised person didnt help! and the people that knew they were being prayed for actually got worse (due to pressure).
Now religious organisations disregard the evidence as useless saying that if god wanted to show himself, he wouldnt do it in a silly experiment. Now if it went the other way and showed that prayer works and the existance of god, im sure that the organisations would still disregard it. Wouldn't they!?
2007-09-20 01:40:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The other day I passed a BMW that was literally falling apart, the body badly rusted, the tires bald, and surrounded by a cloud of blue oil-burnt smoke. If I were to judge BMW by the condition of that car, I would have to conclude they were terrible car manufacturers. But in fact the condition of the car was because the person who controls it had not cared for it properly.
While it is common belief that God runs everything, if you actually read the Bible you will find that it says in the very first chapter that God gave the day to day control of the earth to man. Look up Genesis 1, verses 27-30 some time. The world is in the sad shape it is because man has not cared for it. He has been the one who causes wars, poverty, disease, pollution, etc., not God.
God has given man to ability to make his own moral decisions. But along with that come the consequences of those decisions - good or bad. God has a perfect plan for the world, but it is "us" who keep refusing to follow it. That is what the Bible calls "sin". The reason God hates sin so much is because of the "sad and sorry" condition it places the world and people into.
If you are looking for an agrument against God, the sorry state of the world is a poor one. Just as a "junker" BMer is a poor argument against BMW. Rather it should be an argument for the need to seek God, learn his will, and then do your part to change the world to the perfect one he desires.
2007-09-20 00:58:26 · answer #3 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The best advice that I can give you is to study, read, research and learn. The question that you asked will elicit a million different responses. What is truth to one person is a lie to another. You are the only one who can decide if God is real, and if so who or what He is. It's not my job or anyone elses to try to convince you of how you will spend the rest of your life.
I have always been a person who needed proof. After years of study and confusion I finally said a simple prayer asking any God that was listening to show himself to me. For me, that answer came from Jesus Christ. Yes, I still have moments of doubt, but I can't deny His presence in my life.
I know you too can find the answers you are looking for. Don't allow yourself to become bitter and hardened by what you see around you. Follow the convictions of your heart (and not people) and you will discover the truth.
My husband has presided over a lot of funerals. Most are full of people questioning death and ultimately life, but they almost always walk away and forget what they felt at the time. Make sure that you don't wait that long to figure out what you believe.
2007-09-20 01:16:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I aree with you to a piont. I don't believe in blind faith. However, let me answer your question with a question of my own. When will man learn to take responsibility for himself?
I'm not trashing your beliefs or your doubts. What I am saying may not apply to you at all. But, so many people walk around moaning over the fate of the world but how many actually try to change it? God gave us a set of rules and doctrines to follow so that we could live in a good, happy world. I don't know many who even attempt to live the way we should.
We do not hold marraige sacred anymore. We allow same sex marraiges. Our governments and curches are corrupt with men greedy for power and money. I could list a dozen more things. Basically, I feel we were given what we need to be a good, happy and prosperous people. We make choices every day not to obey the laws layed down by God and so we live in this world. I believe it is our own fault and do not blame God. And, I feel that those people who do not believe or won't give religion a chance are merely using that as an exuse to behave any way they want in this 'enlightened' day and age.
Again, I'm not trashing on you for not beleving in my God. I do not go to church myself. I try to live a good life and teach my children good moral values. I adhere to the ten commandments and avoid the 7 deadly sins. But, I avoid churches because for the most part I find them corrupt jst like everything else these days.
2007-09-20 01:03:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Everyone is entitled to their own beliefes so I won't try to insist on mine, but I believe that there is a god. The reason the world is in this state and god doesn't just get rid of crime and disiese and all that is because if he controlled us 100 percent like that, we would just be like robots or pets or something, rather than his/her children. I think that, although God wants us to be happy and for the world to be a better place, without free will and the right to decide things for ourselves, we wouldn't have true happiness. Therefore he will only influence our decisions, rather than making them for us.
This is reflected in the behaviour of a parent towards his/her child. When the child is young the parent is pretty much completely in charge, but a time will come when the child will have to work things out for itself. If the parent continues to control the child, even when it has grown up, the now adult child will not be able to develope and fulfill his/her full potential.
2007-09-20 00:57:15 · answer #6 · answered by Smiler 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I can't change your mind.
I believe that we as spiritual and physical beings we decided our own fate by walking away from God in the first place. Just like a kid that says that they can do something without the parents help. God is not going to 'rescue' us from the chaos that 'We' created because this is all part of the growing process, and it is only BECAUSE of the chaos that we can SEE our need for him (I say him because its easier, though I do not believe God is one gender or or another).
I have had many memories of spiritual things as a child, though I was not raised with religion. Over the years I have doubted many things regarding religions and beliefs but my faith in God is eternal, it has always been there, always will be.
I hope you find what you are looking for and I wish for you a relationship with God, only because its the greatest gift one can have.
2007-09-20 00:51:43 · answer #7 · answered by Jaye16 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
God gave us free will, just imagien right your 20 years old and your parents dont rule your life. God did this to every single one of us he bascilly let us do what we wish and given us mroe responsiability and independence.
So by giving up this its our human choice to kill our nextdoor neighbour its own human choice to litter on the streets.
Its not Gods fault, God hates to see us suffer but he gave us free will and unfortunatly people drive themseleves closer to the sin barrier.
Your probley now woundering why God didnt use his powers to get rid of the bad stuff? what would be the point in heaven ifhuman earth would be heaven anyway because all the suffering would be gone.
I know sufferings awful but lets face it we all have enough money to share around the whole world and food, so why is the message not working? because people chose greed.
2007-09-20 04:18:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It almost sounds as though you want to believe, you're just doubtful of reasons for things. I cannot say for sure.
Fisher of Men has a good response up, and I would say the same thing.
I can guarantee you this, that if you do truly look into the things of God, your eyes will eventually be opened, if done sincerely looking for the truth.
2007-09-20 01:29:07 · answer #9 · answered by Jed 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
LOL, I see you're getting the usual Godbot replies ... "God believes in you" ... "Look all around you and see evidence of God" ... "you've got nothing to lose by believing."
People, these are no justifications for believing, OK? I look around me and see the evolution of a natural world. And Pascal's Wager is meaningless, because you'd have to believe in every god that's ever been worshipped for it to really work.
Yes, the sorry state of the world is evidence enough that even if God does exist, then he's not worthy of worship, since he allows so much pain and suffering to go on when he could stop it all with a snap of his fingers.
Please don't start on free will ... what has a baby done to deserve a crippling disease? What has a child done to deserve to starve?
There is nothing that points to a logical belief in a personal god. It might have made sense when we thought we were the only planet and situated at the center of the universe. But now we should know better. Why would a god spend so much attention on this one little planet, that's not even at the center of its own galaxy let alone the universe? We are one of billions of planets, in one of billions of galaxies. We are nothing special. This threatens God-believers, but it's the truth.
2007-09-20 00:51:46 · answer #10 · answered by Cap'n Zeemboo 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I'm a Hindu by birth & may be because of the way i was brought up i believe in GOD.
I feel that GOD is not a man; but it is the supreme power governing all the laws right from Astronomy to Economics...
Whether to believe GOD or not is totally a personal matter.
But I feel that every person irrespective of religion / gender feels ups and downs about GOD in his life. surely there will be times in each ones life that the same person will say 'GOD is not there' & the same will say 'GOD is there'.
All Religions teach only one thing. i.e. BE GOOD & DO GOOD. only they were interpreted in a negative way in some places for exploiting the others.
Don't hate the GOD for all the bad things. Try to give him some credit for all the good things.
2007-09-20 01:12:01 · answer #11 · answered by xprt 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋